Asolo Repertory Theatre Proudly Announces 2021 Outdoor Season

January 15, 2021 – Sarasota

On the heels of its wildly successful inaugural outdoor theatrical venture, We Need a Little Christmas, Asolo Repertory Theatre proudly announces its 2021 outdoor season. Performed in its newly constructed, socially-distanced outdoor venue Terrace Stage, located in front of the FSU Center for the Performing Arts, the four productions will be held February – April, 2021. Asolo Rep’s top priority is the safety of its patrons, artists and staff. The outdoor season replaces the theatre’s previously announced indoor 2020-21 productions of Our Town, Grand Horizons, Knoxville and Hood, which are now slated for the 2021-22 season.

“We Need a Little Christmas proved to us both that there is a hunger for live performance in our community and that we can do it safely,” said Asolo Rep Producing Artistic Director Michael Donald Edwards. “We’ve unleashed the full range of our creative abilities to bring you a thrilling season with many familiar faces seen in a whole new way. Each show celebrates not only its own story but also our ability to come together and connect with one another in this moment when it is so urgently needed. From an undeniable civil rights leader to a mythical story of love and honor, live music binds these events together for an unforgettable season.”

The season kicks off with Laura Osnes in Concert on February 5 and 6, with music direction by Fred Lassen. Ms. Osnes is a two-time Tony-nominated Broadway superstar known for her memorable performances as Cinderella in Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella and Bonnie Parker in Bonnie & Clyde, a role she created in Asolo Rep’s 2010 pre-Broadway run. Her other Broadway credits include Julia Trojan in Bandstand, Hope Harcourt in Anything Goes, Nellie Forbush in Lincoln Center Theater’s South Pacific, and Sandy in Grease. She has performed in prestigious cabaret and symphony venues across the country and can currently be seen starring on television in three Hallmark channel original movies; In the Key of Love, A Homecoming for the Holidays and One Royal Holiday. 

Asolo Rep continues its season in association with Goodman Theatre and Seattle Rep with the launch of a rolling world premiere of Cheryl L. West’s provocative and poignant new play with a bright future: Fannie: The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer. Originally commissioned and developed by Goodman Theatre and Seattle Rep, Fannie tells the impassioned story of American civil rights activist and hero, Fannie Lou Hamer. Running February 17 – March 3 and directed by Henry Godinez (Resident Artistic Associate at Goodman Theatre), Asolo Rep will start the “roll,” followed by productions to be announced at Goodman Theatre and Seattle Rep. E. Faye Butler, who gave a tour-de-force performance as Queenie in Asolo Rep’s 2013 production of Show Boat, will portray the title role in this deeply moving one-woman production. 

From March 17 – April 1, Asolo Rep proudly presents a lush, intimate six-person concert version of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe’s timeless masterpiece Camelot. Directed by Asolo Rep Associate Artistic Director Celine Rosenthal, Lerner and Loewe’s Camelot tells the classic, sweeping tale of King Arthur, Queen Guenevere and Sir Lancelot. Its celebrated Broadway premiere in 1960 starred Richard Burton, Julie Andrews and Robert Goulet, and was nominated for five Tony Awards, winning four. This fresh production features new orchestrations by Tony-nominee Steve Orich, who will also serve as music director, and will be performed with some dialogue and essential staging. Camelot is awaiting health and safety approval from Actors’ Equity Association. Casting will be announced soon.

The final production, running April 15 – 24, will reunite some of the stars of Asolo Rep’s box office record-breaking 2017 production of Evita. Ana Isabelle & Friends in Concert: Stand Back, Sarasota! stars internationally renowned actress and recording artist Ana Isabelle (Upcoming: Rosalia in Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner’s West Side Story), as well as world-renowned performers Junior Cervila and Guadalupe Garcia, who audiences will remember for their mesmerizing tango performance in Evita. The concert will be directed by Broadway’s Josh Rhodes (Asolo Rep: The Sound of Music, Evita, Guys and Dolls, and more; Broadway: Bright Star, It Shoulda Been You, Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella).

Subscribers for the 2020-21 season will have first access to tickets. Subscribers will receive an automatic credit for the value of their 2020-21 tickets, which can be used for the outdoor 2021 productions or applied to the 2021-22 season. Subscribers may also choose to donate these funds and receive a 100% tax-deductible receipt, or receive a refund for the value of their subscription.

Tickets for all four productions are on sale for subscribers only now. Subscribers will be emailed a link to purchase tickets.

Tickets for Laura Osnes in Concert and Fannie will go on sale to the general public on Tuesday, January 19 at 10am. Tickets for Camelot and Ana Isabelle & Friends will go on sale to the general public on Monday, February 8 at 10am and Monday, March 1 at 10am, respectively. Tickets are available online only at www.asolorep.org.