Asolo Rep Announces 2011-12 Season: MY FAIR LADY, GOD OF CARNAGE, & More!

Michael Donald Edwards, Asolo Rep producing artistic director, and Greg Leaming, Asolo Rep associate artistic director and director of The FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training, announced today their selections for the 2011-2012 season.

Opening the Asolo Rep's 53nd season is Tony Award-winning My Fair Lady, a musical that has been called "the perfect musical." The Rep season launches in January 2012 with Once in a Lifetime by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza, and Yentl adapted by Leah Napolin and Isaac Bashevis Singer. In March the season continues to sizzle with Fallen Angels by Noel Coward, and then Mr. Edwards will direct a special adaptation of Shakespeare-Hamlet, Prince of Cuba that will perform in Miami after its Sarasota run.

Asolo Rep will also produce the world premiere of Who the #$&% is Jackson Pollock? a new play based on the movie by Harry Moses, by Liz Brixus, creator of the Showtime hit, Nurse Jackie. The season will also feature a thrilling new musical event being developed by Noah Racey, Tommy Tune and Jeff Calhoun, entitled-Tommy Tune Presents: State of the Art Song and Dance. Additionally, Asolo Rep's Unplugged, festival of new plays, will return for its third season, as will the New Stages program with a touring production titled Hamlet Redux.

"Constructing a season for a repertory company of this caliber requires considering a vast array of issues. It must all be shaped so carefully; the stars must truly align. Our company, the artists and organizations with which we've developed such strong relationships, combined with the strength of our production studios, collaborative resources, and amazing theatres--are all factors that put us in a unique position to do what most theater companies can only dream of doing. And with the enormous responsibility we have as a State Theatre of Florida, we strive for the season to be as exciting and appealing for as many different people as possible," explains Michael Donald Edwards. "We've created a season filled with the thrill of new works, brilliant classics produced as though they were brand new, searing dramas, outrageous comedies, and soaring musicals. It is a season that will challenge, astonish, and delight - come and dream with us."

Starting with A Tale of Two Cities in 2007, Asolo Rep has kicked off its season in a grand way each year with a major musical theatre production. My Fair Lady is based upon George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion, with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, and music by Frederick Loewe. Its 1956 Broadway production set the then record for the longest run of any major musical theater production in history, and was followed by a hit London production, a popular film version, and numerous acclaimed revivals. It has been called "the perfect musical" by the NY Times.

Opening in October 2011, Asolo Rep's New Stages program returns for its fourth season with Hamlet Redux, a 45-minute cutting providing an exciting new perspective on Shakespeare's Hamlet. New Stages showcases the talents of the entire third year class of the FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training in thrilling productions specifically chosen to enrich the lives of young and multi-generational audiences. In 2010 with its production of Antigone Now, New Stages reached out to perform in schools and unique venues throughout the community. The touring shows are fully costumed and propped, using minimal or no sets, so they can be performed almost anywhere from school auditoriums, to botanical gardens, to an intimate engagement at an art gallery. The 2010 tour reached five counties and over 10,000 people. By popular demand, Hamlet Redux will extend program reach for the 2011-2012 tour. This will be accomplished by splitting the cast into two teams, enabling New Stages to double performances.

In 2012 Asolo Rep will bring back Unplugged: theatre in the raw, a new play festival launched during the 2009--2010 season to develop original works from four to five playwrights. The festival's curator is FSU/Asolo Conservatory Director Greg Leaming. Past Unplugged artists include Greenfield Prize winner Craig Lucas and Pulitzer Prize nominated playwright Steven Drukman, whose play The Innocents will receive its World Premiere at Asolo Rep on April 15, 2011. The third season of festival titles selected for development will be announced in 2012.

Subscriptions are available now. Single tickets go on sale in September 2011. For information on purchasing a subscription or individual tickets for Asolo Rep's 2011-2012 season, please contact the box office at 941-351-8000 or toll-free at 800-361-8388, or go to www.AsoloRep.org.