Florida Stage Presents 'Cane' A New Mystery

CANE
A Gripping New Mystery
First in the Florida Cycle

Florida Stage opens its 24th season with the new mystery 'Cane,' written by Andrew Rosendorf. Cane represents the first in a collection of plays being commissioned by Florida Stage about issues central to the state of Florida (The Florida Cycle). This is a deeply human and riveting new play with some extraordinary special effects-that looks at how it is possible that one of the wettest states in the nation has become so dry.

'Cane' also represents the opening of Florida Stage's first season as the resident company in the Rinker Playhouse at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts. 'Cane' preview performances are Wednesday, October 27 at 7:30 p.m. and Thursday, October 28 at 1:30 and 7:30 p.m.  The show runs through Sunday, November 28. Performances are Wednesdays through Sundays at 7:30 p.m. with matinees on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays at 1:30 p.m. Tickets for 'Cane' are currently available to season subscribers and groups of 10 or more people and single tickets may be purchased by calling the Florida Stage Box Office at (561) 585-3433 or (800) 514-3837 (outside of Palm Beach County). Order online at www.floridastage.org.  

Set in "the Glades" of South Florida, 'Cane' begins in 1928, the year of the great Okeechobee hurricane. A farmer is losing his land to rising waters and a young black woman may become the unwitting mother to the future. Fast forward to present day and the same area is just days away from having no water at all. The past and the present are deeply connected in this story of betrayal and bloodshed, water and wind, family and fortune.

Andrew Rosendorf (Playwright) is a new voice in the world of American theatre. He began his career as an intern at Florida Stage and has returned in 2008 to be the company's Playwright-in-Residence. His other work includes Brilliant Corners (NNPN National Showcase 2009), The Kid (Weissberger Award nominee 2009), Good Night & God Bless or The Lone Ranger Rides Again (Florida Stage 1st Stage New Works Festival 2009) and Orlah (Heideman Award Finalist 2010). Andrew holds a BA from the College of William and Mary and an MFA from the New School of Drama.

Louis Tyrrell (Producing Director) has been pioneering Florida theatre since 1974. He founded Florida Stage, a non-profit professional regional theatre in Palm Beach County in 1987. Dedicated to the development and production of new work in American theatre, Florida Stage has become an important nurturing ground for some of the best new plays being written today. Under his guidance, the company has produced more than 130 new works, many of which have enjoyed rich and rewarding production lives throughout the country. Also central to the Florida Stage mission, the theatre's education outreach programs are among the most innovative in the nation and have been honored with the Florida Commissioner of Education's Business Recognition Award for outstanding support of education. As an actor and director, he has been recognized extensively. Awards include several acting and directing Carbonell Awards from the South Florida Critics' Association, the Ubertalli Award for Artistic Excellence from the Palm Beach County Cultural Council, a Florida Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship, the Fallon Award for Excellence in Professional Theatre, the FAU Palm Beach County Cultural Leader Award, and the George Abbott Award for Outstanding Artistic Achievement.

Dan Leonard (Jacob Gold/Boots) has been a member of the Florida Stage family since the company's very first production. He was last seen at Florida Stage as Joe in Dirty Business and GJ in Ordinary Nation, other recent Florida appearances include The Chairs and The Price at Palm Beach DramaWorks, Moscow Stations for Take Heed, The Voysey Inheritance and Vincent at the Caldwell. Dan's New York credits include Lincoln Center Theatre's A Soldier's Tale, and Signposts at BAM.

Trenell Mooring (Harriet/Zora) This is Trenell's Florida Stage debut. A graduate of the University of Florida, she later trained at the Stella Adler School of Acting's 2-year program in NYC, class of 2000. Past credits include The Last Days of Judas Iscariot as St. Monica and Oleanna (Empty Spaces), Shipwrecked, The Matchmaker, I Have Before Me...Rwanda, The Fantasticks, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, and A Lesson Before Dying (Mad Cow Theatre), The Neverending Story (Orlando Rep), The Colored Museum, Purlie Victorious and Seven Guitars (Peoples Theatre) and Hate Mail (Jester Theater), as well as performing improv at Walt Disney World Hollywood Studios.

David Nail (Noah Brooks/Isaac Brooks) returns to Florida Stage after appearing in Israel Horovitz's Sins of the Mother last season. He is a graduate of the Performing Artists' Musical Theatre Conservatory in Dallas, Texas, and holds a BFA in theatre performance and direction from Texas Wesleyan University.

Julie Rowe (Ruthie Wilson/Barbara Wilson) is a graduate of Idaho State University where she received the Professional Achievement Award for Arts and Humanities from the College of Arts and Sciences, 2005. Favorite productions include A Moon for the Misbegotten (Josie), Spinning Into Butter, Proof, Dinner with Friends, Three Days of Rain, Hamlet, Betrayal (Emma), By the Waters of Babylon (Catherine), Lysistrata (Lysistrata), An Oak Tree (Guest Actor), Romeo and Juliet, The Little Dog Laughed, and the one-woman show 9 Parts of Desire. Julie was named Best Actress in both Readers Poll and Critics Choice in Creative Loafing's Best of the Bay 2009, she received the Tampa Bay United Way Volunteer of the Year in 2005, and is a recipient of a 2008 Pinellas County Individual Artist Grant. A member of Actors' Equity Association, Julie is the Director of Education at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre.

Gregg Weiner (Eddie Wilson/ "Junior" Wilson) is making his Florida Stage debut. He most recently closed 50 Words at Gablestage in Miami, and prior to that, he was in Mosaic's Groundswell. Gregg is a two-time Carbonell Award winner. Other credits include Speed the Plow (Gablestage), Seafarer (Mosaic Theatre), Dumb Show (Promethean Theatre) and Broadsword (Madcat Theatre). His screen credits include Transporter 2, "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" and "The Glades".

Suzanne Clement Jones (Lighting Designer) Ms. Jones is beginning her 22nd season with Florida Stage as Production Stage Manager. Her first production for this company was The Immigrant, in the Duncan Theatre 1988. Since then she has stage managed 74 productions for Florida Stage, the most recent include Cagney!, The Storytelling Ability of a Boy, Dr. Radio, and Low Down Dirty Blues. Her recent lighting designs for Florida Stage include The Bridegroom of Blowing Rock, and Sins of the Mother. She has been nominated for 6 Carbonell Awards and received the award for her design of Dark Rapture in 1995. Other design credits include: at Riverside Theatre in Vero Beach -- The Last 5 Years; Blowing Rock in North Carolina -- Backwards in High Heels; Mosaic Theatre in Ft. Lauderdale -- In A Dark, Dark House and A Body of Water; and at Palm Beach DramaWorks --That Championship Season, The Price and The Subject Was Roses. Suzanne holds a MFA in Design from Northwestern University.

Richard Crowell (Scenic Design) has been designing scenery and lighting for the stage since 1980, and for many productions at Florida Stage since his first production with the company in 1991. Richard received a MFA degree from the stage design training program at The Meadows School of the Arts, Southern Methodist University and a BFA in technical theatre from The University of Memphis.

Erin Amico (Costume Design) Erin Stearns Amico joined Florida Stage in 1995, designing costumes for Fish or Cut Bait and Puttin' on the Ritz, An Irving Berlin American Songbook. In her capacity as Costume Shop Coordinator, she manages the creation and implementation of the costumes and makeup for the entire season. She has also continues to design many shows here at Florida Stage and in the region, winning the prestigious Carbonell Award for Costume Design several times. After receiving her Master of Arts degree in Theatrical Design, Erin spent several years freelancing as a designer, working as a scenic artist and as a professor of theatre. She has been a member of United Scenic Artists Local 829 since 1998.

Matt Kelly (Sound Design) is celebrating his 13th season with Florida Stage. Matt has designed over 30 productions for Florida Stage. Some of these include Yankee Tavern, End Days, Ice Glen, String of Pearls, Miklat, The Music Lesson, Bach At Leipzig (Carbonell Nomination), Running with Scissors, Mercy of a Storm (Carbonell Nomination), and The Drawer Boy. His designs have also been heard at the Greenbrier VAlley Theatre, the Asolo Theatre, the Illusion Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse, the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Dorset Theatre Festival, Capital Repertory Company and Theatre at Lime Kiln. Matt is currently the sound engineer and resident sound designer for Florida Stage.

Florida Stage develops and produces new plays in a passionate, intimate and caring environment, adhering to a standard of uncompromising excellence. We provide a safe harbor for theatre artists and audiences to share in stories of our humanity, a place where the sheer joy of creation and the Florida Stage Experience is paramount. We choose to provoke dialogue in our community and inspire people of different ages and ethnic and social backgrounds through our productions and our innovative educational programs.

Florida Stage is a member of the League of Resident Theatres, Theatre Communications Group, Florida Professional Theatre Association, the National Alliance for Musical Theatre and the National New Play Network, and works in association with Actors' Equity Association, the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers and United Scenic Artists.

Funded in part with generous support from the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs, the Palm Beach County Tourist Development Council, the Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners, the Palm Beach County Cultural Council, The Shubert Foundation, The Heckscher Foundation for Children, The Jerome L. Greene Foundation, The Helen and Merrill Bank Foundation, the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties, The Sharkey Family Foundation and hundreds of individuals and corporations.

Media Sponsor for the 2010-2011 season is Comcast Spotlight.

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