Florida Studio Theater Opens BLACK PEARL SINGS 4/8-5/30

Florida Studio Theatre opens Frank Higgins' Black Pearl Sings in its continuation of the Winter Mainstage Season. Work shopped at Florida Studio Theatre last spring, Black Pearl Sings! "Connects us to our heritage, our culture, and each other, while asking the simple question: who owns culture?" stated Richard Hopkins, FST Artistic Director.

A search for undiscovered folk music leads Susannah, an ambitious "song collector," to an African-American prisoner. Pearl holds a treasure-trove of unrecorded slave-era music, but can she hand over her ancestors' songs without giving up something of herself? The legacy of the past and hope for the future clash in this gripping new play, featuring great American folk tunes.
Black Pearl Sings! made its World Premiere at Stages Repertory Theatre in October, 2007. Frank Higgins, both a playwright and poet, is author of The Sweet By ‘n' By which was produced with Blythe Danner and Gweneth Paltrow. Gunplay has been produced across the country and had several scenes read on Capitol Hill prior to Congress's passage of the Brady Bill. Higgins has published several books including a full length collection of poetry titled Starting From Ellis Island and a book of haiku titled Eating Blowfish.

The Black Pearl Sings! cast includes Houtston, Tx. Actress Alice M. Gatling (Pearl), who returns after participating in FST's workshop last season. She also starred in the World Premiere at Stages Repertory Theatre. She has recently been seen in Doubt and To Kill a Mockingbird at the Alley Theater and Caroline, or Change at Main Street Theatre. In recent seasons in Houston, she has appeared in Fences, The Gospel at Colonus, The Piano Lesson (Best Actress award) and the encore staging of From the Mississippi Delta. She also directed The Colored Museum.
Broadway Actress Kathy Danzer (Susannah) returns to FST, having appeared in How I Learned to Drive and Dinner with Friends. She appeared in the Broadway and National production of Crimes of the Heart. Other credits include Biloxi Blues (National Tour and Papermill Playhouse), The Last Night of Ballyhoo (Hilton Head Arts Center), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (Virginia Stage), A Shayna Maidel (Olney Theatre), Voice of the Prairie and Crossing Delancey (Capitol Rep), Beau Jest (Birmingham Theater).

Florida Studio Theatre's Associate Director, Kate Alexander will direct. Alexander most recently directed the Stage III production of Y York's ...and L.A. is Burning. As Associate Director, she ministers to the artistic needs of the theatre and its many community and states educational programs. On the FST stages some of the plays she has directed are Pure Confidence, Underneath the Lintel, The Miamians, Wit, Proof, Lobby Hero, Ten Unknowns, the Exonerated, Brooklyn Boy as well as the company developed pieces, the Playmakers and Under Six.

The production design team includes Roman Tatarowicz as Scenic Designer, Michael Foster as Lighting Designer and FST staff member Marcella Beckwith as Costume Designer.
The discovery of Black Pearl Sings! continues through May 30, 2009 at the Keating Mainstage. Tickets are $19 - $32 and may be purchased from the FST Box Office in person, by phone (941) 366 - 9000 or online at www.floridastudiotheatre.org 

Known as Sarasota's Contemporary Theatre, Florida Studio Theatre was founded in 1973 by Jon Spelman. Starting out as a small touring company, FST traveled to places such as migrant camps and prisons. The company eventually settled down into a permanent home, acquiring the former Woman's Club building -

now renamed the Keating Theatre. In the years that followed, Florida Studio

Theatre established itself as a major force in American Theatre, presenting contemporary theatre in its three theatre venues: the Keating Theatre, the Goldstein Cabaret and its newest space, the Gompertz Theatre.

Even with its growth, Florida Studio Theatre remains firmly committed to making the arts accessible and affordable to a broad-based audience. Under Richard Hopkins, Artistic Director and CEO, FST develops theatre that speaks to our living, evolving, and dynamically changing world. As FST grows and expands, it continues to provide audiences with challenging, contemporary drama and innovative programs.

Florida Studio Theatre is grateful to Robert and Bonny Israeloff, Dennis and Graci McGillicuddy and Jules & Sheila Rose for underwriting the 2008 - 2009 Mainstage Season and to the Florida Arts Council, Sarasota Arts Council, Tourist Development Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.

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