Florida Studio Theatre Extends FAMILY SECRETS Thru 8/8

Florida Studio Theatre announces the extension of its hit show, Family Secrets , for two addi-tionAl Weeks of performances through August 8, after playing to sold out audiences through its regular run.

The one-woman tour de force stars the dynamic Sarasota star, Carolyn Michel, who has won over audiences with her"overall remarkable performance." (Wayne Barcomb, Pelican Press) "After the overwhelmingly positive response to our production of Family Secrets , it is with my pleasure that FST an-nounces the two-week extension of the show. Carolyn Michel shines in this telling story of a family - and its funny truths of love, loss, and humankind.

Not only is Carolyn excellent, but she handles the poignant one-woman show as if it were written for her. It is a joy to watch her drag one secret after another out of the family closet and bring down the house with laughter, as she broadcasts the ‘secrets' to the world. We laugh because we recognize this family in ourselves. We laugh because we are taken on a journey through the many secrets of our private world that we would like to keep hidden away in the family closet." - Richard Hopkins, Artistic Director

Additional performances include: Tuesday, July 27 at 8:00PM, Wednesday, July 28 at 8:00PM, Thursday, July 29 at 8:00PM, Friday, July 30 at 8:00PM, Saturday, August 1 at 2:00PM and 8:00PM, Sunday, August 2 at 3:00PM, Tuesday, August 4 at 8:00PM, Saturday, August 7 at 8:00PM, and Sunday, August 8 at 3:00PM.

Family Secrets is "a universal story about parental love, children's frustrations with parental authority and the desire for everyone to feel like they belong and become happy in their own lives." (Jay handelman, Sarasota herald-Tribune) The second production in Florida Studio Theatre's Summerfest season, Family Secrets, opened on June 30, 2010.

Audience members left the Gompertz theatre buzzing about Michel's "beautiful performance," saying she is "sucha talented performer, getting better and better each time we see her," and things like "phenomenal," "fabulous," and "a simply marvelous production." Family Secrets holds the title of longest running one-woman show in Off-Broadway history. Family Secrets , written by Sherry Glaser and Gregory howells, is a hilarious family portrait that earned this distinction after 462 performances in 1995.In Family Secrets , Carolyn Michel portrays five family members, based on the eccentric family of playwright and original performer Sherry Glaser. The play weaves through the unique stories of the family members from patriarch Carolyn Michel has a long history of working with FST, having worked with the theater for over 20 years.

She was most recently seen at Florida Studio Theatre this May in a reading of The Taste Test . She has previously starred in many FST productions including a few other notable one-woman shows playing Ann Landers in The Lady Withall the Answers in 2007, the title character in Rose in 2003, and playing Dorothy Parker in One Foot in Scarsdale in 1991 and 2004. Family Secrets was created by the collaboration of wife and husband team Sherry Glaser and Gregory Howells.

FST continued this tradition of a wedded collaboration by having Michel's husband Howard Millman as director of the production. Millman has worked in the Sarasota area for years. He was the managing director of Asolo Reper-tory Theatre from 1968 to 1980. He returned to The Asolo in 1995 and served as the Producing Artistic Directorfor 11 years.While Family Secrets focuses specifically on one quirky, Jewish family, the themes presented are universal. To Carolyn Michel this play explores many more families than the one presented onstage. "No matter what," Michel says, "family is the most important thing we have. And I mean that in the broad sense-not only people we are directly related to, but our family of friends. And, in the large picture, the family of humankind.

"The production design team includes Lauren Feldman as Scenic Designer, Nicole Wee as Costume Designer, Michael Foster as Lighting Designer, and John Valines as Sound Designer.The hilarious Family Secrets continues through August 8, 2010 at the Gompertz Theatre. Tickets are $19 - $34 and may be purchased from the FST Box Office in person, by phone (941) 366 - 9000 or online at www.floridastu-diotheatre.org!

Known as Sarasota's Contemporary Theatre, Florida Studio Theatre was founded in 1973 by Jon Spelman. Start-ing 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 AmericanTheatre, 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 speaksto our living, evolving, and dynamically changing world. As FST grows and expands, it continues to provide audi-ences with challenging, contemporary drama and innovative programs.Florida Studio Theatre is grateful to Dennis and Graci McGillicuddy and Jules and Sheila Rose for underwriting the 2010 Summerfest Season and to the Sarasota Arts Council, Tourist Development Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.

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