Richard Russ

BWW Flashback: Take a Look Back at ALL THE WAY's Broadway Journey Before Sequel THE GREAT SOCIETY Opens

The Great Society is currently in previews, ahead of its October 1 opening night. The play, written by Robert Schenkkan, is the sequel to the play All The Way, which played on Broadway in 2014. These plays work together to celebrate Lyndon B. Johnson's legacy. In honor of LBJ's return to Broadway, we're looking back on All The Way's Broadway journey in 2014.

Andrew Surrena Steps in for David Guzman in LA TRAVIATA at Sarasota Opera

Executive Director Richard Russell and Artistic Director Victor DeRenzi have announced that tenor Andrew Surrena will return to Sarasota Opera this season to sing the role of Alfredo in Sarasota Opera's fall production of Giuseppe Verdi's La traviata, opening Today, November 3rd. David Guzman, who was originally scheduled to sing the role, has withdrawn from the production due to illness.

Andrew Surrena Steps in for David Guzman in LA TRAVIATA at Sarasota Opera

Executive Director Richard Russell and Artistic Director Victor DeRenzi have announced that tenor Andrew Surrena will return to Sarasota Opera this season to sing the role of Alfredo in Sarasota Opera's fall production of Giuseppe Verdi's La traviata, opening Friday, November 3rd. David Guzman, who was originally scheduled to sing the role, has withdrawn from the production due to illness.

Sarasota Opera Set to Resume Regularly Scheduled Programming Post Irma

Sarasota Opera is pleased to announce that the Sarasota Opera House came through Hurricane Irma completely unscathed. With this storm now behind us, the company is ready to resume its regularly scheduled program with the following upcoming events:

Sarasota Opera and Sarasota Cuban Ballet School Announce New Collaboration

Sarasota Opera and the Sarasota Cuban Ballet School announce an inaugural collaboration for the 2017/2018 season. The Sarasota Cuban Ballet School will participate in three of the five operas in Sarasota Opera's upcoming season.

Sarasota Opera Receives Opera America Grant for New Commission

Sarasota Opera is the recipient of an $8,000 grant for the commissioning of composer Rachel J. Peters for the creation of Rootabaga Country, Sarasota Youth Opera's sixth world premiere scheduled to be performed on November 11 and 12, 2017. The grant is provided by OPERA America's Opera Grants for Female Composers program, supported by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation.

Sarasota Opera Announces New Opera House Film Series

Sarasota Opera announces an expansion of their "HD at the Movie House" series entitled "Classic Moves at the Opera House." Originally designed as a movie house and vaudeville theater, Sarasota Opera is embracing the history of the building by bringing many of the classic films that once played at the theater when they originally premiered.

Sarasota Opera Announces Casting for 2017-18 Season

World premieres, new productions, and exciting artist debuts will make the 59th season at Sarasota Opera a season not to miss. Highlights of the upcoming year include the return of Giuseppe Verdi, the 6th Sarasota Youth Opera world premiere, and operas by composers such as Vincenzo Bellini and Eugen D'Albert whose operas have not been heard on our stage.

Sarasota Opera Awarded $20,000 NEA Grant for Next World Premiere

National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Jane Chu has approved more than $82 million to fund local arts projects across the country in the NEA's second major funding announcement for fiscal year 2017. Included in this announcement is an Art Works award of $20,000 to the Sarasota Opera in support of the commissioning and world premiere of Rootabaga Country, a new opera by composer by Rachel J. Peters which will mark the company's 6th world premiere. The NEA received 1,728 Art Works applications and will make 1,029 grants ranging from $10,000 to $100,000.

Sarasota Opera Joins National Consortium

Sarasota Opera has joined forces with six opera companies nationwide to create a new commissioning initiative entitled Opera for All Voices: Stories of our Time. This new venture is committed to telling wide-ranging stories that resonate with audiences regardless of age or prior experience with opera. Selected works will be co-commissioned and co-produced with other participating companies including Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Minnesota Opera, San Francisco Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and Seattle Opera.

New Slate of Officers Announced for Sarasota Opera's Board of Directors

Sarasota Opera announced a new slate of officers and the appointment of a new board member at their annual meeting on May 1, 2017.

New Slate of Officers Announced for Sarasota Opera's Board of Directors

Sarasota Opera announced a new slate of officers and the appointment of a new board member at their annual meeting on May 1, 2017.

Photo Flash: First Look at J. Kenneth Campbell, Marckenson Charles and More in ALL THE WAY at Actors' Playhouse

Political intrigue takes center stage at Actors' Playhouse in the Tony Award-winning drama All The Way by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Robert Schenkkan.

Tony-Winning Play ALL THE WAY Opens This Friday at Actors' Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre

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BWW Review: Brave, Bold, and Beautiful SPRING AWAKENING at Lyric Music Theater

South Portland's Lyric Music Theater is taking a bold and daring step in presenting the 2006 musical adaptation of Frank Wedekind's 1891 provocative play, Spring Awakening. The wrenching musical drama explores with a piercing honesty the lives of teenagers and their adult authority figures locked in a lethal struggle as the young men and women search for freedom of expression, sexual liberation and fulfillment, and the embrace of their true identities in a dark, corseted world of repression and convention. The issues raised by Frank Wedekind's play remain as potent and relevant today as they did in the late 19th century, and the Steven Sater book and lyrics and Duncan Sheik music remain true to the essence of the piece. Wedekind's world - the world of Freud and nascent psychology - is a bleak place where adults abuse their children psychologically and physically, where creativity is stifled, and love - as a total expression of body and soul - is forbidden. In this dark universe, the young villagers long in secret and search for a path through the pain.

Sarasota Opera Announces 12th Performance Of MADAME BUTTERFLY, 3/12

 Due to overwhelming demand, Sarasota Opera is pleased to announce a 12th performance of Puccini's Madama Butterfly has been added for Sunday, March 12th at 7:30pm. Since the opera opened on February 11th, every performance has been a sell-out with limited ticket availability for upcoming performances.

Actors Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre Announces Complete Cast for ALL THE WAY

Political intrigue will take center stage as Actors' Playhouse prepares to open the Tony Award-winning drama All The Way by Pultizer Prize-winning playwright Robert Schenkkan. This riveting behind-the-scenes look at President Lyndon B. Johnson's (LBJ) tumultuous first year in office in the wake of President Kennedy's assassination has earned accolades from audiences and critics alike, from its start at Oregon Shakespeare Festival to its powerful Broadway run and most recent HBO Films adaptation starring four-time Emmy® winner Bryan Cranston. Artistic Director David Arisco directs this limited engagement production that will run March 22 - April 9, 2017 at the Miracle Theatre.

Hannah Yelland to Star in World Premiere of INTELLIGENCE at Arena Stage; Cast Set!

Jacqueline E. Lawton's new political thriller Intelligence makes its world premiere at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. Under the direction of Daniella Topol (Round House's Ironbound), Intelligence explores the cost of deception and the consequences of speaking truth to power. Due to popular demand, the production has been extended for one week with eight additional performances and will run February 24-April 9, 2017 in the Arlene and Robert Kogod Cradle.

Opera Sarasota Partners With Alliance Francaise For First Time In DIALOGUES OF THE CARMELITES: BEYOND THE STAGE, Today

For the first time, Sarasota Opera and the Sarasota chapter of the Alliance Francaise will partner to present a free program entitled "Dialogues of the Carmelites: Beyond the Stage" today, February 15th at 7pm in the Kamlet Library at the Sarasota Opera House. 

Capacity Crowd Attends Peninsula Players' Reading of POPULATION 485

Peninsula Players Theatre presented a reading of "Population 485" by Michael Perry at Bjorklunden Monday, February 6 to an audience of more than 150.  "Population 485" was produced as part of The Play's the Thing, a winter series of play readings organized by Peninsula Players Theatre.