The FSU/Asolo Conservatory Presents THE LEARNED LADIES

The FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training prepares to open the next show in its 2021-22 season, Molière's The Learned Ladies. Directed by Benny Sato Ambush, the show runs Feb. 23 - March 13, with a pay-what-you-can preview on Feb. 22.

Full of wildly comic characters, The Learned Ladies is Molière's most popular play. Clitandre seeks the hand of Henriette, a match heartily approved of by her father, Chrysale. However, his wife, Philaminte, has other plans for her younger daughter - namely marriage to a foppish wit who panders to Philaminte's middle class pretensions.

"Molière used humor to skewer and lampoon human foibles in all walks of life," said Ambush, noting that the playwright's work reflected inconvenient truths about human nature, getting him into trouble with authority and at times running afoul of the tastes and preferences of the royal and aristocratic patronage he relied upon. "His pleas for moderation, balance and reason in human affairs are as relevant in today's world of excesses as they were in the 17th century when he was alive."

Ambush is the artistic director of the Venice Theatre in Venice, Fla., America's second largest community theatre. He previously artistically helmed two professional theatres (Oakland Ensemble Theatre and Richmond's TheatreVirginia), as well as the academically based Rites & Reason Theatre Company at Brown University. For nine years, he was the senior distinguished producing director in residence at Emerson College's Department of Performing Arts. He has directed at numerous professional regional theatres and academic theatre training programs throughout the United States and has taught acting and directing for MFA, BFA and BA programs nationally.

The cast of The Learned Ladies is comprised of second-year Conservatory students - Erin O'Connor as Armande, Zoya Martin as Henriette, Peter Raimondo as Clitandre, Macaria Chaparro Martinez as Bélise, Jerald Wheat as Ariste, Joe Ayers as Chrysale, Sydney Story as Martine, Imani Lee Williams as Philaminte, Christian Douglass as Trissotin, Evan Stevens as Vadius, Dreaa Kay Baudy as A Notary - and first-year students Mikhail Roberts as Lépine and Rickey Watson Jr. as Julien. First-year students make up the crew.

The creative team includes Production Manager/Technical Director Chris McVicker, Stage Manager Savannah Heslep, Scenic Designer Jeffrey Weber, Sound Designer Alex Pinchin, Costume Designer Dee Sullivan, Resident Hair/Wig & Make-up Designer Michelle Hart, Voice & Dialect Coach Patricia Delorey and Movement Coach Eliza Ladd.

The Learned Ladies plays Feb. 22 - March 13 in the Cook Theatre at the FSU Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets are $32 and are available online at asolorep.org/conservatory/season, by phone at 941.351.8000 or in person at the Asolo Rep Box Office at 5555 N. Tamiami Trail in Sarasota. Student prices are also available.

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