ASOLO REPERTORY THEATRE PRESENTS
AN FSU/ASOLO CONSERVATORY FOR ACTOR TRAINING
TOURING PRODUCTION OF THE TRAGEDY OF HAMLET
(SARASOTA, August 25, 2016) Asolo Repertory Theatre proudly presents an FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training touring production of THE TRAGEDY OF HAMLET. This brand new production, which will be presented during the 400th anniversary year of Shakespeare’s death, is adapted and directed by Justin Lucero, director of the FSU/Asolo Conservatory’s hit 2015 production of The Liar. This seventh annual educational touring production, THE TRAGEDY OF HAMLET, will tour schools and community venues throughout Sarasota and the state of Florida, from Tallahassee to Miami, from September 27 through November 22, 2016. There will be a special performance for educators, press, and the public on Friday, September 30 at 6pm in the Cook Theatre, located in the FSU Center for the Performing Arts.
“To be or not to be,” is just one of the haunting, evocative questions posed by Hamlet in one of Shakespeare’s most enduring tragedies. When Hamlet’s father’s ghost reveals that Claudius, Hamlets uncle, was behind his sudden death and demands vengeance for his murder, Hamlet is thrust into an introspective battle where the casualties are many and there may just be no victor.
“A point of inspiration comes from how Shakespeare ends the play: Hamlet’s final words to his best friend, Horatio, are ‘tell my story.’ What a dying wish! We are approaching this production as if Horatio literally did honor Hamlet by going throughout the world to tell Hamlet’s story,” said Director Justin Lucero. “Horatio started a touring theatre troupe that dedicated itself to presenting THE TRAGEDY OF HAMLET. And as the generations went on, the touring theatre troupe went on. As a part of the story-telling, our young audiences will witness all the aspects of theatre-making that are traditionally left hidden to an audience. In full view and never ‘exiting,’ our players will set up the scenes and props, put on and change costume pieces, and even create lighting cues, sound effects, and perform live music.”
Last season’s touring production of Twelfth Night was performed for more than 14,000 students and community members throughout the state, and the demand for this season’s production among schools has been tremendous. Performances include post-show discussions with the cast, where audience members can engage with the actors and learn more about the artistic process. Asolo Rep’s award-winning Education and Outreach Department also provides supplemental classroom materials, including behind-the-scenes videos, study guides and suggested activities.
THE TRAGEDY OF HAMLET will feature the entire FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training third year class. The FSU/Asolo Conservatory is a comprehensive three-year Master of Fine Arts graduate degree program that has been named one of the top 10 actor training programs in the country by U.S. News and World Report. Conservatory students join Asolo Rep’s professional company of actors during their third year of training and perform in Asolo Rep’s mainstage season.
“Students all around Florida encounter Shakespeare’s writing on the page, but to experience a masterpiece like THE TRAGEDY OF HAMLET in performance adds clarity, excitement, and most of all a very real and relatable humanity,” said Michael Donald Edwards, Producing Artistic Director of Asolo Rep. “That humanity is what touches us all, and can help students understand, in a powerful and visceral way, why we still draw from the classics today. I’m proud that in crafting an original performance specifically suited for travel, we are able to provide this experience for so many young people in Florida.”
CAST
(In Alphabetical Order)
Jillian Courtney…………………………………………Gertrude
Michael Fisher……………………………………………..Ghost
Rob Glauz…………………………………..Featured Player A
Scott Kuiper………………………………………………..Hamlet
Brett Mack+*……………………………………………..Claudius
Brandon Maldonado……………………..Featured Player B
Wyatt McNeil………………………………………………Laertes
Mike Perez*………………………………………………Claudius
Danielle Renella…………………………………….Rosenstern
Jacob Sherburne………………………………………..Polonius
Kelly Elizabeth Smith……………………………………Horatio
Jessie Taylor………………………………………………Ophelia
*Appears in alternate performances
+Appears courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association
SELECTED CREATIVE TEAM MEMBERS
Director………………………………………………..Justin Lucero
Properties Designer………………………….Marlène Whitney
Costume Designer…………………………………Becki Stafford
Sound Designer…………………………………Matthew Parker
SELECTED ARTISTIC BIO
JUSTIN LUCERO (Director, THE TRAGEDY OF HAMLET) directed last season’s hit FSU/Asolo Conservatory production of The Liar. At Asolo Rep, he was Guest Assistant Director on Living on Love and Directing Fellow/Assistant Director of The Matchmaker, Both Your Houses, and Our Betters. Justin was the 2016 recipient of a FAIR Directing Assistantship on Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s Hamlet and a 2015 SDCF Directing Observership on South Coast Repertory’s Peter and the Starcatcher. London credits: Director-on-Attachment, Lord of the Flies and Crazy for You (Olivier Award®, Best Musical Revival), both at Regents Park Open Air Theatre. He was Associate Director on Sir Tim Rice’s musical Lute! (world premiere) and The Smithsonian Institute’s “Opera Bhutan” (world premiere). He is the Co-Founding Artistic Director of Scaffolding Theatre Company whose 2015 production of Chicago “impressed the national theater community,” according to Playbill magazine, which later named Scaffolding among Harvard, Yale, Pace and Stanford as one of five “innovative” companies that think “outside the theatrical box.” Associate member of SDC. Training: MFA, London’s East 15 Acting School.
ADDITIONAL PUBLIC PERFORMANCES
In addition to school visits across the county and state, the 2016 New Stages Tour includes several community performances that are open to the public. Please contact each individual venue for ticket information.
Florida Theatre Conference at Santa Fe College
3000 NW 83 Street, Gainesville
November 2
727.544.8915; www.flatheatre.org
Fogartyville Community Media and Arts Center
525 Kumquat Court, Sarasota
November 13
www.wslr.org/station-events
Glenridge Performing Arts Center
7333 Scotland Way, Sarasota
November 16
941.552.5325 or toll free 1.888.999 GLEN (4536);
www.gpactix.com
Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast
400 Palmetto Ave, Osprey
November 20, 3pm entry, 3:30pm performance
Reservations required: 941.918.2100; www.conservationfoundation.com
Current as of 8/25/16; for current listings please visit: http://www.asolorep.org/education/tour-2016
TICKETS
Tickets for THE TRAGEDY OF HAMLET opening night performance in the Cook Theatre on September 30 at 6pm are $25 and will go on sale Thursday, September 8 at 10am. Tickets are available by calling or visiting the box office (941.351.8000 or 800.361.8388; 5555 N. Tamiami Trail) or online at www.asolorep.org.
Asolo Repertory Theatre is located at 5555 North Tamiami Trail in the Florida State University Center for the Performing Arts. Box office hours through November 1 are Monday through Friday 10am-5pm. Season subscription packages are also available online and by visiting or calling the box office.
SPONSORS
The 2016 Tour is made possible by lead sponsor Community Foundation of Sarasota County; Publix Super Markets Charities; Asolo Repertory Theatre Guild; Charles and Margery Barancik Foundation; Cordelia Lee Beattie Foundation; Mandell and Madeleine Berman Foundation; Linnie E. Dalbeck Memorial Foundation Trust; Andrew R. Ferrell Foundation; Charles Henry Leach II Fund; Plantation Community Foundation, and the State of Florida Division of Cultural Affairs. Community Foundation of Sarasota County support is made possible through the Joseph and Sylvia Bloom Unrestricted Fund, John and Dorothy Brennan Charitable Fund, Lola G. Hanna Fund, Walter Haskins Fund in memory of Stacey K. Haskins, and Thomas and Lola Seligman Fund.
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