Feb. 24 INSIDE ASOLO REP Features Tony Award Winning Director Frank Galati

Wednesday, February 24 @ 11am
INSIDE ASOLO REP
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner and All the Way

Asolo Repertory Theatre’s Dramaturg Lauryn Sasso will guide INSIDE ASOLO REP, a special behind-the-scenes discussion featuring Tony Award-winner and Academy Award nominee Frank Galati, director of Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, along with Shaun Patrick Tubbs, directing fellow for All The Way and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.

Associate Artist at Asolo Rep and member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, Frank Galati has received nine Joseph Jefferson Awards for his work in Chicago theatre: one for acting, five for directing and three for writing. Here at Asolo Rep he has directed Both Your Houses; Philadelphia, Here I Come!; 1776; My Fair Lady; and the award-winning Twelve Angry Men. He won two Tony Awards in 1990 for his adaptation and direction of The Grapes of Wrath on Broadway, and was again nominated in 1998 for directing the musical Ragtime. In 1989, Mr. Galati was nominated for an Academy Award for his screenplay (with Lawrence Kasdan) of The Accidental Tourist.

Director and actor Shaun Patrick Tubbs is recipient of the 2015 SDC/Kurt Weill Fellowship for emerging directors. His work has been seen at Royal Opera House, London; Arena Stage, La MaMa Spoleto, Italy and Marin Theatre Company. During his season at Asolo Rep, Shaun will also be the directing fellow for Disgraced, directed by Michael Donald Edwards, opening in the Historic Asolo Theater on April 1.

February 24, 11am on the Asolo Rep Mezzanine
Come at 10am, and enjoy coffee and pastries in the lobby!

Tickets for INSIDE ASOLO REP are $5 for the general public and free for donors and Asolo Rep Guild members. Reservations are strongly recommended.

Click here to purchase tickets.

Asolo Rep will be one of the featured arts organizations on PBS/WEDU’s ARTS PLUS on Thursday, February 18 at 8pm. The arts and culture series is devoted to telling stories of the individuals and cultural organizations that make West Central Florida – Florida’s Cultural Coast – such a vibrant region. The Asolo Rep segment will feature interviews with Producing Artistic Director Michael Donald Edwards, Managing Director Linda DiGabriele, directors Peter Amster and Frank Galati, Production Manager Vic Meyrich, Costume Shop Manager David Covach, and actors Tyla Abercrumbie and David Breitbarth. Be sure to tune in to hear the behind-the-scenes stories from the 57-year history of our beloved theatre, from the unique challenges of operating in rotating repertory, to the meticulous construction of the intricate costumes and sets you see on our stage,

PLAYING THIS WEEK AT ASOLO REP

“I do not laugh easily… but the Asolo production of Living on Love made me laugh, and laugh repeatedly. As the Maestro says about the first time he met the Diva: ‘Wow!’”
– Dr. Joseph Amato, Bradenton Times

“If you enjoy good acting, gentle, self-satirizing wit and the best voice you will hear in musical theater for a while, see Living on Love before the end of its run.”
– Andrew Meacham, Tampa Bay Times

Get ready for non-stop laughs when this classy new show-biz comedy takes the stage at Asolo Rep. There’s only one person with a worse temperament, bigger ego and more flamboyant sense of self-importance than opera diva Raquel – and that’s her husband, the Italian maestro Vito De Angelis. When Raquel discovers Vito has become enamored with the young lady ghostwriting his largely fictionalized autobiography, she hires her own handsome scribe to chronicle her life as an opera star. Sparks fly, silverware is thrown and romance blossoms in unexpected ways in this glamorous romp through the world of music, marriage and celebrity.

“Finely acted, intelligently staged and outstandingly well designed—in short, everything I’ve come to expect from Asolo Rep.”
– Terry Teachout, The Wall Street Journal

“Laugh out loud funny… Ah, Wonderful!”
– Dennis Maley, Bradenton Times

Return to an idyllic age of Americana in Eugene O’Neill’s romantic and sweetly funny, Ah, Wilderness! On July 4, 1906, while the Miller family is planning its holiday festivities, dreamy-eyed middle child Richard is spurned by his first love and sets out on a rebellious adventure into the adult world. As his attempts to sow his wild oats intersect with small-town gossip, hilarious misunderstandings ensue. Filled with popular music of the time, the memories of family life and all its foibles were never so delicately portrayed in O’Neill’s coming-of-age love letter to a simpler time in America.

“This is a gripping night of theater.”
– Marty Fugate, The Observer

“Wyman is nothing short of brilliant as L.B.J.”
– Dennis Maley, Bradenton Times

1964 was a pivotal year in American history – a landmark Civil Rights Bill was passed, America began its involvement in Vietnam… and one man sat at the center of it all. A masterful and ruthless politician with towering ambitions and an indomitable will, Lyndon B. Johnson would do whatever it took to lift the country out of the ashes and secure his re-election. With 26 actors portraying some of history’s most dynamic figures: J. Edgar Hoover; Martin Luther King, Jr.; Governor George Wallace; Senator Hubert Humphrey; and more, All The Way is an epic and exhilarating portrayal of one of the most tumultuous times in our country’s history.

“Powerful… riotously funny.”
– Washingtonian

“The perfect piece of theatre.”
– DC Theatre Scene

When the milestone film Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner premiered in U.S. theaters in December 1967, Martin Luther King, Jr. was still alive and racial issues were brewing. Now, 49 years later, this beloved comedy has a new, totally electric adaptation for the stage bringing a fresh perspective to the themes that are as relevant as ever. A progressive white couple’s proud liberal sensibilities are put to the test when their daughter, fresh from an overseas romance, brings her African-American fiancé home to meet them. Personal beliefs clash with the mores of the late 1960s in this warm and funny exploration of love and culture.

CATCH THE SCOOP!

Prior to EVERY PERFORMANCE this season (opening nights excluded), you are invited to join us for THE SCOOP, a 20-minute presentation providing insight into the ideas and inspirations that contributed to the production you are about to watch. THE SCOOP is held in the orchestra level of the theatre one hour before curtain and is free to all ticket holders for that performance.

ENJOY LUNCH ON THE MEZZANINE

Sandwiches, salads and other lunch items are available for purchase on Asolo Rep’s mezzanine prior to each Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees. Lunch begins one hour before performance times and is provided by Morton’s Gourmet Market & Catering. Patrons are invited to arrive early, enjoy lunch on the mezzanine and grab those early bird parking spaces!

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