The Players Theatre News www.theplayers.org
838 North Tamiami Trail • Sarasota, FL 34236 • 941.365.2494 Fax: 941.954.0282
May 5, 2015
THE PLAYERS HEATS UP WITH THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF
THEIR SUMMER SIZZLER SERIES AND PLAY FESTIVAL
Sarasota, May 5, 2015 — This Summer, The Players Theatre heats it up with a great lineup of events beginning in June and continuing through August. The Summer Sizzler Series starts the summer off with 3 great shows consisting of 1 musical revue, 1 straight play and 1 play…about music! In June, ICONS brings your favorite musical and comedic superstars throughout the past century back to life and onto The Players Stage! July proves the importance of the adage, “To thy own self be true” with the Paul Rudnick comedy I HATE HAMLET. August hits a high note with the “dramedy” about Maria Callas and her Juilliard students in Terrence McNally’s MASTER CLASS. Punctuating the series in July is The Players New Play Festival—five days of local and original play readings written by playwrights from all over the Suncoast. The playwrights compete to have their play produced on The Players main stage the following season. The winner of last year’s New Play Festival, Bernie Yanelli with Not Our Time, will have his play produced at the end of August with a poignant look at the segregated 1969 South from the point of view of an African American football star.
There is still time to subscribe to the Summer Sizzler Series for a discounted price of $45 for all three shows. Regular price single tickets to the Series are $18, so subscribe, save money and support local live theatre! Tickets for The New Play Festival are $10 each, 3 plays for $24, and all 5 for $35 and tickets for THAT WASN’T ME are $15.
SCHEDULE
Summer Sizzler Show 1: ICONS
By Jeffery Kin & Berry Ayers
Dates: June 11-13, 18-20 at 7:30pm
June 14 & 21 at 2pm
Tickets: $18
This exciting musical revue will highlight the iconic songs and sketches from some of the most fascinating icons of our generation. Our cast will pay tribute to vocalists like: Bette Midler, Frank Sinatra and Janis Joplin, as well as personalities like Mae West, Lucille Ball and Shirley Temple. You will fall in love with this fresh look at some of your favorites!
Summer Sizzler Show 2: I HATE HAMLET
By Paul Rudnick
Dates: July 9-11, 16-18 at 7:30pm
July 12 & 19 at 2pm
Tickets: $18
A young and successful television actor relocated to New York, where he rents a marvelous gothic apartment. With his television career in limbo, the actor is offered the opportunity to play Hamlet on stage, but there’s one problem – He HATES Hamlet. Luckily, the ghost of John Barrymore intercedes.
The Players New Play Festival
Dates: July 20-23, 25 at 7:30pm
Tickets: $10 each / 3 plays for $24 / all 5 for $35
Don’t miss the exciting opportunity to witness the birth of a brand new play. Watch as regional playwrights compete each night to have their play produced on The Players main stage next season. Play participants to be announced at the beginning of June.
Summer Sizzler Show 3: Master Class
By Terrence McNally
Dates: August 6-8, 13-15 at 7:30
August 9 & 16 at 2pm
Tickets: $18
Terrence McNally’s Tony Award winning play is based on the legendary series of master classes given by opera diva Maria Callas at Juilliard. The ever-captivating Callas berates her students as much as she encourages them as she begrudgingly confronts the disappointments in her own life. *Adult Language
2014 Play Festival Winner: Not Our Time
By Bernie Yanelli
Dates: August 20-22 at 7:30pm
August 23 at 2pm
Tickets: $15
Set in the rural south of 1969, a young African American football star must choose between what he wants for himself and what his best friend and mentor wants for him.
The Players Theatre
838 N. Tamiami Tr., Sarasota FL 34236, 941-365-2494, Fax: 941-954-0282
www.theplayers.org. Box Office: Mon-Sat, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., and one hour prior to curtain time.
The Players Box Office is located on Tamiami Trail between 10th Street and Blvd. of the Arts.