See what's coming to Sarasota's Asolo Rep with its 2023-24 lineup

At a time of transition for Asolo Repertory Theatre, the outgoing and incoming producing artistic directors worked together on planning shows for the 2023-24 season that will offer some major new and old musicals, plus a few American classics and newer works.

Even though he doesn’t officially begin his new job until July 1, Peter Rothstein, the founding artistic director of Theatre Latté Da in Minneapolis, said he has had almost daily conversations and a “wonderful collaboration” with Michael Donald Edwards, who will step down June 30 after 18 years in Sarasota.

“Usually an artistic director inherits a season and a budget that they’re responsible for but didn’t curate,” Rothstein said during a Zoom interview with Edwards in advance of Monday’s announcement of the new season. “It was good to have him by my side as we wrestled with titles. Will the audience want more edge or will that one be too much? What is the mix that balances the season and excites returning audiences and also helps to attract new audiences to the theater? Those are questions we discussed.”

Arts Newsletter: Sign up to receive the latest news on the Sarasota area arts scene every Monday

Concerts, festivals, arts and more: 100-plus fun things to do in April in Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte counties

Now on stage: Asolo Rep’s ‘Incident’ is a light comedy that triggers smiles of recognition

Monday marked the first in-person season announcement for the theater in four years. During the pandemic, Edwards revealed the lineups in online presentations. Dozens of people lined up at the box office to buy season subscriptions after the ceremony.

Edwards said planning a season is “putting on a conversation with the audience. Like any conversation, it can go really well, and at times it can be a challenge. The current season comes from our current passions and concerns and interests.”

The season opens with the 1992 hit Gershwin musical “Crazy for You” and closes with a new musical based on Reginald Rose’s drama “Twelve Angry Men” that Rothstein helped develop in Minneapolis.

In between are the dramas “Inherit the Wind,” a new adaptation of “Dial M for Murder” and Lynn Nottage’s “Intimate Apparel,” as well as a new two-character play that has William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe working together on a play.

Here’s a look at what’s coming in 2023-24:

‘Crazy For You’

Nov. 18-Jan. 4

This 1992 musical reimagined the George and Ira Gershwin hit “Girl Crazy” and became a major hit all over again, with a comical script by Ken Ludwig that incorporates such classic songs as “Someone to Watch Over Me,” “Embraceable You,” “I Got Rhythm,” “They Can’t Take That Away From Me” and “Nice Work if You Can Get It.” It will be staged by Josh Rhodes, who directed and choreographed recent Asolo Rep productions of “Cabaret,” “Guys and Dolls” and “Evita.” He also just staged a New York City Center Encores series production of Jerry Herman’s “Dear World.”  Rhodes spoke lovingly about the show during the announcement program.

‘Inherit the Wind’

Jan. 19-Feb. 24, 2024

Playwrights Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee dramatized the famous Scopes “monkey” trial, which put Charles Darwin and the teaching of his theory of evolution on trial. Rothstein, who will direct, calls it a “brilliant play because it’s a multi-faceted conversation piece.” Both Rothstein and Edwards said it is more timely than ever today with new laws curtailing what can be taught in schools. Rothstein said it’s a “luxury that the Asolo is able to do work of this size. When was the last time you had a cast of 20 or 22 people in a non-musical? It’s such a unique strength of the Asolo,” which last produced the play in the 2002-03 season.

Meet Bryan L. Boyd: Rising actor finds a home at Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe

Director KT Curran’s new project: Sarasota filmmaker launches new company with movie about mental health

Tradition with a twist: Ringling Bros. brings back 'Greatest Show' for 50-city tour. But is it still a circus?

‘Born with Teeth’

Feb. 9-March 29

This new play by Liza Duffy Adams comes from the Alley Theatre in Houston and will be staged by that company’s artistic director Rob Melrose. Adams imagines what might have happened if Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare, considered the best writers in the English language, worked together on a history play, “Henry VI Part III.” “It was love at first read,” Edwards said, adding that it also feels contemporary despite its 16th-century setting. It is currently running at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis. Asolo Rep will present the Alley production with the same actors, Matthew Amendt as Marlowe and Dylan Godwin as Shakespeare.

‘Intimate Apparel’

March1-April 18, 2024

First produced in 2003, Lynn Nottage’s play is set in 1905 in New York where a seamstress named Esther has found success creating intimate apparel for clients ranging from the wealthy to Black prostitutes. She has remained alone and wants to find the right man to marry and then use the money she’s saved to open a beauty parlor for Black women. Her plans are upended when she starts receiving letters from a lonely Caribbean man working on the Panama Canal. Nottage has said the play is based on her great-grandmother’s life.

“This is her signature work. It’s a contemporary classic,” Rothstein said. The production will be staged by Austene Van, an actress, director and choreographer from Minneapolis.

‘Dial ‘M’ for Murder’

March 22-April 27

Associate Artistic Director Céline Rosenthal, who staged the current production of “Incident at Our Lady of Perpetual Help,” will be the director of Jeffrey Hatcher’s new and contemporary adaptation of this classic mystery by Frederick Knott.

“It’s very smart, very fun and it’s got all the classic thrills that people know,” Edwards said. It is the story of a man who is convinced his wife is cheating on him, but even when the affair appears to be over, he still has his suspicions that lead to a cat-and-mouse game of recrimination and possibly murder. The play was made into a hit film by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Grace Kelly, Ray Milland and Robert Cummings.

‘Twelve Angry Men: A New Musical’

May 11-June 9, 2024

Reginald Rose’s classic drama about members of an all-male jury deliberating the fate of a young Black man accused of killing his abusive father has been turned into a musical. Rothstein worked with the creators for about five years and staged the premiere last year at Theatre Latté Da, where it received strong audience response and critical praise. “People can’t imagine it as a musical, but the response to it in Minneapolis convinced people it does sing,” Rothstein said. The show features music and lyrics by Michael Holland and a book by David Simpatico, who wrote the libretto for the opera “The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turing,” which had its premiere in Chicago last week under Rothstein’s direction. Actor Curtis Bannister, who was part of the Minneapolis cast of the musical, sang a song from the show Monday.

Asolo Rep staged the play in 2011 in a production that first brought the late Tony-winning director Frank Galati to the theater. Rothstein said the story is an American classic “but the most common response is I can’t believe it wasn’t written yesterday,’ he said. “It’s about unconscious bias, toxic masculinity, racism and the promise of America and a belief in the justice system.”

How to get subscriptions

Subscriptions are now on sale for the six-show season for $165-$507. Flex pass subscriptions are also available. They are available at the box office, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, by phone at 941-351-8000 or online at asolorep.org. Single tickets go on sale in September.

Follow Jay Handelman on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Contact him at jay.handelman@heraldtribune.com. And please support local journalism by subscribing to the Herald-Tribune.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: A new musical ‘12 Angry Men’ joins other classics in Asolo Rep season