‘Shear Madness’ returns to FST in a comedy-focused summer season

Florida Studio Theatre is bringing back two past audience favorites and putting a focus on laughter on its main stages while celebrating some classic musical artists in its cabaret series for the summer season.

“We need uplifting comedy at this time,” said Producing Artistic Director Richard Hopkins in revealing that the theater will open its summer season with the return of the comical murder mystery “Shear Madness,” followed by the emotional drama “Black Pearl Sings” and Ken Ludwig’s “A Comedy of Tenors.”

In the cabaret theaters, the sound of the Beach Boys will be followed by music of pop divas and a tribute to the enduring Creedence Clearwater Revival.

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Florida Studio Theatre first staged “Shear Madness” in 2010, and brought it back a year later.

“It was a huge hit. We didn’t know for sure what it was going to do,” said Hopkins, adding that “a lot of our audience is brand new and I think the rest of the audience will want to see it again.”

“Black Pearl Sings” was first produced at FST in 2009 after it was featured as part of its 2008 Burdick Reading Series.

Catherine Randazzo, an FST associate artist who oversees the cabaret program, said the summer is a time for inviting outside groups into the series. All three shows have artist or production ties to past programs.

Here’s a look at what you can see this summer:

“Shear Madness”

May 31-June 18, Gompertz Theatre

Bruce Jordan returns to direct this comedy set in a Sarasota beauty salon where everyone from staff to clients becomes a suspect in the death of an elderly woman living in an apartment upstairs. A police detective investigates the crime and interviews witnesses, who include audience members who help determine whodunnit. Jordan and Marilyn Abrams adapted Paul Portner’s original play. It holds a Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running play in the history of the United States. Hopkins describes Jordan as “one of the greatest comedy directors living in the world. He knows how to get every nuance out of a comedy scene. He’s done this show for 30 or 40 years and there’s a perfection that comes with that.” This production will feature several cast members from 2011, including Gil Brady, Lisa McMillan and Jordan Ahnquist.

“Black Pearl Sings”

June 28-July 30, Keating Theatre

Frank Higgins’ play is set in Texas during the Depression, where a musicologist from the Library of Congress meets Pearl, an African-American woman with a strong voice in a high-security prison. They begin a tentative relationship as Susannah attempts to record Pearl singing undocumented slave songs. Hopkins said Higgins has made some updates to the script since the 2009 production. Alice M. Gatling, who starred as Pearl the last time, returns to the role, as will director Kate Alexander.

“A Comedy of Tenors”

Aug. 2-20, Gompertz Theatre

Hopkins describes this Ken Ludwig comedy as “sort of a sequel” to his first big hit “Lend Me a Tenor.” It features most of the original play’s characters, along with some new ones. It is set in a hotel suite in 1930s Paris where four tenors, two wives and three girlfriends are getting ready for a concert in front of a stadium filled with fans. Producer Henry Saunders is trying to prevent his superstar Tito Merelli and his wife from causing more chaos.

“It’s a farce in the best sense of the word,” Hopkins said. “Ken Ludwig doesn’t write bad farces. He’s one of the few individuals who can write, funny, intelligent, smart farce.” Ludwig has been well represented recently in Sarasota. His version of “The Three Musketeers” was staged this winter at Asolo Repertory Theatre, which also will present his musical “Crazy for You” in the fall.

Cabaret Series

“The Surfer Boys”

June 13-Aug. 6, Goldstein Cabaret

This show comes from the group that created “The Jersey Tenors,” which was a hit last summer at FST. It was created and conceived by Brian Noonan. It features four Broadway veterans singing hits by The Beach Boys, from “Good Vibrations” to “Surfin’ USA,” and other iconic songs of the 1960s California surfer sound.

“Divas Three”

July 11-Sept. 3, Court Cabaret

Three female vocalists cover four decades of hits by some of the most influential women in pop music, including Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Aretha Franklin, Carole King, Diana Ross and more in this show that features such hits as “We Are Family,” “Stop! In the Name of Love” and “It’s Raining Men.” The show is produced by the same company that presented “Shades of Buble” at FST in summer 2021.

“Creedence Clearwater Remixed”

Aug. 22-Oct. 15, Goldstein Cabaret

Created by Vaden Thurgood, who was in the cast of “The Jersey Tenors,” this revue features a group of four friends who take the audience on a journey through the hits of Creedence Clearwater Revival, including “Bad Moon Rising,” “Have You Ever Seen the Rain?” and “Fortunate Sun.” Randazzo said that even though the band “never had a No. 1 hit, they have so many songs that everybody knows.”

How to get tickets

Summer mainstage subscriptions are $49-$69. Individual tickets start at $25. Summer cabaret subscriptions are also $49-$69, with single tickets starting at $18. For more information: 941-366-9000; floridastudiotheatre.org.

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This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Beach Boys, ‘Shear Madness,’ divas and more in FST Summer season