The Sarasota Players may not yet have a permanent future home, but the area’s oldest performing arts organization is preparing to celebrate its 95th season with a slate of four family-friendly shows, expanded education programming and a gala celebration for nearly 100 years of performances.
The new season was put together by a committee of staff and some community volunteers since the resignation of Artistic Director Steven Butler in March, just days before the theater planned to initially announce its new season. There are no plans to replace Butler at this time.
“Not having an artistic director is becoming a more common thing at other theaters,” said Marketing and Public Relations Director Amanda Heisey. “They’re having a team sharing the leadership and dividing up the work.”
The season announcement comes while the company is working with city officials on the potential of moving its base to Payne Park Auditorium, where it has proposed transforming the building and adding a new theater space.
The season is focused on shows with mostly recognizable titles that families could attend, and which take the company back to its roots as a home for productions that involve many volunteers from the community.
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Like many theaters across the country, the Players has struggled to rebuild attendance after COVID shutdowns. Audiences also have had to adapt to a new performance space created in a former retail store in the Crossings at Siesta Key shopping center. There also have been three artistic leaders in just three years.
A new season of musicals
The theater will open the new season in September with “Seussical: The Musical,” followed in December by the Broadway musical “Little Women,” the Tony Award-winning “Fun Home” in March and Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s “Into the Woods,” which will close the season in April.
All the shows have their roots in books and take audiences along on the journeys of their heroic main characters. “Seussical” features characters created by Dr. Seuss; “Little Woman” is based on Louisa May Alcott’s enduring book; and “Into the Woods” combines a variety of fairy tales popularized by the Brothers Grimm.
The theater will be the first in the area to present “Fun Home,” based on Alison Bechdel’s 2006 memoir “Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic” about her growing up, discovering that she is lesbian and finding out that her father was a closeted gay man.
Though “Fun Home” deals with homosexuality and might be considered controversial to some, CEO Willliam Skaggs said it didn’t seem that way to the committee.
“The reality is that it’s simply a true story that won five Tony Awards and is compelling to a lot of people,” he said. “I don’t feel it’s a show that’s trying to be in your face about something. This is telling this person’s experience growing up and how they made it through that.”
In addition to the four musicals, the popular Halloween outdoor production of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” will return to the Sarasota Polo Club. Leaders are working on a number of collaborations with other arts groups; providing more time for the Sarasota Jewish Theatre, which uses the space; and planning a 95th-season gala to celebrate its long history.
The theater also is adding what Skaggs called a “Shakespeare element” that could include an outdoor performance and classes in acting Shakespeare before auditions. Other programs also are being considered, such as an interactive comedy and a 24-hour play festival featuring works that are written, rehearsed and staged in a day.
Education Director Thayer Greenberg plans to produce several shows with young performers during the season that will be presented on the company’s mainstage. “A lot of people are coming to see the shows and we want to make sure they get a lot of time on stage,” Skaggs said.
The theater will continue to offer subscriptions for its mainstage shows that total $120 (with fees) for four shows, including discounts on up to two additional tickets. It is also adding a new membership option for those who don’t want to commit in advance to specific dates and seats. Memberships range from $191.88-$238.56 (with some discounts for paying in full instead of monthly) and provide single tickets to each mainstage show, “Sleepy Hollow”, the Summer season and “Shakespeare in the Park.”
Subscription and membership sales begin May 28.
Here’s a look at the four mainstage shows announced.
Sarasota Players 95th season
Crossings at Siesta Key
3510 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. Suite 1130
941-365-2494; theplayers.org
“Seussical the Musical”
Sept. 12-22
A musical that brings together the Cat in the Hat, Horton the Elephant, the tiny people in Whoville, and other characters created by Dr. Seuss. Features a book and score by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty. The theater first presented the musical in 2011.
“Little Women the Musical”
Dec. 5-15
Based on the book by Louisa May Alcott, the musical by Allan Knee with music by Jason Howland and lyrics by Mindi Dickstein tells the story of the March sisters during the Civil War with a focus on Jo’s efforts to pursue a career as a writer. The theater last produced it in 2008.
“Fun Home”
March 6-16
Based on Alison Bechdel’s memoir, “Fun Home” recalls the author’s growing up, realizing she is gay and living in a dysfunctional home and that her father is also gay. Three different actors play Allison at different ages in this musical with music by Jeanine Tesore and book and lyrics by Lisa Kron.
“Into the Woods”
April 10-20
Composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim and book writer James Lapine took a variety of classic fairy tale characters, including Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood and a wicked witch, added some originals, and told a story of a community coming together in the face of danger from an angry giant. It is the first production of the show at the Sarasota Players.
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