BONNIE & CLYDE, LA BETE, DEATHTRAP et al. Set for Asolo Rep's New Season

Michael Donald Edwards, Asolo Repertory Theatre's producing artistic director, announced today his selections for the 2010-2011 season. .

Edwards unveiled a strong line-up for the repertory season that includes the Drama Desk Award-winning and Tony Award-nominated drama Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose; recec Broadway revival success Boeing Boeing by Marc Camoletti the Outer Critics Circle Award and Olivier Award winning comedy La Bête (The Beast) by David Hirson; the most successful and popular whodunit in history Deathtrap by Ira Levin; Las Meninas (The Waiting Women), a hilarious and heart-wrenching play by Pulitzer Prize winning African American playwright Lynn Nottage; and the delightfully entertaining one man show George Gershwin Alone by Hershey Felder, being performed during the 75th anniversary of Porgy and Bess. Completing the season, Asolo Rep will later announce two additional titles.

"From the outrageously theatrical La Bête with its brilliant and current articulation of the time honored tension between art and commerce, to the passionately argued positions of 12 Angry Men, to the breathtaking hilarity of Boeing Boeing, the devilish thrill ride that is Deathtrap, the beautifully imagined world of politics, race, and sexuality in Lynn Nottage's Las Meninas, to a world premiere production and a new and urgent version of a classic in Antigone Now all the way through to the gorgeous music of George Gershwin in Gershwin Alone, our 2010/11 season reflects the high level of artistic achievement for which our company is recognized as well as the quality and diversity of our productions. I am particularly pleased that we are once again kicking off a landmark season with a major new musical in its pre-Broadway run. Bonnie & Clyde is a thrilling beginning to a bold, uplifting, dynamic and hugely entertaining season." -- Producing Artistic Director Michael Donald Edwards.

Additionally, Asolo Rep's New Stages project, launched in 08-09 with The Giver, will return with Antigone Now by Melissa Cooper. New Stages showcases the talents of the third year class of the FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training in exciting productions specifically chosen to enrich the lives of young and multi-generational audiences. Opening in October 2010, Antigone Now is slated to tour schools and reach communities throughout the region much like Asolo Rep's touring company of the 1970s through 1990s.

In 2011 Asolo Rep will bring back ASOLO REP UNPLUGGED: theatre in the raw, a play festival launched during the 2009-2010 season to develop new works from five playwrights, including Greenfield Prize winner Craig Lucas. The second iteration of the festival is modeled from this season's, and the next group of new plays selected for development will be announced in early 2011.

The goal for the 2009-10 Unplugged play festival was to produce in the 2010-11 season, one of the five new plays being developed during the current season. The selection from UNPLUGGED 2010 that will be fully produced in the 2011 season has not yet been made. The title for this World Premiere production will be released at a later date.

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