FST Begins NewInstallment Of LAUGHING MATTERS 3/24-6/6

Florida Studio Theatre Opens a new installment of Laughing Matters on March 24, 2009. Laughing Matters has consistently remained the biggest hit in the Goldstein Cabaret! Laughing Matters Too broke all Cabaret attendance records in 2007 and returns with great enthusiasm in 2009! Parodying both local and national current issues, audiences can not only relate but find an escape with laughter!

Creator and Head Writer, Rebecca Langford stated "The Laughing Matters writers never stopped writing after the 2007 show opened. Well, we took the summer off to recover, but after that I started getting e-mails...did you see this? or isn't this hysterical? So we decided to go with the momentum and dive right in. There is so much going on in the world that a little levity goes a long way."

Laughing Matters...2009 was co-written by Stephen DeGhelder, Jim Prosser, Nick Santa Maria, Chris Friday, Joseph Matheson and Adam Ratner.

A new year. A new President. From celebrity obsessions to economic recessions, there have been an abundance of hysterical opportunities. This is a musical Saturday Night Live for Sarasota! It's an evening of comedy satire on our culture and politics of the day. Whether you lean left, right or circular, there will be no clean getaways when Laughing Matters...2009 hits the stage!

Laughing Matters...2009 will feature three returning actors from Laughing Matters Too and welcome a returning favorite. New York Actress Jamie Day returns from appearing in Laughing Matters Too in 2007. Her credits include Off-Broadway and National Tours: Debbie Does Dallas (Debbie Benton), Dorian-The Musical (Gwen Lord), Leave it To Me (Dolly Winslow), Grease (Marty) and Jolson: The Musical (Sophie). New York Actor Patrick Frankfort also returns. Frankfort performs all over New York City in the popular musical comic duo, Booth and Pat. He's also part of the sketch comedy group, City Hall.

Rounding out the cast is returning Broadway Actor Stephen Hope and Broadway Actor Richie McCall. Hope returns to FST, having most recently choreographed FST productions A Murder, A Mystery and A Marriage and Steppin' Out. On Broadway Hope has performed in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and The Scarlet Pimpernel. McCall, new to Laughing Matters returns to FST, having most recently performed in last seasons Harry Who? He performed in the Broadway production and the National Tour of Showboat. Recently he produced, wrote and starred in his one man show Me and Stepin in New York City.

The production is directed by Artistic Director Richard Hopkins. Hopkins' many directing credits include: Metamorphoses, The Bully Pulpit, God's Man in Texas, Hysteria, Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde, 2: Goering at Nuremberg, Six Degrees of Separation, Execution of Justice, Death by Misadventure, Hi-Hat-Hattie, Invictus, Agnes of God, Beyond Therapy, True West, La Ronde, Betrayal, and numerous other plays and Cabaret projects including Sophie Tucker, Inspired Lunacy, Shakespeare's Greatest Hits, Over the Rainbow, Permanent Collection and Laughing Matters...Too.
Joining Hopkins are Music Director Vince diMura, Choreographer Stephen Hope, Lighting Designer Felicia Hall, Sound Designer Eric Stahlhammer and Florida Studio Theatre's resident designer Marcella Beckwith as Costume and Scenic Designer.
The comical Laughing Matters 2009 continues through June 6, 2009 at the Goldstein Cabaret. Tickets are $26 - $29 and may be purchased from the FST Box Office in person, by phone (941) 366 - 9000 or now online at www.floridastudiotheatre.org

Known as Sarasota's Contemporary Theatre, Florida Studio Theatre was founded in 1973 by Jon Spelman. Starting out as a small touring company, FST traveled to places such as migrant camps and prisons. The company eventually settled
down into a permanent home, acquiring the former Woman's Club building - now renamed the Keating Theatre. In the years that followed, Florida Studio

Theatre established itself as a major force in American Theatre, presenting contemporary theatre in its three theatre venues: the Keating Theatre, the Goldstein Cabaret and its newest space, the Gompertz Theatre.
Even with its growth, Florida Studio Theatre remains firmly committed to making the arts accessible and affordable to a broad-based audience. Under Richard Hopkins, Artistic Director and CEO, FST develops theatre that speaks to our living, evolving, and dynamically changing world. As FST grows and expands, it continues to provide audiences with challenging, contemporary drama and innovative programs.

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