Asolo Rep’s 2026/2027 Season
Bigger. Bolder. Unforgettable.
A dazzling array of unforgettable stories, bold artistry, and theatrical wonder takes center ring as Asolo Rep commemorates the centennial of a historic year in Sarasota and beyond.
Singing in the Rain
November 18 – January 2, 2027
Mertz Theatre
Screenplay by Betty Comden and Adolph Green
Songs by Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown
Based on the classic Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film by special arrangement with Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures, Inc.
Directed and Choreographed by Josh Rhodes
Josh Rhodes, the brilliant mind behind Asolo Rep’s productions of Jesus Christ Superstar, Cabaret, and Evita, brings to the stage the greatest movie musical of all time. Set in 1927, this beloved musical comedy is about Hollywood’s tumultuous transition from silent films to “talkies.” The story follows dashing silent film star Don Lockwood as he falls for an aspiring actress while struggling with his screechy-voiced co-star, Lina Lamont, who stands poised to sabotage both his love and his career. A hilarious send-up of Hollywood’s foibles, this beloved musical has it all: sweeping romance, show-stopping choreography, and some of greatest tunes ever written.
August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
January 13 – February 4, 2027
Mertz Theatre
By August Wilson
Directed by Chuck Smith
In a dingy Chicago recording studio in 1927, a group of musicians gather to cut a record with Ma Rainey, the Mother of the Blues and the most celebrated Black singer of her time. She commands the room, but outside the studio, she can’t even get a taxicab to pick her up. Her trumpet player, Levee, a young, cocky musician rides the heady wave of the Jazz Renaissance sweeping the nation. Levee must fight for acceptance not only with his bandmates, but with the larger world that refuses to hear a new sound.
Helmed by Chuck Smith, one of the leading authorities on August Wilson, and told in the way only Wilson can, this canonical play with music threatens to tip into cacophony at any moment.
Presented in Partnership with Chicago’s Goodman Theatre.
The Royal Family
February 10 – March 4, 2027
Mertz Theatre
By Edna Ferber and George S. Kaufman
Directed by Peter Amster
Brought to life by beloved Asolo Rep director Peter Amster (Good Night, Oscar and Murder on the Orient Express) and written by two icons of early American theater, Edna Ferber (Showboat) and George S. Kaufman (You Can’t Take It with You), The Royal Family premiered on Broadway in 1927. The forerunner to our contemporary obsession with all things celebrity, this period comedy satirizes the lives of a famous theatrical dynasty. Between the family matriarch’s razor-sharp wit, her leading-lady daughter, and her matinee idol son, there is more drama off-stage than on. Set in their New York City duplex as the latest generation prepares to take up the family business…or not, The Royal Family is a comedic and heartfelt look at the eccentricities of a family with “greasepaint in their veins.”
The Day the Circus Came to Town
World Premiere
March 21 – April 24, 2027
Mertz Theatre
Created by Peter Rothstein, Carla Noack and David Darrow
Music and Lyrics by David Darrow
Directed by Peter Rothstein
Asolo Rep commemorates the 100th anniversary of John Ringling moving his Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus to Sarasota with a world premiere docu-musical brought to you by the visionary creator of All is Calm, Peter Rothstein. Inspired by dozens of interviews with legends in Sarasota’s Circus Community, The Day the Circus Came to Town is a celebration of the generations of Circus Artists who astonished, amused, and charmed the nation one train stop at a time. Through story and song, you get to peak behind the canvas at the back lot, clown alley, life on the road, and being center ring of the Greatest Show on Earth. Featuring a cast of actors, acrobats, aerialists and of course, a singing Ringmaster accompanied by the Circus Band, this love letter to Sarasota and its first industry will have you feeling like a kid again.
Winner of the 2026 Richard and Ellen Sandor Workshop Award
Developed in partnership with the Ringling Museum and Circus Arts Conservatory
Ken Ludwig’s Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery
May 5 – May 30, 2027
Mertz Theatre
Written by Ken Ludwig
Directed by Chari Arespacochaga
From multi-award-winning playwright Ken Ludwig (Murder on the Orient Express, Lady Molly of Scotland Yard) comes a wildly entertaining, fast-paced adventure featuring everyone’s favorite detective tackling his most notorious case. Howls of laughter mingle with the howls in the night as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson race to crack the mystery of The Hound of Baskervilles. Expect a whirlwind of theatrical ingenuity as our intrepid investigators navigate a labyrinth of clues, disguises, and delightfully dubious accents. With five actors seamlessly transforming into more than 40 characters, the production is led by celebrated director Chari Arespacochaga (Primary Trust) and balances side-splitting comedy with stylish suspense, proving that even on the foggy moors, danger and laughter make excellent companions.
Ken Ludwig was the Recipient of the 2025 Asolo Luminary Award
It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play
Presented in the Cook Theatre
December 2 – January 3, 2027
Cook Theatre
By Joe Landry
Directed by Scott Keys
The beloved American film is reimagined as a 1940s radio-play where you are the live studio audience. Under the direction by Sarasota’s own Scott Keys (A Year with Frog and Toad) five actors perform dozens of characters bringing to life the story of George Bailey, a man who has given up his dream to help others in the community. With nowhere else to turn on Christmas Eve, he begins to believe the world would be a better place if he had never existed. Enter guardian angel Clarence, who makes George see all the lives he has touched, and offers a glimpse of what the world would be like without him. A heartwarming and nostalgic play with music that is sure to put you in the holiday spirit.
Provenance
World Premiere
Presented in the Cook Theatre
February 24 – March 21, 2027
Cook Theatre
By Jennifer Maisel
Directed by Casey Stangl
Asolo Rep is thrilled to produce the world premiere of Jennifer Maisel’s compelling new drama, and winner of the 2025 Jewish Plays Project. Provenance is about the epic life of a single painting, a portrait, from the moment of its creation through its theft by the Nazis and all the lives shaped by the consequences of both acts. Built upon a unique theatrical structure that links these intimate stories to the grand arc of history, the play spans a century and crosses continents, from Germany in the early 1900s to New Jersey in 2007. A compelling new play that asks: How can one piece of art tear at the hearts of generations? Can what was lost ever be recovered?
Winner of the 2025 Richard and Ellen Sandor Workshop Award
A co-production with Palm Beach Dramaworks
Bootleg: America Sings 1927
Presented in the Cook Theatre
April 21 – May 16, 2027
Cook Theatre
Curated by Cat Brindisi, Terrance Jackson, James Monaghan, and Peter Rothstein
Directed by Peter Rothstein
Step into the Four Fives Club — a speakeasy, a wild party, a jump back in time. It’s 1927 and everything is about to change. Asolo Rep creates an original cabaret celebrating a remarkable year in American history, and an extraordinary year in American literature and popular music. Featuring words by Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Edna Ferber and Dorothy Parker and songs by Fats Waller, Irving Berlin, Duke Ellington, Jerome Kern, and George and Ira Gershwin. Pull up a chair, sip some moonshine, and listen to tunes such as “Blue Skies,” “Someone to Watch Over Me” and “Can’t Help Lovin’ that Man of Mine.”
