• 'Grand Horizons' meets great expectations. (The Observer)
• Asolo Rep’s Grand Horizons: Maybe Not So Golden Years (Sarasota Magazine)
• Theater Review: Grand Horizons (The Bradenton Times)
• Parents and children battle over divorce in Asolo Rep comedy ‘Grand Horizons’ (Sarasota Herald-Tribune)

Starry Night Dinner
Sunday, February 20 | 6:30pm

IllumiNation SERIES
Wednesday, February 2 | 7:30pm

OUT@ASOLO REP
Wednesday, February 23

The Scoop
This popular program is going digital! Ticket holders will be sent a video link via email prior to their performance to get the inside scoop on the ideas that inspired the production.

Tuesday Talkbacks 
January 25, March 1 | Enhance your experience with this post-show discussion following select Tuesday performances.

*All activities are subject to change or modification based on CDC recommendations.

SUZANNE GRODNER*, she/her

SEVENTH SEASON (Nancy, Grand Horizons) is thrilled to be back with Asolo Rep. Asolo Rep: The Plexiglass Slipper, Nunsense, Tartuffe & How the Other Half Loves Broadway: Beautiful, Bye Bye Birdie, The Rose Tattoo. Off-Broadway: Old Jews Telling Jokes (Westside Theatre), Sarah/Sarah (MTC), Cakewalk & Death Defying Acts (Variety Arts) National & International Tours: Beautiful, Ken Hill’s Phantom. Regional: Over 70 roles, including Vanya&Sonia&Masha&Spike... (Cincinnati Playhouse), Jane Austen’s Emma (The Old Globe), The Sisters Rosensweig (Indiana Rep), Yentl (Cincinnati Playhouse), Peter and the Starcatcher (TheatreWorks, CA), Becky Shaw (San Francisco Playhouse), among many others. TV & Film: Ray Donovan, Law & Order/SVU/CI, Ed, Muck (Indie Film). For Alba.

 

DAYNA LEE PALYA, she/her

THIRD YEAR STUDENT, SECOND SEASON (Jess, Grand Horizons) is a third year MFA Acting student at the FSU/Asolo Conservatory and is so grateful to be returning to the theatre with you all. Past credits include Murder on the Orient Express (Asolo Rep), Hair (Asolo Rep), The Producers (Farmers Alley Theatre). Much love to her parents for their unshakeable support and love.

 

ZACHARY PRINCE*, he/him

FIRST SEASON (Brian, Grand Horizons) is thrilled to make his Asolo Rep debut! He was last seen as Adam in Christopher Wheeldon’s return production of An American in Paris at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, France. Broadway credits include: Honeymoon in Vegas, On A Clear Day…, and Baby It's You. Off-Broadway: The Last Five Years (Jamie standby) at Second Stage (dir. Jason Robert Brown). Regional credits include: The Glass Menagerie (Tom Wingfield) at Pioneer Theatre Company, Triangle (Ben/Vincenzo; Theatre Bay Area Award - Best Actor) at Theatreworks Silicon Valley, and Into The Woods (Baker) at Kansas City Rep (dir. Moisés Kaufman). BFA, CMU School of Drama.

 

JOHN RAPSON*, he/him

SECOND SEASON (Ben, Grand Horizons) Broadway/off-Broadway: Sweeney Todd, Les Misérables. John originated the role of the D’Ysquith Family in the first national tour of A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder. Regional: Camelot (Asolo Rep), The Tale of Despereaux (Berkeley Rep), Oklahoma! (Broadway Sacramento), The Play That Goes Wrong (St. Louis Rep), The Drowsy Chaperone (Goodspeed), and The Hollow, John’s one actor adaptation of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Amphibian Stage). TV/Film: The Blacklist, A Christmas Carol. Upcoming: Between the Lines (Second Stage). John is a graduate of the University of Michigan. Thanks and love to Celine, this company, and everyone at the fabulous Asolo Rep!

 

ELISE SANTORA*, she/her

FIRST SEASON (Carla, Grand Horizons) is thrilled to be making her Asolo Rep debut. Her TV credits include For Life (ABC), Bull, Tommy (CBS), FabuLess (webseries, Indie Awards nominee), NBC’s Manifest, New Amsterdam, Shades of Blue, Netflix’s Iron Fist, Orange is the New Black, and a film role highlight in The Artist Wife starring opposite Lena Olin. Her Broadway credits include In The Heights, Paul Simon’s The Capeman, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, as well as starring opposite Lin-Manuel Miranda on the national tour of In The Heights as Abuela Claudia. She has been a teaching artist for MTC (NY). elisesantora.com

 

LANCE SPENCER*, he/him

FIRST SEASON (Tommy, Grand Horizons) is a Florida Native that is based in Chicago. He is beyond excited to be making his debut at Asolo Rep. Stage credits include: White Christmas (Theatre at the Center), Mamma Mia! (Drury Lane), Chess Revisit (Porchlight), A Chorus Line (Metropolis), Annie & Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Fireside). Commercial credit: Holiday Ornament Keepsake 2020 (Hallmark). Instagram: Lance.b.spenc

 

PETER VAN WAGNER*, he/him

FIRST SEASON (Bill, Grand Horizons) Broadway credits include Grand Horizons at 2nd Stage and A Thousand Clowns at Roundabout. Off-Broadway credits include Othello at Free Shakespeare In The Park, The Chimes at the Public, Letters From Cuba at Signature, The Notebook at 2nd Stage, and So Help Me God! at Lucille Lortel. He has performed regionally at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, Yale Repertory, Huntington Theatre Company, and the Alliance. His film work includes The Post, Annie, Arthur, and Tower Heist. On TV he has guest starred in: Boardwalk Empire (SAG Award for Ensemble), The Good Wife, Rescue Me and Law & Order.

 

 

 

UNDERSTUDIES

 

SYLVIA DAY, she/her

SECOND SEASON (u/s Nancy, Grand Horizons) is thrilled to be back at Asolo Rep. Asolo Rep credits include Sweeney Todd (u/s Mrs. Lovett - performed 5 times), Sweat (u/s Tracey), and A Doll’s House, Part 2 (u/s Nora). Off-Broadway credits include 50 Shades of DAY!, which she wrote and directed. Sylvia has performed extensively in Europe and recently premiered her solo show Send in the Clones at SaraSolo Festival. sylvia-day.com

 

MARK KONRAD, he/him

SEVENTH SEASON (u/s Bill, Grand Horizons) is delighted to be back again with the Asolo family. Past Asolo credits include: u/s Tim, The Cake; Wingblatt, Both Your Houses; Ensemble, The Grapes of Wrath; Senator Dugan, Philadelphia Here I Come, Head G-Man & u/s Martin (performed), You Can't Take it With You; Wirtz, Operation Epsilon. TV/Film credits include: 30Rock, One Life to Live, and the award-winning Blue Collar Boys. And numerous independent films, short films, music videos, and industrial films.

 

REBECCA ROSE MIMS, she/her

FIRST YEAR STUDENT, FIRST SEASON (u/s Jess, Grand Horizons) is overjoyed to be a part of Asolo Rep's 2021- 2022 season. She is a recent graduate of Central Michigan University and a current first year at the FSU/Asolo Conservatory.

 

JACKSON PURDY, he/him

FIRST YEAR STUDENT, FIRST SEASON (u/s Baseball Player/Ensemble, Our Town; u/s Brian, Grand Horizons) is excited to be making his Asolo Rep debut. He is originally from Vermont and obtained his BA in Theater with a concentration in acting from Temple University. He is a first year MFA candidate at the FSU/Asolo Conservatory and is grateful for the staff, teachers, and ensemble that he works with here in Sarasota. 

 

MIKHAIL ROBERTS, he/him 

FIRST YEAR STUDENT, FIRST SEASON (u/s Mr. Carter/Ensemble, Our Town; u/s Ben, Grand Horizons) is a first year MFA student at the FSU/Asolo Conservatory. On stage, his credits include the Equity tours of Laguna Playhouse's Stuart Little and By the Great Horn Spoon, and the opening cast of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios in Osaka Japan. Feature film credits include The Monster's Mind, Saki the Killer, and the upcoming feature film And I Feel Fine.

 

MARTHA VELEZ-REID, she/her

FIRST SEASON (u/s Carla, Grand Horizons) is beyond happy to be making her Asolo Rep debut. She starred on Broadway in Hair. Her off-Broadway leads include Our Town, Skin of Our Teeth. She is the award-winning playwright of American Heartbeat, a recipient of the Los Angeles Write On Woman’s Award for Playwriting and Acting, and a member of the Dramatist Guild of America and League of Professional Theatre Women. Her television credits include ER, L.A. Law, a.k.a Pablo, Falcon Crest. She’s appeared in 15 feature films, including Sundance winner Star Maps, Safe (Julianne Moore), Fatherhood (Halle Berry/Patrick Swayze), Nails (Dennis Hopper),187 (Samuel L. Jackson). She was a Sire/Warner Bros. recording artist, accompanied by Eric Clapton (Fiends and Angels), Bob Marley/Wailers (Escape From Babylon - Producer: Bob Marley). Holds a PhD in Depth Psychology, MA in Clinical Psyche.

 

RICKEY WATSON JR., he/him

FIRST YEAR STUDENT, FIRST SEASON (u/s George Gibbs, Our Town; u/s Tommy, Grand Horizons) is excited to be making his Asolo Rep debut. Show credits include: Our Town, Triad Stage (NC); Intangible, MCC Theatre (NYC); Jungle Book, Peppercorn Theatre (NC); Princess and the Pea, Missoula Children’s Theatre (LA); Arabian Nights, NOCCA (LA). Originated the role Mason in Peppercorn Theatre’s Original Musical Billy and the Golden Pencil and Five Row.

 

 

 

*Members of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

ADAM ASHRAF ELSAYIGH, he/him

FIRST SEASON (Dramaturg and Literary Manager, Our Town, Grand Horizons, The Great Leap) is an Egyptian writer and dramaturg in his first season as the Literary Manager and Resident Dramaturg of Asolo Repertory Theatre. Adam’s ethos is to tell and amplify stories from communities that have been historically under and misrepresented on American screens and stages. Adam’s plays (including Memorial, The Marginalia, and Drowning in Cairo) have been developed and seen at The Lark, The Tisch School of the Arts, The LaGuardia Performing Arts Center, and Golden Thread Productions. Adam is a Co-founder of The Criminal Queerness Festival with National Queer Theater and a fellow at Georgetown University's Laboratory for Global Performance. He holds a BA in Theater with an emphasis in Playwriting and Dramaturgy from NYU Abu Dhabi and is an MFA Candidate in Playwriting at Brooklyn College. 

 

MIKA EUBANKS, she/her

FIRST SEASON (Costume Designer, Grand Horizons) is currently based in New York, but from Maryland. She received her MFA in Costume Design at Yale School of Drama, where she designed Death of Yazdgerd and Tent Revival. Other work includes: Feeding Beatrice (Repertory Theatre of St. Louis), When Day Comes (Crossroads Theater), King Lear starring Andre De Shields (St. Louis Shakespeare Festival), and Seize The King (Classical Theater of Harlem). She has designed costumes for short films like Candace and The Hulu miniseries Initiative 29. She earned the Leo Lerman Graduate Fellowship, and in Spring 2019 she designed Twelfth Night at the Yale Repertory Theatre, for which she received the Connecticut Critic Circle Award for outstanding costume design. mikaeubanks.com

 

MICHELLE HART, she/her

NINETEENTH SEASON (Resident Hair/Wig & Make-up Designer, Our Town, Grand Horizons, The Great Leap) Hart designs for Asolo Repertory Theatre and FSU/Asolo Conservatory. Other credits: Sarasota Ballet, Palm Beach Drama Works, Free Fall Theatre, Urbanite Theatre, Florida Studio Theatre, West Coast Black Theatre Troupe, Banyan Theatre, Ruth Eckerd Hall, Venice Theatre, Dorset Theatre, Barrington Stage, and Open Stage Theatre. She has also done hair and/or make-up for Joan Rivers, Doris Roberts, Martin Short, Jane Russell, Arlene Dahl, Soledad Villamil, Jane Pauley, Richard Dreyfuss, Castille Langdon, Christopher Higgins, Mary Mara, Heather Robb, Lauren Sweetser, Justin Long, Paul Downs, Douglas Sills, and Nia Hills. Music videos: “Second Chance” by Shinedown, “Reverse Cowgirl” by T-Pain. Film and television: Paradise, FL and The Real Stephen Blatt.

 

COLLEEN HUGHES, she/her

FIRST SEASON (Intimacy Choreographer, Grand Horizons) is a Certified Intimacy Director with Intimacy Directors and Coordinators. She is trained in trauma-informed practices and holds this focus at the center of her work. Her intimacy work has appeared in over a dozen regional and off-Broadway productions. She is an instructor at IDC, one of the leading training organizations in the U.S., where she also works to curate continuing education offerings for current and future members of the profession. In addition to her intimacy work, she also specializes in devised and ensemble-based physical theatre, mask work, and social dance. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. colleenhughes.com 

 

KRISTIN LOUGHRY*, she/her

THIRD SEASON (Stage Manager, Grand Horizons) is thrilled to be returning to sunny Sarasota! Previous Asolo Rep credits include The Cake and the unopened production of The Great Leap in the Cook. Additional credits include shows with Baltimore Center Stage, Hangar Theatre Company, Infinity Theatre Company, Lyric Stage Company of Boston, NewArts, Primary Stages, Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre, Soho Playhouse, Virginia Stage Company, and 11 seasons with NYU Grad Acting. Proud AEA member and Ithaca College alum.

 

VICTOR MEYRICH, he/him

FIFTY-THIRD SEASON (Production and Operations Director, Our Town, Grand Horizons, Great Leap) is a graduate of Carnegie Tech and has worked at New York Shakespeare Festival, Brandeis, University of California Institute of Repertory, APA, American Conservatory Theater, and again in New York. As the Director of Production & Operations, he is responsible for the overall technical operation of Asolo Rep and serves as consultant for the FSU Center for the Performing Arts. He has been a member of the Asolo Rep family since 1969. 

 

SHARATH PATEL, he/him

FIRST SEASON (Sound Designer, Grand Horizons) is an Oregon based designer who works nationally and internationally focusing on experimental, commercial, academic, political and socially conscious theatre. Recent designs: Portland Center Stage, Indiana Rep, Rep Theatre of St. Louis, Seattle Children’s Theatre, ACT Theatre, American Rep, Artists Rep, Seattle Rep, Cal Shakes, Alabama Shakes, The Contemporary American Theater Festival, Arena Stage, The Geffen Playhouse, Weston Playhouse Theatre Company. Additional work in New York City, San Francisco, L.A., D.C., Boston, Norfolk, Raleigh, Aspen, India, France, England, Germany, Romania. His affiliations: Member of USA829, Theatrical Sound Designers and Composers Association, Arts Envoy for the U.S. Department of State, National Respondent for the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, Resident Artists at Artists Rep. BFA: Ohio University. MFA: Yale School of Drama. sharathpatel.com

 

BRIAN PRATHER, he/him

SECOND SEASON (Scenic Designer, Grand Horizons) is excited to return to Asolo Rep. Some of Brian’s off-Broadway work includes Daniel’s Husband (Primary Stages), Mrs. Warren’s Profession (Gingold Theatre Group), Becoming Dr. Ruth (Westside Theatre), and Freud’s Last Session (New World Stages). Brian has designed internationally for the Chung-mu Hall in South Korea and regionally for the Alley Theatre, Goodspeed Musicals, Barrington Stage, Theaterworks Hartford, Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, and many more, including the national tour of A Night With Janis Joplin. Brian is a regional Emmy nominee for the “The Kate” concert series, a Jeff Award winner, multiple BTCA award winner, Resident Designer at TheaterWorks Hartford, Associate Artist at Barrington Stage, and a member of USA Local 829. See Brian’s work at brianprather.com.

 

GABY RODRIGUEZ, she/her

FIRST SEASON (Directing Fellow, Grand Horizons) A storyteller from Cuba, Gaby is thrilled to return to Asolo Rep after directing the BardWired tour of Much Ado About Nothing. Other directing credits include Fefu and Her Friends at Theatre Nuevo and The University of Oklahoma, Suffer the Children and Billy Elliot at The Center of Creative Arts, Miss You Like Hell for Webster Conservatory, and The War of the Roses with SHAKE38 STL. Pa’lante mi gente!

 

CELINE ROSENTHAL, she/they

SIXTH SEASON (Associate Artistic Director; Director, Grand Horizons) is a Tony^®-nominated producer and "Key" member of The Ring Of Keys. Celine has developed new work with Musical Theatre Factory, NYMF, Kidoons, Tamasha, and National Queer Theatre, as well as creating Asolo Rep’s premiere new work series, Asolo Rep: Ground Floor. At Asolo Rep Celine directed Camelot, We Need A Little Christmas, The Lifespan of a Fact, Midsummer Night's Dream, and The Tempest. Other Recent Projects: Trayf (New Rep), Drowning in Cairo (N.Q.T), A Doll’s House (Studio Theatre), Motherf***er with the Hat (FSU/Asolo Conservatory), the Award Winning Indie short film Wildflower. Celine is a New Georges affiliated artist, member of the 2018/19 MTC Directing Fellowship class, and was awarded an SDC Observership and Asolo Rep Directing Fellowship. Alumnus of CTI, BMI Lehman Engel Workshop, NYU Tisch (BFA), and The New School for Drama (MFA). celinerosenthal.nyc  

 

NIA SCIARRETTA*, she/her

TENTH SEASON (Production Stage Manager; Assistant Stage Manager, Our Town, Grand Horizons; Stage Manager, The Great Leap) Favorite Asolo Rep credits include stage manager for last year’s Terrace Stage season as well as for The Sound of Music, Into the Breeches, The Music Man, Sweeney Todd, Sweat, Shakespeare in Love, Roe, and assistant stage manager for Rhinoceros, Guys & Dolls, All the Way, South Pacific, and Hero: The Musical. Previous off-Broadway credits include work on Jesus Hopped the A Train, In the Blood, and The Wayside Motor Inn at the Signature Theatre. Nia has also worked with Creede Repertory Theatre, the Hangar Theatre, the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, the Flea Theatre, and Penguin Rep.

 

ETHAN VAIL, he/him

FIFTH SEASON (Lighting Designer, Grand Horizons) is pleased to return to Asolo Rep as a designer this season. Credits include - Asolo Repertory Theatre: Fannie: The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer, Camelot; The Players Centre for the Performing Arts (Sarasota, FL): Head Over Heels, All Shook Up; Millbrook Playhouse (Mill Hall, PA): 65 productions including the regional premiere of Fun Home, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Rock of Ages, The Little Mermaid; Compass Rose Theatre (Annapolis, MD): Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; Manatee Players: Anne of Green Gables. He was the recipient of the 2013 USITT YD&T Award, sponsored by Barbizon Lighting Company, for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which he designed at Purdue University. He is also the Master Electrician at Asolo Repertory Theatre.

 

BESS WOHL

(Playwright, Grand Horizons) has written plays that have been produced or developed at theaters around the country, including the Williamstown Theatre Festival, People’s Light and Theatre Company, Center Theatre Group, the Contemporary American Theater Festival, the Pioneer Theatre, the Pittsburgh Public Theater, the Northlight Theater, TheaterWorks New Works Festival, the Geffen Playhouse, the Vineyard Arts Project, Ojai Playwright's Conference, the Cape Cod Theatre Project, and the New York International Fringe Festival. Her play American Hero had its world premiere at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, directed by Leigh Silverman. She also worked on Pretty Filthy, an original musical about the adult entertainment industry, in collaboration with the composer/lyricist Michael Friedman and the Civilians. Her other plays include Cats Talk Back, In, Barcelona, and Touched. Her work has been supported by the MacDowell Fellowship, PlayPenn, and the Sewanee Writer's Conference. She is a member of the Ars Nova Play Group and has been the recipient of new play commissions from Manhattan Theatre Club and Center Theatre Group. She also writes for film and television. She completed an adaptation of the bestselling novel The Luxe for Paramount Pictures and has developed original television pilots for Fox, HBO, and USA. Bess is a graduate of Harvard, magna cum laude, where she studied with Seamus Heaney and Jamaica Kincaid, and was awarded the Rona Jaffe Writing Prize and the Tennessee Williams Scholarship. She earned her MFA from the Yale School of Drama, where she was a recipient of the Rebecca West Scholarship. She is originally from Brooklyn, NY, and divides her time between New York and Los Angeles.

 

CSA TARA RUBIN/CLAIRE BURKE, CSA 

(Casting, Grand Horizons) Asolo Rep: Evita, Guys and Dolls, Beatsville, Living on Love (New York Casting), Luck Be A Lady, HERO: The Musical. Selected Broadway: King Kong, Ain't Too Proud, The Band’s Visit, Miss Saigon, A Bronx Tale, Dear Evan Hansen, Cats, Prince of Broadway, Bandstand, Falsettos, Sunset Boulevard, Disaster!, School of Rock, It Shoulda Been You, Bullets Over Broadway, Aladdin, Les Misérables, Mothers and Sons, Big Fish, The Heiress, How to Succeed.., A Little Night Music, Billy Elliot, Shrek, Guys and Dolls, Young Frankenstein, The Little Mermaid, Mary Poppins, Spamalot, …Spelling Bee, The Producers, Mamma Mia!, Jersey Boys, The Phantom of the Opera. Off-Broadway: Here Lies Love; Love, Loss, and What I Wore. Regional: Yale Repertory Theatre, Paper Mill Playhouse, La Jolla Playhouse, Bucks County Playhouse, Westport Country Playhouse, The Old Globe.

 

DRAMATISTS PLAY SERVICE, INC. (DPS) 

(Licensing, Grand Horizons) was created in 1936 to foster national opportunities for playwrights by publishing affordable editions of their plays and handling the performance rights to these works. Dramatists Play Service has since grown steadily to become one of the premier play-licensing and theatrical publishing agencies in the world. Offering an extensive list of titles that includes many of the most significant plays of the past century, DPS preserves the rich history of drama. Acquired by Broadway Licensing in March of 2021, Dramatists Play Service works with thousands of theaters to ensure the future vitality of the theater. It is committed to providing a home for established writers and to nurturing new playwrights of exceptional promise.

 

*Members of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

 

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