On Monday, March 14, Asolo Repertory Theatre announced their upcoming slate of productions for the 2022-2023 season. The season, which will span from November 2022 to June 2023, features six productions - four modern, 21st Century plays in Ken Ludwig’s The Three Musketeers, Silent Sky, Chicken & Biscuits, and Incident at Our Lady of Perpetual Help - bookended by two classic, 20th century musicals in Cabaret and Man of La Mancha.

It’s an announcement that belies the amount of time Asolo Repertory Theatre dedicates to choosing their productions. “While it’s ultimately our Producing Artistic Director, Michael Donald Edward’s decision, season selection is a very involved process - we (Edwards, Dramaturg Adam Eslayigh, and Rosenthal) read sometimes up to 100 plays just to find the few that are right for us. We are always trying to make sure that we have balance - a little something for everyone. This time around, we wanted to have a season that would lift our audiences' experience, make them laugh, and celebrate the resilience of our community and of our families - both born into and chosen families,” says Asolo Repertory Theatre’s Associate Artistic Director, Celine Rosenthal.

The ability to make audiences laugh became even more of a prevalent factor in 2022-23’s season selection than in years past. “We’re always looking for a high balance of comedy in our productions - especially in darker times, we want to find ways to lift people’s spirits. I’m really proud that in our comedies, however, we have some really wonderful plays that are also filled with poignancy and strong character development as well,” says Rosenthal.

That love of exploring relationships through comedy is also what led Rosenthal to direct their upcoming production of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, a play that delves into the bond between the women in an 1970s Irish Catholic family. “It’s a beautiful showcase of the love between these women and the shenanigans they get up to,” attests Rosenthal.

Perhaps most of all, Rosenthal hopes that in the 2022-23 season, Asolo Repertory Theatre can continue to be a transformative space for audiences to escape to. Each of the six shows inhabit a time and place vastly different from our modern world and the problems that have plagued it in recent years. “I hope that our audience will get two messages: ‘All for one, one for all’ from The Three Musketeers and ‘In here, life is beautiful’ from Cabaret. It’s been so hard outside in so many aspects of our lives. We want to gift our audiences a wonderful evening of relief and joy - to come back to the theater and reexperience that community and heal a little bit,” states Rosenthal.

Asolo Repertory Theatre, 5555 N Tamiami Trail. Box Office: 941.351.8000 / 800.361.8388 / patronservices@asolo.org

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