Asolo Rep Receives $65,000 Arts Appreciation Grant by Gulf Coast Community Foundation

Asolo Repertory Theatre announces that it was awarded a $65,000 Arts Appreciation Grant by Gulf Coast Community Foundation. The grant will provide core support for Asolo Rep's thrilling 2015-16 season, which boasts a roster of re-imagined classics, a Broadway-bound world premiere, and thrilling contemporary productions. The season, with an overlying theme of "Times of Change," marks the fourth year of the theatre's American Character Project, an ambitious five-year examination and celebration of the extraordinary people, culture, history and experiences that make our country unique.

The Arts Appreciation Grant enables Asolo Rep to produce world class theatre in Sarasota, providing the theatre with the opportunity to bring in and cultivate relationships with artists, designers and actors from Broadway, Chicago, L.A., and more. The theatre's highly anticipated season opened to critical acclaim on November 13 with the timeless theatrical masterpiece West Side Story, directed by two-time Tony nominee Joey McKneely. The season continues in rotating repertory in January with the 2014 Tony Award-winning political drama All The Way, the music-infused romantic comedy Living on Love, and continues with Eugene O'Neill's nostalgic comedy Ah, Wilderness! In March, audiences will experience a fresh stage adaption of the 1967 classic film Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. Asolo Rep's Historic Asolo Theater production is Ayad Akhtar's Pulitzer Prize-winning provocative drama Disgraced. In April, Asolo Rep proudly presents the world premiere of the Broadway-bound original musical Josephine. The season concludes in June with an exciting summer production to be announced shortly.

"Grant support is truly vital to the fiscal and artistic health of Asolo Repertory Theatre," said Linda DiGabriele, managing director of Asolo Rep. "We plan, budget and hire artists and designers for our upcoming season long before tickets go on sale and so seed funding from organizations like Gulf Coast Community Foundation makes it possible to bring the work to the stage. The longstanding support of Gulf Coast for more than a decade has truly enabled Asolo Rep to produce innovative, groundbreaking theatrical works that inspire the Sarasota community."