Asolo Rep will present Woody Sez: The Life and Music of Woody Guthrie, an exuberant musical featuring the unforgettable songs of the father of American folk music. Directed by Nick Corley and devised by David M. Lutken with Nick Corley and Darcie Deaville, Helen J. Russell, and Andy Teirstein, Woody Sez has one preview on Friday, May 29, opens Saturday, May 30 at 8pm and runs through Sunday, June 21 in the Mertz Theatre in the FSU Center for the Performing Arts.
Woody Sez spotlights the toe-tapping, heartfelt music of this revolutionary singer/songwriter, including "This Land is Your Land," "The Ballad of Tom Joad," and "Goin' Down That Road Feelin' Bad." Four actor/musicians play 20 different musical instruments in this jubilant celebration of Woody Guthrie's music and the social justice that his songs inspired. Guthrie was hailed as the "the original folk hero; a man who, in the '30s and '40s, transformed the folk ballad into a vehicle for social protest and observation and in so doing, paved the way for Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and a host of other folk and rock songwriters" by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Woody Sez premiered at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2007 and has since toured Munich, Berlin, Chicago, Boston, Washington, D.C., and London's West End. This musical event, which has been nominated for Joseph Jefferson and Helen Hayes Awards, recently toured the Cleveland Play House, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, and TheaterWorks Hartford, as well as stops in the Middle East and China.Videos