WOODY SEZ: THE LIFE AND MUSIC OF WOODY GUTHRIE Opens 5/30 at Asolo Rep

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.

Cast-led Hootenannies will follow every Sunday matinee, where patrons will have the unique opportunity to play their own instruments at hour-long jam sessions on the mezzanine level of the theatre's lobby. Hootenannies are free and open to those who do and do not have tickets to that day's performance. They will start 20 - 30 minutes after the matinee performance ends, and are open to music enthusiasts of all ages and abilities.

"Woody Sez is about the man and his songs," said deviser and cast member David Lutken. "We've made it our job to sing and play Woody's tunes in the style of his times. It creates a real link for the audience to his life, his passions, flaws, and to his spirit. The cast doesn't imitate or impersonate Woody or his family or cohorts; we play and sing the way we know how, as they did (and still do, some of them)."

"Woody Guthrie's inspirational music provided an uplifting and soulful soundtrack during America's most trying periods, from the Great Depression to World War II and beyond," said Producing Artistic Director Michael Donald Edwards. "His politically and socially charged songs continue to give hope and a voice to the voiceless as they struggle to survive in America today. It is thrilling to present this award-winning musical event, which promises to be hugely entertaining, with lots of humor and deeply felt emotion. It is a celebration of the American spirit."