Florida Rep's Virtual PlayLab Features All-Star Casts!

Florida Repertory Theatre's 2020 PlayLab Festival of New Works continues Dec. 3 and 10 with live 7 PM Zoom readings of "White Party" by Brent Askari and "A Sherlock Carol" by Mark Shanahan. The Festival closes with a Playwrights' Panel discussion on Dec. 11 at 3:30 PM, where the festival playwrights talk about their craft and take questions from audiences.

Individual reading and event tickets are $20 and All-Access passes are $49 and $69 and offer the best way to sign up for all remaining festival events. Considered a donation to Florida Rep, digital tickets and passes are available now at www.FloridaRep.org.

Casts and creative teams are set for the two final readings and include Florida Rep ensemble members and well-known Broadway and television veterans broadcasting from their homes across the country. Each live performance is followed by a talkback with the playwright, director, and cast. In addition to the live 7 Pm Readings on Dec. 3 and 10, each reading is available on-demand for streamed viewing for four days following its reading.

Brent Askari's "White Party" is directed by Reginald Douglas, who is the Associate Artistic Director at Studio Theatre in Washington, D.C. Douglas returns to Florida Rep's PlayLab after directing "Berta Berta" by Angelica Cheri in 2018. Florida Rep ensemble Member, Amy Massari, stage manages the reading.

The cast of "White Party" features longtime Florida Rep Ensemble Members, David Breitbarth and Kate Hampton, who were seen most recently in Ken Ludwig's "A Fox on the Fairway" and this fall's virtual benefit production of "Clue." They are joined by Mary E. Hodges and Amir Darvish, accomplished television and stage actors who appeared together in 2017's "Disgraced," and Hodges also appeared in Florida Rep's 2016 production of "Best of Enemies." Nick Ducassi makes his Florida Rep debut in the 2020 Virtual PlayLab, and is a television and regional theatre actor whose credits include City Theatre (Pittsburgh), Soho Rep (NYC), The Lark (NUC), and more.

"White Party" is a darkly comic play where John and Laura Baron are making final preparations for their annual soiree - thrown in their lavish home on an exclusive Florida barrier island. This year, however, things don't go according to plan. As the festivities begin, the Barons grow increasingly manic and paranoid, suspecting darker forces have conspired to sabotage their perfect evening.

Mark Shanahan's "A Sherlock Carol" closes the festival on Dec. 10th, and brings together a cast of Broadway and regional veterans with the playwright also serving as director. Mark Shanahan returns to to PlayLab after his play "The Dingdong" had a reading in the 2015 festival and its regional premiere the following year at Florida Rep. A regional theatre and Broadway veteran, Shanahan's directing credits with Florida Rep include "How the Other Half Loves, "Around the World in 80 Days," and the world premiere of his play, "A Christmas Carol: the Tale of Ebenezer Scrooge" in 2018.

In "A Sherlock Carol," Moriarty was dead, to begin with. And Sherlock Holmes is a haunted man. But, when a grown-up Tiny Tim asks Holmes to investigate the death of Ebenezer Scrooge, the Great Detective must use his gifts to solve a Dickens of a Christmas mystery! Six actors take on the beloved characters of Arthur Conan Doyle and Charles Dickens in this holiday adventure for all ages.

"A Sherlock Carol" stars Broadway, Off-Broadway, film, television, and regional theatre actors making their Florida Rep debuts: Dan Domingues, Isabel Keating, Drew McVety, Nicole Shalhoub, and Noble Shropshire alongside Florida Rep Ensemble Member, Jason Parrish.

Dan Domingues is a regional theatre and Off-Broadway veteran whose credits include The Public Theatre (NYC), The Alley Theatre (Houston), The Guthrie Theatre (Minneapolis), and more.

Isabel Keating comes to Florida Rep with a distinguished career that includes Broadway productions of "Wicked," "Spiderman Turn off the Dark" and a Tony-nominated portrayal of Judy Garland in "The Boy From Oz" opposite Hugh Jackman.

Playing Sherlock Holmes in the reading, Drew McVety's Broadway credits include "Bandstand," "Big River," and "Spamalot," as well as an extensive career on some of the major regional theatres across the country.

Nicole Shalhoub's regional credits include Yale Rep, Arena Stage (D.C.), Lincoln Center, The Goodman (Chicago), and many more, as well as appearances on television's "New Girl," "The Mentalist," and "The Good Wife."

Playing Ebenezer Scrooge, Noble Shropshire's Broadway credits include "The Drowsy Chaperone," " Candida," and "Not About Nightingales" (also with London's Royal National Theatre). Mr. Shropshire's career includes extensive work with The Alley Theatre (Houston), Actors' Theatre of Louisville, Hartford Stage, Arena Theatre (D.C.), The Denver Center, and others.

Florida Rep's Associate Artistic Director & Ensemble Member, Jason Parrish, joins the cast as Dr. Watson. Mr. Parrish directed recent Florida Rep productions of "A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder," the National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere of "Alabaster," and appeared in "How the Other Half Loves" and six seasons in "The Santaland Diaries." Another longtime Ensemble Member, Viki Boyle, reads the stage directions for "A Sherlock Carol" after recent appearances in "A Christmas Carol," "Outside Mullingar," "A Doll's House, Part 2," and a currently running national commercial for Downy fabric softener.

"A Sherlock Carol" also features holiday classics arranged by Ray Bokhour and Fred Lassen that are played live on Zoom by cellist, Mairi Dorman-Phaneuf. Mr. Lassen also joins the creative team to music direct the reading. His Broadway musical directing credits include the upcoming "Sing Street," "Bandstand," "Finding Neverland," and more. Ms. Dorman-Phaneuf is an established New York solo, chamber, Broadway, and recording artist whose work includes Broadway productions of "A Little Night Music," "Sunday in the Park with George," and "My Fair Lady." Ensemble Member, Janine Wochna, stage manages the reading after working on previous 2020 Virtual PlayLab readings of "Spay" and "Jerome."

The 2020 Virtual PlayLab is generously sponsored by Lee Moore & Dee Whited. "White Party" is sponsored by Judy Weiner. "A Sherlock Carol is sponsored by Mary Denison and Naomi Bloom.

PlayLab tickets and information are available online at www.FloridaRep.org or by calling the Florida Rep Box Office at 239-332-4488. Follow Florida Rep on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouYube for the most up to date information about programming and how to support Florida Rep during this difficult time.

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