Joey Panek News

Florida Studio Theatre will host a summer improv lineup beginning April 24, featuring returning acts S@!#ZPROBE, FORGOTTEN BROADWAY, and DAD'S GARAGE, as the Sarasota Improv Festival takes a hiatus due to construction.

With 'The House of Future Memory,' freeFall reimagines Shakespeare’s iconic “Seven Ages of Man” monologue as an interactive performance blending music, improvisation, audience input, and AI.

freeFall's all-new interactive production, The House of Future Memory, opens June 13, 2025. Based on Shakespeare's “Seven Ages of Man” monologue from As You Like It, this surprising and innovative performance will bring together the talents and imagination of the actors with the dreams, fears and desires of the audience to create a unique evening of storytelling and theatre that can only happen once. freeFall's 2024/2025 Season Finale is reminiscent of the classic “Choose Your Own Adventure” books from the 80's! 

Sondheim deserves the best, and that's what freeFall has certainly delivered!

See photos from inside rehearsal for Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman’s much-traveled musical Road Show, directed by freeFall Artistic Director Eric Davis. The show is the fifth Sondheim musical produced by the company.

Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman’s much-traveled musical Road Show is directed by freeFall Artistic Director Eric Davis and is the fifth Sondheim musical produced by the company.

Florida Studio Theatre (FST) kicks off its 2023-2024 Winter Cabaret Series with Up on the Roof, an energetic music revue celebrating the legendary songwriters who churned out hit after hit in Midtown Manhattan, creating what became known as the “Brill Sound.” Learn more about the upcoming performance and how to get tickets here!

Spring is in the air which means the start of baseball season. Baseball is my all-time favorite sport. While many say it is boring, there is such a passion and purity to the American Pastime that its enjoyment and place in our culture cannot be ignored. So, when you take my favorite sport and combine it with my love of theatre, well there is the show I want to see. a?oeDamn Yankeesa?? at Manatee Performing Arts Center opened Thursday night and is sure to have that rare breed who love both sports and theatre in a?oeHeaven.

Florida Studio Theatre (FST)'s Winter Improv Season kicks off with FST Improv Presents: When X Meets Y, an improvised musical inspired by a location suggested by the audience and three random notes on the keyboard. In this show, FST Improv cast members weave a story of romance, heartache, and fate told through music and comedy. When X Meets Y has been performing to sold out audiences for the past four years. This improvised musical romance is now playing and runs every Saturday and Friday, January 31 at 8:30PM in FST's Bowne's Lab Theatre through February 15.

Florida Studio Theatre (FST) announces its Fall Improv Season, which includes a brand new show, Last Laugh, and raises the stakes in its audience favorite competition show, Out of Bounds.

Florida Studio Theatre (FST)'s winter Improv season kicks off with FST Improv Presents: When X Meets Y, an improvised musical inspired by a location suggested by the audience and three random notes on the keyboard. In this show, FST Improv cast members weave a story of love, heartbreak, drama, and destiny infused with music and comedy. Previously performed as isolated holiday-themed performances, this is the first time that When X Meets Y is getting its own full multi-week run. FST Improv Presents: When X Meets Y will run every Saturday in FST's Bowne's Lab Theatre beginning January 12 through February 16.

Florida Studio Theatre (FST) announces its Fall Improv Season, which includes a brand new performance every Saturday, plus three special holiday-themed shows that will bring laughs, scares, and holiday cheer to Sarasota. The season kicks off on October 6 with FST Improv's classic comedy competition, Out of Bounds, where two teams of improvisers go head-to-head to compete for the most audience laughs. Out of Bounds runs every Saturday in FST's Bowne's Lab Theatre through December 22.

Florida Studio Theatre's home Improv team goes head-to-head in a truly one-of-a-kind celebration of spontaneity, improvisation, and April Fool's Day. On March 31, some of the Gulf Coast's top improvisers will compete in a series of scenes, songs, and games to win your laughter, your applause, and the coveted title of "Champion of Fools." The exclusive performance takes place in FST's Bowne's Lab Theatre at 8:30PM. Tickets are $15 each and may be purchased from the FST Box Office in person, by calling (941) 366-9000, or online at www.FloridaStudioTheatre.org. Full menu and bar are available. Doors open one hour prior to the show.

Asolo Rep's Annual Gala: Old Hollywood at Cocoanut Grove, will be held on Saturday, March 3, 2018 at Art Ovation Hotel in downtown Sarasota. The largest fundraiser of Asolo Rep's season, chaired by Susan Malloy Jones, Elizabeth Moore, Jules Price and Michelle Senglaub, will begin at 6pm with a cocktail reception and silent auction, followed by a seated dinner, paddle raise, live music and dancing. It will celebrate the famed Cocoanut Grove lounge and nightclub in Old Hollywood's Ambassador Hotel - a mecca for movie stars and synonymous with the glitz and glamour of Hollywood's Golden Age.

Join FST Improv as they bring back the show created around all that makes Sarasota special. Life's A Beach is NOW PLAYING through April 7 in Bowne's Lab Theatre. Performances will be held every Saturday at 8:30pm. Full menu and bar are available. Doors open one hour prior to the show. Tickets are $15 and may be purchased from the FST Box Office in person, by calling (941) 366-9000, or online at www.FloridaStudioTheatre.org.

Asolo Rep's Annual Gala: La Fete de Monte Carlo, will be held today, March 4, 2017 at The Ritz-Carlton Sarasota.

Asolo Rep's Annual Gala: La Fete de Monte Carlo, will be held on Saturday, March 4, 2017 at The Ritz-Carlton Sarasota.

Phenomenal tech work and fine performances combine in this hilarious take of the Hitchcock classic.

It's that time of year again for the ever popular pumpkin spice latte, apple-caramel scented candles, and of course, the start of FST Improv's Fall season. Beginning October 17, Sarasota's Original Anti-Depressant returns! FST Improv will perform a variety of shows including Out Of Bounds, We're Doomed! Halloween Special, When X Meets Y Holiday Special, Life's A Beach, and more. No matter your comedic tastes, FST Improv has something for everyone. Performances will be held every Saturday and select Fridays at 7:30pm with full menu and bar available. All tickets and packages may be purchased from the FST Box Office by calling (941) 366-9000, or online at FloridaStudioTheatre.org.

Joey Panek challenges Broadway choreographer Denis Jones to a Dance-off.