Asolo Rep Presents KALEIDOSCOPE: WHEELS OF A DREAM

Asolo Rep's Education department proudly presents Kaleidoscope: Wheels of a Dream on Monday, May 14 at 6pm in the Mertz Theatre, on the set of Asolo Rep's May production of Ragtime. The performance is the culmination of this season's Kaleidoscope, an award-winning annual program founded by Broadway veteran Ann Morrison in 1995, which serves individuals with special needs from local community organizations and schools to discover creative and personal expression through performance.

This year's Kaleidoscope participants come from three partner organizations and schools: Bayshore High School, Easterseals Southwest Florida, and Oak Park School. Throughout the months of each residency, participants explore movement, music and acting, led by Asolo Rep teaching artists. Ann Morrison continues her founding role leading the work for adult and student participants at Easterseals. Benjamin Howe and Rick Levine, guest teaching artists and dancers with Sarasota Contemporary Dance, lead the work for students at Oak Park School and Bayshore High School respectively. The Haven, a group which has worked with Kaleidoscope since its founding, will be represented by veteran performers working at the event as special guests. The Heavenly Haven bakery will also provide desserts for the reception following the performance.

The Kaleidoscope: Wheels of a Dream showcase presents a glimpse into varied artistic styles of each group's explorations. Some ensembles will demonstrate the classroom exercises they have been using in their workshop sessions, including movement and vocal activities. Others will perform their own short musical, with a script generated by the participants themselves. The showcase performance is free and followed by a dessert.

"Once a year we have the opportunity to turn over our beautiful theatre to these performers who are rarely featured on public stages," said Kathryn Moroney, Asolo Rep Education Director. "Ragtime features a beloved song that describes traveling into the future 'on the wheels of a dream', and that has inspired us to showcase all the different places these artists can travel with the fuel of their imaginations. This year's Kaleidoscope program features three exuberant ensembles working with three distinctly creative teaching artists, and the wide variety of the work they have created together promises to be an energizing evening for family, friends, and our community."

Tickets are free but reservations are required. To reserve tickets, please call the box office at 941.351.8000 or 800.361.8388 or visit http://asolorep.org/Kaleidoscope. Tickets are free but reservations are required. To reserve tickets, please call the box office at 941.351.8000 or 800.361.8388 or visit http://asolorep.org/Kaleidoscope.

Kaleidoscope is made possible, in part, with support from: Leona Hughes Trust of the Bank of America Client Foundation, Eluned and Edward Russell Charitable Foundation, The Z Foundation, The Joy McCann Foundation, Tegna Foundation, and the State of Florida, Division of Cultural Affairs.

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