Asolo Rep presents Inside Asolo Rep: SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE And MORNING AFTER GRACE

Asolo Rep will host Inside Asolo Rep: SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE and MORNING AFTER GRACE on Wednesday, January 31 at 11am, with refreshments at 10:30am. This insightful special behind-the-scenes panel will feature Peter Amster, Director of MORNING AFTER GRACE, Jordan Brown, Will Shakespeare in SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE and Henry McClusky/Robert Flowers/Abortion Doctor/Ensemble in ROE, Catherine Smitko, Abigail in MORNING AFTER GRACE and Nurse in SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE, and Rex Willis, Musician in SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE. The discussion will be moderated by Asolo Rep Dramaturg and Literary Manager Paul Adolphsen.

Peter Amster (Director, Morning After Grace; Choreographer, Rhinoceros) returns to Asolo Rep where he directed Born Yesterday, Living on Love, The Matchmaker, Vanya and Sonya and Masha and Spike, You Can't Take it With You, Fallen Angels, Deathtrap, The Perfume Shop, This Wonderful Life and choreographed 1776. In Chicago, he was nominated for Joseph Jefferson Awards for directing Once on this Island, The World Goes Round, The Rothschilds (Apple Tree Theatre), and Pride and Prejudice (Northlight Theatre). Other Chicago area theaters include Steppenwolf, The Goodman, The Court, Live Bait, Pegasus, and Route 66. Regional theaters include the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Utah Shakespeare Festival, ACT, Syracuse Stage, Geva Theatre, Indiana Repertory Theatre, American Repertory Theater, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Peninsula Players, Weston Playhouse, Maltz Jupiter Theatre, and Laguna Playhouse. Peter has directed and choreographed operas for the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Chicago Opera Theater, Skylight Opera in Milwaukee, and Light Opera Works in Evanston, IL.

Jordan Brown* (Will Shakespeare, Shakespeare in Love; Henry McClusky/Robert Flowers/Abortion Doctor/Ensemble in Roe ) is thrilled to be making his Asolo Rep debut. His Chicago theatre credits include By The Water, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Iphigenia In Aulis, White Guy On The Bus, Brigadoon, Wonderful Town, In The Company Of Men, and The Pitmen Painters, among others. Other regional credits include A Skull In Connemara at Centerstage Theatre in Baltimore, MD and The Light in The Piazza at River Valley Rep in Poughkeepsie, NY. TV credits include Sirens (USA Network) and Crisis (NBC). Mr. Brown is a graduate of the University of the North Carolina School of the Arts.

Catherine Smitko* (Nurse, Shakespeare in Love; Abigail, Morning After Grace) is most happy to join Asolo Rep Theatre! A native Chicagoan, Catherine has most recently been seen as Nurse in Shakespeare in Love at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre and has also played Nurse in their NEA tour of Romeo and Juliet. Other Chicago credits include: Camino Real, Heartbreak House, The Rose Tattoo, and A Christmas Carol (Goodman Theatre); Bye Bye Birdie, Oliver, Funny Girl (Drury Lane Theatre); Les Misérables, Singing In The Rain, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum (Marriott Theatre). Some regional credits include: Animal Crackers (Centre Stage Theatre); Nero, Pleasure and Pain (Magic Theatre SF).

REX WILLIS (Musician, Shakespeare in Love) is thrilled to be making his Asolo Rep debut. As State College of Florida's Music Theory professor for 25 years, he has music directed 12 shows, including Into the Woods and West Side Story, and composed an original musical, In Ybor City. Mr. Willis is an accomplished classical guitarist, a widely published composer, and an in-demand conductor and clinician.

*Members of Actors' Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

Wednesday, January 31

Refreshments: 10:30am
Panel Discussion: 11am

FSU Center for the Performing Arts
Cook Theatre
5555 N. Tamiami Trail
Sarasota, FL 34243

Panel discussion tickets are just $5 for the general public and are free for all donors and Asolo Rep Guild members. To reserve your tickets, call the Asolo Rep Box Office at 941.351.8000 or visit www.asolorep.org.

To post a comment, you must register and login.