The Hermitage Artist Retreat Presents MICHAEL R. JACKSON: JUST SITTIN' HERE LOOKIN'

The Hermitage Artist Retreat will present "Michael R. Jackson: Just Sittin' Here Lookin'" with Pulitzer Prize winner Michael R. Jackson, Friday, May 21, 6:30 p.m., live on the Hermitage Beach, 6660 Manasota Key Road, Englewood. Jackson, a 2021 Hermitage Fellow and the recipient of the 2020 Pulitzer Prize in Drama for his musical A Strange Loop, will present an evening of music and stories, in a collaboration between the Hermitage and Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe. This event will also be available via live-stream. Michael R. Jackson's Hermitage artist residency is generously sponsored by the Huisking Foundation. Registration is required at HermitageArtistRetreat.org. (Free with a $5 per person registration fee.)

"It's been a helluva year," notes Jackson, "and I've just been 'sittin' here lookin,' as my grandma used to say, holed up in my tiny New York City apartment during a hurricane of political, cultural, and epidemiological upheaval - and way too much social media. The music within me has largely been suppressed during this time, but now a lot is coming up, and I might just need somebody to hold my hair back!"

Michael R. Jackson's Pulitzer Prize and New York Drama Critics Circle's winning musical, A Strange Loop had its 2019 world premiere at Playwrights Horizons in association with Page 73 Productions. In addition to A Strange Loop, Jackson also wrote book, music, and lyrics for White Girl in Danger. Awards and associations include the New Professional Theatre Festival Award, a Jonathan Larson Grant, a Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award, an ASCAP Foundation Harold Adamson Award, a Whiting Award, the Helen Merrill Award for Playwriting, an Outer Critics Circle Award, a Drama Desk Award, an Obie Award, an Antonyo Award, a Fred Ebb Award, and a Dramatist Guild Fellowship. Jackson is an alum of Page 73's Interstate 73 Writers Group, and a 2021 Hermitage Fellow.

Registration for all events is required at HermitageArtistRetreat.org. All live events will be held outdoors, and capacity will be limited to accommodate safe social distancing. Early reservations are recommended. Masks required at check-in for all live programs, including outdoor events. To accommodate capacity restrictions, social-distancing measures, and virtual licensing costs, a $5 per person registration fee applies.