Anniversary Season
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th ASOLO REPERTORY THEATRE o ANNIVERSARY6 SEASON ASOLO REPERTORY THEATRE th 6oANNIVERSARY DINNER November 26, 2018 The Westin | Sarasota 6pm | Cocktail Reception 7pm | Dinner, Presentation and Award Ceremony • Vic Meyrich Tech Award • Bradford Wallace Acting Award 03 HONOREES Honoring 12 artists who made an indelible impact on the first decade and beyond. 04-05 WELCOME LETTER 06-11 60 YEARS OF HISTORY 12-23 HONOREE INTERVIEWS 24-27 LIST OF PRODUCTIONS From 1959 through today rep 31 TRIBUTES o l aso HONOREES Steve Hogan Assistant Technical Director, 1969-1982 Master Carpenter, 1982-2001 Shop Foreman, 2001-Present Polly Holliday Resident Acting Company, 1962-1972 Vic Meyrich Technical Director, 1968-1992 Production Manager, 1992-2017 Production Manager & Operations Director, 2017-Present Howard Millman Actor, 1959 Managing Director, Stage Director, 1968-1980 Producing Artistic Director, 1995-2006 Stephanie Moss Resident Acting Company, 1969-1970 Assistant Stage Manager, 1972-1990 Bob Naismith Property Master, 1967-2000 Barbara Redmond Resident Acting Company, 1968-2011 Director, Playwright, 1996-2003 Acting Faculty/Head of Acting, FSU/Asolo Conservatory, 1998-2011 Sharon Spelman Resident Acting Company, 1968-1971 and 1996-2010 Eberle Thomas Director, Actor, Playwright, 1960-1966 rep Co-Artistic Director, 1966-1973 Director, Actor, Playwright, 1976-2007 Brad Wallace o Resident Acting Company, 1961-2008 l Marian Wallace Box Office Associate, 1967-1968 Stage Manager, 1968-1969 Production Stage Manager, 1969-2010 John M. Wilson Master Carpenter, 1969-1977 asolorep.org | 03 aso We are grateful you are here tonight to celebrate and support Asolo Rep — MDE/LDG PHOTO WHICH ONE ??? Nationally renowned, world-class theatre, made in Sarasota. rep o l 04 | asolorep.org aso th Thank you for joining us to celebrate Asolo Rep's 60th Anniversary and honor 12 special artists o whose contributions in the first decade of our history set the stage for our theatre6 today. For nearly 60 years, Asolo Repertory Theatre has been a cultural gem, presenting World Class Theatre that is created in our community, for our community. At its core, Asolo Rep has always been and will always be a sanctuary for artists from around the world to explore, evolve and create. As we reflect on Asolo Rep’s history and look toward our future, we take pride in our evolution as one of the country's most capable and dynamic producing institutions and one of the few true rotating repertory theatres in the country. We also celebrate our steadfast dedication to create theatre that is accessible for all through our educational touring productions and ever-expanding community engagement and outreach programs. Our impact in the community extends far beyond the work on stage. Tonight we recognize not only our honorees, but the thousands of artists, board members, donors, audience members, students and volunteers who have enlivened our Asolo Rep family for six decades. Our future is bright, and this is only possible because of you, our dedicated supporters, and your belief in the power and necessity of live theatre for all. rep —Thank you all for being with us on this special evening. o l Michael Donald Edwards Linda M. DiGabriele Producing Artistic Director Managing Director asolorep.org | 05 aso YEARSo of 6history 1959 1962 rep Clifford Odets’ The Country Girl, The Festival expands its schedule features artists Richard G. Fallon, to 50 performances of 18th century Howard J. Millman, Isa Thomas comedies and operas per season. and Eberle Thomas; the play inspires attendees and Florida State University theatre faculty members 1963 Arthur Dorlag and Charles I. Reimer. The Festival’s repertory broadens to include works from all historic periods. 196o General Director Richard G. Fallon sets out to make the Festival a stable, high- o FSU faculty members start a summer quality professional repertory company. acting company in Sarasota that performs at The Ringling’s Asolo Theater, (now remodeled as the 1965 Historic Asolo Theater) and becomes The Asolo Theatre Festival becomes l known as the Asolo Theatre Festival. the first State Theatre of Florida. Above and far right, original installation of the Asolo Theater. Right, Polly Holliday in The Way of the World, 1962. 1959 06 | asolorep.org aso 1968 Howard Millman FSU begins sending acting students to 1966 Richard G. Fallon › complete internships with the company. For the newly formed Asolo Theatre Company, now a year-round professional theatre, General Howard J. Millman becomes the first Director Richard G. Fallon appoints Asolo veteran Eberle Thomas Managing Director, a position he holds actor-directors Robert Strane and Eberle Thomas until 1980. Millman returns to Asolo as as Co-Artistic Directors. rep Producing Artistic Director in 1995. › A federal grant funds a four-month tour of Florida high schools that develops into Asolo On Tour. 1969 The company becomes known as Asolo, › Asolo joins the national theatre community as a the State Theatre Company. member of the prestigious League of Resident Theatres (LORT) and the company begins operating 197o under an Actors’ Equity Association contract. A new touring component is created for younger audiences and continues o through the 1990s, producing plays that are seen by hundreds of thousands of Robert Strane students throughout Florida and the Eastern United States. l 1973 FSU’s MFA in Acting program comes to Sarasota and the FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training is born. 1975 Asolo Stage Two is created in downtown Sarasota, on First Street and a full season of plays is produced. After stage managing Asolo Stage Two, Linda DiGabriele becomes Tour Director for the expanding touring operations. 1976 PBS’ Theatre in America chooses Asolo Theatre Company as one of only eight companies in the U.S. to be featured on its national television series with a performance of The Patriots. The company once again appears on PBS with End of Summer, starring Helen Hayes. asolorep.org | 07 aso Opening Night at the Mertz Theatre, December, 1989. Photo by Wayne Eastep. John Ulmer 1989 1978 › Linda DiGabriele assumes the role The company’s annual operating budget of Managing Director. reaches the million-dollar mark. › The Company outgrows the original Asolo Theater and builds a new, state-of-the-art theatre with 1983 500 seats, and rehearsal, classroom, shop and John Ulmer becomes Artistic Director office space. and Richard G. Fallon, by now the › Executive Director, moves his base of The Dunfermline Opera House, purchased from operations to Sarasota. Scotland, is reconstructed inside the new Asolo Center for the Performing Arts. The company’s Linda DiGabriele 1986 new mainstage is named the Harold E. and Esther The Bette Oliver Theatre is created M. Mertz Theatre, in honor of its benefactors. in the Adolph “Chick” Frankel Building › for Conservatory and smaller Asolo Rep The new Asolo Center for the Performing productions. Arts opens with a production of Lee Blessing’s A Walk In The Woods. Leon B. Stevens and Keir Dullea in A Walk in the Woods. Photo by Gary W. Sweetman. 08 | asolorep.org The theme of “company” comes directlyco from mpany. Asolo Rep’s origin as a festival performing in rotating repertory. With a long tradition in European theatre, rotating repertory 199o involves a resident company of actors presenting works Margaret Booker is appointed Artistic Director. from a particular “repertoire” (or, collection of plays). 1991 The Asolo Center is acquired by FSU, and the name is changed to FSU Center for the Performing Arts. 1994 › Playwright Bruce Rodgers (Lost Electra, Centerburg Tales) is appointed Associate Artistic Director. › Donna Gerdes is appointed Interim Executive Director and goes on to serve as Development Director the following year. › The Jane B. Cook Theatre opens and becomes the main performance venue for the Conservatory, and second stage for Asolo Theatre Company. Its first production, Noel Coward’s Hay Fever, opens on November 17th that year. 1995 Howard J. Millman returns as Producing Artistic Director and reinstates the resident company and rotating repertory schedule. He also reincorporates the FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training into the operations of the professional company. 1996 The Sarasota Ballet moves into the FSU Center, sharing the facilities with Asolo. Asolo stages a triumphant production of The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, Parts I & II. 1999 Asolo Repertory Theatre celebrates The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, its 40th Anniversary. Parts I & II, 1996. Photo by Gary W. Sweetman. asolorep.org | 09 2oo3 Michael Donald Edwards Sarasota celebrates the centennial of the opera house that is now the Mertz Theatre, which first opened its doors in Dunfermline, Scotland in 1903. 2oo4 Managing Director Linda DiGabriele receives the Florida Professional Theatres Association's Richard G. Fallon Award for excellence in Professional Theatre. 2oo5 Greg Leaming becomes Director of FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training. 2oo6 Michael Donald Edwards begins his tenure as Producing Artistic Director. The Asolo Theatre Company is renamed Asolo Repertory Theatre. The Conservatory gives its first guest performance, The Parisian Woman, in the re-opened Historic Asolo Theater at the Ringling Museum. 2oo7 A Tale of Two Cities enjoys its world premiere and a sold-out run in the Mertz Theatre. Asolo Rep presents Nobody Don't Like Yogi, its first guest performance in the Ringling’s Historic Asolo Theater. Asolo Rep is now performing in three theater venues: Mertz, Cook and Historic Asolo Theater. Top: Brad Wallace, Barbara Redmond and Jefferson Slinkard. Bottom: Jimmy Clarke in Broadway, 2000. Photos by Gary W. Sweetman. 10 | asolorep.org In addition to our honorees, many other people contributed to As a residentcommunity. theatre, Asolo Rep strives the founding of the Asolo Theatre Festival and success of the to present stories that matter to our fledgling company. community, be that the local community of Sarasota and Manatee Counties, the larger community of the state of Primary among these were Richard G.