FORT MYERS, FLA.: Florida Repertory Theatre has announced its 2018-19 season, which will feature nine productions. It’s the theatre’s first season under new leadership; its founder Robert Cacioppo was recently fired due to allegations of bullying.
“We are delighted to be celebrating the beginning of our third decade with this very exciting season,” said interim artistic director Jason Parrish in a statement. “This diverse line-up of plays and musicals, both classic and contemporary, will break new ground for the theatre, introduce many new faces, and of course, showcase our ensemble of artists in a variety of roles. Our 21st will be a season of new beginnings, and we hope you’ll join us.”
The season will start with Mark St. Germain’s Becoming Dr. Ruth (Sept. 21-Oct. 21), a one-woman show about the life of Dr. Ruth K Westheimer, a German immigrant who became a famous sex therapist.
Next up will be Steel Magnolias (Oct. 19-Nov. 7), by Robert Harling, about a group of women who gather together in a Louisiana beauty salon during times of joy and strife.
Following will be Damascus by Bennett Fisher (Nov. 9-Dec. 9), a dangerous psychological thriller that challenges all that we think we know.
Just in time for the holidays will be a world premiere adaptation of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol (Nov. 30-Dec. 19) by Mark Shanahan.
The season will continue with Tenderly: The Rosemary Clooney Musical (Dec. 21-Feb. 24, 2019), by Janet Vogt and Mark Friedman, based on the life of radio, TV, and film icon Rosemary Clooney.
Next up will be August Wilson’s Fences (Jan. 11-30, 2019), about a former baseball player in the Negro league who struggles to take care of his family in Pittsburgh in the 1950s.
Following will be Noël Coward’s Hay Fever (Feb. 15-March 6, 2019), a comedy about four eccentric family members who each invite a guest to spend a weekend at their English country house in the 1920s.
Next will be Million Dollar Quartet (March 22-April 10, 2019), by Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux, inspired by the true story of the famed recording session with music icons Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Elvis Presley.
The season will conclude with Native Gardens (April 5-May 5, 2019), by Karen Zacarías, a comedy about the clash of cultures when a young Latino couple moves next door to an established family and their prize-winning garden in Washington, D.C.
Florida Repertory Theatre, founded in 1998, is committed to presenting new plays and musicals.
