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3/19/2019

FSU/Asolo Conservatory Presents Shakespeare’s “As You Like It”

April 10 – April 27

Marie Selby Botanical Gardens

900 S Palm Ave, Sarasota 


(Sarasota, FL) – The FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training concludes its season with Shakespeare’s classic romantic comedy, As You Like It. The show, which features the entire class of second-years, is directed by Jonathan Epstein and performed outdoors in the stunning Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. The production previews on Tuesday, April 9 at 8pm with a special pay-what-you-can show, offering tickets at whatever price patrons can afford when purchased the day of the performance, at a minimum of $3 per seat. The show officially opens on Wednesday, April 10 at 8pm, and runs through Saturday, April 27. Performances will run Tuesday through Saturday.

Political unrest and family feuds send Duke Senior, his daughter Rosalind, niece Celia, and Orlando, the object of Rosalind’s affections, fleeing from Duke Frederick’s court in exchange for safety in the Forest of Arden. Along the journey, Rosalind, disguised as a man named “Ganymede”, plays a diplomatic companion who gives relationship advice, plans nuptials, and pretends to “cure” Orlando of his love for Rosalind. The cure is, however, ineffective, and love prevails in this timeless romantic comedy.

“As You Like It is to me the most magical of Shakespeare’s plays,” says director, Jonathan Epstein, “It is not the rough magic of Tempest nor the mischief of Midsummer Night’s Dream, but rather such everyday magic as each of us has every day at our command. It is the magic first of all of the forest and of nature, the magic of Time and patience, the magic of plain speaking, of the dance, of generosity and of kindness.

To purchase tickets to As You Like It or other Conservatory productions, call 941.351.8000 or 800.361.8388, visit asolorep.org/Conservatory, or visit the Asolo Repertory Theatre Box Office at 5555 N. Tamiami Trail in Sarasota. Box Office hours are Monday 10am–5pm, Tuesday–Thursday 10am–7:30pm, Friday–Saturday 10am–8pm, and Sunday 10am–2pm. The box office closes at 5pm when there are no evening performances, and phone lines close one hour prior to the start of any performance.

PURCHASE TICKETS HERE


CASTING

Marc Bitler (Charles/Silvius)
Jillian Cicalese (Celia)
Carla Corvo (Phoebe)
Joe Ferrarelli (Oliver/Corin)
Jonathan Grunert (Duke Frederick/Duke Senior)
Michael Judah (Orlando)
Amber McNew (Rosalind)
Alex Pelletier (Adam/Le Beau/Audrey)
Brian Ritchie (Touchstone)
Creg Sclavi* (Jacques/Charles)


ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

JONATHAN EPSTEIN (Director) is responsible for the Shakespeare training of the second-year MFA candidates at the FSU/Asolo Conservatory. He directed the Conservatory students in last year’s production of Much Ado about Nothing at Selby and previously in productions of Macbeth, As You Like It and Loot, all in the Asolo’s Cook Theatre. As an actor he has performed on and off-Broadway and at scores of regional theaters throughout the country, but is perhaps best known for his thirty-year association as actor, director and teacher with Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, Massachusetts. He and his wife Ariel Bock were married two weeks after starring together as Beatrice and Benedick in that company’s 1995 production of Much Ado About Nothing.


ABOUT THE CONSERVATORY

Originally the home of William and Marie Selby, Marie Selby Botanical Gardens today is an urban, 15-acre bayfront oasis showcasing a living collection of rare and beautiful tropical plants. The Gardens is also a respected world leader in the study and conservation of plants, particularly epiphytes–plants adapted to live in the tree canopy, including orchids, bromeliads, gesneriads and ferns.

MORE INFORMATION