The Asolo Theatre CompanyNEWS
November 23, 2004
Media contact: Julia Guzman / 941-351-9010 Ext. 4800 / Julia_guzman@asolo.org
High resolution images are available for this show.
Audiences are Broadway Bound
With Neil Simon’s Hit Play Coming to the Asolo in December
Sarasota, Florida – The Asolo Theatre Company, along with corporate co-presenters Bank of America and Comcast, present Neil Simon’s Broadway Bound in the Harold E. and Esther M. Mertz Theatre from December 3, 2004 to March 31, 2005. Directing the play is Howard Millman, the Asolo’s producing artistic director, and the director of last season’s acclaimed The Diary of Anne Frank and I’m Not Rappaport. The cast is composed of resident actors David S. Howard (Ben), Bradford Wallace (Jack) and Carolyn Michel (Kate); and includes FSU/Asolo Conservatory students Ross Kidder (Eugene), Sam Osheroff (Stanley), and Melissa Teitel (Blanche).
Broadway Bound opened in New York on December 4, 1986 and ran for 756 performances at the Broadhurst Theatre, closing on September 25, 1988. It was the third in a trilogy of semi-autobiographical plays Neil Simon wrote that drew from his childhood in New York City, the first being Brighton Beach Memoirs, which the Asolo produced in 2002-2003. Audiences will surely recall the tremendous success and popularity of the Asolo's production of Brighton Beach Memoirs both in Sarasota and when the Asolo performed it at the Cape Playhouse in Dennis, Massachusetts, where it garnered rave reviews.
Broadway Bound continues the story of the Jerome family and takes the audience along as Eugene and Stanley strive for their “big break” in show business, and as Jack and Kate face midlife and the specter of their empty nest.
Howard Millman explains, “I consider Broadway Bound to be Neil Simon’s best play. His ability to combine a serious context with great comedy is true genius. Directing this wonderful cast is pure joy. I know our audiences will love this play as much, if not more, than they did Brighton Beach Memoirs.”
The Mertz Theatre is in the FSU Center for the Performing Arts at 5555 North Tamiami Trail in Sarasota, FL. Tickets for Broadway Bound range in price from $15 - $47 and may be purchased through the Asolo Box Office at 941-351-8000 or toll-free at 800-361-8388, or go to the Asolo website at www.asolo.org for more information.
The Asolo is funded in part by the Division of Cultural Affairs, Florida Department of State, The Florida Arts Council, the City and County of Sarasota and the Sarasota County Tourist Development Tax through the Board of County Commissioners, the Tourist Development Council, and the Sarasota Arts Council. The Asolo Theatre Company’s Shakespeare productions are sponsored in part by Shakespeare in American Communities, a national theater initiative sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts and The Sallie Mae Fund in cooperation with Arts Midwest. Additional funding is also received through the efforts of support groups including the Asolo Angel Association, the Asolo Theatre Guild, The Directors Emeritus and the generosity of individuals, corporations and foundations.