The Studio Theatre Tierra del Sol presents…
Join us for four premiere staged readings as we hear the fresh, new, workshopped scripts of our recently selected Florida Playwrights.
Each script was hand selected to workshop the week of May 6-11, 2019. Playwrights will have created new drafts of their show and worked closely with a director and cast to fine tune their script. On May 10 and 11 we invite audiences to come and hear the final draft of the world premiere of these new plays. Performances will be held in a "staged reading" format with no costuming or set in order to focus on and digest the script solely. Moderated talkbacks will be held with the playwrights and audiences to give your constructive feedback after each performance. You're invited to attend all four, or attend a few individually.
Ticket prices for an individual performance is $10.
| Bobbie Bell | Director |
| Performer | Role |
| Jamie Middleton | Margaret |
| Cody Moss | Wally |
| Brian Zealand | Billy |
| Rachel Whittington | Isabelle |
| Bobbie Bell | Harrold |
| (Handled internally) | Stage Directions Reader |
Richard Gibbs received his bachelor's degree from Indiana University with an emphasis in Theater Arts and English in 1978. He participated in 10 productions as an actor at Indiana University and at the University Theatre at the Brown County Playhouse in the summer of 1975 and 1976. Upon graduation, in 1978, Gibbs moved to Los Angeles California where he remained for six years. He was previously a member of Theatre Rapport in Hollywood and received a one-year scholarship for an MFA at the University of Southern California participating in three productions and two student films.
Gibbs was also a member of the Indianapolis Shakespeare Festival and performed in two productions at Garfield Park as an actor, as well as being a production manager for the festival in 1985.
In total, Gibbs has written five plays; one full-length play, and four plays that were submitted to the 10-minute playwriting contest at Actors Theatre of Louisville as part of the Humana Arts Festival.
| Roberta Emerson | Director |
| Performer | Role |
| Joe Llorens | Jerome Robbins (Jerry) |
| Adrian Ahern | Arthur Laurents (Arthur) |
| Dean Bell | Leonard Bernstein (Lenny) |
| Aidan Fracker | Stephen Sondheim (Steve) |
| Mark Wright Ahern | Hal Prince (Hal) |
| Rebecca Montgomery | Stage Directions Reader |
J. Andrew Norris is an actor, director and a writer. He is a recent graduate of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where he received his BA in Drama, with a minor in Musical Theatre. In his time there, he worked on multiple award winning productions and workshops. Recently relocated to Sarasota, he is currently a member of the Florida Studio Theatre Apprentice Company. In the past, he has worked with Literacy Theatre, Triad Stage, NC Summer Rep and Heritage Theatre. In his free time, he enjoys cooking, reading biographies and looking at pictures of dogs on the internet. Social Media: @drewlockholmes.
Ezra Brain is a writer, director, and dramaturge. Ezra has directed for Bears Ensemble Theatre, Left Field Theatre, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and Literacy Theatre (where they also served as Artistic Director.) Their writing has been performed at the Tank, Literacy Theatre, Stop Pretending Theatre Project, and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. In 2019, Ezra's play "She's Gone" will be read as part of the inaugural season of the Art Garage--the first ever non-profit theatre in the United States dedicated to producing work by and for the transgender community. Ezra was the dramaturge for This Is Not A Theatre Company's sold-out run of "Cafe Play" and is an award-winning teaching artist. Ezra is currently an ensemble member of This Is Not A Theatre Company and the Associate Producer of Exquisite Corpse Company.
| Roy Hamlin | Director |
| Performer | Role |
| Darlin Barry | Celeste Dawkins |
| Alina Alcántara | Ruth Lopez |
| Laurie Sullivan | Mrs. Newsome |
| Vanessa Sotomayor | Anne Roteman |
| Matthew Minassian | Michael Newsome |
| Michelle Buehler | Stage Directions Reader |
Born and raised in the south hills of Pittsburgh, PA, Greg Burdick has worked for more than two decades as a public high school theatre educator and director in the state of Florida. As a theatre director with nearly one hundred productions to his credit, he remains passionate about fostering student writing, and has helped many young artists realize the thrill of transforming their own words from page to stage. Burdick's short play, INSERT TOKEN, was selected for production at BoxFest Detroit, 2016, at Planet Ant Theatre, where it was their Financial Scholarship winner. The play was recently produced this August at New Jersey's Rhino Theatre. In October of 2016, Burdick was the celebrated Playwright of the Month at Baltimore's "A Work In Progress Theatre." His two-act drama, MONESSEN FALLS, received a staged reading at the Eubie Blake Cultural Center. The play will receive its US Premiere at Good Luck Macbeth Theatre in Reno, NV, in August of 2019. His short play SECRET'S OUT was selected for production as part of Theatre Odyssey's Twelfth Annual Ten-Minute Play Festival. Presented in the Jane B. Cook Theatre at the Asolo Center for the Performing Arts in Sarasota, Florida, the play is available through Nigel Publishing. Most recently, his political drama AGENT OF CHANGE was selected for inclusion at the Jan McArt New Play Reading Series at Lynn University in Boca Raton, FL, where the play was treated to a week-long developmental workshop and staged reading, directed by Wayne Rudisill. Burdick's work has also been developed at New York's Athena Theatre, through their "Athena Reads" initiative. In June of 2018, ACCOMMODATION received a private reading with them in New York City. In February of 2019, the play earned a staged reading at the Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma City, OK under the direction of Ignition Arts. He is thrilled to bring it to the Studio Theatre at Tierra del Sol tonight. Proud member of the Dramatists Guild, Greg lives in Lakeland, FL.
| Shami McCormick | Director |
| Performer | Role |
| David Russell | Mac Hathaway |
| Adam Reilly | Ham Hathaway |
| Sarah French | Nan Hathaway |
| Roy Hamlin | Don Singer |
| Casey Casteel | Izzie Peterson |
| Morgan Russell | Luma LaRonde |
| Holland Hayes | Roman Darius |
| (Open) | Stage Directions Reader |
William Leavengood is a two-time O'Neill playwright and alumnus of Circle Repertory. He is the author of over 50 plays, screenplays and books for musicals. His Off-Broadway credits include Special on Theatre Row; Little Mary at the Sanford Meisner Theatre; The Head at the Chelsea Playhouse; The Preservation Society, at Primary Stages; and Florida Crackers, which premiered as part of Circle Repertory's 20th Anniversary Season. Leavengood's short play, Steve, was presented at the Town Hall Theatre in New York as part of Brave New World: The American Theater responds to 9/11, and subsequently made into a short film starring Fisher Stevens. Los Angeles productions include The Head at the Matrix and What Is Art? at the Court and The Break at New American Theatre. Regional productions include What Is Art? at GeVa Theatre; Money Maker at the Heather Theater; Webb's City: The Musical at the Mahaffey Theater; Crossing The Bay at the Falk Theater, Tampa; American Road at the Gorilla Theatre; Food & Shelter at American Stage; Lourdes Of The Flies, at the Palladium Theatre, and The Azure Sky In Oz at the Straz Center, Tampa. A concert version of Webb's City: The Musical was produced and then revived at the 800-seat Palladium Theater, St. Petersburg, Florida in 2017 and 2018.
Upcoming projects include a concert version of his other Florida-themed musical, Crossing the Bay, which will be presented at The Palladium in September 2019 and the world premiere of his song and dance political satire, Drilled!, at the Palladium's Side-Door Cabaret July 18-21. Following the production of his one-act, Infinit-E last summer, his new one-act, Lady Obscura, will be produced in New York in June 2019 as part of New Circle Theater Company's Inferno Project. More information at www.billleavengood.com and willknotdiartists.com.
To participate as an audience member to any or all of these performance dates, tickets go on sale 02/19/2019. You may buy tickets online here, by phone 352-751-7799, or by visiting any of The Villages Box Offices.