Asolo Theatre Company

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Asolo Theatre Company, Sarasota, since 1965 a state theatre of Florida (a title given to only three other theatres in the state), which became fully professional in 1966. It evolved from the summer festival of 18th- and 19th- century comedies first staged in 1960 by the Division of Theatre of Florida State University. The Asolo was originally housed in an 18th-century Italian court theatre, erected in 1798 in Asolo, Italy, and reassembled in Sarasota by the Ringling Museums in 1951. In 1989, the Asolo Theatre Company moved to its own theatre in the new Asolo Center for the Performing Arts, which houses the Asolo Mainstage, the Asolo Second Stage, and the Florida State University/Asolo Conservatory of Professional Actor Training. Plasterwork wall panels and friezes, cornice work, and carved box fronts from Scotland's Dunfermline Opera House have been reassembled and restored to provide the interior for the Asolo Mainstage. The Asolo Theatre Company is one of the few American companies to play in true repertory, its season running from early Dec. to July. As many as five matinées a week are often given, with different plays at matinée and evening performances. Productions range from classics to modern plays and musicals as well as premières of new plays. Since 1966 the theatre has been committed to educational work. The Asolo Touring Theatre, founded in 1975, takes its three professional companies to schools throughout the state with a repertory designed for different age groups. Since 1981 Asolo On Tour has annually toured a mainstage work throughout the country.

Asolo Theatre Company (Sarasota, Florida). An 18th‐century theatre in Asolo, Italy (which once featured Eleanore Duse), was purchased by the estate of John Ringling and reassembled in Sarasota in the 1950s. A group of faculty and students from Florida State University (FSU) formed a company in 1960 to perform in the historic structure and the theatre became a fully professional company in 1966. Having outgrown its original home, the troupe moved in 1990 to the new Asolo Center for the Performing Arts, which houses the 500‐seat Mertz Theatre and, as of 1994, the 161‐seat Cook Theatre. In addition to a full season of classic and modern drama, the group is active in the FSU/Asolo Conservatory for theatre training.