FST Improv Announces 2024 Summer Season

FST IMPROV ANNOUNCES 2024 SUMMER SEASON

(Sarasota, FL) – Florida Studio Theatre (FST) announces the lineup for its Summer Improv Season, running from June 1 through September 28. With five diverse shows, including its annual Fourth of July holiday musical, FST Improv is bringing Sarasota audiences a wide range of improvisational styles and performances this summer. Tickets are $18 and are now on sale at FloridaStudioTheatre.org or 941.366.9000.

Kicking off the summer is the debut of Director’s Cut, running June 1st through June 28th. The brand-new show puts the audience in the director’s chair and the performers vying for their story to be chosen. From spine-tingling mysteries to heartwarming romances, our ensemble transforms your ideas into vivid realities, scene by scene. The catch? If you aren’t a fan of the story, you get to eliminate it from the show until only one cast member remains. The excitement never fades as we embark on an unpredictable rollercoaster of laughter, tears, and edge-of-your-seat drama.

Next up is FST Improv Presents: Freedom!, a special, one-night-only holiday improv show celebrating Independence Day. Inspired by audience suggestions, improvisers will reveal an untold story of the American Revolution. This never-before-seen musical will take place on Saturday, July 6, 2024, in FST’s Bowne’s Lab.

“This show has become a 4th of July tradition for a lot of people in our community,” said Will Luera, FST’s Director of Improv. “Our top-notch cast will put an entertaining comedic spin on Independence Day by creating a completely original musical on the spot. It’s always a joy to see what my fellow improvisers come up with based on the simple audience suggestion of an occupation or the name of a colony.”

Returning for the Summer Season is the audience favorite FST Improv Presents: The End of the World, which performs for one night only: Saturday, July 27, 2024. Disaster has struck the planet and the future of humanity is at stake. The world’s only hope is for FST Improv to record a movie telling the true story of the end of the world, leaving their film behind as a warning to any future civilization looking to make a go of it here on Earth. This 90-minute improvised disaster movie performance will have audiences both laughing and rooting for FST Improv’s performers to beat the odds and survive the end of the world.

FST Improv’s popular salute to the high school classics of the ‘80s, FST Improv Presents: Fast Times at John Hughes High, returns for an exclusive performance on Saturday, August 3, 2024. Inspired by such films as The Breakfast Club and Risky Business, select FST Improv cast members will shape an all-new story celebrating the abundant awkwardness, hormones, and dreams of American teenage life. Featuring the genre’s beloved stock characters, Fast Times at John Hughes High will help audience members relive their school years, serving up laughter along the way.

Bringing the Summer Improv Season to a close is FST Improv Presents: Comedy Lottery, where twelve lucky audience members select the night’s lineup of games. Once the games have been selected, FST Improv cast members spin scenes, sketches, and songs to win over the audience’s laughter. Every performance is different, but one thing is guaranteed: the improvisers’ fate is in the audience’s hands. Comedy Lottery plays Saturdays in FST’s Bowne’s Lab from August 10 to September 28, 2024.

Taking the Bowne’s Lab stage in Tournament of Fools and Comedy Roulette are returning cast members: Kevin Allen, Taylor Bungo, Christian Corpora, Sylvia Day, Sarah Durham, Darryl Knapp, Will Luera, Kathryn Parks, Sal Piccolo, Christine Reagan, Autumn Steiner, and Danielle Trzcinski. Jim Prosser or Helena Rankin will alternate as musical improvisers on the piano at each performance.

FULL PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE

FST Improv Presents: Director’s Cut
Saturday, June 1, 8, 15, 22, and 29 at 7:30 PM

FST Improv Presents: Freedom!
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Laughter
Saturday, July 6 at 7:30PM

FST Improv Presents: The End of the World
An Improvised Disaster Movie
Saturday, July 27 at 7:30PM

FST Improv Presents: Fast Times at John Hughes High
Saturday, August 3 at 7:30PM

FST Improv Presents: Comedy Lottery
Saturday, August 10, 17, 24, and 31 at 7:30 PM
Saturday, September 7, 14, 21, and 28 at 7:30 PM


ABOUT FLORIDA STUDIO THEATRE
Florida Studio Theatre (FST) is Sarasota’s contemporary theatre. Founded in 1973, FST has grown to a village of five theatres located in the heart of downtown Sarasota. Each theatre is small in size and large in impact— providing intimate and engaging settings for high-quality, professional performances.

Today, FST has established itself as a major force in American Theatre. FST is the largest subscription theatre in the state of Florida and among the largest in the country, serving more than 200,000 live attendees each year across its diverse programs: Mainstage, Cabaret, Stage III, Children’s Theatre, The FST School, New Play Development, and FST Improv.

Even with its growth, Florida Studio Theatre remains firmly committed to making the arts accessible and affordable to as many people as possible. Under the leadership of Producing Artistic Director Richard Hopkins, FST develops theatre that speaks to our living, evolving, and dynamically changing world. Hip and historical, entertaining and challenging, we are the theatre where everyone is welcome to engage in the art of theatre.

ABOUT FST IMPROV
Since its founding in 2001, FST Improv has grown into a robust, year-round program, offering never-before-seen shows week after week. FST Improv celebrates the full spectrum of Improv disciplines, going beyond game-focused Short-Form improvisation, to also incorporate Long-Form, Musical, and Free-Form styles. FST also produces the annual Sarasota Improv Festival, bringing the best improv troupes from across the country and around the world to Sarasota each year for a whirlwind weekend of spontaneous art. Today, the Sarasota Improv Festival is the premier festival of its kind in the Southeast United States.

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