Country music evolves in FST musical ‘Troubadour’

Jay Handelman, Sarasota Herald-Tribune
·2 min read
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Florida Studio Theatre closes its mainstage season with the Florida premiere of a musical about the son of a country music legend setting his own path in the business.

“Troubadour,” which got its start in 2017 at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, features a score by Kristian Bush, one half of the country duo Sugarland (with singer Jennifer Nettles), and a story by playwright Janece Shaffer.

The story is set in Nashville in the 1950s, where Billy Mason is the biggest star of the day. But he’s planning for retirement and his farewell concert, while hoping that his only son, Joe, carries on the family legacy. Joe worries about the expectations being put on him because of his father’s popularity and is interested in creating his own unique sound and seeing where it leads country music.

Caleb Adams plays a budding musician who teams up with a would-be songwriter played by Sarah Colt in the musical “Troubadour” at Florida Studio Theatre.
Caleb Adams plays a budding musician who teams up with a would-be songwriter played by Sarah Colt in the musical “Troubadour” at Florida Studio Theatre.

While Joe is out trying to make his own way, he meets a Russian Jewish tailor who has his own dreams of bedazzling country music, and a writer from young Alabama songwriter who carries a notebook full of tunes she has written for Joe. Together, they collaborate on music and outfits. Or as the Atlanta Journal Constitution described it, the musical “imagines how a crafty Jewish tailor turns a bashful Nashville singer into a rhinestone cowboy.”

Florida Studio Theatre is only the second theater to produce the show.

Director Kate Alexander describes the music as “absolutely fantastic. It works like dialogue within the story, as multiple characters express themselves in ways that traditional dialogue could not.”

In a statement, Alexander said while the show depicts the evolution of country music “you’ll find yourself drawn into this story of people trying to make their mark on the world.”

Scott Wakefield, right, plays a country music legend who hopes his son, played by Caleb Adams, left, will follow in his footsteps in the musical “Troubadour” at Florida Studio Theatre.
Scott Wakefield, right, plays a country music legend who hopes his son, played by Caleb Adams, left, will follow in his footsteps in the musical “Troubadour” at Florida Studio Theatre.

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The production marks the FST debut of Caleb Adams as Joe, while Scott Wakefield (seen in “The Fabulous Lipitones” and “Woody Guthrie’s American Song”) plays his father, Billy.

Sheffield Chastain, who has appeared in numerous FST productions including last season’s “Network,” returns as the tailor Izzy Weiss, and Sarah Colt plays the would-be songwriter, Inez Miller. Deanna Ott and Kevin Bernard round out the cast.

‘Troubadour’

Songs by Kristian Bush, book by Janece Shaffer. Directed by Kate Alexander. Runs April 3-May 19. Gompertz Theatre, 1265 First St., Sarasota. $39-$59. 941-366-9000; floridastudiotheatre.org

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This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Songs by Kristian Bush of Sugarland fuel FST musical ‘Troubadour’