Top 15 plays and musicals to see this season in Sarasota-Manatee area

Each new season brings the promise of exciting, inspiring, challenging or just plain fun productions, and there are many such shows planned by the area’s professional and community theaters in the coming year.

We are taking a look at some of the most anticipated shows, in chronological order. Some are on the list because the titles warrant their inclusion, others because the productions provide unique challenges that may be well suited to a particular theater’s strengths, and others just belong here.

But that doesn’t mean they’ll turn out as we hope. There’s a certain magic in putting together the right show with the right director, designers and cast. No matter how good the intentions may be, we never know until we see them. And just because a show is not on this list, doesn’t I am not looking forward to it.

With those caveats in mind, here’s a look at the 15 shows I’m most excited to see this season. the first one is cheating, because I have already seen and reviewed it. Feel free to send me your picks at jay.handelman@heraldtribune.com.

‘Once on This Island’

Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe, Through Nov. 19. 941-366-1505; westcoastblacktheatre.org

This musical currently running at Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe has long been one of my favorites, and the original Broadway cast album is one I listen to when I need some cheering up. The new production staged by Jim Weaver features a vibrant, strong-voiced cast of WBTT veterans and newcomers, led by Ilexis Holmes as Ti Moune, who begins a journey on a Caribbean island to be with the man she loves. Her voice soars and her smile envelops you. The whole show is a delight.

‘Crazy for You’

Asolo Repertory Theatre,  Nov. 15-Jan. 4. 941-351-8000; asolorep.org

The Tony-winning musical, a revised version of George and Ira Gershwin’s “Girl Crazy,” was a big hit on Broadway in 1992. Asolo Repertory Theatre originally planned it as another showcase for director/choreographer Josh Rhodes, but two months ago he was hired to make his Broadway directorial debut with a revival of “Monty Python’s Spamalot.” Rhodes recommended a replacement, Denis Jones, who has worked at Asolo Rep before and has extensive credits on Broadway and across the country. It is a fun and funny show (with a book by Ken Ludwig), and lots of tap and other dance routines set to a wonderful Gershwin score.

‘She Loves Me’

Manatee Players, Nov. 30-Dec. 17. 941-748-5875; manateeperformingartscenter.com

The 1960s musical, based on a Hungarian play that later inspired the film “The Shop Around the Corner” and “You’ve Got Mail,” has long been one of my favorites because of the delightful score by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick (who also wrote “Fiddler on the Roof”). It’s about bickering clerks at a perfume shop who have no idea they’re really falling in love through their anonymous love letters. Tim Spradlin directs a cast led by Shannon Wright and Michael Silvestri as the bickering co-workers singing some charming songs.

‘Tick tick... Boom’

The Players Theatre, Jan. 10-28. 941-365-2494; theplayers.org

Before he became a household name with his Pulitzer Prize-winning “Rent,” composer and lyricist Jonathan Larson wrote this autobiographical musical about what it takes for one composer to create a new show, along with the friendships and relationships he sacrifices. The musical was adapted into a Netflix film by Lin-Manuel Miranda that made it even more about Larson’s own life. I have never had a chance to see the show, so I'm looking forward to getting to Larson’s roots.

‘The Amish Project’

Tree Fort Productions Projects, Jan. 12-Feb. 11. treefortproductionsprojects.com/tickets

Katherine Michelle Tanner brings back her impactful performance in Jessica Dickey’s one-woman play that takes a fictional look at the 2006 Nickel Mines schoolhouse shooting in an Amish community. Tanner plays all the characters, including children in the school, parents and others in the story. She has performed the show at American Stage in St. Petersburg and Sarasota’s now-defunct Banyan Theater Company as well at other theaters around the country. It’s part of the debut season of her new Tree Fort Productions Projects.

‘Inherit the Wind’

Asolo Repertory Theatre, Jan. 19-Feb. 24. 941-351-8000; asolorep.org

It seems that this Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee dramatization of the infamous 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial, which put Charles Darwin and the theory of relativity on trial, never loses its relevance, no matter how society and politics change. It features a clash between religiously oriented attorney Matthew Harrison Brady (modeled after the real-life William Jennings Bryan), and the folksy but determined Henry Drummond (based on Clarence Darrow). I suspect that the shifting political climate locally and nationally will make the play even more timely.

‘Hadestown’

Van Wezel, Jan. 30-Feb. 4. 941-263-6799; vanwezel.org

This Tony Award-winning musical is based on the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice who hope to keep their love alive after returning from the underworld. It is told in a vibrant, contemporary style through the music, lyrics and book by Anais Mitchell and staging by Rachel Chavkin. They make you feel the traditions of the origin story, which is made more relatable for today’s audiences without losing its potency. The show’s producers include Sarasota resident Tom Kirdahy.

‘Lehman Trilogy’

Florida Studio Theatre, Jan. 31-March 24. 941-366-9000; floridastudiotheatre.org

The regional premiere of Stefano Massini’s acclaimed, Tony Award-winning play explores the history of the Lehman Brothers from their arrival in New York City in the mid-19th century through the collapse of their financial business in 2008. Three actors play all the roles in a play that The New York Times described as a “vividly human tale.”

‘Ruby’

Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe, Feb. 28-April 7. 941-366-1505; westcoastblacktheatre.org

Audiences have been waiting a while for the world premiere of this original musical play by WBTT founder Nate Jacobs and his brother Michael. Originally set to open in 2020, it was shut down by COVID and then delayed again in 2022 even as the cast was rehearsing. The extra time gave the brothers more opportunity to refine how they tell the true story of Ruby McCollum, a prominent Black woman who was convicted of the murder of a doctor in Live Oak, Florida in the 1950s. She later claimed that her youngest child was fathered by the doctor from a non-consensual relationship.

‘Parade’

Manatee Players, March 7-17; 941-748-5875; manateeperformingartscenter.com

Just months after an acclaimed, Tony Award-winning revival ran on Broadway, Scott Keys stages this musical by Jason Robert Brown and Alfred Uhry inspired by the true story of a Jewish businessman in 1915 Georgia who was charged with killing Mary Phagan, a young girl who worked for him at a pencil factory. Leo Frank was released after charges were dropped but was then lynched by angry neighbors who didn’t believe his innocence. It has become even more relevant during a time of increasing anti-semitic attacks.

‘Spitfire Grill’

Venice Theatre, March 22-April 21; 941-488-1115; venicetheatre.org

I first saw this charming musical at the Sarasota Players in 2009 and fell in love with it. I’m hoping for more of the same in this new production. It’s an uplifting tale of a young woman, recently released from prison, who comes to a small, dying town that she helps to revive through the force of her attitude and personality. It features music and book by James Valcq and lyrics and book by Fred Alley.

‘Hamilton’

Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, March 26-April 7. 941-263-6799; vanwezel.org

You can already feel the anticipation building for the Sarasota debut of one of the most talked-about musicals of our time. Lin-Manuel Miranda tells the story of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton with a hip-hop and rap-tinged score, brilliant direction by Thomas Kail and choreography by Andy Blanekbueler. Together, the creators practically reinvented how we think about musical theater and what Broadway can be.

‘Troubadour’

Florida Studio Theatre, April 3-May 19. 941-366-9000; floridastudiotheatre.org

This is the Florida premiere of a new musical featuring a score by Sugarland’s Kristian Bush. I’m not a big fan of country music, but I’ve been growing to like it. With a story by Janece Shaffer, "Troubadour" is set in Nashville in 1951 where a country music legend is planning to retire and there are hopes that his son might carry on the family’s musical legacy, but things change when the singer meets a rising songwriter and a rodeo tailor.

‘The Immigrant’

Sarasota Jewish Theatre, May 1-12. 941-365-2494; sarasotajewishtheatre.org

It has been more than 25 years, but I still have fond memories of a 1996 Asolo Repertory Theatre production of Mark Harelik’s play about a Russian-Jewish immigrant (the playwright’s grandfather) who found his way to Texas and made a life for himself in the most unlikely place. It’s an inspiring story about self-determination, survival and building a community, begun by Haskell Harelik selling bananas door to door. Gus Kaikkonen directs the production.

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‘Twelve Angry Men’

Asolo Rep, May 8-June 9. 941-351-9010; asolorep.org

How can you not be intrigued by the prospect of seeing Reginald Rose’s intense jury room drama turned into a musical? There certainly have been more unlikely prospects. Songwriter Michael Holland and writer David Simpatico, working with Asolo Rep Producing Artistic Director Peter Rothstein, turned the story about the jury deliberations in a case involving a young black man accused of killing his father into a musical with a jazz-infused score. Rothstein directed the premiere last season at Theatre Latté Da in Minneapolis, a company he co-founded and ran for 25 years before joining Asolo Rep in July.

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This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Top 15 most-anticipated plays and musicals in Sarasota area in 2023-24