In Sarasota, Florida, Singin’ in the Rain has moved onto the stage of Asolo Repertory Theatre’s Mertz Theatre, where technical rehearsals began this week. A week out from the first preview, the design team is putting the 1927 Hollywood lot together, rain included: two downpours a performance, each one 2,000 gallons of water.
The production runs November 18, 2026, to January 2, 2027, with previews November 18–20 and opening night on November 21. Josh Rhodes directs and choreographs, and Tyler Hanes and Sara Esty lead the company, as announced in October.
Making it rain
Rain on a stage is one of the best-known technical problems in the musical repertoire, and this show asks for it twice a night. Neither downpour’s water is wasted: the system catches it, filters it and pumps it back around for the next sequence.
Who is building it
Rhodes is back at Asolo Rep, where he has directed Jesus Christ Superstar, Cabaret, Evita and Guys and Dolls and choreographed the world premiere of Knoxville. On Broadway he directed and choreographed the Spamalot revival and choreographed Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella, First Date, It Shoulda Been You and Bright Star; in London he choreographed Carousel.
Lighting designer Kenneth Posner, a Tony winner, is making his first appearance at the company. He has lit more than 50 Broadway shows, among them Wicked, Hairspray, Kinky Boots, Beetlejuice, Mean Girls and Pippin, and his awards also include Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Lucille Lortel and Obie honors.
Scenic and projection designer Paul Tate dePoo III won the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Broadway’s The Great Gatsby, and designed The Cottage and the Rhodes-directed Spamalot. His work outside the US runs from Titanic and Sweeney Todd in Seoul and Turandot in Austria to the opening ceremony of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. He founded Tate Design Group.
Costume designer Brian Hemesath returns after Evita and Guys and Dolls here. He has dressed Sesame Street since 2009, a job that has brought him eight Emmy nominations and three wins, and was associate costume designer on Saturday Night Live from 2002 to 2015. He also worked on the costume teams for the John Wick films and Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story; his Broadway credits include Honeymoon in Vegas, and he received the Irene Sharaff Young Master Award in 2015.
Sound designer Connor Wang returns after last season’s The Mirror Crack’d. Wang’s Broadway work includes How to Dance in Ohio and the 2026 revival of Proof; Off-Broadway, Romy & Michele and Laura Benanti: Nobody Cares. Regional credits take in the Goodman Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, The Old Globe, American Repertory Theater and Steppenwolf Theatre Company, where Wang is a company member.
Hair, wig and makeup design is by Michelle Hart, Asolo Rep’s resident designer in that department, whose other Florida credits include the Sarasota Ballet, Palm Beach Dramaworks, Florida Studio Theatre and Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe. Music director Matthew R. Meckes returns after last season’s Fiddler on the Roof. Lee Wilkins is associate director and choreographer, and Jason Paul Tate, professor of movement at the FSU/Asolo Conservatory, is fight director.
Tickets
Performances are Tuesday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m., with 1:30 p.m. matinees on Wednesdays, Saturdays, Sundays and select Thursdays. There are no performances on Thanksgiving Day, November 26, or on Christmas Day, December 25. Tickets are on sale from the Asolo Rep website and on 941-351-8000.
