In Sarasota, Florida, Asolo Repertory Theatre opens its 2026–27 season with Singin’ in the Rain, starring Tyler Hanes as Don Lockwood and Sara Esty as Kathy Selden. Josh Rhodes directs and choreographs the run in the Mertz Theatre, November 18, 2026, to January 2, 2027.
Previews run November 18–20, with opening night on November 21. The production launches what Asolo Rep has named the Greatest Season on Earth, a season built around 1927, the year in which the musical is set.
“We are thrilled to launch our 2026-27 season with the greatest movie musical of all time,” said Producing Artistic Director Peter Rothstein. He tied the theme to the centennial of John Ringling bringing his circus to Sarasota, and pointed to what else 1927 produced: the first solo transatlantic flight, the invention of television and the first talking picture.
That last one is the engine of the plot. Silent-screen idol Don Lockwood is riding high in Hollywood when sound arrives and a star suddenly needs a voice as well as a face. With his best friend Cosmo Brown and the aspiring actress Kathy Selden, he sets about surviving the change, while his co-star Lina Lamont, whose voice is the problem, pursues plans of her own. The screenplay is by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, and the songs, by Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed, include Make ’Em Laugh, Good Morning, You Were Meant for Me and the title number.
Rhodes has a long history with the company, where he has staged Jesus Christ Superstar, Cabaret, Hair, The Sound of Music, Evita and Guys and Dolls. Earlier this fall he directed Asolo Rep’s New York workshop of a revised My Favorite Year. On Broadway he directed and choreographed the Spamalot revival, and choreographed Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella, First Date, It Shoulda Been You and Bright Star.
Hanes makes his Asolo Rep debut after 10 Broadway productions, among them A Chorus Line, On the Town, Hairspray, Sweet Charity and Cats, where his Rum Tum Tugger earned him a Chita Rivera Award nomination. Esty returns to Asolo Rep, where she appeared in Come from Away and Crazy for You. She was part of the original Broadway company and first national tour of An American in Paris and the final Broadway company of The Phantom of the Opera, appeared in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, and is a Princess Grace Award recipient for dance.
Colin Bradbury plays Cosmo Brown in his Asolo Rep debut, with Broadway credits that include BOOP!, Elf The Musical, Funny Girl, Carousel, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Come Fly Away. Ryah Nixon, also new to the company, is Lina Lamont. She played Myrtle in The Great Gatsby on Broadway and was in the original Broadway companies of The Queen of Versailles, BOOP! and Once Upon a One More Time.
The principal company also includes Jerome Harmann-Hardeman as R.F. Simpson, Edward Juvier as Roscoe Dexter, Lily Kaufmann as Zelda, Zoie Lee as Olga, Owen Scales as the Production Singer and Tregoney Shepherd as Miss Dinsmore and Dora Bailey.
In the ensemble are Devin Cortez, Devin Johnson, Laura Leo Kelly, Juliana Lamia, Minju Michelle Lee, Lily Rose, Sam Sanderson and Jessica Wockenfuss, with Jackson Dunlap, Joshua A. Griffin, Lacey Jack, Dana Liebezeit, Anthony Savino and Jubilee Tai as swings.
Matthew R. Meckes, back after music-directing Fiddler on the Roof for the company, is music director and conducts the live orchestra from the keyboard. Scenic and projection design is by Drama Desk Award winner Paul Tate dePoo III (The Great Gatsby), costumes by Brian Hemesath, lighting by Tony winner Kenneth Posner (Wicked) and sound by Connor Wang. Jason Paul Tate is fight director, Lee Wilkins associate director and choreographer, and Michelle Hart designs hair, makeup and wigs. Casting is by Geoff Josselson Casting (Geoff Josselson, CSA, and Felicia Rudolph, CSA).
Tickets for the whole 2026–27 season are on sale. Evening performances are Tuesday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m., with 1:30 p.m. matinees on Wednesdays, Saturdays, Sundays and select Thursdays. Seats are sold through Asolo Rep’s box office at AsoloRep.org and on 941.351.8000.
