Pictured: Carole Bufford in "Roar: The Music of the 1920s and Beyond." Photo courtesy of FST.

Though the off-season looms, Florida Studio Theatre shows no sign of slowing, announcing this week a slate of shows through the summer months for both the main stages and the cabaret. The Summer Mainstage Season runs from June 2 through August 20 and comprises three productions, including a Burt Bacharach musical, a regional premiere and a world premiere, in the Keating and Gompertz theaters. The Summer Cabaret Season sports its own three musical productions, ranging from rock and soul to bluegrass and swing, and runs from June 15 through September 24.

The Mainstage Season kicks off June 2 with the opening of Burt & Me, a coming of age “jukebox musical” about high school sweethearts reuniting after college and the lengths one will go to for romance. Featuring music and lyrics by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, FST’s Jason Cannon directs. The season continues July 5 with the regional premiere of the award-winning dramatic mystery The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey. FST Company Member Jeffrey Plunkett stars as a detective investigating a small-town disappearance, as well as more than a dozen other town residents, in a marathon performance that has him doing an hour of cardio every day to prepare. Closing out the season is the National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere of Doublewide, opening August 2. The heartfelt but hilarious story of a blue collar father’s ambition to leave his daughter a house to inherit instead of the family doublewide trailer, Cannon returns to direct this tale about the modest side of the American Dream.

In the Court Cabaret, the Summer Cabaret Season opens June 15 with The Jersey Tenors. Hailing from the Garden State, the four tenors take the audience through a whirlwind rock/opera mash-up including everything from Frank Sinatra and The Four Seasons to Queen and Bruce Springsteen. Opening July 18, the cabaret takes a turn for the bluegrass with The Blue-Eyed Bettys. Featuring Daniel Emond on banjo, Sarah Hund on fiddle and Ben Mackel on guitar, the troubadours meld music and storytelling with wicked three-part harmonies. For the final show of the season, Roar: The Music of the Jazz Age opens August 22 with Carole Bufford transporting audiences back to the Roaring Twenties with music from Bessie Smith, Louis Armstrong, Ruth Etting and more.

“We produce quality theatre programming in the summer because it is our mission to make theatre accessible and affordable to as many people as possible,” says FST Producing Artistic Director Richard Hopkins. “This particularly includes ‘locals,’—the year-round residents. FST is here to serve all the people of Sarasota all the time.”

Tickets are on sale for all shows and range from $36—39 for single tickets or $39 for a season subscription.

Pictured: Carole Bufford in "Roar: The Music of the 1920s and Beyond." Photo courtesy of FST.