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ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT THE EFFECT
ichael Donald Edwards is taking his final bow as Asolo Repertory Theatre’s producing artistic He’s not the same as when he arrived in Sarasota. Neither is the
Over the course of his 18-year run, Edwards profoundly transformed Asolo Rep and developed a new skillset in the process. Under his stewardship, the theater company upgraded its audio, visual and lighting technology. It expanded spaces for rehearsals and storage for sets, props and costumes and added residences for visiting actors.
By strengthening the theater company’s relationship with Sarasota’s philanthropic community, Edwards was instrumental in raising money
Howard Millman was Asolo Rep’s first managing director from 1968 to 1980 and then its producing artistic director from 1995 until 2006. He applauds the way Edwards brought the company into the future during his tenure. “When I returned to the Asolo, my job was to keep it alive and breathing,” Millman says. “Michael’s job was to grow the company — and he did that brilliantly. I’m thrilled at the direction he took the Asolo. He Millman and others agree that Edwards made a huge impact on the company. He was clearly an agent of change. But he had no grand design in mind on day one.
Edwards says he had a positive impression of Asolo Rep before accepting the position as its producing artistic director in 2006. But it was an outsider’s point of view. He had previously been the associate artistic director of Syracuse Stage and served as artistic director of Shakespeare Santa Cruz.
In 2005, Edwards came to Sarasota to guest-direct the Asolo Rep’s production of Michele Lowe’s “The Smell of the Kill.” As a result, directing was Edwards’ only connection to the company when he began his leadership role.
“I was originally focused on directing,” he says. “I discovered that producing and fundraising for one of
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