Stageworks announces a full season for 2021-22

Back in the building at last, Tampa’s Stageworks Theatre has its first “normal” season lined up, starting in October. Fittingly, the schedule is titled “Emerge.”

Joined by several of the directors and actors who’ll be working on the new shows, artistic director Karla Hartley revealed the full during a fundraising event Wednesday night.

Evil Dead The Musical (Oct. 15-31). Hartley directs a musical comedy adaptation of the Sam Raimi horror film franchise. Tag line: “Five college students spend the weekend in an abandoned cabin in the woods and accidentally unleash an evil force that turns them all into demons. It’s up to our hero, Ash, and his trusty chainsaw to save the day.”

12 Angry Men (Jan. 7-23). Reginald Rose’s 1950s courtroom drama (literally – those titular dozen dudes are arguing in the jury room for the entire play) was on deck for the 2019-2020 season when Covid shut the theater world down. Directed by Rosemary Orlando.

The Diary of Ann Frank (Feb. 4-20). The classic true story of love and hope during one of history’s most despicable episodes is directed by Karla Hartley. It will star Mercy Roberts (previously onstage in the Hartley-directed Fun Home, at American Stage.

Murder on the Orient Express (March 25-April 10). Matthew McGee will play Hercule Poirot, Agatha Christie’s peculiar, and quite brilliant, Belgian detective in this train-bound mystery of mysteries, adapted by Ken Ludwig.

Anna in the Tropics (May 6-22). Nilo Cruz’s steamy drama won the Pulitzer Prize in 2003 – it’s about Cuban workers rolling cigars in an Ybor factory, and the well-dressed “lector” who comes to entertain, enlighten and inspire them by reading Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina on the floor. J.L. Rey (In the Time of Butterflies) directs (this one was also scheduled for the “season that never was.” Performed in both English (nine performances) and Spanish-language (six) versions.

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (June 3-19). Directed by Paul E. Finochiarro, the uber-popular William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin musical about kids and competition. The cast includes Heather Krueger (Stageworks’ Ordinary Days, the Straz Center’s upcoming Shout! The Mod Musical). This show was on the menu for last year, too.

Meanwhile, the comedy Sylvia is in its final weekend of performances.

Season tickets subscriptions are available now.