

Freefall theatre sarasota full#
They are her personal celebration of women, art and life.Artistic director Eric Davis, who isn’t prone to hyperbole, merely calls it “a return to traditional programming.” But the announcement that freeFall Theatre has a full season of productions in the wings is likely to be embraced by bay area theater fans as something to be celebrated. She presents them for museums, libraries, schools and art and social organizations throughout the country. Jenny Aldrich blends her theatrical experience, her extensive research, her love of art and her dedication to promoting women in these unique programs. She’s considering Peggy Guggenheim or Grandma Moses for the future. She’s currently working on a program about Marie Selby, whose world-renowned garden is in Sarasota. Venturing into the literary field, she created Anne Morrow Lindbergh: An Extraordinary Life and Lillian Hellman: An Unfinished Woman.

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While researching to update and revise her programs, Jenny gained more knowledge about other women artists who were prominent and successful during Cassatt’s lifetime, and developed the program A Circle of Artists. In 1993, The Fine Arts Society gave her a grant to develop Lilla Cabot Perry: Impressions of Monet and the American Artists at Giverny. She re-staged the program in 1989 for The Fine Arts Society of Sarasota with such success that they commissioned her to create Georgia O’Keeffe: A Dramatic Portrait. It was so successful she toured it for over a year with an adapted version for children: A Chat with Mary Cassatt. She first staged A Visit with Mary Cassatt at the Gardner Cassatt mansion in Paoli, Pennsylvania in 1979. Reading Cassatt’s letters, Jenny realized Cassatt was a perfect subject for a dramatic program. While searching for a play to produce about women, she was also researching Mary Cassatt for the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s “Art Goes to School” program. Now she’s a “book charmer” for Selby Library. She regularly appeared in The Golden Apple Children's Theatre and toured schools and libraries with the Open Circle Players on the gulf coast of Florida for three years. For the Sarasota County School Board, she conducted an eight-week workshop in Theatre Games and toured as the Orangeblossom Fairy for two years. More recently, Jenny appeared with the Banyan Theater, Florida Studio Theatre, FreeFall Theatre, Starlite Players, Theatre Odyssey and appeared at SaraSolo and the Orlando and Tampa Fringe Festivals.ĭedicated to children's theatre, Jenny has taught theatre classes, workshops and written, directed and produced a variety of children’s plays. She toured in both Far East tours of The Sound of Music. Other Florida roles include Betty in The Foreigner, Doris in Same Time Next Year and Veronica in Veronica’s Room.

Sarasota Magazine nominated her Best Supporting Actress as the mother in Barefoot in the Park and Best Actress for her portrayal of Eleanor in Lion in Winter. Hannigan in Annie and Kate in Brighton Beach and Broadway Bound at the Sarasota Golden Apple. Her favorite roles are Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire, Martha in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf and Margo in Applause. She's proud to have played all three women in Twelfth Night. Their favorite times onstage together were while appearing in Painting Churches, California Suite, Same Time Next Year, Oklahoma (Don is a native), and in Natalie Needs a Nightie, the classic farce, with Jenny as the inebriated, clothes-snatching maid. She especially enjoys working with her favorite actor and husband Don Walker. Since moving to Sarasota, Florida in 1985, Jenny was very active at the Golden Apple Theaters, appearing in over forty productions. She was Associate Artistic Director of the Entirely Theatre Company in Pennsylvania, and the Founder and Artistic Director of Children’s Theatres in Florida and New Jersey. She is a current resident of Sarasota, Florida. Jenny earned a BA in Speech and Theatre at West Chester University, Pennsylvania, and studied at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York and UCF, here in Florida. A native of Ohio, she first appeared as the actress in The Man Who Came to Dinner in high school and has been addicted to theatre ever since. Jenny Aldrich is an actor, director, producer, teacher and playwright with theatre credits spanning over 60 years, nine states and five countries.
