Business & Tech
JAX Chamber: Florida Theatre Announces New Live Performance Series, Untold Stories
Jacksonville, Fla. (September 27, 2021) - The nonprofit Florida Theatre in downtown Jacksonville has announced the debut of a new live p ...
September 29, 2021
Find out what's happening in Jacksonvillefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Jacksonville, Fla. (September 27, 2021) - The nonprofit Florida Theatre in downtown Jacksonville has announced the debut of a new live performance series, Untold Stories. Produced locally by the Florida Theatre, Untold Stories will tap into the heart and soul of Northeast Floridian storytellers with quarterly thematic story evenings.
Find out what's happening in Jacksonvillefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Untold Stories will feature personal and transformative tales told by a diverse range of voices, both natives and residents, connected to Northeast Florida. From artists and entrepreneurs to educators and medical professionals, we all carry memories and stories shaped by our environment. Untold Stories honors the tradition of oral storytelling in a modern context, where stories are deeply wedded to the place we inhabit.
The debut performance of Untold Stories will be Saturday, November 27, 2021 at 8:00 p.m. at the Florida Theatre, 128 East Forsyth Street in downtown Jacksonville. Tickets are $35 and $25 and available in person from the theatre’s box office, by phone from the box office at 904-355-ARTS (2787), or online at FloridaTheatre.com.
The President of the Florida Theatre, Numa Saisselin, said, “We all know the Florida Theatre is one of the great performance halls in the country, and a ‘must play’ stop for touring artists, but we are always looking for new opportunities to connect with our local community. We were inspired to create Untold Stories by Brian and Jake Wolfburg, who told us about a storytelling series in Anchorage, Alaska that they attended. Untold Stories is the Northeast Florida version. We envision four performances a year. Each edition will be themed, and will feature five or six Northeast Florida storytellers, plus a host and a local musical artist who will provide pre-show and in-between music.”
Says Saisselin, “We’re pleased to announce that Barbara Colaciello will be our Guest Artistic Director of the inaugural season. Each season we envision having a different Artistic Director to mix things up and bring a different perspective to the series.”
For over two decades, Barbara has written, directed, produced, and performed socially engaged theater that contributes to vital conversations in the Jacksonville community. She began her career as the Advertising Director of Andy Warhol's Interview Magazine in New York City, and for 9 years Barbara served as the Director of Education for Players by the Sea Theatre. She has collaborated extensively with poet, playwright and nationally known NPR Radio Host, Al Letson. A 2013 TEDxJacksonville Speaker, Colaciello received a 2018 PNC Arts Alive Grant in partnership with the Florida Theatre to direct Letson’s anti-bullying play, Chalk, for Title 1 schools. She was awarded a 2020 Art Ventures Individual Artist Grant from the Community Foundation for Northeast Florida to write a new solo piece Open Heart (ed) exploring women’s heart health and caregiving.
Barbara, known for story slams at her theatre space BABS’LAB located in the CoRK Arts District, says, “There will be nothing more powerful than being in the iconic Florida Theatre, with minds and hearts open, actively listening to some of our cities most wonderful storytellers. My goal is to create magical, intimate evenings where audience members feel like a fly on the wall or rather a lizard on the wall when we’re talking Northeast Florida.”
That’s a sly reference to the new logo for the series, which features an Anole Lizard. Says Numa Saisselin, “We were trying to find an image that was distinctly North Floridian, and what could be more evocative of North Florida than that? We haven’t given him, her or they a name yet, but I’m sure that’s coming.’
There will be four performances a year of Untold Stories. Each will be themed, and each of the four themes for the 2021-2022 series suggests place, water and movement. However, each theme can be interpreted in many different ways by the individual storytellers. The dates and themes for the next four editions are:
Saturday, November 27, 2021 at 8pm – Ebbs and Flows
Saturday, August 6, 2022 at 8pm – Fish Out of Water
The first season of Untold Stories is made possible by a generous contribution from the Wolfburg Family.
The performers for the November 27 performance are:
Willie Evans, Jr.
Anna Jacobson
Zonnetta Marie
Johnathon Ross
Angela Tenbroeck
Kedgar Volta
Performer photos and bios are live on the Untold Stories: Ebbs and Flows event page at FloridaTheatre.com now.
The historic, nonprofit Florida Theatre is sponsored by Community First Credit Union. For a complete list of upcoming events or to buy tickets visit the Theatre’s official website, floridatheatre.com.
SERIES: Untold Stories
PRICE: Tickets Start at $25DEAL: Purchase Tickets to all four shows and receive a 10% discount
PUBLIC ON SALE: Friday, October 1, 2021 at 10:00 a.m.
EVENT PAGES: https://floridatheatre.com/event/untold-stories-ebbs-and-flows/
https://floridatheatre.com/event/untold-stories-out-of-the-swamp/
https://floridatheatre.com/event/untold-stories-there-and-back-again/
https://floridatheatre.com/event/untold-stories-fish-out-of-water/
MEDIA CONTACT: Jake Brown, Director of Marketing
Jake Brown
Director of Marketing
Florida Theatre Performing Arts Center, Inc.
Cell (904) 439-3403
Direct (904) 562-5983
Tickets (904) 355-ARTS (2787)
Tickets on sale now at www.floridatheatre.com
Become a Member of the theatre click here
The Florida Theatre season sponsor is Community First Credit Union
This press release was produced by the JAX Chamber. The views expressed here are the author’s own.