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Nearly one hundred of Miami’s theatre patrons and supporters gathered the evening of Friday, February 18th to celebrate a return to live performing arts and the launch of Area Stage Company’s 2022 Mainstage Season at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County. The event was hosted and chaired by Grammy-award winning singing sensation, Jon Secada.
“I’ve been attached to Area Stage Company for a while now. It started when my daughter was part of the company and with her interest in theatre,” explained Secada. “I’ve watched the company grow and, in turn, watched my daughter develop her artistry and who she is as a performer.”
“When you see a community performance company put so much passion, hard work, and integrity into the arts, it’s very enlightening. In my 40 years of being in show business, I can appreciate a company that has a commitment to passion and excellence.”
Secada not only chaired the launch event but was inducted into the board of directors for Area Stage Company.
The celebratory event, which took place in the Arsht Center’s Thomson Plaza, followed a performance of the highly popular Broadway show Be More Chill in the Arsht Center’s Carnival Studio Theatre, starring Area Stage Company actors. The event also included a silent auction, light bites catered by Constellation Culinary, and a chance for attendees to mingle with the cast, crew, and other notable attendees.
“Celebrating the launch of this new relationship with the Arsht Center is a major milestone in the progress of the company, marking the first time we will present our full Mainstage Season at an outside venue,” said Maria Banda-Rodaz, Executive Director of Area Stage Company. “It allows us to choose new and different material to present, from musicals to plays, always aiming at developing a new audience of theatre-goers.” .
Area Stage Company’s season at the Arsht Center will also include productions of the off-Broadway controversial play by Will Arbery, Heroes of the Fourth Turning, which takes risks with a rare stage subject: Christian conservationism. Heroes will be followed by a new immersive staging – as approved by Disney – of Beauty and the Beast in August.
“The Arsht Center warmly welcomes Area Stage Company and its devoted audiences to our Carnival Studio Theater this season,” said Arsht Center President and CEO Johann Zietsman. “We are proud to be connected with Area Stage Company, another arts organization that is so deeply rooted in our community.”
