Press Release City Theatre's Summer Shorts returns! 25th anniversary - Begins June 2

City Theatre and the
Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County
present

SUMMER SHORTS
America’s Short Play Festival returns to the Arsht Center as a theatrical celebration of City Theatre’s milestone 25^th Silver Anniversary!

Featuring shorts and musicals by award-winning playwrights including

Lin-Manuel Miranda, Steve Yockey, Dominique Morriseau and more!

Thursday, June 2 at 7:30 p.m. – Preview
Friday, June 3 at 7:30 p.m. – Preview
Saturday, June 4 at 7:30 p.m. – Opening Night
Through Saturday, July 2
Tickets: $50, $60, $65, $75*

Carnival Studio Theater

Miami, FL – May 9, 2022 – City Theatre (@CityTheatreMIA) and the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County (@ArshtCenter) are proud to present the 25^th Silver Anniversary season of SUMMER SHORTS, featuring a program of new short comedies, dramas and mini-musicals as well as fresh revivals of past Festival favorites written by the country’s best playwrights.

Playing June 2-July 2 in the Arsht Center’s intimate Carnival Studio Theater, SUMMER SHORTS showcases the diversity of Miami through a variety of short plays and musicals.

Tickets to SUMMER SHORTS are $50 and $60*. VIP tickets are also available for $65 and $75*, which include up-front, reserved seating and a free drink ticket. Tickets may be purchased at the Adrienne Arsht Center box office by calling (305) 949-6722, or online at arshtcenter.org.

Launched in 1996, City Theatre is one of Miami’s oldest theater companies. They are nationally distinguished for being the only theater in the country producing 10-minute plays and musicals year-round and for all ages. City Theatre has won four Carbonell Awards, including the Bill Von Mauer Award in 2016. The company was recognized by Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine-Cava in honor of “City Theatre 25^th Anniversary Day” on June 9, 2021.

“City Theatre is eager to present our milestone 25th Silver Anniversary SUMMER SHORTS Festival for our South Florida audiences!” said Margaret M. Ledford, City Theatre’s Artistic Director. “The cool thing to do on a hot summer’s night is back, featuring a fantastically talented acting ensemble, and ten short plays and musicals by today’s hottest American playwrights. It’s a hilarious and thought-provoking evening for all.  SUMMER SHORTS honors the roots of the Festival and its past 25 years, while looking forward to the next 25 years. SUMMER SHORTS is a theatrical experience!”

Summer Shorts features the following:

21 CHUMP STREET – Festival Favorite!
Book, Music and Lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda (2016 Pulitzer Prize winner, Hamilton)
Directed by Margaret M. Ledford
Music Direction by Caryl Fantel
Choreography by Sandra Portal-Andreu

Originally produced in Summer Shorts 2017

A cautionary tale about an honor student who will do anything for his new crush.

A LITTLE BIT OF CULTURE – Festival Favorite!
by Staci Swedeen
Directed by Gail S. Garrisan
Choreography by Sandra Portal-Andreu
Originally produced in Summer Shorts 1999

For one / man the concert promises a nap, until the music sweeps him away.

A SMALL BREACH IN PROTOCOL AT BIG RICK’S ROCKIN’ SKYDIVE ACADEMY – Southeastern Premiere!
By Daniel Hirsch
Directed by Elena Maria Garcia
2020 Finalist, City Theatre National Contest for Short Playwrighting

When a routine skydive jump seems to go awry, Rae, Alicia, Chad and Tina face big existential questions about meaning, mortality and maybe a mistake as they plummet 200 miles per hour to Earth.

CHRONICLE SIMPKINS WILL CUT YOUR ASS – Festival Favorite!

By Rolin Jones (2006 Pulitzer Prize finalist; previous credits include Weeds, United States of Tara, Boardwalk Empire)
Directed by Elena Maria Garcia
Originally produced in Summer Shorts 2008

Fourth-grader Chronicles Simpkins is the Undisputed Unified Tetherball Champion of Recess, Lunch, and After School. She rules the tetherball court of Woodlake Avenue Elementary with an iron fist -- but what happens when a new challenger dares to enter her ten-foot circle of pain?

GO GET’EM, TIGER! – World Premiere!
By Steve Yockey (2021 Primetime Emmy nominee; showrunner, The Flight Attendant)
Directed by Michael Yawney

An encounter with a tiger complicates a day at the zoo for John and Linda.

MISDIAL – Southeastern Premiere!
By David Lindsay-Abaire (2007 Pulitzer Prize winner, Rabbit Hole)
Directed by Gail Garrisan

Fran answers a wrong number and finds herself unable to be understood in a hilarious mess of miscommunication!

NIGHT VISION – Southeastern Premiere!
by Dominique Morriseau (2018 MacArthur Fellowship recipient)
Directed by James Randolph

Ayanna and Ezra witness an assault on the street. When they return to their apartment to call the police, they discover danger in how their accounts of the attacker differ and question the truth of what they saw.

TANGO, THE MUSICAL! – World Premiere!
Music & Lyrics by Joe Illick
Book & Lyrics by Susan Westfall
Directed by Margaret M. Ledford
Music Direction by Caryl Fantel
Choreography by Sandra Portal-Andreu

Joe and Sandy are out for their usual dull Friday date night when the evening becomes decidedly unusual.

WEBSTER’S BITCH- Miami Premiere!
By Jacqueline Bircher
Directed by Michael Yawney
2020 Winner, City Theatre National Contest for Short Playwrighting

The employees of Webster's dictionary find themselves at the center of a Twitter uprising over gender, obscenity and the future of the English language itself.

WINNER
By Amy Berryman
Directed by James Randolph
2020 Finalist, City Theatre National Contest for Short Playwriting

Tori Walker's won a prestigious playwriting award, Charlie Harvard hasn’t, and he's not used to losing. A timely play about privilege and claiming space.

The SUMMER SHORTS cast includes Alex Alvarez, Lindsey Corey, Stephon Duncan, Diana Garle, Jovon Jacobs, Daniel Llaca, Margot Moreland and Tom Wahl.

The SUMMER SHORTS creative team includes City Theatre Artistic Director Margaret M. Ledford; musical director Caryl Fantel; set designer Jodi Dellaventura; sound designer Steve Shapiro; costume designer Ellis Tillman; lighting designer Eric Nelson; choreographer Sandra Portal-Andreu; properties designer Jameelah Bailey; production stage manager Naomi Zapata; and assistant stage managers Ariana Rodriguez and Randall Swinton.

Click here for full cast, creative team and playwright bios.