Orlando Icon Michael Wanzie To Headline Ensemble Company's VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE

The Ensemble Company, the repertory company in residence at Penguin Point Productions located in the Oviedo Mall, will open its 2020 season with Christopher Durang's Tony Award-winning Best Play, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, featuring legendary Orlando icon Michael Wanzie as Vanya.

Durang, the renowned playwright of such acclaimed works as Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You and The Marriage of Bette and Boo, turns Anton Chekhov on his head with this witty and incisive farce. In bucolic Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Vanya and Sonia fritter their lives away in their family's farmhouse amid regret, angst, and the alarming prophecies of an addled housecleaner. Enter their sister Masha--a self-absorbed movie star-with her prized boy toy Spike, and the stage is set for an absurd weekend of hilarity and global warming.

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike premiered at New Jersey's McCarter Theatre, followed by an Off-Broadway run before transferring to Broadway in a production starring David Hyde Pierce, Kristine Nielsen, Sigourney Weaver, and Billy Magnussen. The play was critically lauded, with the New York Times declaring it "deliriously funny," and Variety calling it "brainy and witty and clever and cute."

Florida Theatrical Association education director and Tony Award-winning producer Kenny Howard directs this production, which will also star Jac LeDoux as Sonia, Melanie Veazey as Masha, Matthew Buckalew as Spike, Lily Garnett as Nina, and Theresa Jett as Cassandra.

The production will run for six performances January 16th through 20th, 2020 with showtimes at 7:00pm on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and Monday evenings with 2:00pm matinees on Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are $20 for Adults, $18 for Seniors (60 and up), and $16 for Students (with I.D.). Tickets are available for purchase at www.penguinpointproductions.com/tickets.

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike is part of The Ensemble Company's second season in residence at Penguin Point Productions. The season continues with the Orlando premieres of Jane Anderson's Mother of the Maid, Harvey Fierstein's revised Torch Song, and Jeremy Kareken, David Murrell, and Gordon Farrell's The Lifespan of a Fact, as well as favorite classics Les Liaisons Dangereuses and A Tuna Christmas. For further information, visit The Ensemble Company on Facebook (@theensemblecompany) or at www.theensemblecompany.com.