Part of the enjoyable with Florida Studio Theatre’s ‘One Hit Wonders’ is discovering which songs are included within the revue

A toe-tapping musical revue is taking part in within the Court Cabaret at Florida Studio Theatre in Sarasota by means of June twenty first. It celebrates musical artists who gave us a single, chart-topping hit. The present is named “One Hit Wonders.”

Part of the enjoyable with a present like “One Hit Wonders” is discovering which musicians made the checklist.

Courtesy of Florida Studio Theatre

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Wendy Kiesewetter, Digital Marketing & Media Relations Associate, Florida Studio Theatre

One artist who’s included within the present is Bobby McFarrin. His large hit, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy,” topped the charts and change into one of the vital well-known one-hit wonders of all time.

Producing Director Catherine Randazzo names one other.

“’American Pie’ is really Don McLean’s only big hit,” Randazzo added. “He really didn’t have anything else. So, when you start throwing all those songs together in one show, it takes you on a journey of why was that one song just it and why couldn’t they do anything else? What made that one song so popular? And I think it also triggers a certain curiosity in terms of, OK, well, who else?”

Florida Studio Theatre

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Wendy Kiesewetter, Digital Marketing & Media Relations Associate, Florida Studio Theatre

In most circumstances, folks keep in mind the tune however not essentially the artist. Like “My Sharona,” not The Knack. “Tainted Love,” not Soft Cell. And “Spirit in the Sky,” not Norman Greenbaum.

Randazzo says Florida Studio Theatre can be that includes some trendy one-hit wonders.
“We take it all the way to the most recent decade.”

But if you wish to know who else made the checklist, you’ll simply must see the present.

“One Hit Wonders” is quirky, charming and simply goes to indicate that generally, one hit is all you want.

Courtesy of Florida Studio Theatre

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Wendy Kiesewetter, Digital Marketing and Media Relations Associate, Florida Studio Theatre

MORE INFORMATION:

“One Hit Wonders” is a celebration of these unforgettable songs that lit up the charts and have become a part of our lives one time. From the epic storytelling of “American Pie” to the carefree whistle of “Don’t Worry, Be Happy,” this present celebrates the artists who gave us a single nice hit.

The revue closes out FST’s winter cabaret season.

Courtesy of Florida Studio Theatre

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Wendy Kiesewetter, Digital Marketing & Media Relations Associate, Florida Studio Theatre

It opened Feb.11 and runs by means of June 21.

It is carried out in Florida Studio Theatre’s Court Cabaret.

This week’s performances are already bought out.

For tickets later within the run, phone 941-366-9000 or go to https://ticketing.floridastudiotheatre.org/en/production/74334?_gl=1*7g5sc4*_gcl_au*MTQ3MzI5MzQyOC4xNzcwNTg5NTc3.

Courtesy of Florida Studio Theatre

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Wendy Kiesewetter, Digital Marketing & Media Relations Associate, Florida Studio Theatre

Some one-hit wonders that will or will not be within the present

Norman Greenbaum’s “Spirit in the Sky” didn’t fairly make it to No. 1. It peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. But it was Greenbaum’s best and solely hit. Released within the Nineteen Seventies, it’s a combo of garage-rock distortion, boogie and blues in a mainstream church tune. Greenbaum would by no means make one other hit tune. He stop music within the Eighties and later change into a sous-chef in a restaurant.

The Archies bubblegum pop dance tune “Sugar, Sugar” was so in style that Billboard named it the No. 1 tune of the yr. But they by no means had one other hit.

The solely hit tune for Soft Cell, “Tainted Love,” is a synth-pop rendition of the Edward Cobb-penned observe initially made well-known by Gloria Jones. VH1 referred to as it one of many best one-hit wonders of the Eighties.

“My Sharona” was The Knack’s debut single and solely hit. It’s an attractive, summery and decadent dance tune. But afterwards, The Knack disappeared.

The solely large hit for glam rockers T. Rex was “Bang a Gong (Get It On).” Fresh and hypnotic, it’s a kind of generational tracks that solely a choose few rock acts ever get a possibility to write down.

Although they didn’t write it, Simple Minds recorded “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” for “The Breakfast Club” film. The song is as timeless as Simple Minds was short-lived.

Singer/songwriter Elvin Bishop’s “Fooled Around and Fell in Love” peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, but he wasn’t the one who recorded the vocals. He gave that honor to Mickey Thomas. While Thomas went on to become the co-lead vocalist of Jefferson Starship, which produced such hits as “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” and “We Built This City,” Bishop did not have another hit that approached the popularity of “Fooled Around and Fell in Love.”

Jean Knight’s debut single and lone hit song, “Mr. Big Stuff,” went double-platinum in 1971. Released through Stax Records, Knight became a funk maven overnight and “Mr. Big Stuff” finished the year at No. 18 on Billboard’s Year-End chart.

Although Sinéad O’Connor had other popular songs, none approached the level of “Nothing Compares 2 U.” Not only did it top the Hot 100 that year, but Billboard crowned it the best single of 1990. Through heavy airplay on MTV and a bevy of VMA and Grammy nominations, few vocalists were bigger than the Irish singer/songwriter at the dawn of the decade than O’Connor. Interestingly, O’Connor didn’t write the song. Prince did – for his side band The Family. But “Nothing Compares 2 U” gave O’Connor the name recognition and platform for her later social activism.

“Hey Mickey” achieved No. 1 hit status on the Billboard Hot 100 — song immortality in Billboard history. Toni Basil would later work with Devo, be nominated for a Grammy for “Word of Mouth” and return to acting, but she never hit the charts like she did with “Hey Mickey.”

The Surfaris’ “Wipe Out” peaked at No. 2 on the Hot 100. “Wipe Out” predated, and helped set the stage for the Beach Boys’ first No. 1 hit, “Surfin’ U.S.A.” It is pretty legendary for helping get the colloquial language of surfing out of Southern California and into the mainstream.

Honorable mentions go to Vanilla Ice and “Ice Ice Baby,” Lou Bega and “Mambo #5 (a Little Bit Of …),” Aqua and “Barbie Girl” and Vanessa Carlton and “A Thousand Miles.”

Courtesy of Florida Studio Theatre

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Wendy Kiesewetter, Digital Marketing & Media Relations Associate, Florida Studio Theatre

The artistic crew

Richard and Rebecca Hopkins conceived the present, with musical preparations by Jim Prosser.

“They’ve been doing this for more than 40 years now,” Randazzo famous. “They watch the trends of what audiences like. They look at what’s happening in the world of popular music. And we try to offer shows that are unique from each other so that there’s something for everybody, but which complement each other at the same time. They contrast, but they complement.”

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Florida Studio Theatre

Richard Hopkins is the chief government officer of Florida Studio Theatre and is instantly accountable to the board of administrators. He oversees the creation & implementation of all FST programming and monetary planning, together with Mainstage, Cabaret, Stage III, New Play Development, Education and Touring.

Since his arrival at FST in 1980, he has guided the theatre from a small touring firm to a nationally acknowledged regional theatre, which impacts over 230,000 adults and youngsters yearly. He has directed greater than 40 productions in FST’s 5 theatres. He has additionally labored at quite a few regional theatres together with Capital Repertory, Blowing Rock Theatre, TheatreWorks Palo Alto, The Players of Columbus, Delaware Theatre Company, Long Island Stage, and plenty of others.

He started his skilled theatre profession as a resident actor with the Asolo State Theatre in Sarasota. He was the founding director of Palisades Theatre Company in Washington, D.C., which ultimately morphed into what’s now American Stage in St. Petersburg and served as its producing director from 1974 to 1980.

Hopkins has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Virginia Commonwealth University. He has served as a theatre specialist for the U.S. Department of State to Cairo and Amman and taught on the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Clown College. He served because the president of the Florida Professional Theatres Association from 1983 to 1985. He served on the theatre panel for the Florida Arts Council. Hopkins is the recipient of quite a few awards together with the Arts Leadership Award from the Sarasota Arts Council & the Richard G. Fallon Award for Artistic Excellence from the Florida Professional Theatre Association.

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Florida Studio Theatre web site

Rebecca Hopkins serves as Florida Studio Theatre’s managing director and chief operations officer. She has been a driving drive behind FST’s cabaret productions since 1998, serving to to develop greater than 25 unique exhibits. This season, she served as lead developer for “Feeling Good,” “Three Pianos” and “One Hit Wonders.” Her previous cabaret credit embrace “Up on the Roof,” “The ’70s: More Than a Decade,” “Light My Fire,” “American Pie” and “Blue Suede Shoes.”

She has additionally served as head author on all six “Laughing Matters” exhibits and helped develop productions comparable to “Mack the Knife,” “The Prima Donnettes” and “Outlaws and Angels.” In addition, she is the founder and producer of FST Improv and the Sarasota Improv Festival.

As managing director and COO, Hopkins oversees administration, growth, advertising, and operations. She presently serves as vice chairman of the League of Resident Theatres and as an government board member of the Sarasota Arts & Cultural Alliance. Her awards embrace the Cultural Champion Award and the Luminaire Award, each recognizing her artistic management and lasting contributions to the humanities in Sarasota.

Jim Prosser is the resident pianist at FST. Over his a few years at FST, Prosser has most frequently carried out within the cabaret, the place he has organized and co-developed many exhibits together with “Dancing In The Street,” “By Gershwin,” “Laughing Matters,” “European Cabaret,” “That’s Life,” “British Invasion,” “Shakespeare’s Greatest Hits,” “Harry Who?,” “Too Darn Hot,” and final season’s manufacturing of” Never Marry A Girl With Cold Feet.” He has additionally served as resident composer/music director for FST’s schooling division, writing quite a few songs and scores for kids’s exhibits comparable to “Androcles” and “the Lion,” “RAP-Punzel” and the WRITE A PLAY elementary excursions.

Courtesy of Florida Studio Theatre

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Wendy Kiesewetter, Digital Marketing & Media Relations Associate, Florida Studio Theatre

The firm’s course of is deliberate.

“We’ll sit in a room, and Jim [Prosser] will play through the whole entire show and sing, and Rebecca will say the dialogue,” Randazzo defined. “Then we invite ten or so people to come in and listen and tell us what they think. That gives us an idea of what’s working and what’s not. It’s a collaborative development process, which makes it very creative. It’s not like a book show, where you have all the dialogue and all the songs.”

Using focus teams to develop a present like “One Hit Wonders” has apparent advantages for the viewers, nevertheless it creates some fascinating challenges for the singers and musicians.

“It’s challenging because the material sometimes changes in the week prior to opening,” Randazzo noticed. “So, an actor might be thrown a new set of songs or dialogue, or the order in which they’re sung may change, even from one act to another.”

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Florida Studio Theatre

That truly occurred with one other of FST’s cabaret productions, “Feeling Good,” which lately closed.

“We were pretty sure we thought that the structure was good, that the song list was in the right order, and then we brought in a group of civilians, as we call them,” Randazzo famous. “They hadn’t heard the songs. They hadn’t seen the show. After we were done, we asked what they liked about act one and what they liked about act two. What didn’t you like? And almost everybody in the room said, you know, I loved everything except I could do without ‘Smile,’ if you know that song. They thought it was too much of an emotional downer. We didn’t cut it right away. We put it in a read-through, sing-through, and everybody was like, yeah, you can cut that song. We don’t really need it there. It’s repetitive with some of the other songs. So, we cut it, and then that helps lift and build a more exciting ending.”

FST’s creatives don’t rely merely on suggestions. They watch the posture, facial expressions and for telltale indicators of curiosity or boredom.

“You can see them either lean in. You can see them yawn, check their watch or get fidgety in their seat,” stated Randazzo. “Then you’re like, ah, we’re losing them. But much better to do it beforehand in a focus group than to have to make changes mid-run … although we’ve done that, too.”

Mid-run adjustments may end up from suggestions FST elicits by means of nightly post-performance surveys.

“Children’s theater, main stage plays, musicals, Stage III, we do it for everything,” stated Randazzo. “We learn a lot from it. It’s important, because if we don’t take the pulse of the audience, then who are we doing this for?”

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Florida Studio Theatre

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Support for WGCU’s arts & tradition reporting comes from the Estate of Myra Janco Daniels, the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation, and Naomi Bloom in loving reminiscence of her husband, Ron Wallace.