These outdoor events are one part of many “Hermitage North” programs, series, and collaborations planned throughout the season, spanning Sarasota County and the surrounding region. The programs feature industry-leading and award-winning playwrights, visual artists, musicians, poets, choreographers, and more
Hermitage Sunsets @ Benderson Park: “Making Songs and Making Sense,” featuring Hermitage Fellow Michael R. Jackson, Thursday, April 30 @ 6:30pm
Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning playwright, composer, and Hermitage Fellow Michael R. Jackson exploded into the public consciousness with the premiere of his celebrated musical A Strange Loop, which transferred to Broadway after an acclaimed run at Playwrights Horizons. The New York Times described Jackson’s work as “so unexpected, contrarian, and maximalist that I spend a lot of time between them wondering what he’ll do next” – so if you’re in the audience at this Hermitage program, you might just get a ‘sneak peek’ of what that will be! A returning Hermitage Fellow, Jackson has previously shared selections from A Strange Loop and his musical White Girl in Danger with Hermitage audiences. This time, Jackson will offer insight into his latest work and his creative process. Presented in partnership with Nathan Benderson Park Conservancy.
Returning Hermitage Fellow Michael R. Jackson was named as one of Time Magazine‘s “100 Most Influential People” of 2022. His Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning musical A Strange Loop received 11 Tony Award nominations and was called “a full-on laparoscopy of the heart, soul, and loins” as well as a “gutsy, jubilantly anguished musical with infectious melodies” by The New York Times. In addition to A Strange Loop, Jackson also wrote book, music, and lyrics for White Girl in Danger, the book and lyrics for Teeth, and the libretto for the opera Complications In Sue, which had its world premiere at Opera Philadelphia in 2026. Awards and associations include: a New Professional Theatre Festival Award, a Jonathan Larson Grant, a Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award, an ASCAP Foundation Harold Adamson Award, a Whiting Award, the Helen Merrill Award for Playwriting, an Outer Critics Circle Award, a Drama Desk Award, an Obie Award, a Fred Ebb Award, a Windham-Campbell Prize, a Dramatist Guild Fellowship, and a Hermitage Fellowship. Jackson is an alum of Page 73’s Interstate 73 Writers Group.
