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Southern Shakespeare Festival Ready for 2016

Southern Shakespeare Festival

Last year’s revival of the Southern Shakespeare Festival in Tallahassee far exceeded organizers’ expectations. Now the event is being ramped up with a kickoff happening the end of this month (January). Southern Shakespeare Festival Executive Director Laura Johnson is still smiling over how well everything went for last year’s festival.

“We hoped, but did not and could not have expected, the kind of community support and outpouring of support that we got last year. Obviously we took that and that was the impetus for us to move forward,” she said.

And now Johnson said the 2016 Festival kickoff is just weeks away.

“We’ll start with the end of January. Last year we had our inaugural gala and again it was a tremendous success there. And so this year we’re actually launching ‘Shakespeare Uncorked’, which will be a wine festival that will be held at the Edison Restaurant. It’s called the ‘Edison Presents: Shakespeare Uncorked’ on January 30th from 6 until 9 p.m.”

Johnson said it will be a real gala affair.

“It’s tuxes, no ties and cocktail dresses,” she explained. “There will be wine pairings and chefs from around the area creating their special dishes and we’ll be pairing wines with those.”

Johnson added the Cascades Park venue is a perfect setting for the occasion.

“That park is like nothing else and The Edison Restaurant has been wonderful in terms of being a community partner of ours and showing support and obviously hosting the event, so we’re very excited.”

Of course, that January 30th happening is only the kickoff celebration. The following month will see the first of many unique performances cunningly crafted to get as many people as possible involved with the works of William Shakespeare.

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Tom Flanigan has been with WFSU News since 2006, focusing on covering local personalities, issues, and organizations. He began his broadcast career more than 30 years before that and covered news for several radio stations in Florida, Texas, and his home state of Maryland.

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