UF's School of Theatre and Dance took its show on the road this week, headlining Florida's First Coast Arts Festival in St. Augustine.
Throughout this week, the school will perform 11 shows, said Kevin Marshall, the school's director.
"It is something we have never undertaken to the scale of this project," Marshall said.
The festival began on Monday and will continue each night through Sunday with performances of "Pride and Prejudice," "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)" and "Grease."
In addition to the performing arts, the School of Art and Art History will present eight larger-than-life sized sculptures for visitors of the historic city to enjoy.
The weather was a deterrent for some theatergoers this week.
"We're hoping the skies will clear, and we will have a good turnout for the weekend," said Stan Kaye, associate professor and lighting designer.
Seating more than 4,000 spectators, the St. Augustine Amphitheatre is on a 16-acre section of Anastasia State Park.
"One of the reasons why we're doing this is to get the word out about the exceptional work we do here," Marshall said. "Sometimes when you're in a place like Gainesville, you become one of the best-kept secrets in the state."
Along with modifying each show, moving multiple productions from Gainesville to St. Augustine has taken more than a year of preparation.
"We're going into a venue that we don't know," Kaye said. "I think it's great we're bringing what we do to the public outside of the building we normally operate in."
UF's School of Theatre and Dance is hoping to promote the history of St. Augustine and the fine arts by working with the St. Augustine Tourist Development Council to bring visitors from around the state with sponsorships from NPR News and television advertisement.
Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at ticketmaster.com, where a schedule of performances is listed.
"We're expanding (our program) out to the St. Augustine area," Marshall said. "We may be in Gainesville, but we're definitely everywhere."
