Combining classic blues torch-songs with interwoven stories of three lonely women in a Chicago hotel, Florida Studio Theatre is presenting the blues revue, Blues in the Night. The show has proved popular enough to warrant an extension, through Jan. 8. Blues began previews Nov. 16, opened Nov. 18, and was initially set to run through Jan. 2.

Blues is set to 26 torchy blues numbers, like "I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues," Billy Strayhorn's "Lush Life," Bessie Smith's "It Makes My Love Come Down," and "Wild Women Don't Have the Blues" by Ida Cox. The narrative was originally conceived by Play On! creator Sheldon Epps.

Starring in the show are Teddey [sic] Brown, Jannie (pronounced "janey") Jones, Barbara D. Mills and Susan Spain. Michael Lasswell directs.

In Blues, a once-famous vaudeville blues performer, a "woman of the world" and a Girl seeking a new start all share the same fate of being in the same Chicago hotel in the late hours of the night. The flirtatious and cocky Man in the Saloon narrates these events and even jumps into the action at times.

For tickets or more information on Blues in the Night, call (941) 366 9000. Upcoming shows in FST's winter season include:

Hysteria (Jan. 11-Feb. 24, 2000, opening Jan. 13), Terry Johnson's Olivier-Award winning comedy-drama about Sigmund Freud trying to help a troubled young woman while entertaining a madcap Salvador Dali.

Wit (Feb. 29-April 14, 2000), Margaret Edson's Pulitzer-winning drama of a haughty professor laid low by cancer.

37 Postcards (April 18-June 3, 2000), Michael McKeever's 1930s style farce about a newlywed couple coping with eccentric relatives. The play came out of the Sarasota Festival of New Plays.

Under the artistic direction of Richard Hopkins, FST, founded in 1973, specializes in contemporary drama and arts education.

-- By David Lefkowitz