Shakespeare, Spiders, Ghosts & Giselle 

Fresh off a successful international debut, which saw the company performing the works of Sir Frederick Ashton alongside The Royal Ballet in London, the Sarasota Ballet kicks off an ambitious season with no less than three world premieres, two company premieres and a November glissade down memory lane. “There’s quite a lot coming,” says Sarasota Ballet Director Iain Webb. Opening the season with a performance from the Martha Graham Dance Company from October 11-13, the first world premiere comes only two weeks later, with the unveiling of new work from New York-based choreographer Jessica Lang. Yet untitled, details are scarce. The next world premiere comes in December’s “Fanciful Journey” program, a two-night performance at the Sarasota Opera House and in collaboration with the Sarasota Orchestra, featuring the company premiere of Wunderland, with music by Phillip Glass, as well as the world premiere of Sir David Bentley’s The Spider’s Feast, a large-scale production set to fill the stage with illuminated spiderwebs. “Bentley is one of the great storytellers,” says Webb, and Spider’s Feast will be a visual one as well. The third world premiere comes in the January program, with Preludes by Gemma Bond. Also not to be missed is a November production of the ghostly romance, Giselle, at the Sarasota Opera House. Staged by Sarasota Ballet Assistant Director Margaret Barbieri, it’s a return to the show that made her an international sensation at 21, when she performed the notoriously challenging title role with The Birmingham Royal Ballet. And it wouldn’t be a Sarasota Ballet season without a little more Ashton, and one of the most exciting programs on the schedule may be the company premiere of Ashton’s Romeo and Juliet at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall in March. —P.Lederer  Sarasota Ballet, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, 941-359-0099, sarasotaballet.org.

Ringling Art of Performance

This season, The Ringling is thinking globally—in the most literal sense of the word. As a part of the organization’s Art of Performance series, The Ringling is hosting the all-new SunHAT Eco-Performance Festival. The week-long festival, which is named after the organization’s Historic Asolo Theater and takes place across The Ringling’s campus, looks to start conversations about climate change, ecology and environmental justice in new and unique ways. Instead of just hosting lectures around these topics, the SunHAT festival interrogates them by presenting a diverse array of artists who explore these narratives in their own work. “This is new for us, because we don’t usually put on a festival, but it’s an intense week of artist presentations happening all around the campus. Some shows are outdoors, we have a couple shows indoors, but the idea is that we’re out in the elements enjoying performance on our campus,” says Elizabeth Doud, the museum’s Connie-Kuhlman Curator of Performance. “The performances are specifically by artists that are looking at issues of climate change, ecology, environmental justice and are practicing at this intersection of climate and performance.” The festival is primed to include presentations and events from five distinct artists that vary widely in both discipline and scale. SunHAT Eco-Performance Festival kicks off with an outdoor performance of You Look Like a Fun Guy by Dance Heginbotham, a dance performance inspired by mushrooms that will be followed by a mushroom dinner and a talkback with choreographer John Heginbotham. Other highlights of the festival include Invisible Rivers, a performance-oriented presentation by Mondo Bizarro that will take place on a pontoon stage in Sarasota Bay, a performance by Compagnie Zolobe, an eco-oriented clown troupe from Madagascar and the experimental opera Morning // Mourning by Gelsey Bell.—D. Campbell   SunHAT Eco-Performance Fest, November 11-18, The Ringling Campus, 941-359-5700, ringling.org.

Ken Ludwig’s Lady Molly of Scotland Yard 

This season, something truly unique is coming to the Asolo Repertory Theatre. Ken Ludwig’s Lady Molly of Scotland Yard is set to make its world premiere at the Asolo in January 2025. The play, which was developed at the Asolo and will be directed by Peter Rothstein, Producing Artistic Director at the Asolo, is at once a screwball romp and a high-stakes thriller. The story, set in London during the heart of WWII, follows Molly and Peg, two detectives from Scotland Yard, as they go undercover as cryptographers to try and stop a secret plot that would annihilate the United Kingdom. “Ken’s such a remarkable, terrific playwright and one of the most, if not the most, produced playwrights in the English language. Ken had seen productions of his at the Asolo and reached out to me shortly after I took the job here and asked if I would be interested in looking at this play,” says Rothstein. “At that point it was a first draft, he had not heard it out loud or had anyone else look at it, and I thought, ‘wow this is in incredible shape for a rough draft.’ I told him that we would love to be the creative home for the play while it was being developed.” During the workshopping process, which will continue into this fall, Ludwig eventually asked Rothstein if he would be interested in directing the play. “To be honest, I kind of assumed that it would be a director that he had worked with before, but over the course of our conversations he asked if I would be interested in directing it,” says Rothstein. “When you do new work, you have to make sure the writer is at every step in the creative process. So Ken has a voice in scenic design, Ken has a voice with how we sell the show and you want that. It’s such a privilege to be able to give birth to a new work, especially from such an esteemed writer.” —D. Campbell   Asolo Repertory Theatre, 5555 N Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, Box office: 941-351-8000, 800-361-8388, asolorep.org.

Natalie Helm Collaboration

Sarasota Contemporary Dance (SCD) is quickly becoming a hub for artistic collaboration in the region. The company, which kicks off its 19th season this December, has built its reputation as one of the preeminent dance organizations in the region in part by its willingness to work alongside different area artists and musicians. This season, dubbed “Shine,” is no exception to the status quo. Four shows headline the main stage, the second of which is a collaborative work between SCD and Natalie Helm, the Principal Cellist of Sarasota Orchestra. “We actually had presented her a couple years back as part of our In-Studio series. I had the privilege of collaborating with her as a solo artist in two of the shows,” says Leymis Bolanos Wilmott, Artistic Director of SCD. “What I love about Natalie is that she is a classically trained musician, but she really thinks outside the box. I reached out to her and said ‘Why don’t we use some of the things that worked well from our In-Studio series and expand it to a bigger scale?’” The show, which will feature a group of “star musicians” handpicked by Helm to accompany her on stage, is expected to be an evening-length work that will lean into the cellist’s Bluegrass roots—Helm is a native of Louisville, Kentucky. “We started talking about having a Bluegrass feel to the show,” says Wilmott. “I know that it’s going to be a full company work, meaning that it will likely start with everyone on stage, but then I start to think about what color palette will the show have? What brush strokes? What colors will the audience see on stage?” —D. Campbell  Sarasota Contemporary Dance, 1400 Blvd. of the Arts Suite 300, Sarasota, 941-260-8485, sarasotacontemporarydance.org.

Floralia Infiorata 

This November, one of Sarasota’s most special events is becoming even more unique. For its 18th iteration the Sarasota International Chalk Festival is extending its branches of artistic diplomacy even more than it usually does by introducing a brand new exhibition titled Floralia Infiorata. If that name doesn’t ring any bells then good—it shouldn’t. The Floralia Infiorata section of the Chalk Festival, which will also feature a myriad of other events, including an interactive area, the famed Illusion Rooms and a 3-D Pavement Art Exhibition, will bring a new element to the festival by introducing a very old art form. For the first time ever, this year’s festival will bring multiple contingents of Infiorata and Rangoli artists to the United States. These age-old art forms, Infiorata originating in Italy and Rangoli on the Indian subcontinent, use flowers, sawdust, sand and other natural materials to create beautiful, highly detailed, devotionally oriented carpets on the pavement. What is particularly unique about this year’s Chalk Festival is that it is serving as a cultural meeting point for these artists that hail from all over the world—the festival will host delegations from India, Spain, Mexico, Australia, Italy and Japan. “Over the next few months we’ll be organizing some materials locally for these artists. Whether it’s coffee grinds or certain types of sand,  different colors separate different colored themes that are part of the designs. Within the teams that we have coming, there are three teams that will be working just with flower petals,” says festival Founder Denise Kowal. “The pieces will be about 20 by 24 feet, roughly 75 feet of just flower petals. It’ll be incredible.”—D.Campbell   Sarasota International Chalk Festival, November 8, Burns Square, Sarasota, 941-488-8877, chalkfestival.org.

The Cancellation of Lauren Fein

Sometimes all it takes is one yank on an invisible string to unravel a seemingly perfect life. On the surface, Lauren Fein appears to have it all—she’s a brilliant research scientist and professor at a prestigious university, where she teaches alongside her wife, Paola, and is a loving mother to her 16-year-old African American foster son, Dylan. When Professor Fein accidentally violates the university’s diversity, equity and inclusion policies in her work, her entire livelihood is put on trial. The Cancellation of Lauren Fein is making its second-ever production this year at Florida Studio Theatre (FST). The play, which feels just about as timely a story one could tell, delves into the nuances of cancel culture, the pitfalls of ignorance and the true definition of social justice. “Fein is this highly respected professor who has brought a boatload of money to this major university through her groundbreaking research into sickle cell anemia. Her whole career along with her marriage and her foster child, is put at stake when she makes a misstep in characterizing Black Americans in something that she wrote,” says Richard Hopkins, Producing Artistic Director and CEO of FST. “That one little mistake quickly spirals into something that is completely out of control.” The play draws comparisons to Arthur Miller’s The Crucible—Fein, at the stand of the university’s court and eventually an actual judicial system, feels unable to defend herself from the accusations of anonymous students. “The crux of this story is not entirely about what the students are saying that she did wrong. It’s about how the adults and how the systems are handling what she did,” says Hopkins. “That’s what the playwright is calling into question: the power dynamics of somebody just being able to accuse you of something. It’s similar to The Crucible—when someone’s accused of being a witch, how do you prove that you’re not a witch?”—D.Campbell   Florida Studio Theatre, 1241 N Palm Avenue, Sarasota, 941-366-9000, floridastudiotheatre.org.

Lifting Voices for 25 Years 

Celebrating 25 years in the community, Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe marks its anniversary season with both revivals of shows that hold a special place in the troupe’s history, as well as the world premiere of a new musical created and directed by WBTT founder and artistic director, Nate Jacobs, that brings tap dance to the WBTT stage for the very first time. The season opens with Soul Crooners, a musical revue showcasing hits from some of the best of the ‘70s soul scene, including Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson, Smokey Robinson, The Commodores, Stevie Wonder and more. The show holds a special place in the theater’s history, not only for taking the troupe to sold-out shows at the National Black Theatre Festival, twice,but also for keeping the theater alive with outdoor performances during the pandemic. “It was the life source of this company,” Jacobs says, and it opens October 9. The season will also mark the revival of August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Fences, not performed at WBTT since 2006. “Fences says a lot about fatherhood and about the plight of the black man in this country,” Jacobs says. “The rawness, the realness, of the family dynamic you see onstage is extremely powerful.” The 25th anniversary season closes with the world premiere of Syncopated Avenue. Created and directed by Jacobs, the musical will be the troupe’s first foray into the world of tap dancing, with visiting artists Lamont Brown and Louis Danowsky bringing their tap expertise to the production. “This is a year of gratitude, celebration and affirmation,” says Jacobs. “Dreams really do come true if you believe and you work hard. “—P.Lederer  Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe, 1012 N Orange Ave, Sarasota, 1012 N Orange Ave, Sarasota, 941-366-1505, westcoastblacktheatre.org.

A Diamond Anniversary for a Community Gem

Saluting 75 years bringing stories to the stage, Venice Theatre’s Diamond Anniversary season offers many of the fan favorite musicals and theater traditions that audiences have come to know and love, while showcasing both where the theater comes from and where it’s going. “It’s a chance to celebrate three quarters of a century of theatrical accomplishments,” says Artistic Director Benny Sato Ambush, “while also signaling a view looking forward to the next 75 years.” So, in addition to regular offerings like the seasonal performance of AChristmas Carol and tentpole musicals like 9 to 5 opening October 24 and My Fair Lady opening January 31, Venice theatergoers can expect both the world premiere of a new musical, Don’t Touch That Dial, as well as a restaging of the very first show Venice Theatre ever performed, The Torchbearers, way back in 1950. Opening September 20, The Torchbearers tells the story of a 1920s housewife with acting dreams and a community coming together to start a theater in their town. Inspired by the Little Theatre Movement of the early 1900s, the play is not only the first show Venice Theatre ever produced, says Ambush, but a fitting tribute to Venice Theatre itself, which once went by “Venice Little Theatre.” “It’s our origin story,” he says. On the other end of the spectrum comes Don’t Touch That Dial, a brand new musical enjoying a rolling world premiere this season. Opening October 24, this production takes audiences on a nostalgic trip through the world of classic TV jingles and theme songs—largely through a TV game show format. Expect audience participation. As one last surprise, this season also marks Venice Theatre’s first foray into standup comedy, with Venice Laughs opening on December 6. —P.Lederer Venice Theatre, 140 Tampa Ave W, Venice, 941-488-1115, venicetheatre.org.

The Marriage of Figaro

Civil unrest is reaching a boiling point this season at the Sarasota Opera. Well, not actually, as the organization is continuing to cement its legacy in the Sarasota area with yet another great season filled with six distinct operatic events. There are, however, a couple of operas featured in this year’s lineup that do delve into class strife, most notably in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, which premieres on March 8. The opera, which is a sequel to Gioachino Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, which will be performed concurrently at Sarasota Opera, is considered to be one of the greatest operas ever written and a hallmark of the operatic repertoire.  Where The Barber of Seville is decidedly a comedic opera, or opera buffa in Italian, The Marriage of Figaro takes a darker, more complex tone while maintaining the comedic traits of its predecessor. The story follows the lecherous Count Almaviva, who, after securing the hand of his current wife Rosina in The Barber of Seville has moved his desires to Susanna, the fiancée of Figaro, the Count’s head servant. Working together with Rosina, Figaro and Susanna must find a way to thwart the Count’s unwanted advances, exposing a class struggle in a comedic whirling of treachery and romance. “Mozart doesn’t call The Marriage of Figaro an opera buffa, which is the Italian term for a comic opera. He instead calls it a dramma giocoso which is a funny drama, because there is a darker, more dramatic side of this opera,” says Richard Russell, General Director of Sarasota Opera. “There are many more levels of emotion in The Marriage of Figaro than there are in The Barber of Seville. Not that they aren’t both great operas, but the story’s more complex, the characters are more complex and Mozart’s music is just genius. The Marriage of Figaro is one of my favorite pieces because I think that the second act is one of the most perfect pieces of music ever written.” —D.Campbell  Sarasota Opera, 61 N Pineapple Ave, Sarasota, 941-328-1300, sarasotaopera.org.

Still Hitting the High Notes at 40

Sarasota’s premier symphonic chorus, Key Chorale marks its 40th anniversary this year with a Ruby Jubilee season that includes triplet folk artists, sci-fi circus adventures, musical instruments straight from the 1700s and even an extra concert on the schedule. The festivities commence this month with Baroquetoberfest, a three-day celebration of Baroque music, opening with a concert featuring works by Handel. Day two of the festival sees the singers of Key Chorale joined onstage by instruments particular to the Baroque period, such as the viola da gamba and the theorbo, while day three highlights works by Vivaldi. “They’re all very accessible concerts,” says Key Chorale Maestro Joseph Caulkins. “Even if people don’t know the style, it’s a good opportunity to learn more about these composers.” And the festival ends with a biergarten experience, complete with authentic German food, beers from Calusa Brewing and a German Oom-pah band. In January, The Lubben Brothers band joins Key Chorale in a concert paying tribute to great American songwriters like Bob Dylan, James Taylor and more, while February brings Verdi’s Requiem, featuring four visiting opera singers for the notoriously challenging piece. March brings Key Chorale’s flagship program and annual collaboration with the Circus Arts Conservatory, Cirque Des Voix, a spectacle of voice and physicality under the Big Top. This will be the first year that the program has a theme, Sci-Fi Voyage, and audiences will recognize songs from Star Wars, Star Trek, Interstellar, 2001: A Space Odyssey and more in the program. Opening night includes a costume contest. The season ends with a special bonus concert performance of Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, as well as Choral Fantasy, a precursor to Beethoven’s famous 9th Symphony, where one can hear notes of the greatness still to come.—P.Lederer  Key Chorale, Inc., 1900 Main St #211, Sarasota, 941-921-4845, keychorale.org.

Sarasota Orchestra

With a season boasting 25 concerts, the Sarasota Orchestra is truly trying to find something for everyone this year. “We want to provide some respite from this crazy world of text messages and emails,” says Sarasota Orchestra’s RoseAnne McCabe. “So, take a moment and join us, be with other people, and discover joy.” The Pops schedule features classic soul, leading ladies straight from Broadway’s Wicked, and a whole night dedicated to the musical genius of John Williams—not to mention a movie night at the Van Wezel, with the orchestra playing along to a screening of The Empire Strikes Back. While the Great Escapes Series brings holiday-themed Halloween, winter and Valentine’s Day concerts, as well as eclectic shows featuring everything from Beethoven to Bohemian Rhapsody. This year’s Discovery Series highlights Gershwin on October 5, Mozart on January 5 and Vivaldi on May 17. For those seeking that larger orchestral experience, this year’s Masterworks Series fits the bill. Highlights include Grammy Award-winning pianist Yefim Bronfman performing Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1 on December 8, the Sarasota Orchestra debut of trailblazing violinist Anne Akiko Meyers performing a new commissioned work on February 2, and a closing concert featuring both international pianist Jon Kimura Parker performing Beethoven and the premiere of a new work by American composer Peter Boyer, in honor of Sarasota Orchestra Artistic Administrator Pat Joslyn on April 6. For a more intimate musical experience, the Chamber Soiree concerts range from Mendelssohn and Maslanka to Schubert, Beethoven, Dvorak and even a concert dedicated to 20th Century Masters. —P.Lederer Sarasota Orchestra, 709 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, 941-953-3434, sarasotaorchestra.org.

Marie Selby Botanical Gardens

With every season, the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens blurs and blends the line between science and art, crafting campus wide exhibitions that invite viewers to revel in the beauty of the natural world just as they marvel at its evolutionary wonders and the people decoding its mysteries, to bask in the brilliance of history’s greatest artists, while always paying respect to that greatest artist of all—mother nature. From the annual Orchid Show to the always-anticipated Goldstein exhibition series, it’s the difference between a walk in the garden and a trip to a “The Living Museum.” The gardens are in full bloom this month with the return of the Orchid Show. The theme this year? Purple. Popular with both pollinators and people, purple is a common color for both naturally occurring orchids and man-made cultivars—giving the horticultural artists at Selby Gardens plenty to work with when transforming the Selby Gardens Conservatory into an all-purple orchid extravaganza and the color has often been associated with everything from royalty and luxury to wisdom and magic. “We’re going to explore all of that,” says Selby Gardens CEO Jennifer Rominiecki. “As well as the numerous botanical connections to purple hues, including rose, lavender, violet and, of course, orchid itself. The idea is to really immerse the visitor in purple and showcase the magnificence and majesty of this royal family of plants. We think very carefully about how all of the experiences weave together to create an impactful season that gives people a reason to return. We don’t want you to come just once!” —P.Lederer  Selby Gardens, Downtown Campus, 1534 Mound Street, Sarasota, 941-366-5731,  selby.org.

I Want You to Know My Story 

This season, gender identity, desire and portraiture are all on display at The Ringling with the museum’s exhibition: Jess T. Dugan: I want you to know my story. The exhibition, which debuts in August, delves into the work of Jess T. Dugan, a contemporary, photo-based artist who explores various facets of identity, masculinity and sexuality through their work. “Jess is a really phenomenal photographer who is able to sort of explore the currents of desire and identity through how they present the subject. First of all, their portraits are from a wonderful kind of humanist tradition of photography that I think creates a sense of empathy and intimacy with the subject that you’re looking at,” says Christopher Jones, The Ringling’s Stanton B and Nancy W Kaplan Curator of Photography and Media Art. “You’re confronted by someone who is offering themselves up to you in a way that feels kind of vulnerable but also is poignant, ephemeral and immediate in a lot of ways.” The exhibition will consist of 21 photographs, including two brand new pieces and two video works, all from the last four to five years. Dugan’s work, which is rooted in their experience as a queer, nonbinary person, focuses heavily on the portraiture of those around them, from family and friends to the workers at local grocery stores. Their work, which brings the innate beauty out of their seemingly ordinary subjects, plays with light and positioning to give what Jones calls a sort of “baroque” sensibility to their photographs. “One of the things that really struck me about Jess’s photography, is that they are able to present subjects in a way that makes the sitter just seem beautiful, but without the sort of conventions and trappings of lots of makeup and the kind of glamor you associate with traditional studio or celebrity portraiture. At the same time, they’re able to bring out the best in their subjects in a way that really elevates their humanity and their presence,” says Jones. —D. Campbell.  The Ringling Museum of Fine Art, 5401 Bay Shore Rd, Sarasota, 941-359-5700, ringling.org.

Nothing New:  Archives of Affection

Being in love is not a novel concept. However, being in love with a certain type of person, say one of the same sex or gender, has not always been an accepted one. At the Ringling College Galleries, located on the campus of the Ringling College of Art and Design, that concept of forbidden love is being explored this season with their show Nothing New: Archives of Affection. The show, which premieres in the Willis Smith Gallery in November, delves into the history of both photography and queer love by presenting over 300 tintype photographs of same-sex couples from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. “From the friend of a friend of a faculty member, I was introduced to 600 tintypes of male couples and female couples and even some interracial couples from the early 20th century and perhaps even the late 19th century. They’re these very small metal photographs, what you would get at a fair or a festival, many of which are only half an inch big,” says Tim Jaeger, Chief Curator and Director of the Galleries. “What’s neat about the tintype process is how crystal clear they are. You can scan them at a very high resolution. Using our large screen LED walls in addition to our print services we’ll be able to blow up these images so that you can really get inside them and almost feel like you’re getting to know the people in the pictures.” The show, which is curated by members of Jaeger’s Exhibition Design and Management class, tells the story of queer love in America during a time in which it was not widely accepted. “The whole process of sifting through these tintypes is like cultural anthropology,” says Jaeger. “It’s not just dealing with art, it’s unearthing stories, looking at culture and talking about the bigger picture. No pun intended.” —D.Campbell   Ringling College of Art and Design, 2700 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, 941-359-7563, ringlingcollege.gallery.

Joe Fig

Joe Fig knew that it was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up. In 2023, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam was holding the biggest museum exhibition of the year—a blockbuster showing of the works of legendary Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer, the most complete collection of Vermeer’s works ever displayed. Fig, who is a nationally exhibited artist and author in his own right, as well as the Department Chair of the Fine Arts and Visual Studies programs at Ringling College of Art and Design, had to go. Fig’s attendance, however, was more than just the chance to see a once in a lifetime show. It was a research trip as well, informing his latest exhibition Joe Fig: Contemplating Vermeer, set to debut this November at Sarasota Art Museum (SAM). “Joe is an absolutely great painter and paints these amazing, small paintings that have miniature paintings within them. His Contemplating series is really a voyeuristic series where he travels to galleries, museums and openings, documents people looking at art and then paints from the photos that he takes,” says Virginia Shearer, Executive Director of SAM. “We will probably never in our lifetimes have all of these Vermeer paintings in one place again. Joe’s paintings are exquisite, little love letters to Vermeer, his light, his drapery and the way that people are just riveted to his works.” —D. Campbell  Sarasota Art Museum 1001 South Tamiami Trail, Sarasota,  941-309-4300, sarasotaartmuseum.org.

No One is Forgotten

At Sarasota’s Urbanite Theatre, pushing the boundaries of theatrical storytelling is always on the agenda. The company’s 11th season features four mainstage productions that do just that, including the regional premiere of Winter Miller’s No One Is Forgotten. The story is distinct from the moment the stage lights turn on—it takes place entirely in a cramped cement cell, where US citizens Lali and Beng have been detained for an unknown period of time. No One Is Forgotten, inspired by the true accounts of detained aid workers and journalists, brings the audience along as the two women must lean on each other to survive their current plight.  “Throughout the season, we’re meeting people who are navigating the human condition. With No One Is Forgotten, one of the things that I find truly fascinating about the play is that we meet these two women after they have already been detained for quite some time. They’re already in pure survival mode; it’s not like they’ve just been captured and are trying to figure out how to survive,” says Summer Wallace, Producing Artistic Director of Urbanite Theatre. “We’re already down there and when you’re already in that situation, your truths are revealed and we’re so honest because there is nowhere to hide from the other person.” Because the play is so intimate in nature, the cast is just Lali and Beng and the setting is confined to the cell, it requires a certain demeanor from the actors taking part in it. “This play requires a significant amount of vulnerability and willingness to not get stuck. Some of the scenes could be done a million different ways and this play is going to require a lot of willingness to be open and vulnerable and play as opposed to ‘You sit here, you walk here, you stand here’,” says Wallace.  —D.Campbell   Urbanite Theatre, 1487 2nd Street, Sarasota, 941 321-1397, urbanitetheatre.com.

Our Embrace Reimagined 

This November, an all-new arts festival is taking Sarasota by storm. The Living Arts Festival, produced by Sarasota Rising, is a week-long arts festival that looks to showcase the region’s arts organizations, further cementing Sarasota as Florida’s Cultural Coast. The festival will serve as a jumping-off point for attendees to immerse themselves in the region’s arts scene and will feature five distinct, self-produced events. One of the events, Our Embrace Reimagined, which takes place in the middle of the festival, is particularly emblematic of the festival’s mission to promote inclusivity and collaboration amongst the area’s arts organizations. The event began as a collaboration between Marie Selby Botanical and Embracing Our Differences. Every year, Embracing Our Differences holds a juried exhibition featuring billboard-sized panels of artworks accompanied by inspiring quotes from volunteers across the world. Every year, however, there are panels that don’t make the final exhibition. “When we were planning out how to build collaboration between the different arts organizations, someone brought up the question of what happens to the panels at Embracing Our Differences when they’re done with them?” says Jeffery Kin, Executive Director of Sarasota Rising. “Together we thought, ‘Why don’t we give them to a local arts group, let them produce something based on the panels and then rehang them?’” That initial brainstorming session gave way to an event that will feature multiple arts organizations in a variety of ways. Groups such as Sarasota Contemporary Dance, CreArte Latino and Modern Marimba, will make a five-minute performance piece based off of a panel of their choosing. Those panels will then be staged around Selby Gardens’ Historic Spanish Point Campus, where attendees will be able to purchase walking tours to see the different performances.  —D.Campbell   Living Arts Festival November 10 to 17, Sarasota Rising, sarasotarising.org.

Hollywood in Venice 

This season at the Venice Symphony, the silver screen reigns supreme. Nestled amongst the other 10-plus concerts the organization is putting on is Hollywood in Venice, a celebration of some of the best film music ever to grace the big screen. “This is really the greatest film music coming to Venice, Florida,” says conductor Troy Quinn, Music Director of the Symphony. “Guest vocalist Andrea Zomorodian will be featured on Ennio Morricone pieces like Once Upon a Time in the West as well as pieces from John Williams from A.I. Artificial Intelligence. We’re playing everything in that concert from pieces from Chinatown to something for the kids from Madagascar to Gone with the Wind and everything in between.” Quinn, a member of the conducting faculty of the University of Southern California’s Thorton School of Music, has long held ties to Hollywood. From his recent regional Emmy nomination for his work with the Owensboro Symphony to extensive work in the film and television industry, Quinn has used these connections to provide the Venice Symphony with an inside edge to gain access to film scores that other companies may not be privy to. “My barometer for what we play is not only what I can get my hands on, but what I can’t get my hands on that’s going to be unique and perhaps never performed before outside of the studios,” says Quinn. “That’s the unique thing about the Venice Symphony and what we do; we have that connection to some of these composers so we’re playing things that you’ve never heard outside the movie itself which is very cool. With that, we try to have some balance between implementing unique things that haven’t been heard and peppering the program with classics that people will know.”  —D.Campbell   The Venice Symphony, 1 Indian Ave, Building 5, Venice, 941-207-8822, thevenicesymphony.org.

Dracula 

The Sarasota Cuban Ballet School (SCBS) is known for offering some of the best training in Cuban ballet in the country. Their programs are varied and diverse, ranging in age and skill levels. The heart of the institution is their Pre-Professional Program, an intensive track that has seen its graduates perform with some of the top ballet companies in the world, from The Royal Ballet to the Washington Ballet and more. 

More recently, another track has opened up
in SCBS— The Gulfcoast Studio Company. “This is our second season of the Gulfcoast Studio Company. Because we have such a reputation as a school and pre-professional program, people continue to see us that way,” says Artistic Director Ariel Serrano. “And there’s nothing wrong with that because my heart lies in school and education. Without well-rounded, educated dancers, the future of dance is dead, but the studio company is
starting to take on a life of its own.”

The dream for SCBS is to have their own professional company, but for now, the Gulfcoast Studio Company will act as a bridge between the training students receive in the Summer Intensive program and their professional careers. The studio company, however, is more than just a training program—they are a full-on company of elite dancers with a season that includes seven distinct performances. The second performance in their season is a production of Dracula, featuring original choreography from the minds at SCBS. “Dracula is a fun piece. It has some elements of classicism, but it’s not completely classic,” says Serrano. “We produce the ballet in our black box theater and it features in-house choreography from Associate Director Rolando Yanes and Ballet Mistress Monica Isla. It’s challenging to create new choreography, but we try to keep small bits and pieces of the ballet’s history within the production.”—D.Campbell   Sarasota Cuban Ballet School, 4740 Cattlemen Rd, Sarasota, 941-365-8400, srqcubanballet.org.

Fun Home  

What’s old is new this year at The Sarasota Players, the area’s oldest and longest-lasting community theater. Celebrating its 95th season in 2024-2025, The Sarasota Players has a stacked lineup of classics and some new-age works to highlight their special year. Wrapped into a season that’s steeped in literary themes is the organization’s production of the Tony Award-winning musical Fun Home, based on the graphic novel by Alison Bechdel.  “The story follows Alison from when she was a little girl being raised in a funeral home with her brothers in the 1970s to going to college and growing up. It delves into how she’s learning about her sexuality while her father has hidden his for pretty much their entire lives,” says Amanda Heisey, Marketing Director of The Sarasota Players. “It still can be really fun and charming but it has a little bit of a heavier theme to it.” For The Sarasota Players, producing Fun Home is a chance to do something entirely different—the organization’s production of Fun Home will be a first for the Sarasota area. “We’ve always liked to put something in our season that isn’t just a standard. Fun Home is new to the area, no one here has produced it yet and it’s still a really important piece,” says Heisey. “We want to be able to show the community different works. Fun Home happens to not only be new, it’s also just such a great piece of art with an important message that fits into our literary theme for the season.””—D.Campbell   The Sarasota Players, 3501 S Tamiami Trail Suite 1130, 941-365-2494, theplayers.org.

Windjammers Unlimited   

The Golden Age of the American Circus is alive and well in Sarasota with the Circus Arts Conservatory’s (CAC) annual Windjammers Unlimited performance. The performance, which is scheduled for January 2025, combines the new and old guard of the circus in a spectacle free for the community. Every year the Windjammers Unlimited, a circus music historical society, comes to Sarasota for their annual convention. The organization is made up of both playing and non-playing members, musicians from the era in which live music always accompanied the circus. Naturally, the CAC has always welcomed them with open arms, resulting in an annual performance that combines the regality of the Windjammers’ music with performances from the organization’s Sailor Circus Academy students.  “The Windjammers Unlimited have been longtime supporters of the Sailor Circus. Additionally, this is the kids’ opportunity to be a part of something historic,” says Jennifer Mitchell, Executive Vice President/COO of CAC. “The show is approximately two hours long with an intermission. The first hour features nearly 100 musicians from the Windjammers in a beautiful performance of pieces of music that have been played throughout the history of the American circus and the second hour includes students of the Sailor Circus Academy performing about 10 acts to live music from the Windjammers.” The annual performance not only gives the Sailor Circus troupe an additional opportunity to showcase their skills, it also keeps a storied circus tradition alive. The musicians of the Windjammers will not live forever, but their stories and their talent will, through performances like this.  —D.Campbell   The Circus Arts Conservatory, 2075 Bahia Vista St, Sarasota, 941-355-9805,  circusarts.org .

Hermitage Artist Retreat 

The only arts organization in the area exclusively dedicated to showing new work, events at the Hermitage Artist Retreat give audiences a peek
behind the curtain and into the process of celebrated international artists as they workshop their latest projects. From playwrights and novelists to composers and musicians, they all come to the Hermitage to find the space and quiet to devote themselves to their latest work. In exchange, each artist participates in at least one Hermitage event, where they share that work-in-progress with a live audience and talk about their process. Free and open to the public, events typically begin at sunset and are 60-70 minutes long including a Q&A with the artist after the performance. Held on a weekly basis, some take place beachside on the Hermitage campus, while the Sunsets at Selby series brings artist and audience into the moody seclusion of the botanical gardens and the Sunsets at Benderson Park series opts for a lakeside experience. With events held every week, keep a close eye on the Hermitage Artist Retreat website to see what’s coming. “It’s a chance to engage at an early, exciting, formative phase with some of the world’s leading artists,” says Hermitage Artistic Director and CEO Andy Sandberg. “So come with an open mind and excited to experience something new.” —P.Lederer   Hermitage Artist Retreat, 6630 Manasota Key Rd., Englewood, 941-475-2098, hermitageartistretreat.org.