Urbanite Theatre commences its 2016–17 season tonight with the opening of the comedic drama Dry Land. Written by Ruby Rae Spiegel and directed by Urbanite Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director Summer Dawn Wallace, the play takes place in the locker room of a Florida high school, where two girls, Amy and Ester, strike an unlikely bond through their common experience on the brink of womanhood. Starring Ellie McCaw (returning to the Urbanite after last season’s Freak), Jordan Boyer and Olivia Siegal, Dry Land opens tonight at 8pm and runs until Jul. 24.

“What drew me to this play was the complicated relationship between these two girls,” says Wallace. “The stuff that women have to deal with starts at a very young age.” Meeting within the vulnerable confines of the locker room, Amy a budding athlete and Ester looking for hope, conversations both frank and guarded give light to the doubts and struggles that connect them both through adolescence in the modern world. “The play shows the challenges that young women face growing up—the challenges and the triumphs,” says Wallace. “All of that’s put into one beautifully complicated and challenging, but very funny play as well.”

Female sexuality, eating disorders, suicide, reproductive rights and social expectation all enter the discussion as Amy and Ester wrestle with their bodies and the world that seems to be changing around them, but the play still has its hilarious moments, largely driven by the young protagonists’ unflinching but less-than-worldly assessment of their situation. And while Wallace admits some of the dialogue may make the men in the audience “squirm” a bit, Dry Land is “not a ‘female play,’” she says, and all can find something or someone to relate to through the play’s 95-minute run time.

The play is not an argument and audiences won’t leave with their minds changed on the charged political topics of the day, “but that’s not the intent,” says Wallace. “The play shines a light on what’s happening with young women, both positive and negative, and this is the reality of our younger generation. You leave with a better understanding of what our younger folks are going through.”

As for her own young charges, the actors onstage and under her direction—“young peanuts” as she affectionately dubs them—three are recent Booker High School grads themselves (Boyer just graduated from the Visual and Performing Arts program this year), Wallace sees strength. “Part of what’s lovely about working with younger actors is they just do it,” she says. “They’re fearless.” 

Pictured: Jordan Boyer and Ellie McCaw as Ester and Amy in "Dry Land." Photo by Ryan Finzelber.

Fresh off a New York City premiere last week in Times Square, Paradise, FL, the film from Sarasota writer/producer Tony Stopperan and New York-based director and Ringling alum Nick Morgulis that world-premiered as an official selection of the 2015 Sarasota Film Festival, releases worldwide today through the online streaming and purchase site Vimeo. Starting today, the film will be available through Vimeo for rent or to own, and will be added to the listings at Amazon in two weeks time.

Starring Asolo Conservatory alum Jon-Michael Miller as one of the leads, the film revolves around the fraying friendship between two men trapped in a community plagued with drug abuse and addiction. But unlike the cold reality of a documentary film or the tired cynicism that many similarly themed films opt for, “[Paradise, FL] is one of hope,” says Stopperan, “and crafted to show that people are still people, with aspirations and compassion, obligations and friends and family.”

With seven minutes excised from the festival cut of the film and improved audio for the final sound mix, this version of Paradise is markedly different from the one Sarasota audiences saw over a year ago that garnered official selection at four additional festivals that year, including the Gasparilla, Iphias and Virginia Film Festivals, but according to Stopperan, it’s all for the best.

“The festival circuit became, to me, a test audience,” says Stopperan, who used the opportunity, along with Morgulis, to view the film with fresh audiences and measure their work—to see what works and what doesn’t, where to trim and where to cut altogether. The biggest change came Feb. of this year when the team completed a $15,000 fundraising campaign via RocketHub to overhaul the audio. Adding connective score, foley and fixing imbalances in the original mix, “it’s a cohesive and unified sound now,” says Stopperan.

Now the goal is to get the word out and invigorate a grassroots viewership, says Stopperan. Without big name stars on the marquee, word of mouth will be Paradise’s best friend, and these first few days after release will be crucial. “An independent film of our budget is reliant on a vanguard of fans in its early release to start getting the word out,” says Stopperan. “It gets the momentum going.”

To view the film, follow the link below. The film costs $4.99 to rent and $9.99 to purchase. 

Pictured: Director Nick Morgulis oversees while actor Jon-Michael Miller tongs for oysters. Stephen Reeves operates camera under director of photography Brandon Hyde. Photo by Rod Millington.

View Paradise, FL here.

You won’t see Lono Tiki Bar from the road, but this hidden treasure is more than worth the visit. Located poolside at Osprey’s Bentley’s Boutique Hotel, you won’t need a room key to access Lono’s inventive creations, such as this summer-ready salad whose eclectic mix of ingredients blends to delicious effect. The watermelon salad combines marinated feta, pickled onions, fresh-sliced jalapenos, heirloom tomatoes, microgreens and of course, juicy chunks of watermelon. Executive Chef Thomas Thompson (a Bird Key Yacht Club alum and inventor of the salad) and his staff painstakingly prepare each ingredient: the tickled-pink pickled onions spend two days in a press drenched in balsamic vinegar and sugar while the marinated feta soaks to perfection in an olive oil and oregano mix. The “dressing” is simply white balsamic vinegar boiled down to a light syrupy reduction and paired with a grilled lemon. The result is a dish equal parts sweet, salty, bitter, cool and tangy. 

Pictured: The watermelon salad at Lono Tiki Bar. Photo by Heidi Stone.

Lono Tiki Bar at Bentley's Boutique Hotel, 1660 South Tamiami Trl., Osprey, 941-966-2121.

A favorite among vegetarians, black bean cakes provide a hearty, earthy and ethnic treat without the calories of a bun. Mildly spicy but with a hint of sweet added by corn, Blue Apron Cafe prepares this smoky plate over a bed of greens. Ideal for any meal of the day, pair this dish with a refreshing glass of sangria for a complementary balance of taste.

Ingredients: 2 cans of 15 oz. black beans drained; 1 cup diced red bell pepper; 1 cup diced small onion; 1 cup diced tomato; ½ cup sweet corn; 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro; 2 minced garlic cloves; 3 eggs; 1 cup flour; salt and pepper; 1 Tbsp. crushed red pepper flakes; 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil.

Mix all ingredients together and add salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. On medium heat pour olive oil on a frying pan. Using a soup spoon, stir the mix quickly (each time) before spooning it onto the pan. Carefully drop a spoonful of mix onto the pan. Using a spatula, tap the side of the cake lightly to round off the edges. Cook one side for three minutes, or until brown, then flip to cook the other side. You’ll know it’s ready to be flipped when the cake is firm. Finish cooking the rest of the batch, three to four cakes at a time. Serve with cilantro yogurt sauce or your favorite tahini. Serve over mixed greens or as a great breakfast with a couple of poached eggs. 

Blue Apron Cafe, 436 Central Ave., Sarasota, 941-320-1780

Manatee Memorial Hospital announced its first two implant procedures of the approved recapturable, self-expanding CoreValve Evolut R System, making it the only hospital in Manatee, Sarasota and Pinellas counties to offer such procedures. The first and only recapturable and repositionable device available in the United States, the Evolut R System is approved for transcatheter aortic valve replacement in patients with severe aortic stenosis who are at high or extreme risk for surgery, replacing a diseased aortic heart valve through a minimally invasive procedure, without open-heart surgery and without surgical removal of the diseased valve. 

Manatee Memorial Hospital

The Florida Corrections Accreditation Commission (FCAC) has named Sara Kenniff as 2015 Corrections Accreditation Manager of the Year. Given the award at the Florida Police Accreditation Coalition (FLA-PAC) in Orlando, Kenniff is credited with helping the sheriff’s office earn 100 percent compliance and re-accreditation in 2012 and 2015. 

Sarasota County Sheriff's Office

Sarasota County will be opening their newest fire station in the Bee Ridge Road area. One of four new county fire stations that are replacing outdated facilities, Fire Station No. 12 will be a two-story station, which will also serve as a “green” facility that is poised to achieve a minimum level of “Certified” with the US Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System. 

Sarasota County