SRQ DAILY Apr 21, 2023
Friday Weekend Edition
"The festival is a celebration of women in theater. "
Sarasota’s Urbanite Theatre is always pushing the envelope. Home to some of the most contemporary and challenging stories that can be found in the country, Urbanite Theatre has carved out a name for itself amongst its fellow theaters on Florida’s cultural coast. This spring, from May 3rd to May 7th, Urbanite Theatre will host its fourth annual Modern Works Festival, an experience curated by Producing Artistic Director Summer Wallace.
“The festival is a celebration of women in theater. It features three stage readings by three female playwrights–we narrowed it down to three from submissions all across the country–each playwright receives a professional cast as well as professional director, stage manager, and additional team members,” says Wallace. “Throughout the festival patrons also have the opportunity to go to other panels that feature other women in the arts in the southwest Florida area.”
The 2023 playwright finalists are Brenda Withers, presenting Westminster, Kate Douglas, presenting The Apiary, and Jenna Rashid, presenting Therapy. Attendees of the festival will have the opportunity to see staged readings of all the finalists’ plays and vote on the festival-winning playwright.
“The selection process started last year,” says Wallace. “We’ve actually been reading plays since December–it’s a panel made up of all women–and each play is passed on to the next round based on how they’re scored and each play get passed to other readers so that every play gets read more than once, just to make sure that each play is getting scored fairly and has the opportunity to be a finalist.”
The Modern Works Festival will also feature a Women in Theatre Panel Discussion series. “The panel is made up of all female theater leaders in the industry. On the 4th we have Carolina Franco, the President and Artistic Director of CreArte Latino Cultural Center; on the 5th we have Bess Wohl, our guest playwright of the festival that we’re presenting in partnership with Hermitage Artist Retreat along with Emilia Sargent, Producing Artistic Director at Tampa Rep, and Georgia Guy, Producing Artistic Director of ThinkTank Theatre; and finally on the 6th we have Julie Leach, Executive Director of the West Coast Black Theatre Troupe,” says Wallace.
Modern Works Festival, May 3rd - May 7th, 2023, 1487 2nd Street, Sarasota, 941-321-1397. 
Pictured: Summer Wallace, Producing Artistic Director, Urbanite Theatre. Photo courtesy of Urbanite Theatre.
The Concert: A Tribute to ABBA returns to the Van Wezel to perform all the greatest ABBA hits once again, on Thursday, May 11, 2023 at 7:30pm. The Concert: A Tribute to ABBA brings one of the greatest pop phenomena back to life. The audience and press all agree, “this is the closest to ABBA you’ll ever get.” The Concert: A Tribute to ABBA continues to be the top ABBA tribute group in the world, dazzling all who see their fantastic performance while playing the most iconic hits from ABBA, including Mamma Mia, Waterloo and Dancing Queen. Tickets are $27-$72 and can be purchased at www.VanWezel.org, by calling the box office at 941-263-6799 or by visiting the box office Monday through Friday between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Groups of 10 or more should contact 941-263-6726. Pre-show dining is available through Mattison’s at the Van Wezel which is located inside the theatre. Reservations can be made on VanWezel.org or through the box office.
Key Chorale’s 38th main season closes with the 8th annual presentation of “Tomorrow’s Voices Today,” a unique collaborative choral festival featuring Key Chorale and Sarasota County high school choir students. Each year, Maestro Caulkins inspires music making at the highest levels, planting seeds that will ripen throughout these students’ lives with an eclectic program from classics to contemporary. This year, the choirs from Booker High School, Pine View School, and Venice High School will join the voices of Key Chorale to create a festival chorus of over 200 voices of all ages. Led by directors Alexander Zickafoose, Seth Gardner, Brittany Smith and the choirs of Booker, Pine View, and Venice High Schools, respectively, will perform some of their favorites from this season as well as performing with Key Chorale. As Artistic Director Joseph Caulkins states, “When I visit these schools I am consistently inspired by the quality of instructions and music-making in our schools. What I hope to impart is the great joy and reward that comes when we strive for great artistry.” Each high school choir will perform on their own and then join with Key Chorale to perform Jubilate Deo by Peter Anglea, Lux Beata Trinitas – Ola Gjeilo, Vum Vive Vum by Kevin Siegfried, and Selma 1965: Let My People Go by Arr. Rollo Dilworth. Alexander Zickafoose will also direct The Key Chorale Student Scholar Ensemble for Tuba by Arr. Michael Barrett and Somewhere by Leonard Bernstein. In order to make the “Tomorrow’s Voices Today” concert collaboration accessible to all, Key Chorale has a ticket price of just $10 to allow the entire community to celebrate choral music together. “We want our community to be able to have a front row seat to experience first-hand why we think this outreach is so important to Key Chorale’s mission,” said Caulkins. The performance takes place: Tuesday, April 25th at 7:30 PM, Venice Performing Arts Center, Tickets $10. For more information or to purchase tickets to Tomorrow’s Voices Today, please visit www.keychorale.org or call 941-552-8768.
Pictured: Tomorrow's Voices Today features a chorus of over 200 voices of all ages. Photo courtesy of Key Chorale.
Rain - A tribute to the Beatles is excited to announce that in addition to paying tribute to “Abbey Road” they will be performing your favorites from the “Rooftop Concert” as well as all of your other Beatle’s favorites! RAIN will play the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall on Friday, May 5, 2023 at 8 p.m. This mind-blowing performance takes you back in time with the legendary foursome delivering a note-for-note theatrical event that is “the next best thing to seeing The Beatles!” (Associated Press). Experience the worlds’ most iconic band and come celebrate The Best of Abbey Road Live with Rain - A tribute to the Beatles. In addition to the updated sets that include state of the art LED, high-definition screens and multimedia content, Rain will bring the “Abbey Road” album and the “Rooftop Concert” to life with the launch of the 2022 Tour. Together longer than The Beatles, Rain has mastered every song, gesture and nuance of the legendary foursome, delivering a totally live, note-for-note performance that’s as infectious as it is transporting. Let Rain take you back with all of the greatest hits along with all of your other Beatles favorites! This adoring tribute will take you back to a time when all you needed was love, and a little help from your friends! Like The Beatles, the onstage members of Rain are not only supreme musicians, but electrifying performers in their own right! Tickets are $37-$87 and can be purchased at www.VanWezel.org, by calling the box office at 941-263-6799 or by visiting the box office Monday through Friday between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Groups of 10 or more should contact 941-263-6726. Pre-show dining is available through Mattison’s at the Van Wezel which is located inside the theatre. Reservations can be made on VanWezel.org or through the box office.
To help kick off the 16th annual Forks & Corks Wine Festival, the wine maker's from The Lerner Project & Thompson 31 Fifty are teaming up with Chef Ken Shiro Lumpkin to create a four course, prix fixe dinner paired with a selection of wines from their amazing portfolios. On Friday, April 21, the dinner reception at Tzeva will begin at 6:30 PM with passed glasses of MANDOIS Brut. Dinner will begin at 7 PM with the first course being a Hamachi Crudo with green apple, jicama, ginger oil, yuzu, and fresh dill paired with Thompson 31 Fifty Bacigalupi Vineyard Chardonnay 2021. The second course will feature Gnocchi with Petrichor Farms wild mushrooms, cherry jus, fresh herbs, and goat cheese paired with Thompson 31 Fifty Russian River Valley Pinot Noir 2017, while the third course will be a Seared Lamb Loin Dijon with panko, kalamata olives, charred broccolini, and kabocha paired with The Lerner Project Oakville, Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2016. The final course for your sweet tooth will be a Valrhona Chocolate Ricotta Cake with white pepper ice cream, caramelized plum, and espresso anglaise paired with The Lerner Project Tench Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2019. The wine dinner will be $75 per person and reservations can be made via OpenTable.
USA Swimming’s Open Water National Championships, hosted in partnership by Visit Sarasota County, is coming to Nathan Benderson Park from April 21st through April 23rd. National champion titles, as well as slots on the Open Water National Team, National Junior Team and several international teams will be on the line as over 240 swimmers from across the country, as well as some from Spain, Sweden and Japan are expected to compete in the three-day competition. Swimming begins Friday with the 10K, followed by the junior 5K on Saturday and concluding with the open 5K and junior 7.5K on Sunday. Notable athletes include Ashley Twichell (2020 Olympian), Katie Grimes (2022 10K national champion), Michael Brinegar (2020 Olympian and six-time U.S. National Team member) and much more. The Sarasota Sharks Swim Team, will be proudly sponsoring the event and several athletes from their team will also be competing throughout the weekend. Admission for the event is free to spectators, and those interested in watching from home can tune in at www.usaswimming.org/watch. A full schedule of meet times happening during the event can be seen here: https://www.usaswimming.org/event/2023/04/21/default-calendar/open-water-championships.
If you missed SRQ Magazine’s Decals and Donuts event this past week, not to worry. We’re thrilled to announce that we’ll be doing another one! Join us Wednesday, April 26 from 8am to 1pm at our studios in Downtown Sarasota. Pick up your decal while chatting with other winners over donuts and coffee. And we’ll have the BOSRQ signage up for selfies and photos! See you then!
Florida Studio Theatre presents the original music revue, Reel Music, celebrating the movies that helped create the soundtrack to the last century. Featuring classics like “Singin’ in the Rain,” “Circle of Life,” and “My Heart Will Go On,” this new Cabaret traces how films—and the music highlighted in them—have evolved over the past one hundred years. Created by Richard Hopkins, Rebecca Hopkins, and Sarah Durham with musical arrangements by Jim Prosser, Reel Music begins playing February 15, 2023, in FST’s Court Cabaret. Single tickets for Reel Music
range between $18-39 and are now on sale at FloridaStudioTheatre.org or at 941.366.9000.
Compass Rose History Experiences announces the launch of Resilience: A Guided Walking Tour Experience. Guides Mimi Cirbusova and Andrea Knies will navigate attendees on a journey back in time down Main Street as we explore the resilience of the Sarasota community during the Great Depression and World War II. Locals and visitors alike will find inspiration from the stories of the people and places of Sarasota's past. Tours meet at Five Points Park in Downtown Sarasota and cover a distance of less than one mile over the 75-90 minute tour. All tours begin at 3:30 pm. Tickets cost $20.00 and must be purchased in advance. Guests purchasing both tours can receive a $10 discount by selecting the ticket package. Visit CompassRoseHistory.com to purchase your tickets or to learn more about Compass Rose History Experiences.
Marie Selby Botanical Gardens’ 2023 Jean and Alfred Goldstein Exhibition Tiffany: The Pursuit of Beauty in Nature showcases the creativity and innovation of American artist and designer Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933). The first exhibition of its type to be presented in a botanical garden, the exhibition highlights the inspiring connection between Tiffany Studios and the natural world through unique horticultural displays in the Tropical Conservatory and the Gardens, accompanied by seminal examples of Tiffany’s work on view in the Museum of Botany and the Arts. To learn more, visit selby.org. Selby Gardens Downtown Sarasota campus, 1534 Mound St., Sarasota.
Leigh and Lee are two strangers who have little in common besides their names. She is a Type A statistician, and he is an aggressive former athlete. But the discovery of a mysterious suicide note in a hotel bathroom sets their lives on unexpected paths that go anywhere but according to plan. Paralyzed tells a striking story of guilt, personal responsibility, and the power of forgiveness. Single tickets range from $18-39 and are now on sale at FloridaStudioTheatre.org or 941.366.9000. FST's Bowne's Lab Theatre, 1265 1st St., Sarasota.
Reclaiming Home, Contemporary Seminole Art group exhibition will mark The Ringling’s first presentation of contemporary art by Native American artists with ancestral, historical, and present-day connections to Florida. An imperative step toward establishing a meaningful relationship with the Native American artistic community, Reclaiming Home will highlight the breadth and depth of the artwork by Seminole, Miccosukee, and mixed-heritage artists from Florida with the important work by internationally-recognized artists. The exhibition will expand the conceptual framework of Native American art made in Florida today and provide a fuller understanding of the complexities of issues within the art of the Seminole diaspora. Ringling Museum, 5401 Bay Shore Rd., Sarasota, ringling.org.
Considered by many to be one of the best musicals of all time, MAN OF LA MANCHA is brilliantly reimagined with a contemporary urgency by celebrated director Peter Rothstein, who immerses us in Miguel de Cervantes’s retelling of Don Quixote and his quest. This epic and poignant journey celebrates the perseverance of one man who refuses to relinquish his ideals and who is determined to see life not as it is, but as it ought to be. The winner of five Tony Awards®, including Best Musical, and featuring a soaring score, including “Man of La Mancha (I, Don Quixote)” and one of theatre’s most beloved songs, “The Impossible Dream,” this classic musical celebrates the power of theatre, the bravery of holding strong to our dreams, and the resilience of imagination.
Asolo Repertory Theatre
Sarasota Orchestra invites you to celebrate Broadway with conductor William Waldrop, and three amazing vocalists, Carmen Ruby Floyd, Eryn LeCroy and Josh Young. Prepare to melt as these three vocalists make the rafters ring with thrilling numbers from Chicago, The Phantom of the Opera and Wicked to classic songs from Carousel, Gypsy, and 42nd Street. Tickets are $40-90. Van Wezel, 777 North Tamiami Tr., Sarasota, sarasotaorchestra.org.
This walking tour led by volunteer guides will introduce you to interesting botanical specimens on the estate while providing a historic overview of the development of the estate. The Ringling Arboretum has been accredited at Level II through ArbNet and there are over 2350 trees within the arboretum representing native, exotic, historical, and culturally significant trees. Garden Tours are available Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays and take place entirely outdoors. It is 90 minutes in length and covers approximately 1 mile. We encourage visitors to bring bottled water, and wear appropriate footwear, preferably closed-toe, sunblock, and hats. There will be a maximum of 10 participants per tour. Tours are subject to weather conditions. Please check it at the Visitors Pavilion prior to your tour. Tickets will be available 30 days prior to each tour.
SHE ENGINEERS is a bilingual (English and Spanish) poster exhibition highlighting eight women in various engineering fields. In their own words, the women share their passion and what inspired them to become engineers. If we support a woman in STEM, then she can change the world.
Take a trip back to 1973 with the Irish Catholic OShea family in the uproarious INCIDENT AT OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP. This boisterous and moving new memory play introduces us to young Linda, as she recalls a week she’ll never forget. When Linda’s mother instructs her to tell her sister about the birds and the bees, things quickly snowball into a potential crisis after the conversation is overheard by the parish priest. Secrets are unintentionally revealed, and a quick-witted group of women realize what really matters as they work to protect their family reputation and each other. This wild and tender comedy directed by Asolo Rep Associate Artistic Director Celine Rosenthal explores the foolishness of first love, the pains of Catholic guilt, and ultimately, the power of family.
Asolo Repertory Theatre
This monthly gathering of car enthusiasts brings together automobile lovers from every walk of life, not to mention a wide array of spectacular cars. Bring your own vehicle (all makes and models are welcome) to show off, or check out the hundreds of cars on display. Each month, the event sponsors a different charity, and attendees are encouraged to donate $10 to benefit the charity. The event, occuring on the second Sunday of each month, will feature live music, complimentary coffee and more. To learn more, visit facebook.com/carsandcoffee941. Sarasota Cars and Coffee, The West District at University Town Center near Ford’s Garage, 295 N. Cattlemen Rd., Sarasota.
FSU and the Asolo Conservatory are thrilled to bring back the beloved Shakespeare in the Gardens series to The Ringling Museum grounds with the Conservatory production of Love's Labour's Lost. Originally performed at Selby Gardens, this year the production of Love's Labour's Lost will be set in the remarkable Ringling Museum of Art Bayfront Gardens, surrounded by a lush banyan grove, with views of the stunning Sarasota Bay. Ringling Museum, 5401 Bay Shore Rd, Sarasota, asolorep.org.
Florida Studio Theatre is proud to present the world premiere of Visit Joe Whitefeather (and bring the family!) by award-winning playwright Bruce Graham. It’s the 1970s in Beaver Gap, Pennsylvania, a small town with a problem. Tourism has declined and it doesn’t look like there is any hope on the horizon. When a new resident joins forces with the bewildered city council, they devise a plan to rename the town to honor a dead, Native American war hero who had never visited the town before. It’s a plan so wild and insane that it just might work. Tickets range from $25-39 and are now on sale at FloridaStudioTheatre.org or at 941.366.9000. FST’s Gompertz Theatre, 1265 1st St., Sarasota.
Joseph’s Coat: Skyspace by James Turrell (2011) is a triumph of technology, engineering, and aesthetics. The Skyspace, created by internationally-renowned artist James Turrell, is a gathering place for contemplation and offers a unique experience. At sunset, a sophisticated system of LED lights is employed to change the color of the space. In doing so, the artist changes the context in which we view the sky through the 24-foot aperture in the ceiling, affecting our perception of the natural environment and the surroundings. As we gaze up at the sky we are invited to contemplate light, perception, and experience. Tickets are $10 and are free for members. Ringling Museum of Art, 5401 Bay Shore Rd., Sarasota, ringling.org.
FST Improv’s free-form show, Comedy Roulette, is an off-the-wall improvisation potpourri where performers are freed from the traditional do’s and don’ts of improv. Instead, improvisers are encouraged to follow the funny and launch into a new scene or storyline whenever inspiration strikes. Comedy Roulette plays Saturdays in FST’s Bowne’s Lab from April 8 to May 17, 2023. Florida Studio Theatre, 1265 1st St., Sarasota, floridastudiotheatre.org.
SRQ DAILY is produced by SRQ | The Magazine. Note: The views and opinions expressed in the Saturday Perspectives Edition and in the Letters department of SRQ DAILY are those of the author(s) and do not imply endorsement by SRQ Media. Senior Editor Jacob Ogles edits the Saturday Perspective Edition, Letters and Guest Contributor columns.In the CocoTele department, SRQ DAILY is providing excerpts from news releases as a public service. Reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by SRQ DAILY. The views expressed by individuals are their own and their appearance in this section does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent. For rates on SRQ DAILY banner advertising and sponsored content opportunities, please contact Ashley Ryan Cannon at 941-365-7702 x211 or via email |
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