Perhaps Pamela Olin was destined to be an artist, growing up in her father’s home-studio. A creative and curious man, Rich Olin was always up to something, crafting some strange new sculpture or embedding electronics into the old ones. And as they left his imagination, they filled the house. But where his daughter Pamela pursued the life of a professional artist, Rich Olin never showed his work. He was a businessman, after all, and the artist’s life was for someone else. But now, at age 90, the artist inside is ready to emerge, with this week’s opening of Expressions of Experience: Two Generations | Two Perspectives, a father-daughter exhibition of sculpture and painting at Plymouth Harbor Gallery.

Featuring a whopping 30 works from each Olin—largely free-standing sculpture in clay or steel but with a nice contingent of paintings and mixed-media lining the walls—Expressions of Experience explores how both have used their art to chart a course through grief, loss, and the life that must continue in the wake of family tragedy. But although they may be kin, the similarity stops there.

Fans of Pamela Olin will recognize some familiar work in steel—slender figures and leaping dancers, jigsaw spheres and flowing curves—but also get a chance to see a number of large-scale paintings not shown before, as the artist uses everything from acrylics and housepaint to bathroom caulk and fallen leaves to create her compositions. “Whatever I have within reach that gives me the texture I’m looking for,” she says. And never with a brush. Always with her hands. In much of this work, largely non-representational and varied in both medium and style, it's not hard to see the artist as seeking an answer on the canvas, exploring new techniques as new routes to truth. Much is an operation in abstraction, and the artist is more apt to talk about heady concepts of resilience and humanism in conversation, than any concrete meaning. Her father, on the other hand, opts for the more direct approach.

Working almost exclusively in ceramic, the elder Olin embraces the absurd as he alternately satirizes and meditates on the strangeness and struggles of being a human in the modern world, crafting madcap scenes and populating them with crudely shapen figures, as though emphasizing humanity as a work in progress. The figures walk tightropes and swing on trapezes, dance on docks, drown in algorithms and lose themselves in neverending embraces. Some are whimsical, like a trio of tuxedoed musicians playing cardboard paper towel tubes instead of instruments or an old man flying butt-first down a children’s slide. Others wryly comment on the realities of aging. Many feature some sort of mechanical aspect, motion sensors activating sounds, lights or movement to draw attention when onlookers come close. And with names like, treasure the little things, opacity is not the aim.

“It’s always been a dream to have a show with my dad,” says Pamela Olin. “And I hope audiences come away with a sense of joy. That they leave hopeful and humorous and curious. Always curious.”

Currently on display, Expressions of Experience: Two Generations | Two Perspectives runs at the Plymouth Harbor Gallery through February 29. An opening reception with both artists is scheduled for January 9, from 4:30 to 6:30pm.

Pictured: Algorithm Hell by Rich Olin. Photo by Phil Lederer.

What if Shakespeare had a sister? What would she have been like? What would her life have looked like? The answers to these questions can be found on Friday night at Urbanite Theatre, with the world premiere of its latest production, Judith. The one-woman play, written by Katie Bender and conceived and developed with the lead actress Livy Scanlon, focuses on the journey of Judith, William Shakespeare's fictional sister in Elizabethan England.

“Judith is a solo show that revolves around the concept of ‘what if Shakespeare had a sister?’,” says Summer Wallace, Producing Artistic Director at Urbanite Theatre. “Judith is Shakespeare's sister and she’s actually dressed in drag to impersonate Shakespeare and is heading to London to save her brother’s reputation. Once there, she pursues work as the poet himself and discovers the pleasures and pitfalls of passing as the bard in a patriarchal and politically-charged, divided nation.”

Judith is just one of three world premieres in Urbanite’s 10th season, which features four mainstage productions. In many ways, it’s an example of what Urbanite wants to do, not only artistically, but as a business: Urbanite Theatre strives to bring new work to light. It’s one of the main missions of the company and a large part of bringing new and interesting theater to the Gulf Coast. Urbanite’s world premiere of Judith is a collaboration with The Hanover Theatre Repertory in Worcester, Massachusetts, of which Scanlon is the Artistic Director. Judith will have a full run at Urbanite Theatre, before heading up to the Hanover Theatre and Conservatory in April. As a result, the two theaters will share production costs and will both feature Scanlon as Judith and Brendon Fox as the director.

Judith is truly meant for all to enjoy. Although the play is set in Elizabethan England, it is full of modern personality and is not told entirely in old English. “Where I think Katie, the playwright, has done such a wonderful job is that you don’t have to have ever heard the name William Shakespeare to be fascinated by this story of this young woman pretending to be her brother,” says Wallace. “We see Judith gain agency when she’s masquerading as a man–it’s the only way she’s listened to and taken seriously. She gains ownership of things that she doesn’t have outside of that persona.”

January 5 to February 18, Urbanite Theatre, 1487 2nd Street, Sarasota, 941-321-1397. 

For ticket information click here

Sarasota Chorus of the Keys, celebrating its 75th Anniversary, will present its Annual Show, “Your Dreams Will Come True” on February 17, 2024, at 2:30 and 7 p.m. at the Riverview Performing Arts Center, 1 Ram Way, Sarasota. The Chorus will perform the exciting sounds of four-part acapella harmony and will be joined by a special guest quartet, My Three Sons, who are also members of the highly regarded Ditchfield Family Singers. It’s a show you won’t want to miss! Order Tickets Online at: www.ChorusoftheKeys.org. Questions? Call (941) 224-0314 for information. 

Pictured: Special guest quartet My Three Sons feature father Stephen Ditchfield, and his three sons, Nathanael, Michael, and David Ditchfield. Photo courtesy of Sarasota Chorus of the Keys.

Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe is pleased to – once again – invite the community to celebrate the rich legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during an inspirational performance. The production, titled “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: Celebrating His Legacy in Spoken Word and Song,” will feature re-enactments of Dr. King’s speeches, song and dance. The show, which is arranged and directed by WBTT Founder/Artistic Director Nate Jacobs, takes place on Sunday, January 14, 2024 at 7:30 p.m. at the Sarasota Opera House (61 N. Pineapple Ave., Sarasota). Program highlights will include excerpts from Dr. King’s speeches and writings, re-enacted again this year by Reverend Charles McKenzie, interspersed with singing and dancing by some of WBTT’s most popular professional performers as well as students from WBTT’s Stage of Discovery youth training program. Additionally, the 2024 winners of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. essay writing contest will be announced. Jacobs also noted that, while this is an annual presentation, there are numerous artistic changes made each year, such as the cast and special guests; this year, students from the Platinum Superstars Dance Factory (Palmetto) will be featured. Presenting sponsor is Community Foundation of Sarasota County; collaborating sponsor is the Sarasota County Bar Association Council for Diversity & Inclusion. “We are so grateful to our generous sponsors for continuing to support our annual celebration as well as the many community members who come out to enjoy this annual event," said WBTT executive director Julie Leach. "We are looking forward to honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. the best way that WBTT knows how: through live theater!"

Tickets are: $35/orchestra, $25/mezzanine, and $15/students (ages 25 and under with valid ID); prices include all applicable fees. For tickets and information, call the Box Office at 941-366-1505 or visit westcoastblacktheatre.org. 

Pictured: Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe – led by founder and artistic director Nate Jacobs (front, center) – will present its annual celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on January 14, 2024.

Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota presents three concerts in February, all featuring emerging artists. Chelsea Guo, piano and soprano, performs with Joseph Holt, piano, on February 1 at the Sarasota Yacht Club. Genre-hopping trio Empire Wild perform on February 21 at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. Prizewinning pianist Lin Ye returns to Sarasota on February 24 for a concert at Church of the Palms. For tickets and more information, visit ArtistSeriesConcerts.org or call (941) 306-1202. Chelsea Guo, piano and soprano, is a rare musical double feature. Winner of the 2022 Young Concert Artists Susan Wadsworth International Auditions, she was included in Classic FM’s “Rising Stars: 30 Brilliant Musicians We’re Celebrating in 2022.” Her 2021 debut album, “Chelsea Guo: Chopin in My Voice,” reached #7 on the Billboard classical chart. This program, on February 1, 11:00 am at Sarasota Yacht Club, features both vocal and keyboard works. Single ticket: $68 (includes lunch). Empire Wild, winner of the 2020 Concert Artists Guild Ambassador Prize, a genre-bending crossover trio featuring Juilliard-trained classical musicians who fuse the sounds of pop, folk, Broadway and classical into their songwriting and composition. Cellists Ken Kubota and Mitch Lyon and pianist Jiyong Kim perform on February 21, 5:30 pm, at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. Single ticket: $40. Pianist Lin Ye wowed Sarasota audiences in two sold out all-Beethoven programs in 2019. Having subsequently performed in prestigious venues worldwide, the former Artist Series Concerts prizewinner returns with a program of works by Rachmaninoff and the chamber version of Chopin’s beloved Piano Concerto #1. Ye will be joined by principal musicians of the Sarasota Orchestra on February 24, 4:00 pm, at Church of the Palms. Single ticket: $40 and $60. For tickets and more information, visit ArtistSeriesConcerts.org or call (941) 306-1202. 

The Sarasota Concert Association presents two extraordinary orchestras in February and March as part of its Great Performers Series. These concerts are part of the Sarasota Concert Association's Great Performers Series and will take place at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall at 7:30 pm. Detroit Symphony Orchestra: Known for its trailblazing performances, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra will perform in Sarasota on Monday, February 19. Music Director Jader Bignamini leads the Orchestra through a program including Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade. Bignamini became Music Director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in 2020 and, since then, has set the tone for each performance with his passion and artistic excellence. Also featured on the program is the renowned Alisa Weilerstein, one of the foremost cellists of our time, who will perform Elgar’s beloved Cello Concerto. Heralded as "a throwback to an earlier age of classical performers" by the New York Times, Weilerstein is known for inhabiting each piece of music, turning it into her own. Mother to two young children, Weilerstein has recently been working on her multi-season project, "FRAGMENTS," rethinking the concert experience and broadening the tent for classical music. Rotterdam Philharmonic with Pianist Daniil Trifonov: The Rotterdam Philharmonic will perform on Sunday, March 3 at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, led by Chief Conductor Lahav Shani. The youngest conductor to ever hold the position with Rotterdam, Shani debuted as conductor and solo pianist in 2016 with the Orchestra. The program includes Arvo Pärt's Swansong and selections from Romeo and Juliet by Prokofiev. The Times of London describes Grammy Award-winning pianist Daniil Trifonov as "the most astounding pianist of our age." Trifonov combines his consummate technique with rare sensitivity and depth, and will be performing Prokofiev’s fiendishly difficult Piano Concerto No. 2. Single tickets for both concerts are available on the Sarasota Concert Association website at www.SCAsarasota.org or by calling the Box Office at 941-966-6161.  

The Chamber Orchestra of Sarasota (COS) will present a free concert on Wednesday, January 24 at 7:00pm at the Venice Performing Arts Center on the campus of Venice High School. The program is titled “Making Music Together.” The Chamber Orchestra will join forces with members of the Venice High School Orchestra (VHSO) to present this special concert. The program is sponsored in part by the Music Performance Trust Fund, which was established in 1948 as a nonprofit independent public service organization whose mission includes contributing to the public knowledge and appreciation of music, as well as making music a part of every child’s life experience. The MPTF is funded via a royalty stream from the signatory record labels, led by the three major labels. Additional sponsorship for this concert has been provided by a grant from the Gulf Coast Community Foundation, made possible through the Venice Endowment Fund. The COS, under music director Robert Vodnoy, will perform music by Benedetto Marcello, African-American composer Adolphus Hailstork, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Violist Rafael Ramirez, who is also a virtuoso mandolin player, will be featured as soloist for Vivaldi’s Concerto in A Minor. The VHSO, under conductor Christopher Riley, will perform music by Bach and Mozart. Both Riley and Ramirez are principal players in the Chamber Orchestra of Sarasota as well as the Venice Symphony Orchestra. The two orchestras, under Maestro Vodnoy, will join forces to perform Por una Cabeza, Mediation from Thaïs, and Libertango. Thanks to sponsorships from the MPTF, GCCF and several individual donors, the concert is free and open to the public. There will be general seating, but eople can guarantee seats by visiting the Chamber Orchestra’s website and registering under the “buy tickets” tab. No purchase is required. The Chamber Orchestra of Sarasota is one of the few professional chamber orchestras in the State of Florida. Its mission is to provide opportunities for diverse audiences and performers to experience the unique repertoire of a chamber orchestra, employing the finest musicians in the Sarasota area and performing in small and intimate venues. This is the orchestra’s seventh season. Robert Vodnoy made his professional debut as a conductor in 1975 with the Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestra, which he led as music director for 30 years. He was Music Director of the Northwest Indiana Symphony, the Huron Symphony, and guest conducted orchestras throughout the United States, Europe, Latin America, and the Pacific Rim. He is also music director of the Whiting Park Festival Orchestra. An experienced educator, he was Director of Orchestras/Professor of Strings and Music History at Northern State University from 2005-2018. He co-founded the Chamber Orchestra of Sarasota in 2017. Vodnoy holds a BM summa cum laude and MM in composition from Hartt College of the University of Hartford, and a DM in Conducting from Indiana University. He and his wife Kayla reside in Venice, Florida and Valparaiso, Indiana. For more information about this and other concerts by the Chamber Orchestra, visit the orchestra’s website at www.chamberorchestrasarasota.org  or call 219-928-8665. 

Pictured: Venice High School Orchestra photo from VHSO Facebook page.