Is that chill in the air merely a cold front or does it portend something more sinister and supernatural amiss? With the imminent arrival of the Edgar Allan Poe Speakeasy, all signs point to the latter, as the spirit—and words—of the famed author come to haunt the Charles Ringling Mansion for three nights of spooky storytelling and cocktail consumption.

A traveling show dedicated to celebrating the works of America’s most gothic of authors, the Edgar Allan Poe Speakeasy brings four of Poe’s short stories—The Raven, The Tell-Tale Heart, The Masque of the Red Death and The Black Cat—to the stage as macabre monologues by costumed performers, pairing each act with a custom cocktail created for and inspired by that story. In between performances, the resident “Poe-storian” takes the stage (also in Victorian dress) to set the scene by sharing details about Poe’s life and the greater historical context of the next tale.

“It’s a fun way to pay homage to Poe and his craft,” says the show’s writer and Poe-storian, Julia Tirinnanzi, who not only selected the four stories that comprise the show but was also faced with the daunting—and perhaps blasphemous—task of editing them for solo stage performance. “And you’d be surprised at how long a lot of his short stories really are,” she says with a laugh. “But if your favorite line is missing, I have the pleasure of taking the blame.”

Before each short story is performed, audience members all receive an 1800s-inspired cocktail delivered to their seat and somehow connected to the upcoming story, either in name or ingredient or even by dint of being a version of Poe’s very own drink of choice. Most are vodka-forward with a fruity twist, such as the Pale Blue Eye and The Nevermore, but it’s Edgar’s Twisted Brandy Milk Punch—a quixotic blend of Kentucky bourbon, French brandy, vanilla cream, milk syrup and star anise—that tends to give audiences the biggest surprise, says Tirinnanzi. “It sounds bizarre,” she admits, “but it always becomes a favorite.”

An operation in atmosphere, audiences are encouraged to dress up in their Victorian best to attend, all top hats and tails, lockets and lace. And lest anyone get the wrong impression of what a dramatic reading of Poe’s work might look like, it’s not the staid and stoic affair one might imagine, according to Tirinnanzi. “Sometimes you’ll get a chair thrown,” she says. “It’s whatever the actors feel moved to do in the moment and no two shows are the same.”

Performing at the Charles Ringling Mansion for three nights only, the Edgar Allan Poe Speakeasy runs January 25-27. Tickets are currently on sale at $55.

For more information or to purchase tickets, follow the link below.

Pictured: Julia Tirinnanzi serves as host and historian for a night of custom cocktails and Gothic drama. Photo courtesy of Edgar Allan Poe Speakeasy.

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On Wednesday, January 17, Florida Studio Theatre will kick off their 2024 Stage III Series with Lindsey Ferrentino’s Ugly Lies the Bone. The play, which is one of three in FST’s Stage III Series–a series dedicated to presented unique and challenging stories to audiences–stars Rachel Moulton as Jess, a combat veteran who returns home to Florida in 2011 following three tours in Afghanistan and a 14-month stay in a VA hospital after surviving an IED attack. Armed with an assortment of emotional and physical scars, Jess turns to computer simulated therapy to escape her pain and try to heal in this new life that she finds herself in.

“We see Jess after this stay in a VA hospital, navigating her homecoming in a town that has undergone a significant amount of change,” says Moulton. “In Afghanistan, she was a part of the Cultural Support Team, a CST, which were these elite, female soldiers that were recruited to support Army Rangers and Green Berets to go along on combat missions and communicate with the women and children in the area. Women weren’t allowed to serve in combat at this time, so she was an incredibly important asset to her team.”

Although the role of Jess is undeniably challenging, both in the character’s emotional journey as well as in the sheer amount of stage time she has, playing a combat veteran wasn’t uncharted territory for Moulton. A frequent performer at FST, Moulton, previously played a female F-16 fighter pilot in FST’s 2017 one-woman show Grounded. “I kind of had a sense of what it was like to take on this type of challenge as an actor, especially because you don’t get roles like this very often,so it’s a great opportunity, but it’s also a big ask,” says Moulton. “There’s the physical challenge of it all: the playwright describes Jess as having 30% of her body covered in third degree burns. She’s experiencing chronic pain, so it’s not just the emotional trauma she is trying to recover from, but everything on her body hurts as well.”

Jess’ complicated, nuanced journey back to civilian life makes for just the kind of story FST is trying to bring to life with their Stage III Series.

Florida Studio Theatre’s Bowne’s Lab, 1265 First Street, Sarasota. 

Pictured: Rachel Moulton as Jess for Ugly Lies the Bone. Photo courtesy of FST.

To learn more, visit

Long-time business leader Kevin Cooper just jumped into the race for Hospital Board. The former Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce president and current Mote Marine Laboratory vice president will run for Seat 2.

Cooper is the first candidate to file for the board this year. His entry comes at a time when the hospital board has become the subject of much greater political debate in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. He said he felt a call to bring a business perspective to the board.

“It’s about ensuring the highest quality care for Sarasota County residents,” Cooper said. “Health care is extremely personal and we simply cannot do enough to recruit the best and brightest medical professionals in the country to help those in our community who find themselves in need of our services.”

His campaign stressed his military background, which included being deployed to the Al Anbar province in Iraq during the peak of the war there. Locally, he’s best known for leadership at a number of major business groups. Before serving as president and CEO of the Sarasota Chamber, he also served as executive director of the Siesta Key Chamber of Commerce and as investment director at the Gulf Coast Community Foundation. He served now on the Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance’s board. He also sat on the Sarasota County Planning Commission.

The hospital, he said, is personal as that’s where his two children were born.

“Sarasota County has been an absolute blessing for me in so many ways. It is the best place in Florida, and the country, to live and raise a family and I will continue to do everything I can to preserve that for current and future generations,” he said. 

Photo by Wyatt Kostygan: Kevin Cooper

Arts Advocates is pleased to announce its schedule of February programs and events, including a member artist exhibit, an art talk, and a colored pencil workshop in the Arts Advocates Gallery; tours of the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall and Asolo Rep; and the monthly luncheon program at Sarasota Yacht Club. Unless otherwise indicated, registration is required at ArtsAdvocates.org. Arts Advocates member artists are invited to exhibit monthly in the Arts Advocates Gallery, located in the Crossings at Siesta Key mall, 3501 S. Tamiami Trail in Sarasota. Shows open the first Saturday of the month and close the last Saturday of the month. Jana Millstone’s show, “A Crooked Path,”will be on exhibit from February 3-24, Saturdays only from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. Millstone’s dream-like imagery propels the viewer into worlds that are sometimes funny, sometimes disquieting or calming, but always thought provoking. She believes artmaking is a weird mix of play, alchemy, terror, and transcendence. Admission is free. To learn more about or become a member of Arts Advocates, or to register for programs and events, visit ArtsAdvocates.org. 

 Art Center Sarasota’s 2023-2024 exhibition season continues with four exhibits, January 25-March 2. In “Looking for Home,” Brian Jones presents a new body of photographic work that explores the layered personality of the city of Sarasota. (Artist Talk is Thursday, February 8, 5:30-7 p.m.) In “Black Women: Music of the Heart & Soul,” Carole Lyles Shaw celebrates Black women singers, songwriters, and composers who played groundbreaking roles in the history of many music genres, from opera to country to hip-hop. The work is grounded in traditional forms of quilt-making but presented through a contemporary lens with color, pattern and content. (Artist Talk is Friday, January 5, 5:30-7 p.m.) In “Social Studies,” Christopher Skura presents a dynamic group of paintings and drawings that represent a snapshot of living in New York City throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. The much-anticipated “Annual Juried Members Show” is juried by Paul Toliver and shines a light on the many talents of Art Center Sarasota members. (A juror’s critique with Toliver is Thursday, February 1, 2 p.m.) The opening reception for all four exhibits is Thursday, January 25, 6-8 p.m. All works on display are available for purchase. Art Center Sarasota, 707 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. For information, visit www.artsarasota.org or call 941-365-2032. 

ensembleNEWSRQ (enSRQ), the innovative chamber music ensemble, continues its eighth season with “Night and Day,” a program featuring five works, including a world premiere of Scott Lee’s “Karst,” a work written for artistic directors Samantha Bennett and George Nickson. The concert will also feature Molly Heron’s “Ebb Tide” (2018); Sebastian Currier’s “Night Time” (1998); Einojuhani Rautavaara’s “Unknown Heavens” (1997); and Samuel Adams’ “Sun Dial” (2021). The concert is Monday, January 22, 7:30 p.m., at First Congregational Church, 1031 S. Euclid Ave., Sarasota. Single tickets are $25. For more information on ticket packages and single tickets, including student ticket pricing, visit www.EnSRQ.org. 

 The Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall is excited to welcome The Simon & Garfunkel Story to Sarasota on Tuesday, February 6, 2024 at 7:30pm. Tickets on sale now. The internationally-acclaimed hit theater show The Simon & Garfunkel Story will criss-cross the U.S. to more than 50 cities including Sarasota on February 6, at The Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall. The immersive concert-style theater show chronicles the amazing journey shared by the folk-rock duo, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. It tells the story from their humble beginnings as Tom & Jerry, to their incredible success as one of the best-selling music groups of the ‘60s, and to their dramatic split in 1970. The show culminates with the pair’s famous “The Concert in Central Park” reunion in 1981 which had more than half a million fans in attendance. Visit www.thesimonandgarfunkelstory.com for tour dates and to purchase tickets. The show uses state-of-the-art video projection, photos and original film footage. It also features a full live band performing all of their hits, including “Mrs. Robinson,” “Cecilia,” “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” “Homeward Bound” and many more. With more than 100 million album sales since 1965, Simon & Garfunkel’s perfect harmonies and songs that poignantly captured the times made them one of the most successful folk-rock duos of all time. Over the years, they won 10 Grammy Awards and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. In 1977, the Brit Awards honored their “Bridge Over Troubled Water” album with Best International Album. In 2003, Simon & Garfunkel were awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and the following year saw their “The Sound of Silence” awarded a Grammy Hall of Fame Award. Information about The Simon & Garfunkel Story and tickets can be found at http://www.thesimonandgarfunkelstory.com. Tickets start at $45 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.  

2024 marks the 53rd anniversary of Sarasota Institute of Lifetime Learning’s (SILL) “Global Issues” series. This hard-hitting series, which runs January 9-March 29 at locations in Sarasota, Venice and Lakewood Ranch, features 24 internationally renowned experts discussing a vast range of domestic and global issues. This month’s lectures feature front-page issues examined by leading speakers, including Amb. Daniel Speckhard, who will speak to the transformational change needed to confront the existential challenges created by war, natural disaster and political instability; former U.S. Air Force special operations pilot and a veteran of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Nolan Peterson, who will discuss lessons on modern warfare learned in Ukraine; Dr. Peter W. Singer, known as the “premier futurist in the national-security environment,” will address artificial reality; and Shelley Rigger, a leading expert on Taiwan who will be just back from helping to monitor the elections in Taiwan and provide a most current update on that key global flashpoint. 

Pictured: Amb. Daniel Speckhard. Photo courtesy of Amb. Daniel Speckhard.

Sights + Sounds at Waterside Place is excited to announce a very special series celebrating the 30th Anniversary of Lakewood Ranch. Local artists “Enlightened Monkey Arts” will share visual stories projected onto walls and buildings around the town center. These moving murals are shaped to fit objects and surfaces for a mesmerizing optical experience. The stories will capture the essence of Lakewood Ranch, showcasing the history of the land, the natural Florida environment, and the spirit of the community through the years. The Art & Light Exhibition will be open every night, 6:30-9 p.m., from Jan. 14 – Jan. 20. Grab a drink to-go from participating Beverages in the Street (BITS) vendors and enjoy four major projections and four micro projections located throughout the town center. Don’t miss a special artists talk event at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 16, at which you can meet the local artist responsible for the exhibition. For more information call Nicole Hackel, (941) 757-1520 or email Nicole.hackel@lakewoodranch.com.

Ranch Reflections: An Art and Light Exhibition, 6:30-10 p.m., Jan. 14-20, Waterside Place, 1561 Lakefront Drive, Lakewood Ranch. 

THE GREAT OUTDOORS | The cooler temps of January make it a great time to get out and enjoy nature and what better way to experience the great outdoors than be camping? For all in-tents and purposes, we've rounded up four local campgrounds for your next perfect adventure, January 2024. 

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