Sarasota film fans and aficionados convened at The Sarasota Modern last night for the kickoff of the 26th Sarasota Film Festival, as festival chairman and president of the board Mark Famiglio took the mic to announce this year’s slate of films and celebrity attendees. Highlights of the evening announcements include the upcoming Florida Premiere of The Listener, a drama starring Tessa Thompson (Thor: Ragnarok) and directed by Steve Buscemi (Reservoir Dogs, Boardwalk Empire), who will be in attendance for a festival Q&A, as well as the reveal of a new documentary about blues-rock band The Black Keys, the Florida premiere of a new award-winning thriller starring Sarasota native Austin Abrams (Euphoria, The Walking Dead), and a presentation of the entire slate of the Oscar-nominated short films of 2023. “Putting us on the map to be an Oscar festival,” says Famiglio.

Pictured: Sarasota Film Festival Chairman Mark Famiglio celebrates with festival supporters at the 2024 kickoff. Photo by Phil Lederer.

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A new musical has made its world premiere at Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe, with this show just as powerful and engaging as the company has ever done. After extended delays due to COVID-19, Ruby finally premiered at Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe on February 28 and will run through April 7. The show, directed by WBTT founder/artistic director Nate Jacobs, with the book written by his brother Michael, chronicles the true story of Ruby McCollum, a Black woman who killed a white doctor in 1952 in Live Oak, Florida.

Ruby and her husband Sam were an unusually wealthy and prominent black family, especially living in a small town during the Jim Crow era, where African-Americans were essentially disenfranchised. “Ruby and Sam were so prestigious that it was odd, it wasn’t normal for Black people in the 1950s to have a two-story mansion in the middle of Live Oak and drive the kind of cars they drove and so they were a phenomenon for the white community as well as the Black community,” says Director Nate Jacobs. It was later found out, that amongst other things, the McCollums amassed their wealth through running an illegal gambling ring.

For some years before 1952, Ruby had been seeing Dr. C. Leroy Adams for medical counsel, a prominent white doctor and the only physician in Live Oak who saw Black patients. However, one Sunday in 1952, seemingly out of the blue, Ruby walked into Adam’s office and shot him dead with a revolver. “The mystery is, first of all, how could she be so bold during the 50s when the Klu Klux Klan ran rampant, to shoot this man? It became a national case and Zora Neale Hurston, an incredibly prolific writer at the time, was hired by the Pittsburgh Courier to cover the case,” says Jacobs.

The case became a national story, as the presiding judge put a gag order on Ruby preventing her from speaking to the press. In front of an all-white jury, Ruby stated that Dr. Adams had sexually assaulted her and was the father of her most recent child. However, despite all of this, Ruby was convicted and sentenced to death in the electric chair. Later on, however, the conviction was appealed and the case went to a second trial, during which Ruby was declared unfit to stand trial and was committed to the Florida State Hospital for mental patients where she resided until 1974. WBTT’s musical explores this challenging and intriguing true story, framed through the lens of Hurston’s coverage of the case for the Pittsburgh Courier.

Ruby runs from February 28 to April 7, 2024. West Coast Black Theatre Troupe, 1012 N. Orange Ave., Sarasota, westcoastblacktheatre.org. 

Pictured from left to right: The cast of Ruby includes Ashley Elizabeth Crowe, Catara Brae, Maurice Alpharicio and Larry Alexander. Photo by Sorcha Augustine.

Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe

Sarasota Music Festival announced its concert programs for the 2024 Festival season.  Celebrating its 60th anniversary, this year’s Festival is themed “Music Unbound.” The three-week Festival runs from June 2 – 22 and features a schedule of 14 different concerts, and events, as well as a wide range of masterclasses, coaching sessions, and rehearsals. Nearly 500 fellows from top music programs at colleges and conservatories worldwide audition to participate in the Festival each year, but only 60 are accepted. Selected musicians work side-by-side with a group of 40 faculty artists who represent many of the most renowned music schools and conservatories. “Over the course of three weeks, fellows will have the opportunity to experience and participate in the many ways in which composers and performers of the past and present have explored the interaction between very different musical languages and modes of performing,” says Music Director Jeffrey Kahane. Programming will spotlight the beauty that results when some of the world’s most versatile musicians join together to share their gifts, highlighting the transformative magic that occurs when differing musical genres and performance styles are brought into intentional and dynamic relationship with each other. 

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The Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall is thrilled to announce its 2024-2025 Season Subscription Series, featuring nine Broadway blockbusters and a variety of specials. Anchoring the season is the 10-time Tony Award-winner, Moulin Rouge The Musical, March 18-23.

The Broadway Subscription Series features seven Sarasota Premieres starting with the Tony and Grammy Award-winning sensation, Dear Evan Hansen, which follows the story of a high school student who always feels like he’s on the outside looking in. This is followed by the uplifting comeback story like no other, TINA: The Tina Turner Musical. Set to the pulse-pounding soundtrack of her most beloved hits, TINA: The Tina Turner Musical is the inspiring journey of a woman who broke barriers and became the Queen of Rock n’ Roll.

Ring in the new year at Clue, the uproarious new play based on the fan-favorite 1985 Paramount Pictures movie and inspired by the classic Hasbro board game. The glorious Broadway revival of Funny Girl, dazzles with celebrated smash-hit songs, including “Don’t Rain On My Parade,” “I’m the Greatest Star,” and “People.” On the heels of Wednesday, the 3rd most-watched show on Netflix of all-time, The Addams Family, is the devilishly delightful musical comedy based on the bizarre and beloved characters by legendary cartoonist Charles Addams.

Returning to the Van Wezel this season is Come From Away, the stirring and inspiring musical that takes you into the heart of the remarkable small town in Newfoundland that opened their homes to 7,000 stranded traveler on 9/11. Also returning is Les Miserables, the world’s most popular musical. Completing the Broadway lineup is Beetlejuice, the hilarious new musical based on Tim Burton’s dearly beloved film.

This season also features eight Subscriber Specials, starting with the holiday crowd favorite Salute to Vienna New Year’s Concert, Menopause The Musical 2: Cruising Through ‘The Change’ and H.M.S. Pinafore. There is also Forever Tango, Neil Berg’s 115 Years of Broadway followed by Twyla Tharp Dance: Diamond Jubilee. Finally, there’s the violin legend Itzhak Perlman and the Branford Marsalis Quartet.

Patrons are now able to reserve their subscriptions for the upcoming season. Subscription packages are available for purchase online 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. 

All Angels Church, 563 Bay Isles Road, Long Boat Key, is delighted to be hosting an extraordinary original icon exhibition from April 2- June 28.  This unique exhibition of Byzantine style icons is able to be viewed during church office hours, Monday through Thursday, 9am-1pm, or by appointment by calling the church office. Ms. Simoneau Hales has studied icon writing in the USA and abroad for many years, traveled to Russia for more study, and is now teaching online Icon writing retreats.  Her work is highly sought after by collectors and churches, and she has won several grants and awards for her paintings and icons. Creating original egg tempera and gold leaf gilded icons in a both traditional and modern style, she has completed several large commissions for churches in the USA and abroad. Ms. Simoneau Hales’ work has been featured on WEDU Arts Plus: https://youtu.be/0crGeY7Mhoo?si=BqbONbd7Yed83f6N  , and her book about Icons, “Eyes of Fire, How Icons Saved My Life as an Artist” is available on Amazon.com. Please join us in welcoming this beautiful work, April 2-June 28, Monday-Thursdays 9am- 1PM.  There will be a reception on April 14, 11:15 am, all are welcome! 

The Sarasota Players presents the classic musical The Secret Garden April 3 through 21 at The Crossings at Siesta Key (3501 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, FL 34239). This haunting piece is family-friendly and based off the novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett.This enchanting classic of children's literature is reimagined in brilliant musical style by composer Lucy Simon and Marsha Norman, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of 'Night Mother. Orphaned in India, 11-year-old Mary Lennox returns to Yorkshire to live with her embittered, reclusive uncle Archibald and his disabled son Colin. The estate's many wonders include a magic garden which beckons the children with haunting melodies and the "Dreamers," spirits from Mary's past who guide her through her new life, dramatizing The Secret Garden's compelling tale of forgiveness and renewal.

April 3 – Preview, April 4 – 6, 10-13, 17-20 at 7:30pm, April 7, 14, 21, 2024 at 2pm, 3501 S. Tamiami Trail, Suite 1130, Sarasota. Please park and enter the mall by Connor’s Steak and Seafood.

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PEACHY KEEN | Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of Pantone's Color of the Year Profram with Peach Fuzz, March 2024. 

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