Arts + Entertainment 1.26.23

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

NEW EXPERIENCES

SCD’s annual choreographer showcase features a world of movement and cultural perspectives.

EMILY LEINFUSS CONTRIBUTOR

Someday it will be commonplace for four acclaimed female choreographers of color — representing diverse cultural and artistic backgrounds — to perform on a contemporary dance stage.

Until then, we have Sarasota Contemporary Dance’s main stage production of “Dance Makers,” which runs Thursday, Jan. 26 through Sunday, Jan. 29 at the Jane B. Cook Theater at the FSU Center for Performing Arts.

“This will be our seventh ‘Dance Makers,’” says Leymis Bolaños Wilmott, artistic director of SCD. The annual performance has always been a favorite, she says, “because it highlights a range of contemporary approaches to dance, choreographed by artists who have shown their work nationally or internationally.”

This year, three of the artists are Cuban and one is Asian. “These voices have been underrepresented in general and as choreographers,” said Wilmott, who hand-picked the artists with the intention of delivering an exciting and evocative production for audiences and company members alike, with its eclectic movement vocabulary, themes and music choices.

The evening opener, “Sunlit Sea,” is a nature-inspired ensemble work by Austin-based choreographer Lisa del Rosario, with original music by percussionist and composer Adam Bedell. Local audiences may have seen del Rosario and another Dance Maker choreographer, the Miami-based Melissa Cobblah Gutierrez, perform during SCD’s 2022 Summer in-Studio shows.

Next is “The Other Room,” by Sarasota-based choreographer Tania Vergara Perez. The performance is a duet in which one of the dancers is (metaphorically) seen by the other in a mirror.

“It is a dialogue with our own conscience, with our internal voice,” says Perez, who is also a master teacher on the faculty of the Sarasota Cuban Ballet School.

Photos courtesy of Sorcha Augustine

Melissa Rummel

Jessica Obiedzinski

Xiao-Xuan Yang Dancigers

Jordan Leonard

Samantha Miller

Juliana Cristina

Monessa Salley

Dance

The third piece of the evening, “All Blues,” by choreographer Gillian Hadley, is a Miles Davis-infused tribute to the multiverse of jazz dance styles. The full SCD company will be dancing on a stage designed to evoke a smoky jazz club. To create the movements, Hadley studied Davis’ music — its core, phrases, breaks and transitions — and built that into the choreography. “I wanted the piece to feel as if the dancers came together for their own jam session, like they were their own instruments,” she says.

We move from that cool jazz world to a solo performance of “Oracion” — the evening’s second work by Perez. “Oracion,” says Perez, “is based on the lyrics of a song that says, ‘Girl when I die, don’t cry over my grave, sing me a good song, sing me the sandunga’ (a traditional Mexican waltz). It is a request about how to mourn after death.”

Both of Perez’s works, originally staged in Cuba, are “very theatrical,” says Wilmott. The dancers in “The Other Room” are wearing red wigs, which give the duo a certain sensuality and visual appeal, Perez says.

In the final performance,

IF YOU GO

“CuBlack: Invisibilized No Further!”, Melissa Cobblah Gutierrez investigates the “invisibilized” oppression of Blackness inside the Cuban community.

The choreographer’s intention for the work is to open a conversation within a society that doesn’t discuss it often.

“The dance is about the AfroCuban diaspora and being Black in Cuba, but more so in Miami. The stereotypes and micro-aggressions are so internalized and normalized, and they are rooted in systematic oppression,” she says.

While the theme is serious, the performance has been called exhilarating and empowering, for it immerses the audience in the rhythms and melodies of Afro-Cuban jazz and salsa music.

“CuBlack,” says Wilmett, “Is a real show closer. It features the entire company and explores the AfroCuban, Latin experience in a joyful, layered way.”

RECOVER AND RECLAIM

“Dance Makers,” by featuring all women choreographers and a diversity of cultural themes, is only one of the ways that the Sarasota Contemporary Dance company is acting on its 202223 season’s theme of Reclaim.

“It’s very rare to come to a show where all the works are by women,” says SCD Artistic Director Leymis Bolaños Wilmott. “As choreographers, we want to reclaim that modern dance as an art form birthed by women.” Wilmott also notes that SCD is an all-woman company.

The company is also reclaiming activism through art. “Art is action. As dance makers we are creating action that’s not only for the performance stage, but also to ripple through so people walk out of the theater more culturally aware.”

In addition, reclaim acknowledges the losses from the past few years of pandemic, along with “the uncertainties of whether, post-pandemic, attention, interest and funding for the arts would return.”

Wilmott and the SCD company wanted to reclaim what it still had, starting with the main stage, where “we can continue to produce theater performances,” she says.

Reclaim also encompasses the many stories that SCD has yet to tell. “As a woman choreographer, and the only female artistic director among all the local arts organization, my heart has always been to provide for other voices: perspectives from women and women of color, in particular.”

But reclaim is even bigger than all those things: It’s being thankful that we are all still standing. “We always talk about the human spirit and being thankful that we are alive and breathing and we have this gift of dance.”

Let’s reclaim that.

’Dance Makers’ Jan. 26-29. Jane B. Cook Theater at FSU Center for the Performing Arts, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail. $15-$50. Visit SarasotaContemporaryDance.org.

FROM PAGE 1

Photo courtesy of Sorcha Augustine

SCD dancers rehearse for “Dance Makers.”

Courtesy photos

Choreographer Lisa del Rosario

Choreographer Melissa Cobblah Gutierrez

Choreographer Gillian Hadley

Choreographer Tania Vergara Perez

Birds, Barriers and the Ticking Clock

The cycles of life seem eternal on planet Earth.

Birds fly south for the winter. Children grow up to be parents. The old pass their wisdom on to the young. A kiss is just a kiss. A sigh is just a sigh.

The fundamental things apply as time goes by. That’s the way it’s always been. But in the 21st century, it’s not a sure thing anymore.  Climate change has disrupted life’s cycles. A winter may come when birds don’t fly. A generation may come who fear to bring children into this world.

Anna Ouyang Moench’s “Birds of North America” explores the impact of this ticking clock at the Urbanite Theatre. Her haunting play revolves around the yearly visits of a father and his daughter. Contributor Marty Fugate spoke to Director Summer Dawn Wallace about why the time they share matters.

Why were you so keen to direct this play?

There’s a longing in this play. It’s both a longing to see birds and a longing to be seen — and that’s what I really love about it. Every fall, a daughter visits her father. John is passionate about bird watching. Caitlyn isn’t at first but comes to share his passion. So they bird and chat and try to connect. They use birding as a vehicle of communication.

At times, they’re slightly estranged and won’t openly deal with it. As time passes, the world’s changing, the climate’s getting warmer and there are fewer birds to see. Moench’s play is also really about time — or maybe the lack of time. The father and daughter long to bridge the gap and make a connection but have limited time to do that. It’s a really beautiful character study — and it’s also study of what divides us and brings us together.

I like the way Moench subverts expectations. I came to the script expecting the father to be a right-wing, blue-collar, Archie Bunker type. But John’s actually a scientist — and a flaming liberal, to boot.

Yes. The playwright has an interesting take on the crossgenerational divide. John grew up in a world of greater opportunities. That’s shifted in Caitlyn’s time. After graduating from college, she gets a job as a copy editor for a conservative website. She doesn’t necessarily share their politics, but she needs the money.

Caitlyn’s passion is really literature and the novel she’s trying to write, but she set it aside to survive and make a living. Her father disapproves. And Caitlyn thinks he just doesn’t get it.

Right — and John was never forced to shelve his passion for science. He’s devoted his life to finding a Zika vaccine for the last 30 years — and doesn’t have to earn a paycheck. As a boomer with a successful partner, he’s had (and has) that luxury. Caitlyn doesn’t.

Right. And that’s one source of tension; though there’s also a lot of love between them. There’s a telling line in the stage direction: “John and Caitlyn take nearly everything the other says personally.”

So, Caitlyn and John kind of dance around what’s really bugging them?

Yeah. When their talk gets a little tense, the spectacle of a beautiful flock of birds will interrupt them. They’ll see the birds flying across the sky and that’ll totally pull them out what they are (or aren’t) saying. After the birds depart, they’ll look at each other and get right back into it.

It’s a beautiful on-again, offagain rhythm.

I love the dialogue. But this play is really a static situation with just two characters talking. It reminds of Charlie Brown chatting to Linus behind a wall. How do you make that interesting on the tiny Urbanite stage? We really trust the Urbanite audience to use their imaginations. Our world on stage will be a mix of realistic and unrealistic elements. Lighting and sound will help evoke a greater world beyond it. But evoking that world is mainly on the actors’ shoulders. Honest acting is always the secret sauce. If they imagine something, the audience will.

Right. John and Caitlyn track a bird’s flight in their binoculars. You see it in your mind’s eye. Exactly.

Why does the play keep jumping forward in time? The time jumps show the passage

of time and what has or hasn’t happened in this relationship since last we met the characters.

Like time-lapse photography. Very much so. Speeding up time reveals so much. You see how climate change has impacted the birds; how it’s impacted John; how it’s really impacted Caitlyn. In the big picture, there’s only so much time left.

But the clock is ticking in the small picture, too. John and Caitlyn have a tricky relationship. They’ve got so much love — and so many barriers. They don’t have forever to make progress or peace with each other.

That’s one thing I like about the script. Moench’s play deals with climate change. But it’s not just a vehicle for a didactic message. If you delete all the global warming references, the play would still work as an exploration of Caitlyn and John’s relationship.

It really would. And I like that, too! What would you like the Urbanite audiences to take away from this play?

That’s a hard question. I’d like our audience to think about the ecological issues, of course. I also hope theatergoers will see themselves in the characters. And if there’s a conversation they’ve been putting off with someone they love, they should really have it as soon as possible.

IF YOU GO

‘Birds of North America.’ Jan. 6 to Feb. 12 at Urbanite Theatre, 1487 Second St. $25-39. Visit UrbaniteTheatre. com.

In 2020, The Ringling received a significant gift of art from Murray Bring and Kay Delaney Bring, in support of the modern and contemporary collection. This exhibition presents selections from this gift in dialogue with rarely seen works from The Ringling’s collection.

Stephen Spencer and Dekyi Rongé star in “Birds of North America.”

Sorcha Augustine

THIS WEEK

THURSDAY

‘DANCE MAKERS’

7 p.m. at FSU Center For The Performing Arts, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail $15-$45

Visit SarasotaContemporaryDance. org.

Sarasota Contemporary Dance explores themes of reclamation for underrepresented groups. The program features new pieces from four choreographers of color, and explores their stories and perspectives through movement. Runs through Sunday, Jan. 29.

FRIDAY

ART WALK TOUR: CITY HALL/ FIVE POINTS PARK AREA Arts Advocates 10:30 a.m. in downtown Sarasota $28-$30 Visit ArtsAdvocates.org.

The city of Sarasota is a 24/7 museum with more than 80 pieces of public art to take in and enjoy. Join this 90-minute walking tour, hosted by Arts Advocates and led by art lovers Judy Levine, Stephenie Frasher and Nannette Crist, and learn more about the art all around us that stands in plain sight in the Five Points Park area in downtown Sarasota.

JAZZ AT TWO — SYNIA CARROLL JAZZ

2 p.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Sarasota, 3975 Fruitville Road $15-$20 Call 260-9951.

Settle into an afternoon of music with the Jazz Club of Sarasota’s Jazz at Two, which spotlights jazz talent from throughout the region in a relaxed atmosphere. Synia Carroll draws inspiration from jazz legends of the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s and always pleases with her ability to perform a variety of jazz all with a clear, smooth sound.

JIM MCCUE

6:30 and 8:50 p.m. at McCurdy’s Comedy Theatre, 1923 Ringling Blvd. $25 Visit McCurdysComedy.com

SATURDAY

LISTEN HEAR: MICHELLE ROSS

2 p.m. at Sarasota Art Museum, 1001 S. Tamiami trail $40-$55

Call 309-4300.

Hear a performance from violinist and composer Michelle Ross, an alumna of the Perlman Music Program, followed by a discussion of her creative process in a salon-style setting. The performance is part of the museum’s “Listen Hear”

THE GREAT MR. SWINDLE’S TRAVELING PECULIARIUM AND DRINKORY GARDEN

4 and 7 p.m. at Robarts Arena, 3000 Ringling Blvd. $45-$75 Visit MrSwindles.com.

Take in acrobatics, sophisticated

humor, double entendres and absurd comedy in this fantastical entertainment — which also revolves heavily around the adult beverage or two. It’s a 90-minute extravaganza that provides classic vintage amusement. Runs through Feb. 5.

SUNDAY

HIGH SCHOOL BAND FESTIVAL COMPETITION

1 p.m. at Riverview High School Auditorium, 1 Ram Way Free Visit JazzClubSarasota.org.

It’s a battle of the high school bands during this afternoon of music that invites the 13 high schools from the area to compete for a spot performing at the Jazz Club of Sarasota’s annual Jazz Festival in March. Three judges will pick the winners, who will also receive cash prizes. Come see all the musical talent our local high school students are serving up.

GULIMINA MAHAMUTI, CONCERT PIANIST

5 p.m. at Pine Shores Presbyterian Church, 6116 Crestwood Ave. Free Call 922-1597.

Internationally acclaimed ChineseAmerican pianist Gulimina Mahamuti performs internationally and in major cities across the United States. Don’t miss this performance by a true talent.

MONDAY

TROY QUINN CONDUCTOR

Sarasota Institute of Lifetime Learning 10:30 a.m. at Church of the Palms, 3224 Bee Ridge Road $10 Call 365-6404.

The Sarasota Institute of Lifetime Learning welcomes conductor Troy Quinn to its Music Mondays series to discuss his career as the music director of the Venice Symphony and the Owensboro Symphony in Kentucky. Considered one of his generation’s most versatile young artists, he is known for his energetic yet sensitive conducting.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE STANTON B. AND NANCY W. KAPLAN COLLECTION OF PHOTOGRAPHY

10 a.m. at The Ringling, 5401 Bay Shore Road Free on Museum Mondays Visit Ringling.org.

This exhibition features select works from the museum’s Stanton B. and Nancy W. Kaplan collection, many of which will stir and move visitors

DON’T MISS BLUE MAN GROUP

Blue Man Group has two nights planned in Sarasota to surprise and delight with its one-ofa-kind show. This family-friendly performance will stun you visually, musically and comedically. Don’t miss it for an evening of light-hearted fun.

IF YOU GO When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 31 and Wednesday, Feb. 1.

Where: Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail Tickets: $42-$92

Info: Visit VanWezel.org.

Comedian Jim McCue started his career in Boston performing with iconic comedians such as Bill Burr and Joe Rogan but has made a name for himself with his DryBar special “Nothing Personal,” which has had more than 4 million views. Runs through Sunday, Jan. 29.

series highlighting world-class classical music artists in a casual setting.

Don’t miss the Great Music Series at Church of the Redeemer.

PROGRAM 4 — IN REP

The Sarasota Ballet begins the new year with two pieces new to the Sarasota stage. First up is a world premiere by company dancer Arcadian Broad. It is followed with a performance of acclaimed choreographer Jessica Lang’s “Shades of Spring,” a ballet created for

with their powerful imagery. The collection includes more than 1,000 pieces that represent some of the most important photographic artists from the 19th and 20th centuries. Runs through Feb. 12.

GREAT MUSIC SERIES 7 p.m. at Church of the Redeemer, 222 S. Palm Ave. $25 Visit RedeemerSarasota.org.

On the 60th anniversary of Poulenc’s death, the Church of the Redeemer’s Great Music Series will perform a concerto collective concert featuring the works of Brixi, Bach and Poulenc himself.

STEVEN MOECKEL, VIOLIN AND JOANNA GOLDSTEIN, PIANO Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota 7:30 p.m. at Fischer/Weisenborne Residence $55 Visit ArtistSeriesConcerts.org.

Celebrated violinist Steven Moeckel teams up with pianist Joanna Goldstein to perform the work of women composers. Moeckel is the concertmaster of the Santa Fe Opera Company and has enjoyed a long career that begin when he first appeared as a concert soloist at the age of 8.

the company’s August tour at the Joyce Theater. The program then closes with Ashton’s fun and popular “Facade.”

IF YOU GO

When: 7:30 p.m. Jan. 27-30

Where: FSU Center for Performing Arts, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail Tickets: Start at $35 Info: Visit SarasotaBallet.org.

TUESDAY

A NEIL DIAMOND TRIBUTE

7:30 p.m. at Manatee Performing Arts Center, 502 Third Ave. W. $30-$38

Visit ManateePerformingArtsCenter. com.

Think you know Neil Diamond? Explore the twists and turns of his career and life through the very music that made him an American treasure in this tribute to the great singer. It’s a tale of romance, magical surprises, comedy and, of course, all of Diamond’s greatest hits. Runs through Wednesday, Feb. 1.

WEDNESDAY

‘GO ASK ALICE’

Manatee Performing Arts Center 7:30 p.m. at Manatee Performing Arts Center, 502 Third Ave. W. $27

Visit ManateePerformingArtsCenter. com.

Alice was a normal girl in every sense of the word until she is tricked into trying drugs and falls into a struggle of addiction. This powerful and tragic play adapted from the 1971 book of the same name follows Alice’s fight against the stranglehold of addiction.

OUR PICK SARASOTA BALLET’S

Night of the living Constitution

look at the playwright’s real-life experiences as a teenager. When Schreck (Amy Bodnar) was only 15 years old, her mother had a crazy idea. Her daughter had keen debate and public speaking skills. Why not use them to pay for her college education?

logic and command of metaphor, it helped Schreck win scores of debates and ultimately put her through college. Her mother’s crazy scheme actually worked. So what’s her prize-winning argument?

IF YOU GO

‘What the Constitution Means to Me’

Through Feb. 26 at FST’s Keating Theatre, 1241 N. Palm Ave. $25-$39. Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.

men who murdered women. She gets personal and talks about oppressive experiences of women in her family in Washington State.

The worst tale is three generations back. Schreck’s great-greatgrandfather “purchased” her great-great-grandmother as a mail-order bride for $75; she died of “melancholia” at age 36. She also recalls her experience at an abortion clinic in Eugene, Oregon, at age 21. All these memories and observations draw your attention to one glaring omission: The U.S. Constitution doesn’t protect American women from the violence of American men.

On page 29 of the script, the playwright’s persona says, “I’m just gonna go ahead and be ‘myself now’ all the time now.”

And that’s the last we see of Schreck’s teenage self. After that, the playwright shares a few more anecdotes. But the rest of her play is basically an oral argument, not a dramatic situation. Schreck makes it funny, and the material would kill in a comedy club. But it’s an argument nonetheless.

manage to shine. Loreque conveys the clockwork precision of the Legionnaire in charge and melts into the persona of the original actor, who played that role with ease.

Deysha Nelson is a crowdpleaser as a high school debater (15 years old, actually) who goes one-on-one with the Schreck character.

Nelson is great at thinking on her feet. That’s in the script, of course. But Nelson’s equally great in the improv scenes.

(Marissa Gast performs the character on alternate nights.)

The War of the Words goes down in a no-nonsense Legion Hall set, complete with wood paneled walls lined with photos of dour Legionnaires. Isabel and Moriah Curley-Clay excel at realism, as always.

Kudos also to Mari Taylor Floyd’s costume design. First appearing in a bright yellow blazer, Schreck comes on like a butterfly as her younger self.

She peels the jacket off when she transforms into her fearless (but less flashy) adult incarnation. Beneath the bright color, she sports no-nonsense jeans and a white, floral-print shirt. Nice touch.

It’s a fun show. The fun flows from Schreck’s charismatic personality. (Check out the movie adaptation on Amazon to see the playwright in action.)

MARTY FUGATE CONTRIBUTOR

Heidi Schreck’s “What the Constitution Means to Me” (2017) is now in session at Florida Studio Theatre. This unconventional, Swiss Army knife of a play combines civics lessons, character study, personal history, stand-up and nostalgia for high school forensics. In case you haven’t thought about the Constitution since high school, you’ll definitely think about it once you see it.

The play begins as a loving

She could do it by winning the cash prizes at constitutional debate competitions in America Legion Halls across the country.

It was worth a try, so Schreck hit the road.

In her play, we see her teenage self in one of those competitions. The kid’s got talent, all right — and she’s obsessed with the Salem witch trials. In her oral argument, she compares the Constitution to a witch’s cauldron.

And she’s so earnest it hurts.

Schreck’s teenage self smiles so much it makes her face hurt. It must have been a winning smile.

Combined with her precocious

Sadly, her mother threw away her winning essay.

Happily, the adult playwright resurrects it from memory. Young Schreck loves the Constitution, and she’s a superfan of the Ninth and 14th amendments.

But in the extemporaneous debate finale, she goes off on several tangents. She also goes way over time. The unnamed Legionnaire in charge (Kevin Loreque) should theoretically rein her in. But she keeps talking and gets away with it, thanks to the suspension of disbelief.

Schreck’s digressions move away from abstract legal theory. She shares gory headlines about

Structurally, “What the Constitution Means to Me” is a wild ride. Director Kate Alexander hangs on through the constant shifts in style and tone. Schreck’s play deals with heavy issues. But it’s ultimately a comedy.

Alexander delivers the laughs.

Schreck’s play grew out of her one-person show. It’s not anymore, but that focus remains in the show’s DNA.

Bodnar definitely makes it work. She conveys Schreck’s high-voltage persona and quick mind — and also her joy, hurt and anger. Bodnar’s embodiment of Schreck’s persona makes you feel as if you’ve met her. Brava!

The supporting roles don’t get the spotlight, but the actors still

The playwright poured her energy into the script; Bodnar channels it on stage. Good thing. Without Schreck’s gigawatt persona, the lights would go out.

“What the Constitution Means to Me” breaks several playwriting rules. Schreck colors outside the lines — and that’s fine by me, so long as it works.

It’s not just a matter of abstract ideas. It’s a question of charisma. So long as Schreck’s psychic electricity flows on stage, her play works.

The electricity came to FST in this production.

To me, that’s more like winning a risky bet than a sure thing. Which leads to my advice to wannabe playwrights … Don’t try this at home.

SPONSORS RECEIVE:

• Logo in a Bradenton Herald ad promoting the dinner series

• Brand awareness for your business at the dinner event

• 2 Tickets to one dinner event (a value of $150)

Sponsor one dinner for $500.

Individual tickets are available for $75.

Visit usf.to/taste

event responsibilities. This allows students the opportunity to partner with a real business to receive a hands-on learning experience in fine dining, event coordination and hospitality management.

Visit usf.to/taste or contact Fran Bryant at francesb@usf.edu or 941-359-4311 for more information.

The 2017 play by Heidi Schreck offers a portrait of the playwright as a young constitutional scholar at Florida Studio Theatre.

Courtesy photo

Deysha Nelson, Amy Bodnar and Kevin Loreque star in this civic-minded play.

Women in Power Luncheon

Wednesday, Jan. 18, at Michael’s On East |

Benefiting National Council of Jewish Women SarasotaManatee

The National Council of Jewish Women Sarasota-Manatee paid tribute to honorees past and present with its returning Women In Power luncheon at Michael’s On East on Jan. 18.

The annual event brought hundreds of NCJW supporters to Michael’s On East, which recognizes a number of impactful women in the community each year.

As this year’s luncheon fell under the organization’s “Year of the Child” initiative helping youth in the area, many of the recipients were women who work to improve the lives of children. Those honorees included Jone Williams, Janet Kahn, Dr. Wendy Katz, Amanda Horne and Beth Duda.

The recognition didn’t stop there. Many of the event’s past honorees made the trip to be celebrated as well.

Guests were welcomed by President Rachel Sesser before Rabbi Anat Moskowitz gave a pre-meal blessing.

— HARRY SAYER

Back: Honorees Beth Duda, Amanda Horne, Jone Williams and Janet Kahn. Front: Co-Chairwoman

Joan Bour, honoree Wendy Katz and Co-Chairwoman Joyce Hersh

President Rachel Sesser and Nancy Bortinger

Maria and Britney Romero

Ellen Sichel, Pam Gordon and Eileen Kozlof

Debbie Silver Heller and Marian Moss

Photos by Harry Sayer

Several recipients received awards.

Familiar Faces: Roger Capote

CAN Community Health’s social scene figure talks about his experiences.

HARRY SAYER BLACK TIE EDITOR

Rogelio Capote knows he’s a people pleaser.

That phrase can mean different things to different people, but the senior vice president of marketing and community relations of CAN Community Health has felt it as a positive all his life. He says he works hard to be there for people if they need him.

“I want people to be happy; I want them to be having a good time,” Capote said. “When you get to know me, I’m just a big teddy bear.”

He sometimes wonders if people could view his nature as a bad thing — that he’s too nice — but in his heart, he knows that it’s anything but.

“You truly never know what someone is going through in their life,” Capote says. “If I can bring a short amount of happiness to (someone’s) day, it’s worth it.”

He’s been busy doing that at CAN Community Health, a local nonprofit that provides treatment and care for people living with HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. His responsibilities started in planning events and have since expanded to a more bird’s-eye view handling marketing and community relations with a staff of his own.

It’s been a time of change, and Capote enjoys how his new role lets him impact the community at large.

“I love where I am. I love Sarasota,” Capote said. “Though it might be good to travel a little more.”

Capote was born and raised in Miami before attending the University of Florida, where he studied tourism, recreation and sports management. It was shortly after that he found himself working for the RitzCarlton, Sarasota in the mid-2000s.

“My family has vacationed here in

Sarasota since I was a kid,” Capote said. “It just felt right (when I moved here). Sarasota has definitely become more crowded, but the heart is still there.”

The career focus in hospitality made sense. Capote recalls traveling with his parents as a child and being taken by the warmth and kindness shown to them by hotel staff. There was something about the human element provided by staff that he was drawn to.

“I was infatuated with hotels,” Capote said. “It was the human experience that came with hospitality. The warm welcome, the experience where you walk in and the room was already made — that curated (feeling).

But working in the hotel sector forever wasn’t meant to be, and Capote felt himself searching for a new vocation. He settled on the nonprofit world working with the children and families at the Tidewell Hospice organization.

It was there he served as a team coordinator and medical interpreter for Spanish families at the center.

“I loved it; I won’t lie,” Capote said. “It was making a difference in the world, making a difference in someone’s life, even if for a brief moment.”

He did good work — work he remains proud of to this day. There was a 12-year-old hospice patient Capote grew close to and still thinks about.

Capote says he and staff helped give the patient a great Christmas, and he remembers how much she thrived that day. She died the next day.

“I still have a photo of us decorating gingerbread cookies in my office,” Capote said. “That photo travels with me; it’s been with me ever since that day.”

Eventually, Capote felt he’d done all he could with Tidewell and looked to new horizons, first starting his own flower shop and events design company in the Rosemary District. It was a short walk from his hospi-

tality roots, and Capote relished the chance to bring his own personality and warmth to the event world.

“(I loved) providing a beautiful decor design that made people smile,” Capote said. “People always said they could always tell what my designs were. It just came naturally to me.”

He eventually hung up his own business but stayed in the events industry by working at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens.

His event work there caught the eye of CAN Community Health, who hired Capote to be its director of advancement to handle events and marketing.

One of his first tasks was updating the signature CANDance fundraiser, which Capote says at the time often had a black-and-white color scheme and photography in its marketing.

That had its value, but Capote felt the starkness of that palette could make the event feel somber. He added color and some energy to the endeavor he remains proud of.

He moved that elegant approach and aesthetic to the new Red Ribbon Gala, a more formal affair that brought high-profile celebrity guests to headline each event.

The initial event brought Billy Porter and MJ Rodriguez to Sarasota in 2019, while the upcoming gala will feature Laverne Cox at the Tampa Museum of Art.

Capote has ideas for future guests he’d like to have headline Red Ribbon, and there’s one figure that stands above the rest.

“It’s always going to be Elton John,” Capote said.

Capote’s position as senior vice president of marketing and community relations at CAN has had its challenges of sorts. For someone as focused on getting things done as Capote, learning to rely on delegation has been a new experience.

But for Capote, that’s the fun of it.

“As much as I love events and designing the experience, I’ve had to evolve in what my priorities are,” Capote says. “It’s allowed me to have

a bird’s-eye view of what I’m passionate about — the bigger picture.”

Watching his staff start to grow and bring in their own thoughts to the event-planning process has been rewarding for Capote.

And he feels good that there are new challenges ahead. The upcoming Red Ribbon gala will be held in Tampa for the first time — Capote says the idea is to have the gala at different CAN locations for a couple years at a time before having it return home to Sarasota — and he feels invigorated by the new logistics to figure out.

He’ll have some help in doing that, of course.

“I want to grow my team,” Capote said.

The 2023 Collaboration Celebration luncheon brings together nonprofits, businesses, and donors to celebrate the important work of collaboration on the Campus of Caring and beyond.

This event introduces the Emerging Leader Awards. Three individuals will be recognized in the categories of health, human services, and arts & culture, each winning a $1,000 grant to be used in their leadership journey.

The awards aim to develop the leaders who will shape Sarasota’s human services community in the years to come.

Harry Sayer

Rogelio Capote has been rocking a beard for some time but recently pivoted to a strong ’stache look.

Moonlight

Thursday, Jan. 19, at Donna Wolf Steigerwaldt

Courtyard | Benefiting Sarasota Opera

The Sarasota Opera continued its Moonlight & Melodies dinner series with a close-knit fundraiser on Jan. 19.

The second dinner fundraiser brought around 80 of the Sarasota Opera’s closest supporters to the Donna Wolf Steigerwaldt Courtyard for an evening of music and mingling.

Guests caught up and enjoyed drinks before taking their seats and hearing from Artistic Director Victor DeRenzi.

Sarasota Opera performers then regaled the crowd with pieces from composer Giacomo Puccini.

The third in the series will take place March 20.

Melodies

— HARRY SAYER

Photos Courtesy of Cliff Roles

Scott Guinn and Executive Director Richard Russell