Arts + Entertainment 4.6.23

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< COMMUNING WITH POPPIES: Multimedia artist Hannah Banciella opens one-woman show.

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TIMELESS TREASURES: SPARCC debuts timeless looks at fashion show 8 >

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

HEALING HIGH-TECH

A veteran with PTSD fights to recover his mental health. His struggle is also ours, according to the artists behind the scenes.

GOES

MARTY FUGATE CONTRIBUTOR

Until recently, plays such as Jacqueline Goldfinger’s “Backwards Forwards Back” and “Babel,” which explore the human impact of emerging technology, were slapped with a “science fiction” label and performed in fringe venues.

But over the past decade, speculative tales have hit the mainstream in live theater. For playwrights like Goldfinger, that’s good news. “Backwards” is premiering at Urbanite Theatre and the playwright’s “Babel” was recently featured at FST Stage 3.

Not so long ago, rockets, radio and submarines were fodder for science fiction. When technologies predicted by Jules Verne, H.G. Welles and others became reality, stories about those futuristic inventions could be set in the present.

Developments like virtual reality, artificial intelligence and genetic engineering have also ceased to be fiction. The dreams of William Gibson, Neal Stephenson, Michael Crichton and others are no longer confined to the “not-too-distant future.” They’re part of our contemporary lives.

While writers still use their imagination to create technology-driven stories, they can also look to the real world. Goldfinger found her inspiration for “Backwards Forwards” on the evening news.

An NBC News segment in March 2017 dealt with BraveMind, a

form of VR exposure therapy developed at the University of Southern California’s Institute for Creative Technologies.

In conventional therapy, treatment for a dog phobia might start with a plush dog puppet before gradually building up to contact with an actual puppy.

But re-creating real-life battlefields is not feasible for treating traumatized veterans. With BraveMind therapy, traumatized veterans are introduced to sensory re-creations of their traumatic incidents using VR goggles and audio input. As the sensory exposure time is gradually increased, their panic response diminishes and may disappear. “VR technology had originally been developed for gaming,” Goldfinger says. “I was excited to see that it had evolved to the point that it was helping people — not only traumatized veterans, but their entire families.”

During the NBC News segment, Jimmy Catellanos, a Marine Corps

veteran, spoke of the profound difference VR therapy made in his life.

“In 13 weeks, I’d completely changed who I had been for the previous 10 years. Before the treatment, 80 to 90% of my dreams were Iraq-related. Now, I can’t remember the last time I had one. I live in a completely different way now.”

Goldfinger has a personal connection to the subject. “I grew up with a grandfather who’d been in World War II,” she says. “He sometimes had strong reactions to different stimuli. As a child, I didn’t know why; it was just something the family all knew about. It wasn’t until very much later that I realized my grandfather’s reactions were PTSD symptoms — and I could see how his sometimes violent outbursts resonated through the family.”

“I think that moving VR technology from gaming to therapeutic settings can do so much good for people like my grandfather,” Gold-

IF YOU GO

‘BACKWARDS, FORWARDS BACK’

When: Through April 23

Where: Urbanite Theatre, 1487 Second St., Sarasota Tickets: $25-$39 Info: Call 321-1397 or visit UrbaniteTheatre.com.

Courtesy photos “Backwards Forwards Back” playwright Jacqueline Goldfinger drew on personal inspiration and network news for her play about using technology to help veterans recover from PTSD.

L. James is The Soldier in “Backwards Forwards Back.”

In “Backwards Forwards Back” at the Urbanite Theatre, a character known as The Soldier, played by L. James, uses technology to confront the PTSD that haunts him.

Healing

FROM PAGE 1

finger says. “It allows us to help the traumatized veterans of World War II, Korea and Vietnam — and all the subsequent wars into the future.”

She notes that VR-based therapy

reduces the trauma veterans pass along to their children and grandchildren and helps returning warriors reintegrate into networks in their communities, including school, church and temple.

Goldfinger’s one-man play, directed by Brendan Ragan and starring L. James, shows the impact of VR exposure therapy. We see the difference through the experience of The Soldier, played by James. While other characters don’t share the stage with

him, their presence is very real.

“We never learn The Soldier’s name,” Ragan says. “But he’s a very human character — and far away from the 1990s cliché of the veteran who shouts ‘hit the deck’ when a car backfires.”

He notes that Goldfinger frames The Soldier’s VR therapy in a larger context. “She doesn’t just focus on this character as an isolated individual,” he says. “She shows you the collateral damage of The Soldier’s trauma to his entire family and web of human connections. Then she shows the radical difference his therapy makes to those relationships.”

In Ragan’s opinion, The Soldier’s humanity flows from Goldfinger’s interviews with several veterans around the country.

“Goldfinger brings her own family experience to the table, but she’s also done extensive research,” he says. “She’s talked to VR therapists and also to veterans who’ve gone through that therapy.”

Ragan conducted his own research in Sarasota. He drew on the resources of Operation Warrior Resolution, a veteran-run organization focused on treatment for veterans with PTSD. The director’s collaboration with the group made The Soldier’s world

seem very real.

“Urbanite’s partnership with that organization has informed my approach as a director,” notes Ragan. “The people I’ve worked with share Goldfinger’s zeal for VR therapy — and applaud her willingness to confront big-picture veteran issues in her play.”

Kendra Simpkins, founder of Operation Warrior Resolution, is crystal clear about what those issues are.

“Operation Warrior Resolution doesn’t just treat veterans with PTSD,” she says. “We reach out to their spouses and children, because PTSD affects a veteran’s whole family and all of their close loved ones. You can’t help a veteran find healing in a good place until their whole family finds that good place too and gets better together.”

Goldfinger notes that VR immersion therapy helps achieve this healing. She adds that it’s not just a good idea — it’s part of the debt we owe veterans for their service.

“We’ve given these veterans the resources they needed for successful military campaigns overseas,” she says. “We need to devote whatever resources they need to lead successful lives at home.”

L. James’ character confronts his military PTSD with the held of virtual reality therapy in the Urbanite’s “Backwards Forwards Back.”

In the play

“Back-

wards Forwards Back,” L. James’ The Soldier is the only character on stage, but you feel the presence of others.

Brendan Ragan takes final bow at Urbanite Theatre

Do you feel Urbanite achieved those goals?

MARTY FUGATE CONTRIBUTOR

The year was 2014. Brendan Ragan and Summer Wallace had both recently graduated from the FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training in Sarasota. Should they stay or should they go?

What they both wanted was a black-box performing arts space with a focus on edgy new plays. Sarasota didn’t have one. Instead of leaving town, Ragan and Wallace decided to create the theater of their dreams right here. With help from Harry Lipstein, they opened Urbanite Theatre in 2015. As the company’s coartistic directors, Wallace and Ragan racked up a stellar track record, with audiences and critics alike, over the next nine years.

What’s next? For Ragan, it’s a stint as artistic director at Metropolis Performing Arts Centre in Arlington Heights, Illinois, in the Chicago metro area.

Ragan talked to The Observer about his years at Urbanite and his plans for the future.

What did you and Summer Wallace hope to accomplish by launching Urbanite Theatre?

We hoped to fill the gap in Sarasota’s performing arts landscape.

We have a fantastic arts scene here. But Summer and I realized there was one missing piece in the puzzle: Sarasota didn’t have an intimate, black-box theater specializing in cutting-edge contemporary plays. So our short-term goal was to create one — and provide that missing piece. Our audacious, long-term goal was to become a player in the national theater landscape. Ideally, Urbanite would be known as a very intimate, flexible black-box space with a successful track record developing new works, particularly new works with very small casts.

I think we’ve made a great start. We accomplished our short-term goals right away, and that really exceeded our expectations. Summer and I had initially underestimated the demand for edgy theater in Sarasota. We thought it would take years to build a local audience. But when Urbanite opened, the reaction was, “What took you so long? We’ve been waiting for a theater like this for years.” So, we wanted to create a great contemporary theater in Sarasota — and we did.

We also wanted to make Urbanite Theater a national destination for small-cast, contemporary, thought-provoking work. We’ve taken important steps toward that goal. Urbanite’s joined the National New Play Network and become a theater where talents from other cities (and larger theater cities) have heard of us. When we hold auditions in Chicago, we’re approached by so many actors who really want to work with us. Important playwrights also want to work with Urbanite.

Premiering “Backwards Forwards

Back” is a great example. Jacqueline Goldfinger’s plays are produced all over the country — and she actually brought this play to Urbanite. She said, “I know that you guys specialize in this kind of work. I’ve loved everything I’ve seen there — and I think it would be perfect for Urbanite.”

So, we’re starting to achieve our long-term goals. To me, that’s very satisfying. From Summer’s point of view, Urbanite’s work is not done — and there are still a lot of great things to come. But we’ve accomplished many of our original goals.

What advice would you give your Urbanite successor?

My advice is what I say to anyone who wants to produce theater in Sarasota. First — be courageous. Urbanite is willing to take risks — and we’ve always succeeded because of that bravery. We color outside the lines and

tell big stories in a small space.

That takes guts. That’s what we’re known for, and that’s why people come to Urbanite. So, open your heart and find the courage to keep doing that. Put on plays that challenge the audience — and make them think. Second, stop and smell the roses. The people of Sarasota appreciate and support theater to an amazing degree. There aren’t many communities like that in America, so enjoy it every second you can.

What do you hope to accomplish at Metropolis Performing Arts Centre?

Several things. It’s a larger theater, with 329 seats. They put on four to five self-produced shows every year. They also have about 70 oneoff performances — anything from musical nights to cabaret nights to comedians to cover bands.

Our Lady Perpetual Help at OF

To me, the big appeal is diversifying my work. I’ll not only bring great plays to the stage, I’ll also be producing nontheatrical performances. Because the Metropolis is a larger venue, they’ve produced a long list of traditional musicals over the years. I developed an innovative approach with new works at Urbanite. I hope to apply the same theatricality to the full spectrum of the performing arts. It’s an exciting challenge, and I’m really looking forward to it.

Courtesy photo Urbanite Theatre CoArtistic Director Brendan Ragan is leaving Sarasota.

The co-artistic director is heading to the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre in the Chicago metro area.

“... we wanted to create a great contemporary theater in Sarasota — and we did.”

THIS WEEK

THURSDAY

‘OLD BLUE EYES IS BACK’ WITH SCOTTY WRIGHT

7:30 p.m. at SCF Neel Performing Arts Center, 5840 26th St. W.

Bradenton

$15

Visit Calendar.scf.edu.

Come fly with jazz vocalist Scotty Wright from New York to Vegas for a rowdy tribute to Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack crooners.

‘PARALYZED’

7:30 p.m. at Florida Studio Theatre’s Bowne’s Lab Theatre, corner of

Cocoanut and First streets

$18-$39

Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.

In this world premiere, the lives of two strangers with little in common besides their names — Leigh and Lee —come together after the discovery of a mysterious suicide note. Runs through April 21.

‘CHICKEN & BISCUITS’

2 and 8 p.m. at FSU Center at the Performing Arts, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail $33 and up Visit AsoloRep.org.

This hilarious play, presented by the Asolo Repertory Theatre, introduces the Jenkins family as they celebrate their recently deceased father and grandfather. When a secret is revealed, the comedy leads audiences through all the hilarious drama and antics that only family can inspire from one another. Runs through April 13.

FRIDAY

CARLOS MENCIA

6:30 and 8:50 p.m. at McCurdy’s Comedy Theatre, 1923 Ringling Blvd.

$37 Visit McCurdysComedy.com.

Carlos Mencia, star of the Comedy Central hit show “Mind of Mencia,”

returns to his roots and shares his latest material with smaller audiences. Continues Saturday.

‘PUFFS’

7 p.m. at The Players Studio, 1400 Boulevard of the Arts #200

$15 Visit ThePlayers.org.

The Players Teens present the off-Broadway hit about the fellow travelers of a boy wizard. It’s billed as a tale for “anyone who has never been destined to save the world.”

Continues Saturday.

BETWEEN II BY DANCING EARTH

7:30 p.m. at Historic Asolo Theater, 5401 Bay Shore Road $10-$35 Visit Ringling.org.

Mixed heritage dance company

Dancing Earth examines the topic of renewable energy from differing ancestral, cultural and practical viewpoints. The performance uses mobile installation, oration, dancing, music, immersive media and eco-innovative design. Continues Saturday.

ROY BOOK BINDER

8 p.m. at Fogartyville, 525 Kumquat Court

$25 for members Visit WSLR.org/fogartyville

The legendary bluesman will mesmerize Sarasota audiences with his masterful finger-picking and lyrical storytelling. He will be joined on stage by Tampa’s Damon Fowler, a distinguished blues guitarist in his own right.

SATURDAY

LOVE THE PLANET ARTIST MARKET

10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Creative Liberties Artist Studios & Gallery, 901B Apricot Ave. Free Visit CreativeLiberties.net.

Art vendors’ open studios in honor of Second Saturday, live music and free craft beer samples from local home brewers Ray and Patti Spicochi make this worth the trip.

‘GRAND STATEMENTS’

6:45 p.m. at Sarasota Opera House, 61 N. Pineapple Ave. $62 Visit LaMusicaFestival.org.

In the opening concert of the 2023 La Musica Festival, La Musica Chamber Music plays what it calls some of the “greatest achievements in chamber music history.”

SUNDAY

LILLY JANE

2 p.m. at Fogartyville, 525 Kumquat Court

DON’T MISS

20TH ANNIVERSARY EXHIBIT OF ‘EMBRACING KINDNESS’

When: Until April 19

Where: Butler Park, 6205 Price Blvd., North Port

Tickets: Free

Info: EmbracingOurDifferences.org/dates-venue

The family friendly exhibit contains 50 billboard-sized images created by local, national and international artists, writers and students reflecting the theme “enriching lives through diversity and inclusion.” The showcase was previously on display at Bayfront Park.

$15 Visit WSLR.org/fogartyville.

Lilly Jane will play old-time traditional tunes, original songs and unusual arrangements of contemporary Americana music to help benefit the Will McLean Foundation, a nonprofit to promote the appreciation of the works of McLean and other Florida artists.

FEDER DUO

4 p.m. at Temple Sinai, 4631 S. Lockwood Ridge Road $40 Visit ArtistSeriesConcerts.org.

Former Sarasota Orchestra

musicians Cheryl Feder and Abraham Feder return to Sarasota for a program of music for harp and cello, including their own transcriptions of music by Bach and Johann Strauss Jr. Abraham Feder is now assistant principal cellist of the Detroit Symphony, and Cheryl Feder is a sought-after harp soloist, chamber musician and recording artist.

MONDAY

CONNECTIONS DOCUMENTARY

FILM SERIES: ‘WILDCAT’

2:30 p.m. at Sarasota Art Museum, 1001 S. Tamiami Trail $15 Visit OLLIRinglingCollege.org.

The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute “Wildcat” follows a British soldier struggling with PTSD who turns around his life after meeting an orphaned baby ocelot in the Amazon rainforest.

Courtesy photo

Mixed heritage dance company Dancing Earth examines the topic of renewable energy from differing ancestral, cultural and practical viewpoints.

SUNSET CRUISE WITH MATT DENDY

5 p.m. aboard Marina Jack, 2 Marina Plaza

$76.94 includes dinner and soft drinks

Visit MarinaJacks.com.

Matt Dendy has been a violinist and soloist in the Sarasota area since 1993 and has performed regularly with The Pops Orchestra of Sarasota, Southwest Florida Symphony and Florida Gulf Coast Symphony orchestras.

JAZZ AT THE CABARET:

DANNY SINOFF TRIO

7:30 p.m. at John C. Court Cabaret, 1265 First St.

$34-$39

Visit JazzClubSarasota.org.

Danny Sinoff, on vocals and piano, performs music from the American Songbook as well as jazz classics in an intimate cabaret setting. Food and beverage service begins at 6:30 p.m.

TUESDAY

‘FIREWORKS’

7:30 at Sarasota Opera House, 61 N. Pineapple Ave.

$62

Visit LaMusicaFestival.org.

In this aptly named concert, strings performers, including violinists Kristen Lee, Chad Hoopes, Paul Huang and James Thompson, perform exhilarating Baroque masterworks.

‘MEAN GIRLS’

7:30 p.m. at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 77 N. Tamiami Trail

$47-$122

Visit VanWezel.org.

“Mean Girls” follows African transplant Cady Heron’s transition to suburban Illinois, where she is hazed by a trio of “frenemies.” The creative team behind the musical includes book writer Tina Fey (“30 Rock”), composer Jeff Richmond (“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”), lyricist Nell Benjamin (“Legally Blonde”) and director Casey Nicholaw (“The Book of Mormon”). Runs through April 16.

OUR PICK

GREAT ESCAPES: ‘SOUNDS OF SPRING’

Sarasota Orchestra’s spring program includes sunny selections from musicals such as “Mary Poppins,” “Oklahoma!” and “South Pacific.” Also on the bill are Tchaikovsky’s “Waltz of the Flowers” and the “Spring” movement of Piazzolla’s “Four Seasons of Buenos Aires.”

IF YOU GO

When: 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 12

Where: Holley Hall, 709 N. Tamiami Trail

Tickets: $45-$108 Info: Visit SarasotaOrchestra.org.

‘LOVE’S LABOUR LOST’

8 p.m. at The Ringling Museum of Art’s Bayfront Gardens

$35

Visit AsoloRep.org/conservatory.

FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training presents the early Shakespeare comedy about four young men, one of them a king, who try to swear off women. Runs through April 23.

WEDNESDAY

THE WORLD SERIES OF COMEDY

7 p.m. at McCurdy’s Comedy Theatre, 1923 Ringling Blvd.

$25

Visit McCurdysComedy.com.

Forty professional comics hit the stage for the chance to compete in the finals of the World Series of Comedy in Las Vegas. The audience votes and helps judges choose the winners. Continues through April 15.

April 20-23

www.Warther.org

Mozart Requiem

Passages of life are expressed through the beauty of majestic choral music: Bach’s pastoral setting of the Twentythird Psalm paired with Mozart’s Requiem, a poignant and dramatic contemplation of eternity.

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH

Du Hirte Israel, höre, Cantata BWV 104

(You shepherd of Israel, listenCantata BWV 104)

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART Requiem in D Minor, K. 626

Guest Artists

Jenny Kim-Godfrey, soprano

Krista Laskowski, contralto

John Kaneklides, tenor

William Socolof, bass

SUNDAY, APRIL 16 | 7 PM

Church of the Redeemer 222 S. Palm Ave. Sarasota

ORDER TICKETS TODAY!

941-387-4900 | ChoralArtistsSarasota.org

Scan for program details & tickets:

PORTRAIT OF AN ARTIST — WITH POPPIES

Miami native Hannah Banciella’s one-woman show will debut at Sarasota gallery SPAACES.

MONICA ROMAN GAGNIER ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

Miami-based multimedia artist Hannah Banciella is getting an early birthday present this year. On April 7, the day before she turns 24, Banciella’s one-woman show, “Communing with Poppies,” will debut at the SPAACES gallery in Sarasota.

Among the people expected to attend the opening reception — from 6-8 p.m. at 2087 Princeton St. — are Banciella’s aunt and uncle, who live in Sarasota.

Like her Cuban-born father, Banciella has long been a doodler, scrawling drawings on scraps of paper with pen or pencil. However, she never imagined she would grow up to be a professional artist.

IF YOU GO

‘COMMUNING WITH POPPIES’

“My dream was to represent the United States in swimming at the Olympics,” Banciella said in a telephone interview from her Miami home.

When: Opening 6-8 p.m. Friday, April 7. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday (by appointment only)

Where: SPAACES, 2087 Princeton St. Tickets: Free Info: SPAACES. art.

These days, Banciella doesn’t do much swimming, though she does enjoy taking long walks in Coral Gables and Cocoanut Grove. When she’s on vacation, hikes in woodsy areas are a must.

It was Banciella’s father, who came to the U.S. from Cuba in 1965, who encouraged her to take an art elective in middle school that ultimately changed the direction of her life. The class was followed by a summer arts camp and then a magnet high school for students interested in pursuing careers in design and architecture.

Despite his imaginative doodling of faces, Banciella’s father became a lawyer, not a painter.

“Communing with Poppies,” which lasts just a week, isn’t Banciella’s first one-woman show. For her thesis project at the University of Florida, she staged “The Silence that Helps the Flowers Grow” at the Gainesville Fine Arts Association in 2021. At the University of Florida, she earned a bachelors of fine arts in

drawing and a certificate in ceramics.

As she did in “Silence,” Banciella uses a combination of charcoal and ceramics (three teapots) in her arresting Sarasota show. There is also a red oil painting, which was the study for the larger works.

The canvases of a pensive Banciella dressed in a camisole and lacy peignoir were inspired by poetry that unleashed repressed emotions. “Both shows are about letting go of a piece of you and moving forward,” she says.

To create her artwork, Banciella first takes a photograph of herself and projects it on a large piece of paper hung on a wall. After she draws an outline of her figure, she fills in the interior using charcoal by consulting the photograph.

“They’re all drawn. They’re not copied,” she says of her portraits. “It takes a few weeks to figure out the values and fill them in.” By values, she means the myriad shades of grey she achieves with her charcoal stick and rubbing tools, including her fingers. The show in Sarasota took her a year to create, Banciella says.

Right now, Banciella is working as an artist’s assistant to Alexis Diaz in Miami, helping to paint murals, on canvases and paper print. She also performs prep work and finishes pieces based on instructions from Diaz.

In addition to creating large-scale charcoal pieces, Banciella is interested in becoming an artist in residence and traveling to learn more about art. In May 2019, she studied in Paris in order to “recontextualize” classical and contemporary works from

Ever Onward Season 27

JIJI, guitar

April 20, 5:30 pm

Marie Selby Botanical Gardens

Selected by the Washington Post as “one of the 21 composers/performers who sound like tomorrow,” JIJI is known for her virtuosic performances of music ranging from traditional classical to free improvisation, played on both acoustic and electric guitar. Winner of the Concert Artists Guild competition 1st prize, JIJI has performed at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and has been featured on NPR.

CAMERON CROZMAN, cello

MEAGAN MILATZ, piano

April 27

11:00 am performance followed by lunch Sarasota Yacht Club

Named “Canada’s next big cello star” by CBC Music and “2019-20 Classical Revelation Artist” of Radio-Canada, cellist Cameron Crozman’s program, “Wanderlust,” features music inspired by composers’ vacation trips!

Dr. Joseph Holt

Artistic Director

When she was a child, Miami artist Hannah Banciella was an avid swimmer and wanted to represent the U.S. in the Olympics.

museums.

On Banciella’s wish list right now is an artist in residence program at Everglades National Park. She applied once and was not accepted, but she will try again. Asked if she expects to continue to focus on her own image, Banciella says yes. “I’m stuck on figures because that’s the way I see motion and interaction. A landscape would be hard to get my point across.”

However, nature plays a big role in Banciella’s art. In an artist’s statement, she says, “My charcoal work places self-portraits within plantcovered environments. The plant life captures the duality of these expansive natural environments — both alluring and unsettling.”

Banciella says she draws inspiration from poets and artists such as Sylvia Plath, Louise Glück and Katherine Bradford. They “are able to creative an immersive world within their poems or paintings through written imagery, playfulness and

mark-making,” the statement says.

“SPAACES is delighted to support Banciella’s art career with a onewoman show,” said founder Marianne Chapel Junker. “We believe Banciella’s highly skilled and deeply considered artworks as well as her dedication to her studio practice and fine art career will take her far into the professional art world.”

Junker teaches fine art at the Ringling College of Art and Design. She founded SPAACES, a nonprofit exhibition and studio space, to improve working conditions for Sarasota’s socially engaged artists.

Junker may have given Banciella her first big break, but her father, Ricardo (“Ric”) Banciella, remains her biggest fan. On April 1, he stood on a ladder to help his daughter hang her giant creations after making the three-hour drive to Sarasota. “Hannah’s charcoal drawings create a lot of dust, but the end product is definitely worth it,” he says.

7

Rabbi Steve Leder, twice named among Newsweek’s Top Ten most influential Rabbis in America, is coming to Sarasota!

Courtesy photos

Miami artist Hannah Banciella’s one-woman show, “Communing with Poppies,” will debut on April 7 at SPAACES gallery.

SPARCC Runway: Timeless Treasures

Friday, March 31, at The Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota | Benefiting Safe Place and Rape Crisis Center

Models walked up and down the runway to the cheers of the crowd during the Safe Place and Rape Crisis Center’s annual fashion show fundraiser March 31 at The RitzCarlton, Sarasota. The SPARCC Runway “Timeless Treasures” event — which benefits the organization’s programs helping victims of domestic and sexual violence — started with an hour of guests mingling and shopping for clothing and accessories from pop-up vendors and the SPARCC Treasure Chest resale store.

Some 650 guests filled the Ritz ballroom to hear from event Chair Vickie Smith and SPARCC President and CEO Jessica Hays before it was time for the fashion show to begin.

A number of models took to the stage wearing clothing from all eras found at the SPARCC Treasure Chest store as the crowd cheered them on. The day’s program went on with evening entertainment and mingling at the bar.

— HARRY SAYER

SPARCC President and CEO Jessica Hays

Courtney and Charlie Shrem

Photos by Harry Sayer

Fashion Chair Darci Jacob with this year’s models.

Monica Streacker, Carol Beeler and Felice Schulaner

Shantel Norman

Event Chair Vickie Smith opens the program.

Melba Ramirez-Jimenez

HospitaBull

University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee supporters enjoyed all sorts of dishes cooked up by USF students during the annual HospitaBull event on March 28.

The 2023 outing hosted more than 200 USF figures and guests at the Art Ovation Hotel for a program that started with a social hour that included hors d’oeuvres passed out by students.

The night benefited the USF School of Hospitality and Tourism Management.

Guests entered the event space and sat down for a program that included words from Regional Chancellor Karen Holbrook, campus

Dean Joni Jones and Dean of USF School of Hospitality and Management Cihan Cobanoglu.

All the while, the night’s attendees enjoyed a dinner lineup that included volau-vent, braised short rib, vanilla-cardamon cremeaux and more.

Lisa Rosario receives a tray of smoked salmon vol-au-vent.

Regional Chancellor Karen Holbrook, Jerry Brabant, Pamela Brabant and Suedelle

Photos by Harry Sayer

Fairytale Ball

Children First welcomed its guests to Wonderland during a lively gala at Michael’s On East on April 1.

The 2023 Fairytale Ball adopted a “Through the Looking Glass” theme that celebrated the many fantastical designs of “Alice in Wonderland.”

Guests arrived ready for the moment dressed as Mad Hatters, Cheshire Cats, Red Queens and more.

The crowd mingled before heading into the transformed Michael’s ballroom space for a program that started with an energetic performance from Cirque Vertigo.

Vice President of Philanthropy Jessica Rogers welcomed the audience as dinner was served. President and CEO Philip Tavill then spoke to the crowd about the many Children First programs for child education and development.

The night ended with dancing to the tunes of the Bay Kings Band.

— HARRY SAYER

Co-chairs Trevor and Teresa Harvey

Photos by Harry Sayer

Ken and Carolyn Woodworth with Elizabeth Unruh and Brendan Assaf with Ringling Royals