Arts + Entertainment 4.4.24

cus era that many visitors remember.”

In case you don’t know, John Ringling, one of seven brothers involved in the Ringling Bros. Circus, made Sarasota its winter home in 1927. Tourists could watch rehearsals and see live animals at the circus winter quarters.  Sarasota also became home to circus performers such as the Wallendas, the Concellos and the famous clown Emmet Kelly, who became a hero during a 1944 circus fire in Bridgeport, Connecticut, that killed 167 people.

John Ringling was once one of the richest men in the world, but when he died in 1936 of pneumonia, he was almost penniless. His beloved and influential first wife, Mable, died before him in 1929. But as part of his estate planning, he left his mansion and art collection to the people of the state of Florida, who can visit The Ringling for free each Monday. Regular pricing applies to the Circus Museum and the Ca’ d’Zan (“House of John”) on Mondays.

In a town where big numbers are bandied about for new cultural centers and buildings — $51.6 million for the newly opened Phase I of Selby Gardens’ $92 million master plan, for instance — the obvious question about the new Greatest Show on Earth Gallery at The Ringling is:

How much did it cost?

Lemmer Posey, who is nicknamed the “Queen of Circus History,” gently shakes her head when asked for the dollar figure of the renovation. She explains that, because The Ringling is under the stewardship of Florida State University, it is customary not to reveal such numbers.

OK, those who are really interested can make a public records request. Florida is well known for the transparency of its public records, so the budget for the gallery upgrade has got to be in a document somewhere.

In the meantime, let’s talk about what’s new at the Tibbals Learning Center. Thanks to Muhammad Ali and the internet, the acronym “GOAT” (Greatest of All Time) has

practically become a household word. At The Ringling, the same thing goes for “GSOE” (Greatest Show on Earth).

After you see it in print dozens of times, it registers in your brain. You’ll have to ask the folks at the museum how to pronounce it.

The first thing to know about the GSOE Gallery is that these are exhibits for the 21st century that have been about four years in the making, possibly more if you account for time lost during COVID closings. The second thing is that they were created with the input and help of Feld Entertainment.   “As Feld Entertainment Inc., relaunches the reimagined Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, the history contained within the museum’s newest gallery is more relevant than ever,” said Lemmer Posey in a statement. “It is exciting to celebrate the talents that defined the first 50 years of The Feld Family’s leadership of The Greatest Show On Earth as a new era begins.”

When you see the displays in the GSOE Gallery with the digital directory of circus performers, your first instinct may be to touch the screen. But that would be the wrong move.

Although The Ringling was early in adopting touchscreens for its exhibits, Lemmer Posey and others involved in the planning of the new gallery opted for motion-sensor technology for the GSOE.

“You have to remember that we were working on this during COVID, and there was a lot of concern about touching things, so we decided on motion sensors,” she said during a recent interview. “It’s also considered the leading edge in museum exhibits.”

So when you walk up to the kiosk and want to find the Flying Tabares, a famous trapeze family that has performed for generations and whose younger members recently appeared at Circus Sarasota,  move your hand back and forth. Voila! You can see images and videos of the Tabares doing their thing in midair.

Lemmer Posey explains that after the Felds took over Ringling Bros., the circus began performing in existing arenas instead of putting up a big top. This shift coincided with holding more performances in urban areas and the addition of diverse per-

formers to the lineup.

These include the King Charles Troupe, a cross between circus unicyclists and the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team, and the first Black ringmaster, Johnathan Lee Iverson. A veteran of the Harlem Boys Choir, Iverson joined Ringling Bros. as ringmaster at age 22 in 1998 and stayed in the job for two decades.

By far the most impressive exhibit in the GSOE Gallery is called “The Show.” The roughly eight-minute immersive experience combines video, lighting and original circus wardrobe to showcase acts popular during the first 50 years of the Feld Family’s ownership of the circus.

As in the past, there is an alcove on

them

for

poet in ancient Rome,

the phrase,

and they will never revolt.”

Remembering the ‘First Lady’ of the Florida Highwaymen

Wanda Renee Mills has served in the military and has earned a Ph.D. She’s a writer, researcher and an educator. But being a consummate professional doesn’t prevent Mills from tearing up as she watches a short documentary about her mother, Mary Ann Carroll.

“Seeing her on the screen and hearing her voice again gets me choked up,” she said.

Carroll, who died in 2019 at the age of 79, was the sole female member of a band of African American landscape artists known as the Florida Highwaymen. The group was based in the Fort Pierce area.

Mills lives in Sanford but came to Sarasota on March 27 to accept a posthumous award for her mother from Arts Advocates of Sarasota. Because she was the group’s only female member, Carroll has been dubbed the “First Lady” of the Florida Highwaymen.

For years, Carroll and her male colleagues had their paintings sold out of cars beginning in the late 1950s. The future Highwaymen were not allowed to display their work in galleries because of segregation and discrimination. The artists were self-taught and today would be classified as “Outsider Artists.”

Carroll’s family was originally from Wrightsville, Georgia, but moved to Fort Pierce in the 1940s in search of greater economic opportunities. Carroll faced less discrimination in Florida than in her home state, but there were still jobs that African Americans, particularly women, wouldn’t be considered for and places they weren’t allowed to go.

Several of the Highwaymen artists,

including Carroll, struggled to keep food on the table and the lights on as they raised their families. All told, Carroll raised seven children on her own following two divorces.

Although she was a prolific painter, Carroll didn’t go knocking on doors in white neighborhoods or stand around parking lots trying to sell her works.

The main salesman for the Highwaymen was Al Black, according to Billy Yaeger’s 2003 documentary, “The Florida Highwaymen.”

In the 1970s, Carroll and her second husband ran a store selling comic books, Jimi Hendrix velvet paintings and magazines, among other items. Upstairs was a studio where Carroll painted. Mills said she remembers hanging out in the store but said it carried merchandise that wasn’t kid-friendly.

After the gallery closed, there were some lean years for Carroll and her

kids, who did the best they could to get by. “I remember when the power company turned off the electricity, Mom went out to the pole and figured out how to turn it back on,” Mills recalls. “She said it would be OK for one night because she would pay the bill the next day.”

Then in 2001, what Mills called the “gold rush” happened. Gary Monroe wrote a book about Carroll and her fellow artists called “The Highwaymen.” Published by the University Press of Florida, the book featured pictures of the paintings. Monroe went on to write books about individual painters, including one on Carroll called “First Lady of the Florida Highwaymen.”

It was Monroe who coined the term “Highwaymen,” Mills said. That title didn’t win favor with Carroll, a deeply religious woman who played the organ at her church and

eventually became its pastor.

The term “highwaymen” was originally associated with 19thcentury bandits on horseback who robbed travelers. It later became the name of a 1980s country and western supergroup and the title of a film about the two retired Texas Rangers who tracked down bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde.

Despite the unsavory connotation of its title, Monroe’s book gave the African American Florida artists an identity or what today might be called a brand. As a result, the value of their works, long dismissed as “motel art,” increased dramatically.

“Suddenly, paintings that had sold for $35 were worth thousands of dollars,” Mills told the audience at Arts Advocates in The Crossings at Siesta Key mall. An annual sales event was organized each year on the day the Florida State football team faced off against the University of Florida.

Suddenly, rivalries sprung up among the formerly friendly artists, Mills said, although most of them were good-natured. The competition concerned the prices that respective artists were getting in the secondary market for their works, some of which were dug out of garages and attics where they had been languishing for years.

Mills said she was grateful to Monroe for his books because they gave her mother the opportunity to enjoy painting for the first time in her life.

“In the early days, she was painting for survival. Later in her life, she could really enjoy her work,” Mills said.

However, some of Carroll’s later work is more rushed than her earlier paintings because she realized “time was running out,” Mills noted.

During her talk, Mills remembered her mother as a fiercely independent woman who “could do anything,” from sewing on a button to fixing a car.

Among Carroll’s children, Mills has emerged as the guardian of her mother’s legacy. She has a hectic speaking schedule, particularly during Black History Month in February and Women’s History Month in March.

An exhibition of  two dozen Florida Highwaymen paintings on loan from Vero Beach collector Roger Lightle is currently on display at Sarasota City Hall at 1565 First St. Lightle has acquired 650 of the Highwaymen works over the years.

In addition to finishing a book that her mother started about her life, Mills is working with film producers on a Netflix feature about Mary Ann Carroll. Originally, it was going to be a movie, but it’s being reframed as a series, Mills said.

It seems everybody wants a piece of Mary Ann Carroll and the Florida Highwaymen these days. But Mills is determined to control the narrative and tell the sometimes bitter truth about her mother’s story.

Wanda Renee Mills is dedicated to preserving the legacy of her mother, Mary Ann Carroll.

Monica Roman Gagnier Wanda Renee Mills poses in front of a painting by her mother, Mary Ann Carroll, known as the “First Lady” of the Florida Highwaymen painters.

THIS WEEK

THURSDAY

BOYD MEETS GIRL

11 a.m. at Sarasota Yacht Club, 1100 Ringling Blvd.

$68

Visit ArtistSeriesConcerts.org.

Artist Series Concerts presents the husband and wife team of Australian classical guitarist Rupert Boyd and American cellist Laura Metcalf. The duo’s repertoire ranges from Debussy to Radiohead.

‘DIAL M FOR MURDER’

1:30 p.m. at FSU Center for the Performing Arts, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail $43-$95

Visit AsoloRep.org.

Asolo Rep’s stylish update of the Hitchcock thriller, “Dial M for Murder” follows a man plotting to kill his wealthy wife. Runs through April 25.

JOSH SNEED

7 p.m. at McCurdy’s Comedy Theatre, 1923 Ringling Blvd. $26

Visit McCurdysComedy.com.

One of the most popular comedians on Sirius/XM Radio, Josh Sneed

DON’T MISS

‘AMERICAN DREAM’

The Perlman Music Program Suncoast presents the Ariel Quartet’s new program, “American Dream.” Formed more than 25 years ago in Jerusalem, the Ariel Quartet includes Gershon Gerchikov and Alexandra Kazovsky on violin, Jan Grüning on viola and Amit Even-Tov on cello. The concert doesn’t have a predetermined program; each piece, by a composer who has achieved their American dream, will be announced from the stage.

IF YOU GO

When: 7 p.m. Thursday, April 4

Where: at The Ora, 578 McIntosh Road Tickets: $40

Info: Visit PMPSuncoast.org.

has performed at the prestigious “Just For Laughs” Comedy Festival in Montreal and the Aspen Comedy Festival. Runs through April 6.

‘HAMILTON’

7:30 p.m. at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail $59-$209

Visit VanWezel.org.

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hip-hop masterpiece is a bodice-ripper about the adventures of Alexander Hamilton, the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. Runs through April 7.

‘THE WHITE CHIP’

7:30 p.m. at FST’s Bowne’s Lab, 1265 First St. $25-$46

Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.

Follow a theater manager whose life threatens to spin out of control as he closes in on his dream job. He takes an unusual journey to sobriety in Sean Daniels’ “The White Chip.” Runs through April 12.

‘RUBY’

7:30 p.m. at Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe, 1012 N. Orange Ave. $20-$50

Visit WestcoastBlackTheatre.org.

WBTT’s homegrown musical “Ruby” tells what happened when the blackowned Pittsburgh Courier sent Nora Zeale Hurston to Live Oak, Florida, to report on a prosperous Black woman accused of murder in the 1950s. Through April 7.

FRIDAY

JAZZ @ TWO — LUCA STINE AND FRIENDS

2 p.m. at Unitarian Universalists of Sarasota, 3975 Fruitville Road $15-$20

Visit JazzClubSarasota.org.

Headlining at Jazz @ Two for the first time is former Sarasota Jazz Club scholarship winner Luca Stine, who has performed at the Newport Jazz Festival.

OPENING RECEPTION

5:30 p.m. at Mara Art Studio + Gallery, 76 S. Palm Ave. Free Visit MaraSudioGallery.com.

Owned by Mara Torres González, the gallery will unveil two shows – the solo exhibition “Playgrounds” by Lori Childers and “Intuitive Visions,” which includes the work of several artists.

OPENING NIGHT OF THE 26TH

SARASOTA FILM FESTIVAL

6 p.m. at Regal Hollywood, 1993 Main St. $50

Visit SarasotaFilmFestival.com.

Lynn Dow’s “Bull Street,” starring Loretta Devine and Amy Madigan, will open the 26th Sarasota Film Festival. After the screening, Dow, Madigan and other cast members will hold a talkback with the audience. The festival will showcase 64 features and 81 short films, with ticket prices beginning at $18 for regular screenings. Runs through April 14.

‘PORTRAITS OF EXPRESSION’

7:30 p.m. at Sarasota Opera House, 61 N. Pineapple Ave. $35 Visit SarasotaBallet.org.

Program Six of the Sarasota Ballet’s season includes two works by George Balanchine — “Emeralds” and “Who Cares?” Also on the bill is Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s “Las Hermanas,” a ballet based on Federico Garcia Lorca’s “The House of Bernarda Alba.” Runs through April 6.

SATURDAY

STEPHANE WREMBEL

8 p.m. at Fogartyville, 525 Kumquat Court $17-$35

Visit WSLR.org.

Django Reinhardt-style guitar virtuoso Stephane Wrembel got his breakthrough when his composition “Bistro Fada” was selected as the theme for Woody Allen’s 2011 Oscarwinning film, “Midnight in Paris.”

UN POYO ROJO

7:30 p.m. at Historic Asolo Theater, The Ringling Museum, 5401 Bay Shore Road $30-$40

Visit TheRingling.org.

Argentinian duo Luciano Rosso and Alfonso Barón explore the expectations of masculinity with a comedic, athletic show set in an empty locker room. Runs through April 8.

SUNDAY

DELAYED APRIL FOOLS

3 p.m. at Northminster Presbyterian Church, 3131 61st St. $5

Visit SuncoastConcertBand.org.

The Suncoast Concert Band, now in its 91st season, presents its “Delayed April Fools” concert. Visit the website and reserve your tickets in advance.

‘LIGHT & GOLD’

5 p.m. at St. Boniface Episcopal Church, 5615 Midnight Pass Road

$35-45

Visit KeyChorale.org.

OUR PICK ‘CLOWNS LIKE ME’ The film version of Sarasota actor Scott Ehrenpreis’ oneman show hits the big screen at the Sarasota Film Festival. Following the humorous look at his struggles with OCD, bipolar disorder, Asperger’s Syndrome, social anxiety and depression, Ehrenpreis will hold a Q&A session with the audience.

IF YOU GO

When: 4 p.m. Sunday, April 7

Where: at Regal Hollywood, 1993 Main St. Tickets: $18 Info: Visit SarasotaFilmFestival.com.

MONDAY

MONDAY NIGHT JAZZ

7:30 p.m. at John C. Court Cabaret, 1265 First St. $34-$39

Visit JazzClubSarasota.org.

The Jazz Club of Sarasota presents veteran vocalist Scotty Wright and his friends Judi Glover on piano, Mark Neuenschwander on bass, Stephen Bucholtz on drums and Fil Lorenz on Sax.

WEDNESDAY

MENDELSSOHN, BRAHMS & HAYDN

Visit LaMusicaFestival.org.

Key Chorale presents a program by Eric Whitacre and Morten Lauridsen, two popular choral composers. Hear the Key Chorale Chamber Singers and Modern Marimba perform haunting harmonies.

7:30 p.m. at Sarasota Opera House, 61 N. Pineapple Ave. $63

La Musica Chamber Music will perform Haydn’s Piano Trio, Mendelssohn’s Piano Quartet and Brahms’ String Sextet in an uplifting program.

Image courtesy of Magui Pichinini

Courtesy image

Bringing Broadway to the masses

Van

Truth be told, Justin Gomlak, director of education at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, had a hard time following a March 7 presentation at The Ora on “Hamilton vs. Jefferson: The Rivalry That Shaped America.”

The talk by Louis Masur, the board of governors distinguished professor of American studies and history at Rutgers University, was a tough act to follow. It was nearly two hours long and it was time for lunch when Masur finished.

Being the trouper he is, Gomlak took the audience departures in stride. He continued to speak passionately about a subject close to his heart — accessibility in the performing arts.

Maybe if Gomlak had put on his dancing shoes and started to sing tunes from “Hamilton” the way he did at a March 28 master class at the Van Wezel, the Ora crowd would have been more receptive.

Students at Gomlak’s Van Wezel studio, tucked away on the second floor of the building lovingly dubbed “The Purple Cow,” were attentive listeners. For the class, Gomlak had choreographed energetic, but not demanding, dance sequences to accompany songs from “Hamilton,” which runs at the Van Wezel through Sunday, April 7.

While the focus was more on dancing than singing, the students of varying ages and abilities had done their homework. They knew the words to “Hamilton” songs like “The Room Where It Happens,” “The Schuyler Sisters,” “Helpless” and “Take a Break.”

For those who haven’t seen “Hamilton” and wonder why it has such long “legs” — theater speak for longevity — it should be mentioned the enduring hip-hop musical has an astounding 46 songs. Surely, it would be impossible to know the words to all of them, but based on Gomlak’s class, some people just might.

Watching Gomlak teach his master class is to be swept up in the magic of Broadway. His enthusiasm, supple

movements and elastic facial expressions transport you to another world. Gomlak’s stage persona immediately prompts those watching the class to remark, “Isn’t he darling?” He is. Here’s the real trick. Gomlak makes you think you might be able to move the way he does. “It doesn’t matter what your body looks like, how much experience you have,” Gomlak advises his class of about 30 students. “What matters in musical stage is storytelling. Anyone can tell a story.”

As the posters on the walls of his studio attest, Gomlak knows a little something about Broadway. His credits include the Tony Awardwinning revival of “Anything Goes,” “The Producers” (the “Hamilton” of its day), “Annie,” “Seussical the Musical” and “Shrek the Musical,” to name a few. It’s telling that Gomlak has been in several productions aimed at children because in some ways, he seems like a kid himself.  Gomlak lets students at the master classes know about his Broadway street cred, but he moves lightly over his 15 years on the Great White Way. He keeps the hourlong classes focused on his students and on the musicals that will be playing the Van Wezel.

Is Gomlak’s job as director of education at the Van Wezel marketing or community outreach? It’s a little of both. As befitting a longtime showman, Gomlak wears many hats. Besides teaching and representing the Van Wezel at community events, he oversees programs like school performances, professional development workshops and family nights at the Van Wezel.

Before joining the Van Wezel’s staff in May 2022, Gomlak was the arts department chair at the Dalton School in New York City. At Dalton, Gomlak put in place diversity, equity and inclusion and social emotional learning programs schoolwide, in addition to teaching 400 students weekly.

It’s often assumed that people who end up on stage are natural hams. That wasn’t the case for Gomlak, who describes himself as an introvert in his youth.

“When I was doing plays, I was a shy person,” he recalls. “But the experience of inhabiting someone else’s skin, it was like a shield for me. I was able to do all of the things that the regular Justin was too shy to do.”

When Gomlak talks about his life’s trajectory, one gets the impression that an invisible hand steered him in at key points in his life. When he was

growing up in a rural area in Western New York outside Buffalo (“there were a lot of chickens around”), Gomlak says there weren’t a lot of role models for a boy interested in the performing arts.

Although he didn’t want to be the center of attention growing up, he played piano and developed his voice by singing with choirs. He performed in high school musicals, and would get depressed when they ended because he had to go back to ordinary life.

When it came time to apply for college, Gomlak wasn’t sure what would be the right school for him, when fate intervened. “One of the mothers at a summer choir said ‘You should look at Carnegie Mellon.’ I auditioned and I got in. It’s a very good school. I stumbled upon it through a message from universe,” Gomlak says.

His talent and Carnegie Mellon contacts led him to a successful career on Broadway. But as he approached 40, Gomlak knew he was aging out of musical theater roles. He began working to develop a career as an educator by doing residencies at school. One day, he received a call from “an admissions director at a fancy-schmancy school” offering him a job. In case you missed it, the school was Dalton.

While the title of his current job has the word “education” in it, Gomlak says he’s never done anything quite like it before. “It melds these two worlds. It’s working in commercial theater and melding that with education,” he says.

To be clear, the Van Wezel is owned by the city of Sarasota, so Gomlak is a government, not a corporate, employee. But the Van Wezel is involved in the business of entertainment and selling as many tickets as possible.

As Gomlak told the crowd at The Ora in March, he is passionate about accessibility. In his job at the Van Wezel, he gets to put his beliefs into action. His mission isn’t about just bringing shows to disabled audiences, but allowing them to participate in the performing arts.

Working in conjunction with the Tampa group Revolutions Dance, Gomlak developed a piece called “Revolutionary Moves: Defying Limits Through Dance.”

“We reframed the idea that if you are in a wheelchair you can’t do anything,” Gomlak says. “We tell them, ‘That wheelchair is a tool. You can use it in lots of different ways. It can enhance what is possible.’ The message is powerful to a kid in a wheelchair.”

And it feels wonderful. Pure delight, classic elegance, private storms. Internationally renowned musicians at the top of their game deliver three programs alive with blazing virtuosity. Don’t miss a one. In fact, jump in!

MENDELSSOHN, BRAHMS & HAYDN

Wednesday, April 10 / 7:30 p.m.

MOZART, KODÁLY & ARENSKY

Saturday, April 13 / 5:00 p.m.

SCHUMANN, SMETANA & MORE

Tuesday, April 16 / 7:30 p.m.

Pre concert talks an hour before curtain

All at the Sarasota Opera House Tickets and more at lamusicafestival.org

Sat 4/13 @ 3pm, The Hermitage Great Lawn, “A Conversation with Hermitage Greenfield Prize Winner Deepa Purohit,” a look into her theatrical works and newly commissioned play

Presented in partnership with Asolo Repertory Theatre

Sat 4/13

Sun 4/14 @ 6pm, 2024 Hermitage Greenfield Prize Dinner

Gala Dinner at Michael’s On East (Limited Capacity) WORLD

Mon 4/15 @ 7pm, The Hermitage Beach, “Azul Naranja Salado:”

Angélica Negrón’s Hermitage Greenfield Prize Premiere

Presented in partnership with ensembleNewSRQ

MONICA

Wezel Director of Education Justin Gomlak teaches a mean master class.

Monica Roman Gagnier

Van Wezel Director of Education Justin Gomlak teaches a master class in “Hamilton” on March 28.

Image courtesy of Michaela Ristaino Justin Gomlak is the education director of the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall.

REVIEWS

The biting absurdist satire questions the limits of personal responsibility.

MARTY FUGATE CONTRIBUTOR

Our species is plagued with problems big and small: war, famine, pestilence, annoying relatives, job-stealing robots and restrictive HOAs, to name a few. For all these problems, humanity has one default solution. A fiveword sentence sums it up: “It’s not my problem.” In Brenda Withers’ “Westminster,” the problem is a dog. Her play is now premiering at Urbanite Theatre. Pia (Deyki Rongé) and Krys (Alex Pelletier) are old college pals. Pia (self-actualized and self-assured) has found personal success. She’s also found a successful husband — namely Tim (Jonathan Fielding).  Krys has found neither. She has found a sketchy companion named Beau (Gregg Weiner). He’s a pseudo-Libertarian who makes very careful choices. (He believes in freedom for himself and obligation for others.)

The Ringling Circus Museum premieres our newest exhibition space, The Greatest Show On Earth Gallery, on the second floor of the Tibbals Learning Center.

Krys and Beau have also found a dog — a problem dog. They take this pooch with them, drive off and give the upscale couple a surprise visit. After that, they give them a surprise gift — the unseen rescue dog. As the play opens, Pia and Tim watch him through the window. The pooch is running around in yard and barking like mad. (You never see him, but constantly hear him.) The yuppie couple should say, “Gee, you got us a dog. How sweet! Thanks!”

But they suspect the mutt might have a bit of pit bull in his family tree. The struggling couple deny it. Then add there’s nothing wrong with pit bulls. The conversation ping-pongs back and forth. It emerges that Beau and Krys plan to drive off and leave the poor dog behind. They’re giving Tim and Pia this gift whether they like it or not.

Urbanite Artistic Director Summer Dawn Wallace directs Withers’ paranoid parable with a straight face. It’s a bizarre situation. But she never elbows you in the ribs. Wallace simply brings the madness to a slow boil. And that’s perfect for this play.

Metaphorically, the actors are the frogs in the slowly boiling pot that don’t notice until it’s too late. Fielding’s Tim is an eternal

optimist. He always looks on the bright side of life — and has never glimpsed its dark side until now. Fielding shines in his had-it-upto-here monologue.

Rongé’s Pia is sitting pretty. She was born on third base and thinks she hit a triple. The system worked for her – why should she question it?

Pelletier’s Krys is a bleedingheart do-gooder. She solves the problems of others to distract herself from her own. In Weiner’s portrayal, Krys’ partner Beau is a performative tough guy.

Jeffrey Weber did great work on Tim and Pia’s Ikea-infused, yuppie love nest. Alison Gensmer’s costumes neatly peg the social class and self-images of the play’s characters.  Kudos to Ethan Vail for his surreal sound design. Alex Pinchin’s lighting starts us off in a clean, well-lit place — until the thunder rolls and the lighting turns to lightning. This is a very funny play. But Withers slyly pulls an artistic bait-and-switch. Humor is close to horror. When you laugh, you drop your guard. You’re not ready for the horror when it hits you.

HOSPITABULL

March 26 at Michael’s On East Benefiting USF Sarasota-Manatee’s School of Hospitality and Tourism Management Center

From appetizers through dessert, students in the University of South Florida SarasotaManatee’s School of Hospitality and Tourism Management program wowed attendees of the 12th annual Hospitabull dinner March 26.

The meal, organized, prepared and served by USF hospitality students with the help of pros from Michael’s On East, gave the students a unique educational opportunity and the more than 200 guests a tasty meal.

Complete with a silent auction and a paddle raise by emcee Michael Klauber, the event’s proceeds benefit the School of Hospitality that made the evening possible.

— OBSERVER STAFF

Del Cotton and Denise Davis Cotton

Mark Sherin and Cihan Cobanoglu, dean of USF School of Hospitality and Tourism Management

Photos by Lori Sax Courtney Merritt, Tray Horne, Rocky the Bull and Ashley Watts

Lynn Prater and Rachel Pisano

Marion Yongue, Regional Chancellor Karen Holbrook and William Mariotti

Camille Pelegrin with Jessica and Justin Bay

Jared Dennis and Alana Tsonas with Jill and Paras Saxena

Dan DiSalvo, Jessica Cicalese, Rick Acosta, Savanna Newsom and Jessica Levy

Tarnisha Cliatt with Tim and Beth Self

Photos by Nancy Guth

Charlie Klippel and Rosemary Scirbner with Heidi and Bob Rittenhouse and the Ringling roses Marie Colbert

Cooking for the Arts

March 28 at Michael’s On East Benefiting Southside School Foundation for the Arts

For the second year, Southside School Foundation for the Arts held a creative cooking event March 28 at Michael’s On East, with 250 in attendance. Two “chefs” from each table prepared dinner for everyone at the table in a hands-on cooking experience guided by local chefs Phil Mancini and Jamil Pineda of Michael’s On East.

In keeping with the “Cloud 9” theme of the evening, the space was decorated with big, puffy clouds and guests were encouraged to choose attire with soft colors to create a surreal ambiance.

In addition to a silent auction, a live auction included generous donations of concert tickets to see Usher in Miami, complete with a hotel stay, and the artwork of Stephen Bault.

— JANET COMBS

Lisa

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Jayne Warren-Wallace and her parents, David and Gina Wallace, hold a donated mixed media piece created by Southside Elementary art teacher Amber Richter.

Anu Sandeep and Lindsay Kramer

Co-chairs of Cooking for the Arts are Ryan and Sepi Ackerman, and Molly and Ethan Biter, who are all parents at Southside Elementary School. Photos by Janet Combs

Searching for the perfect designer rug?

Come Say Hello to Dave, our Sarasota Rug Expert!

❚ FUN FACT:

Did you know carpets were a sign of wealth?

While carpets offer warmth and comfort, they have also historically served as symbols of wealth in many cultures. The complexity of a carpet’s pattern and design often reflected its prestige, with wealthy individuals such as emperors and aristocrats frequently adorning their homes with handmade carpets and rugs to showcase their affluence.