Arts + Entertainment 12.5.24

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ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT DECEMBER 5, 2024

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Benjamin Dutcher

Riley McNutt

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Daniel Grecco

Image courtesy of Dan Norman

Asolo Repertory Theatre’s production of “All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914” runs at the Historic Asolo Theatre in The Ringling from Dec. 6-22.

HOPE FOR THE HOLIDAYS Asolo Rep’s ‘All is Calm’ sounds a musical call to lay down arms.

MARTY FUGATE CONTRIBUTOR

IF YOU GO

P

'ALL IS CALM: THE CHRISTMAS TRUCE OF 1914' When: Dec. 6-22 Where: The Ringling’s Historic Asolo Theater, 5401 Bay Shore Road.

Tickets: $30-67.

Info: Visit AsoloRep.org.

eter Rothstein’s “All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914” is a Christmas story, but you

won’t see Scrooge, Santa or the Nutcracker on stage.

The heroes of this story were flesh and blood. And their story really happened.

It took place in World War I along the Western Front in 1914. On the nights before Christmas, countless German and British soldiers put down their rifles, crossed battle lines and sang Christmas carols together.

Rothstein’s a cappella musical celebrates this unlikely outbreak of peace. He wrote and directed it in 2015. (Rothstein was the artistic director of Theater Latte Da in Minneapolis at the time.) The libretto and song selections are his creations; Erick Lichte and Timothy C. Takach collaborated on vocal arrangements.

After a humble birth as a radio show, “All is Calm” premiered as a small-cast production at Theatre Latte Da in 2015. Since then, it’s been performed around the nation and the world. Rothstein will direct the Asolo Rep production, which runs Dec. 6-22 at the Historic Asolo Theater, thanks to a partnership with The Ringling. Telling the story of the Christmas truce of 1914 is

his passion. In the following talk, Rothstein shares why.

“The Christmas Truce of 1914.”

If I stepped out of my time machine, what would I see?

You’d see snow. It’s snowing on the Western Front at Christmas time.

You’d see German and British soldiers stop fighting for no apparent reason. This happened over several different nights. Soldiers on both sides exchanged gifts of chocolate and tobacco, played soccer and buried each other’s dead. That’s what you’d see — but you’d also hear something. The winter was cold and sound traveled. You could hear a soldier’s cough from a mile away. Or hear a few soldiers singing Christmas carols in different languages. On the following night, you’d hear more soldiers singing.

Night after night, the music just kept growing.

Where did this magical musical truce take place?

There were cease-fires at multiple locations along the front. Some lasted about a day. In other truces, soldiers on both sides left their trenches and celebrated Christmas together for several nights. Some truces lasted until New Year’s Day. The soldiers involved were miles apart, yet they somehow got the same idea at the same time. There was something magical about it.

What inspired you to dramatize this unlikely miracle?

The story of the Christmas truce just grabbed me. I’d wanted to put it on stage the instant I learned about it. But for years, I didn’t know how to dramatize it. The story’s climax is a lack of conflict — and that doesn’t work for drama. I needed to find a form that did work. I asked myself, “What’s driving the story?” The answer seems obvious, but it took me years of research to find it.

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Rodolfo Nieto

Jim Ramlet

SEE HOPE PAGE 2 Images courtesy of Allen Weeks

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ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT | THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2024

HOPE FOR THE HOLIDAYS FROM PAGE 1

What did you find?

I realized that music was the catalyst for the Christmas truce. Winter was setting in. Soldiers on both sides were cold, lonely, isolated and homesick. Spontaneously, they began singing Christmas carols in their own languages. The soldiers' songs floated across no man’s land.

Each side could hear the other.

Before long, they were singing to each other. German soldiers, British soldiers. They’d hold impromptu concerts and call for encores in different languages. The result was a universal language of music — and a separate peace. I’m not sure historians will back me up on this, but I don’t believe the Christmas truce of 1914 would have happened without this musical conversation. Music was cause, not effect. It’s what brought the soldiers together.

Ah. The soldiers didn’t sing because they’d stopped fighting.

They stopped fighting because they were singing.

Exactly. Music was the key to the Christmas truce. Once I realized that, I had my dramatic structure.

Now I knew how to tell the story. I didn’t have my characters yet. I still had to find the story’s heroes. But I could finally start writing the story.

It took me 12 years to finish it.

What took you so long?

Yes, I was writing. But I was struggling. I’d realized there were holes in the story. “All is Calm” is a factbased historical drama. But I didn’t have all the facts. There were more years of research ahead.

What was your starting point?

Ironically, I began in March 20, 2003 — on the night the United States invaded Baghdad. I flew to Europe and did more research in Belgium, Germany and France and Great Britain. What I discovered changed my perception of the Christmas truce. I’d known what

that story meant to me, in my time.

Now I could see what it meant to the military leaders of the time.

What’s the difference?

Perception. It’s Christmas at the start of world war on the Western Front. Franz, Tommy and Fritz stopped trying to kill each other and started singing Christmas carols. To contemporary eyes, it’s a heartwarming Christmas story. In the eyes of military leadership, it was a serious threat. Churchill was first Lord of the British Admiralty in 1914. He said something like, “I wonder what would happen if the British army suddenly and simultaneously went on strike?”

“The nameless soldiers in the trenches were the real heroes.

The Christmas truce was their story.”

That reminds me of the old antiwar poster: “Suppose they gave a war and nobody came.”

That was a real possibility in 1914, If word of the Christmas truce got out, other soldiers might follow their bad example. And it would undermine the drumbeat of war propaganda back home.

Wow. It could ruin the whole war.

Military leaders on both sides had to get the war back on track. Certain soldiers refused to fight? Shifting rotations solved the problem. They removed the truce’s participants and replaced them with different soldiers. That killed the truce. And they also suppressed the story of the Christmas truce. That’s what I discovered.

It’s a nasty discovery.

Yes. But it clarified my character focus ... Who were the heroes of the Christmas truce of 1914?

Certainly not the commanding officers. The nameless soldiers in the trenches were the real heroes.

The Christmas truce was their story. Their leaders erased it from the history books. “All is Calm” would have to tell the soldiers’ stories. Not my fictionalized versions, and not in my words. The soldiers would tell their stories in their own words.

— Peter Rothstein, Asolo Repertory Theatre Producing Artistic Director

Image courtesy of Michael Devaney

So, you didn’t write the libretto for “All is Calm.” The soldiers did?

Their words are the heart of it. I drew on the soldiers’ letters and journals, yes. But they’re not my only sources. I also drew on news articles, Great War poetry, gravestone inscriptions and an old radio broadcast that’s probably bogus. I did write the epilogue. Beyond that, the libretto is all found text from that period.

Where’d you find the music?

Again, from a wide range of period sources. There are iconic World War I songs and Christmas carols in the languages of the participating nations — French, English, Dutch and German. The compositions are authentic and performed a cappella, one after the other.

What do you tell the actors recreating the Christmas truce?

I talk about the stakes of that moment. The moment when soldiers on both sides put down their rifles, stepped out of their trenches and walked into no man’s land.

Imagine what that was like. Now put yourself in one soldier’s shoes.

You’re exposed, unarmed, helpless. Hundreds of enemy soldiers are facing you in the trenches on the other side. You have faith that none of them will shoot you.

They should, for many reasons.

But you’re trusting your life that the hundreds of enemies you face will all find the courage to exercise peace. It’s an amazing act of courage — and it happened again and again in the Christmas truce. Try to feel that courage. Then make the audience feel it.

Asolo Repertory Theatre Producing Artistic Director Peter Rothstein is directing his play, “All Is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914.”

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2024

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Lakewood Ranch music producer knows all the chords Morgan Bettes Angell has plenty of street credit to help her prepare for the Ranch’s first blues festival.

IF YOU GO LAKEWOOD RANCH BLUES FESTIVAL When: 8 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 7 Where: Waterside Place, 7301 Island Cove Terrace, Lakewood Ranch Tickets: $75-$150 Info: Visit LakewoodRanchBluesFest.com.

MONICA ROMAN GAGNIER ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

T

hinking of heading out to the first Lakewood Ranch Blues Festival, but you’re worried about parking? Don’t fret, because Morgan Bettes Angell has you covered.

You see, this isn’t her first rodeo ... er, music festival. Bettes Angell knows that as devoted as blues fans are, they don’t want to walk miles to their car or wait too long for a shuttle.

Bettes Angell is the co-founder, president and CEO of the events and entertainment company Independent Jones, and she got her producing street cred the old-fashioned way: She earned it.

Bettes Angell’s relationship with Schroeder-Manatee Ranch, developer of Lakewood Ranch, dates back to 2017. That’s when she met Monaca Onstad, then the director of community relations for Lakewood Ranch, and gained her support.

Together with her Independent Jones partner, Wade Hamilton, Bettes has launched the Lakewood Ranch Farmers Market and Ranch Nite Wednesdays, as well as farmers markets in downtown Sarasota and Venice and a downtown street party in Bradenton.

Not bad for a woman who left Oshkosh, Wisconsin, in 2011 armed with nothing more than a business degree, a Honda Civic and a golden doodle named Mister. She was fortunate to have a place to live when she arrived in Florida because her parents had built a house in Heritage Harbour in Bradenton.

Bettes Angell initially took a job serving in a restaurant to “get money flowing in.” Then she heard about a job as a creative fellow at downtown advocacy group Realize Bradenton through a friend of her aunt’s.

Monica Roman Gagnier

Morgan Bettes is the producer of the first Lakewood Ranch Blues Festival, to be held Dec. 7 at Waterside Place.

Bettes Angell spent four years working with Realize Bradenton founder Johnette Isham, the driving force behind Bradenton’s Riverwalk, the Public Market, the Village of the Arts and the Blues Festival, which ran for 12 years. Isham died at age 70 in August 2023, less than a year after retiring from Realize Bradenton.

Isham provided Bettes Angell what every young person starting out in the world could use — a mentor, although she also credits her father with passing along his entrepreneurial spirit to her.

“When I was with Realize Bradenton, I was doing everything with Johnette, the whole nine yards,” Bet-

tes Angell says. “She showed me how working together works and how to bring together cultural partners, merchants and farmers.”

After she and Hamilton started Independent Jones, they learned their licks in the local music scene by booking acts at the now-defunct Ace’s Live in northwest Bradenton, Darwin Brewing Co. (now Sun Lab Brewing), the Manatee Performing Arts Center and other venues.

“Our original goal was to start our own club, but we saw that it wasn’t sustainable,” she says. “It takes a lot to bring artists down here.”

Their big breakthrough was a pop-up event called Barn Burner,

which “literally took place in a field,” recalls Bettes Angell. “We had plenty of room for parking. We brought in portalets, food trucks, security and electric. We had lots of merch.”

Back in those early days, Independent Jones relied on what Bettes Angell calls “guerrilla marketing” tactics to publicize their events. That meant handing out flyers, hanging posters and relying on word of mouth.

These days, the marketing strategy employed by Bettes Angell and Independent Jones Chief Events Officer Antonio Hernandez is a bit more high tech. A recent afternoon found them shooting video clips at Kore Steakhouse in Waterside Place to promote

the Lakewood Ranch Blues Festival on social media.

Bettes Angell gives kudos to Onstad, who now runs a marketing and lifestyle consulting firm, for understanding the need to pay musicians a living wage when they perform at community events in Lakewood Ranch.

Some potential attendees may scoff at the $75 ticket price ($150 for reserved VIP seating) to attend the first Lakewood Ranch Blues Festival, but Bettes Angell isn’t worried about price resistance. The way she sees it, $75 is a small price to pay for an event that runs from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and features seven different acts.

Among the bands performing at the Lakewood Ranch Blues Festival are Melody Angel, Mitch Woods & His Rocket 88s, Monster Mike Welch and the Danielle Nicole Band.

Now, about parking: There will be three lots to accommodate the event at Waterside Place, located on the eight-acre Kingfisher Island, and trolleys will run every 20 minutes from 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.

What gives Bettes Angell confidence that the first Lakewood Ranch Blues Festival will be a success is the date. She and fest co-founder Paul Benjamin were adamant that it take place at the same time as its Bradenton predecessor — the first Saturday in December.

“Blues fans are older and they like to travel,” Bettes Angell says. “At the Bradenton Blues Festival, we had ZIP codes from almost every state in the country. But blues fans like to plan ahead and they need a date to plan around.”

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ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT | THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2024

workweek with Friday Jazz @ Two, presented by Jazz Club of Sarasota.

This week’s show features Ocean’s Eleven Band, an 11-piece Big Band.

WONDERLAND CIRCUS: ‘ILLUMINATE’ 7 p.m. at the Big Top at UTC, 195 University Town Center Drive $30-$100 Visit CircusArts.org.

Courtesy image

Image courtesy of Harry Sayer

Comedic daredevil Johnny Rockett (left) and Master of Ceremonies Ty McFarlane deliver joy at Wonderland Circus: “Illuminate,” which runs through Jan. 5 at the Big Top near UTC Mall.

THURSDAY ART CENTER SARASOTA OPENING RECEPTION 5 p.m. at Art Center Sarasota, 707 N. Tamiami Trail Free Visit ArtCenterSarasota.org.

Come meet the artists and celebrate the opening of four new exhibitions at Art Center Sarasota. There are three solo shows — by E.A. Kahane, Ermin Tabakovic and Keenan Perren — and group juried show, “Trompe L’oeil.” The exhibitions run through Jan. 8.

‘BEAUTIFUL: THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL’ 7:30 p.m. at FSU Center for the Performing Arts, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail $35-$98 Visit AsoloRep.org.

Asolo Repertory Theatre’s

DON’T MISS

CHAMBER ORCHESTRA OF SARASOTA: ‘HOLIDAY CHEER’ Come celebrate the yuletide season with Chamber Orchestra of Sarasota. The program conducted by Robert Vodnoy features soprano Hanna Brammer and performances of Mozart’s “Exsultate, Jubilate,” Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 and other holiday favorites.

IF YOU GO When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 5 Where: First Presbyterian Church of Sarasota, 2050 Oak St. Tickets: $42 adults, $5 students Info: Visit ChamberOrchestraSarasota.org.

THIS WEEK “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical” tells the story of King’s life, from her early days churning out songs with then-husband Gerry Goffin to her rise as the voice of her generation.

Runs through Jan. 5.

‘A MOTOWN CHRISTMAS’ 7:30 p.m. at Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe, 1012 N. Orange Ave. $22-$57 Visit WestcoastBlackTheatre.org.

You don’t have to be old enough to remember the Jackson Five’s version of “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” to appreciate WBTT’s “Motown Christmas.” Runs through Jan. 5.

‘WAITRESS’ 8 p.m. at FST’s Gompertz Theatre, 1265 First St. $39-$59 Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.

For fans of Sara Bareilles, Florida Studio Theatre’s production of “Waitress” needs no introduction.

The Grammy-winning singer/ songwriter wrote the music and lyrics for this hit Broadway musical.

Spoiler alert: Pie is always the answer! Runs through Jan. 5.

FRIDAY JAZZ @ TWO WITH THE OCEAN’S ELEVEN BAND 2 p.m. Unitarian Universalists SRQ, 3975 Fruitville Road $15-$20 Visit JazzClubSarasota.org.

TGIF! Celebrate the end of the

For the second year in a row, superstar aerialist Nik Wallenda teams up with the Circus Arts Conservatory to present “Illuminate,” a fresh circus show for the whole family that’s got all the holidays covered. Runs through Jan. 5.

‘RECIPE FOR THE HOLIDAY’ 7:30 p.m. at Tree Fort Productions, Crossings at Siesta Key Mall, 3501 S. Tamiami Trail $40 Visit TreeFortProductions.com.

You’ve heard of a one-man band, right? Tree Fort Productions founder Katherine Michelle Tanner is a one-woman musical theater. She writes, dances, sings, acts — the list goes on. Don’t miss her yuletide show, “Recipe for the Holiday.” Runs through Dec. 15.

‘A CHRISTMAS CAROL’ 7:30 p.m. at the Raymond Center, 140 Tampa Ave. W., Venice $15-$26 Visit VeniceTheatre.org.

Now in its 75th season, Venice Theatre continues its holiday tradition of presenting a musical version of the Dickens classic.

Veterans of past shows return, including Brad Wages as Scrooge.

God bless us, everyone! Runs through Dec. 22.

SWAMP CABBAGE 8 p.m. at Fogartyville, 525 Kumquat Court $12-$24 Visit WSLR.org.

Got a hankering for old school Southern rock with a little funk and jazz thrown into the mix? Head to Fogartyville where Walter Parks, longtime sideman of Richie Havens, is reunited with Matt Lindsey on bass and Jagoda on drums.

SATURDAY ‘DECK THE HALLS’ 10 a.m. at FST’s Keating Theatre, 1241 N. Palm Ave. $12 Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.

Celebrate the holidays Floridastyle with palm trees adorned with twinkling lights, sand snowmen and Santa on a surfboard. The family friendly show returns with new sketches and songs. Runs weekends through Dec. 24.

OUR PICK ‘LITTLE WOMEN THE MUSICAL’ The Sarasota Players presents its version of the Broadway hit that propelled Foster Sutton to stardom. Sutton played Jo, one of four March sisters. An aspiring writer, Jo doesn’t want to settle for an ordinary life. Instead, she wants to be “Astonishing.”

The Sarasota Players have found itself an

astonishing Jo in the form of Lexi Lowther. See Director Amanda Heisey’s interpretation of the hit musical based on Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel.

Runs through Dec. 15.

IF YOU GO When: 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, Dec. 5 Where: The Players Studio, 3501 S. Tamiami Trail, Suite 1130 Tickets: $15-$34 Info: Visit ThePlayers.org.

SUNDAY BERMUDA MAVERICKS 7 p.m. at McCurdy’s Comedy Theatre, 1923 Ringling Blvd. $26 Visit McCurdysComedyTheatre.com.

It’s not often that McCurdy’s Comedy Theatre co-founder Les McCurdy takes the stage. This time, he’s one half of the Bermuda Mavericks. The other half is Ken Sons. Together, these brothers from different mothers deliver the right amount of stand-up and improv.

A SERAPHIC FIRE CHRISTMAS 7 p.m. at St. Boniface Episcopal Church, 5615 Midnight Pass Road $65 Visit SeraphicFire.org.

Miami-based Seraphic Fire, a Grammy-nominated vocal ensemble, brings its Christmas program to Sarasota, led by guest conductor Anthony Trecek-King.

MONDAY ‘ENDURING LIGHT’ 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at The Ringling Museum of Art, 5401 Bay Shore Road, Free with admission (Mondays free) Visit Ringling.org.

This exhibition showcases works documenting the civil rights movement. The photos by Roy DeCarava and Danny Lyon are part of a collection recently donated to The Ringling by Richard and Ellen Sandor. Runs through Feb. 9.

The Pops Orchestra Presents

Featuring Tiffany Haas The Pops is thrilled to ring in the holidays with performer Tiffany Haas, who performed the role of “Glinda, the Good Witch” on Broadway as the understudy to Kristin Chenoweth and starred in the National Tour production of Wicked. Tiffany brings her many talents to The Pops for our holiday entertainment. Featuring all your holiday and Broadway favorites, this is a “must see” show for the season!

Sunday, December 15, 2024 3:00 pm – Riverview PAC

Monday, December 16, 2024 7:30 pm – SCF Neel PAC

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ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

SCD + The Barker Project = E

2

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2024

5

Best Gift Ever

Sarasota Contemporary Dance’s tentpole event of the season is a first-time collaboration.

The Gift of Ringling Membership

MONICA ROMAN GAGNIER ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

W

Image courtesy of Sorcha Augustine

Sarasota Contemporary Dance members and bassist Johnnie Barker will be part of SCD + The Barker Project, which runs Dec. 5-8 at FSU Center for the Performing Arts.

IF YOU GO SCD + THE BARKER PROJECT When: Dec. 5-8 Where: Cook Theatre at FSU Center for the Performing Arts, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail Tickets: $25-$70 Info: Visit SarasotaContemporaryDance. org.

jazz trumpeter Miles Davis and other jazz greats and both professing their love for Earth Wind & Fire and Chaka Khan.

After they agreed on a set list, Barker set to work creating his own arrangements, in some cases adding elements typically found in a New Orleans Second Line.

“Even within a composition that might sound familiar, there’s a little twist,” says Bolaños Wilmott. “He’s making it more about the now.”

After receiving Barker’s arrangements, Bolaños Wilmott began choreographing along with Jessica Obiedzinski, a company member. If it all sounds easy, it’s not. It’s timeconsuming and repetitive.

The end result is a program that playfully skips across genres. The show runs the gamut from Earth Wind & Fire’s “In the Stone” to Ricky Martin’s “Pegate” to Miles Davis’ “Tutu,” a tribute to the South African archbishop.

In the words of Barker, “It’s really such a fun show, not one that we’ve done before. We’re not staying in one genre and we’ve got a group of 10 musicians and nine dancers.”

What could go wrong? Not much, given the preparation that has gone into the show. But if it does, this gang will be ready to roll with it.

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hat do you get when you cross a modern dance troupe led by a Cuban-American with a fusion band led by an African American? No one is exactly sure.

But the collaboration between Leymis Bolaños Wilmott’s Sarasota Contemporary Dance and bassist Johnnie Barker’s 10-piece band, The Barker Project, promises to be a flavorful Afro-Cuban gumbo with room for improvisation in dance as well as music.

Sarasota Contemporary Dance is known for its innovative performances and for leaving it all on the stage. The Barker Project has its roots in jazz, but the band also incorporates funk, rock, blues and gospel in its music.

As do most jazz bands, The Barker Project lets its musicians improvise in their solos.

Dance is choreographed and the movements are communicated visually in real life and through videos.

OK. But what if you gave dancers the opportunity to freestyle while being accompanied by a band skilled at improvisation? What indeed?

That’s what audiences at SCD + The Barker Project will find out.

We’re not saying this is the first time dancers and musicians have gotten together for a cross-disciplinary jam of sorts. It happens all the time.

But this is the first time that Bolaños Wilmott and Barker, a Tampa Bay native who studied at Berklee College of Music, have brought their troupes together on the same stage.

Even on a Zoom call, their excitement is contagious.

During the interview, Bolaños Wilmott said she was so excited during the previous day’s first full rehearsal for SCD + The Barker Project that she dictated her “notes” to a couple of apprentices. “I couldn’t stop smiling. I was thinking, ‘This is what was in my head during the first meeting with Johnnie,’” she said.

But how does collaboration really work? It starts with an exchange of ideas. During their first meeting, Barker asked Bolaños Wilmott what choreographers had influenced her.

Then he went back and studied their work by watching videos.

Their second meeting was dedicated to music, with Bolaños Wilmott talking about her Cuban heritage, Barker expressing admiration for

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e e l i ub

A show celebrating the timeless brilliance of youth circus

Raise Your Voice Joseph Parrish, baritone Jesse Martins, piano December 12, 11:00 am performance followed by lunch • Sarasota Yacht Club Joseph Parrish, winner of the 2022 Young Concert Artists’ Susan Wadsworth International Auditions, is known for his versatility in both operatic and popular music. Joseph is passionate about giving back to the communities that have nurtured him and works to address diversity in the classical music world. Following his riveting ASC debut in 2023, he collaborates with pianist Jesse Martins from Sarasota Opera in this return engagement. Their program features music of William Grant Still, Donizetti, and Rachmaninoff.

THURSDAY

DEC 26

DEC 29

Thurs-Sat 2 & 7pm Sun 1 & 5pm

TICKETS $20-$40

James Ehnes and Friends James Ehnes, violin • Orion Weiss, piano December 17, 7:30 pm First Congregational United Church of Christ

CircusArts.org

A founding member of the Dover String Quartet, James Ehnes is one of the most in-demand violinists on the international stage. He has won Grammy, Gramophone, and JUNO awards. Joined by pianist Orion Weiss, the pair perform Beethoven’s “Kreutzer” Sonata.

Ehnes also joins forces with violinist Daniel Jordan, violists Stephanie Block and Nathan Frantz, and cellists Natalie Helm and Bjorn Ranheim for Tchaikovsky’s exceptional string sextet, Souvenir de Florence.

Gene Bader

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This project is supported in part by the Community Foundation of Sarasota County; The Exchange; Gulf Coast Community Foundation; National Endowment for the Arts; the Sarasota County Tourist Development Tax Revenues; and the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation.

SUNDAY

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ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT | THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2024

REVIEW

Asolo Repertory Theatre puts its own stamp on its production of the hit Broadway show, “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.”

Image courtesy of Adrian Van Stee

This ‘Natural Woman’ never gets old Asolo Rep’s ‘Beautiful: The Carole King Musical’ celebrates the music of the timeless singer and her talented friends.

MARTY FUGATE THEATRE CRITIC

“B

eautiful: The Carole King Musical” is weaving a tapestry of song on the Asolo Rep stage. Carole King’s prolific music is the main thread, but she wasn’t a one-woman band.

Douglas McGrath’s musical shows that no artist is an island.

Like most creative people, King did her best work with others.

At age 16, she joined Dimension Records’ team of lyricists and composers in New York City’s famed Brill Building.

Thanks to a mix of astronomically improbable luck and prodigious talent, King entered that charmed circle. After that, she was off and running.

King’s odyssey begins with an unscheduled audition with music producer Don Kirshner (Matthew Feld). She shows up in his office and sings “It Might as Well Rain Until September” — and that song is her golden ticket.

Kirshner knows hit-making talent when he sees it — and immediately puts King to work. King

quickly teams up with Gerry Goffin (Devin Archer), a high school crush now studying chemistry at Queens College. King and Goffin have their own chemistry. Before you can say, “unplanned pregnancy,” they get married.

As to the beautiful music they make, the duo’s hits include “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” (The Shirelles), “The Locomotion” (Little Eva) and “Some Kind of Wonderful” (The Drifters).

King and Goffin make friends with another songwriting couple down the hall at the Brill Building: Cynthia Weil (Emma Bespolka) and Barry Mann (Ryan Vona).

Mann and Weil’s string of hits can’t compete with those of King and Goffin.

After a few more chart-toppers, Goffin thinks he rushed into marriage with King. It’s now the mid’60s and Goffin wants an “open” marriage. King’s heartbroken, but puts up with the arrangement for a few years.

She finally wises up and divorces Goffin. By the end of the 1960s, King finds her voice. After a decade of writing for others, she finally sings her own songs, and

she sings them her own way.

Her arrangements get back to basics. Piano, guitar, vocals, period. King’s personal liberation is in perfect sync with the nascent women’s liberation movement.

Her music finds a new audience, and her career takes off.

King’s solo flight culminates in 1971 with “Tapestry,” her groundbreaking solo album with timeless tracks like “(You Make Me Feel Like) a Natural Woman,” “It’s Too Late” and the song that gives the show its title.

King brings the album’s songs to Carnegie Hall in a solo concert and also performs her renditions of ’60s hits she co-wrote. Her career flies high in the years that follow.

Shelley Butler’s direction also soars. She’s directed “Beautiful” before, in touring productions where she had limited creative control. In this go-round, Butler’s got the power.

Her vision honors McGrath’s script — which zips like a yo-yo between the characters’ personal lives and the creative arena where thousands either dig you or don’t.

King’s “real” self isn’t public or

IF YOU GO

‘BEAUTIFUL: THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL’ When: Through Jan. 5 Where: FSU Center for the Performing Arts, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota Tickets: $35-$98 Info: Visit AsoloRep.org.

private; it’s both. Butler smartly plays both sides.

The actors can all sing. Or the singers can all act. Either way, they’re all good.

Knitel’s King begins as a behind-the-scenes lyricist with a private life, and then steps into the spotlight as a confident singer/songwriter. Knitel beautifully captures King’s personal and artistic evolution.

Archer’s Goffin has a brooding, rebel-without-a-cause vibe. He’s cool, but maybe it’s an act. (You’re not sure, and neither is he.) His character has artistic ambitions of his own — and enough insecurity to sink a marriage made in musical heaven.

Vona’s Mann is a gangly hypochondriac and a musical mastermind. High IQ, high-pitched nasal voice. It’s very Jerry Lewis, though he doesn’t break the furniture. Bespolka’s Weil is sexy and chic, without a trace of selfdoubt. She’s great, and she knows it. Their characters are the perfect odd couple — until they aren’t.

Feld’s Kirshner is an unflappable human dousing-rod who instantly detects songwriting talent. And totally supports it — just so long as his lyricists and composers deliver.

Angela Steiner’s music direction blends high production values with heart. At the beginning, you get a glimpse of how songs born as piano riffs in small rooms become elaborate routines in TV studios and concert halls.

Steiner deftly paints the primary colors of King’s musical metamorphosis and her journey from New York’s Brill Building to producer Lou Adler’s LA recording studio at A&M Records. Brava!

Banji Aborisade’s choreography evokes the slick precision of early 1960s bands like “The Drifters” and “The Shirelles” and then the dionysiac rhythms of the hippie era.

Alejo Vietti’s costumes start off with sharkskin shimmer and pastel flounce in the early 1960s.

He also shows King’s character development as she relaxes into a bohemian groove.

Reid Thompson’s versatile set captures the 1960s and 1970s music scene with bold colors and hip details. Kudos to lighting designer Alan Edwards for the neon records above the stage (which keep score on the various couples’ hits) and the big “How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall?” sign. The show, of course, answers that question. That said, it’s not a documentary.

The “Beautiful” world on stage isn’t the real world. The musical simplifies King’s life story and speeds things up with zippy scene and song transitions. The tunes make spot-on commentaries about the songwriters’ daily lives.

To an artist, everyday life is just material. But real life is never quite so neat — or entertaining.

“Beautiful” streamlines the tale, and keeps you entertained.

The musical’s core truths shine through in well-drawn characters, not “Behind the Music” cliches.

“Beautiful” has no bad guys. This show doesn’t demonize Goffin or make Kirshner a dark eminence.

Despite divorces, broken hearts and rough times, they stay with King for her triumphant concert.

And that answers the big neon question ...

How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall?

With a little help from your friends.

JANUARY 17, 2025 6:30 – 10:30 P . M .

RITZ-CARLTON, SARASOTA Join us for an uplifting evening featuring a special performance and keynote

by Broadway artist Chester Gregory, powerful stories about our Blue Door programs, and a look into the future of Sunshine From Darkness.

A H O L I D AY T R A D I T I O N

PROCEEDS SUPPORT: Blue Door Services: Emotional literacy workshops for youth.

Youth Mental Health Research: Advancing treatments and solutions.

Let’s connect, inspire, and spark lasting change—together.

Presented by the Lee & Bob Peterson Foundation

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2024

Deborah Blue, Kim Marlow and Joni Bergs make a fabulous entrance at Wine Women & Shoes.

Wine Women & Shoes co-Chairs Renee Phinney and Allison Imre have the guests laughing as they deliver their welcome.

W

ine, Women & Shoes Sarasota ages like a fine wine: It keeps getting better, as was evidenced by its 18th anniversary

event.

With 430 guests, The RitzCarlton, Sarasota’s ballroom was filled to capacity, the noise was deafening, the shoes were outrageous and the dancers had everyone in awe of their aerobic prowess. With thunderous applause, the models strutted in fabulous attire and fashionable footwear.

Wine, Women & Shoes Sarasota benefits Forty Carrots Family Center, founded in 1993 to help families find support. CEO Michelle Kapreilian gave words of thanks to everyone.

Founded by entrepreneur Elaine Honig in 2004, Wine, Women & Shoes began as a local community fundraiser that now boasts events in more than 50 cities in the U.S., and has raised more than $22 million to date. With the expertise of event coordinator Mina Getzen, the event was co-chaired by the dynamic duo from last year: Allison Imre and Renee Phinney, who together with their committees, staff and volunteers once again put their best foot forward to deliver a program that knocked everyone’s socks off.

And, despite this being Florida, socks were donned by many on the chilly morning of Nov. 22.

Who are the 42 “Solemen?”

Comprising delicious dads, flirty firemen and ripped retirees, they are generally good guys who donate their time to greet guests, present designer goodies on silver platters and make the women feel special. They were all smiles and a fashion step ahead in their tux shirts and pants, and expertly trained in schmoozing while making every guest feel like a VIP. Stacey Friday has been a guest at orthodontist Dr. Karen Varone’s table for six years. Friday makes it a point to keep the entire day free to also attend the afterparty held under tents in front of the Ritz-Carlton.

“WWS is a wonderful event for a wonderful cause, and I look forward to supporting for years to come,” said Friday, a dental hygienist.

WINE, WOMEN & SHOES

Renu Greenberg, Stacey Friday, Karen Varone and TL Cordes return for another WWS event.

The ultimate in “soleman” pedigree: Carl Troiano returns in his tux for a second year.

Friday, Nov. 22, at The Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota Benefiting Forty Carrots Family Center

Dynasty Dance Clubs’ opening performance wowed the guests at Wine Women & Shoes, held at The Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota.

Photos by Janet Combs

Falicia Fracassi-Povich, Jules Campos and Jessica Middleton

— JANET COMBS Elizabeth Moore and Dawn Spencer

Wine Women & Shoes was founded in 2004 by Elaine Honig, who is shown with current President & CEO Matthew Ennis.

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BLACK TIE | THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2024

Night of Hope and Healing

CJ Bannister and Alex Knapp play blackjack with dealer Michael Vallillo.

Thursday, Nov. 21, at The Venice Community Center | Benefiting Child Protection Center

Nicholas Rodriguez from Bonefish Grill shakes up a signature drink, pomegranate martinis.

Rachael Fisk and Sally Schule

Ashley and Joshua Connors

Photos by Janet Combs

Tina Gionet with event Chair Chuck Walker

Phil and Fawne Adams

p U n g i S

December 13 - 14

TO RECEIVE

at the Venice Performing Arts Center

MORE THAN A MEAL

with Live Music Accompaniment by the Venice Symphony

December 22 - 23

at the Sarasota Opera House

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Thank you for helping me survive.

Getting old is not for the weak. My meals are such a help to me. The drivers always leave me with a smile and a lift of my spirits!”

–Faye, age 83

The Nutcracker is Our Gift to You this Holiday Season.

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2024

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Randy Kaak, Linda Long, Julie Harris and JoAnn Burhart

Wit & Wisdom of Aging Luncheon Photos by Janet Combs

Co-emcees for the event were Sierra Morris and Hallie Peilet Young.

Saturday, Nov. 23, at Lee Wetherington Club | Benefiting Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota and DeSoto Counties

Pines President and CEO Mike Ward with Vickie Ward

Gregory Matthews and Jane Hunder

Kelly and Melissa Caldwell from the Caldwell Trust Co. with Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota and Manatee Counties President and CEO Bill Sadlo.

Photos by Lori Sax

The Wit and Wisdom Panel included Rick Piccolo, Rae Dowling and Dan Bailey, with Ray Collins moderating.

PREMIER SPONSOR Jonathan and Michelle Mitchell / Glenn and Jackie Tilton HELICOPTER SPONSORS Brian and Sheila Jellison Family Foundation John and Pauline Groetelaars Sunset Automotive Group AMBULANCE SPONSORS Ambitrans Ambulance Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation Robert and Anne Essner Flad Architects Doug Holder Family Foundation Deb Kabinoff Fund / Jon and Libby Soderberg Family Fund The Reinhart Foundation

Saturday, January 4, 2025 The Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota Celebrating Sarasota Memorial's 100th Anniversary

Barbara and Gary Rodkin Williams Parker Attorneys at Law Bob and Angelia Wood

Proceeds support greatest needs at SMH For more information contact Sally Schule at Sally-Schule@smh.com or call 941.374.9700

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Lydia and Julio Cruz

Wednesday, Nov. 20, at Michael’s On East Benefiting The Pines of Sarasota Foundation

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ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT | THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2024

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