Arts + Entertainment 12.26.24

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ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT DECEMBER 26, 2024

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2024 YEAR IN REVIEW

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The Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall canceled its performances through the end of the year.

MONICA ROMAN GAGNIER ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

T

he late Queen Elizabeth called 1992 her “annus horribilis” after two of her sons separated from their wives and Windsor Castle caught fire.

In Sarasota, the closest thing we have to a castle is the Ca’ d’Zan at The Ringling, the former home of John and Mable Ringling. The chateau is closed to public after being damaged by Hurricane Helene.

We’re not ready to declare 2024 a horrible year for Sarasota’s arts and cultural community, but there were certainly some calamities.

The Hermitage Artist Retreat, an incubator on Manasota Key that brings world-class visual and performing artists to town, was hit first

by Hurricane Helene and then again

by Hurricane Milton.

The Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, the “Purple Palace” on Sarasota Bay, was forced to close for the rest of the year due to flooding from Milton on Oct. 9.

When one newcomer to Sarasota heard that the Van Wezel would be closed until 2025, he quipped, “The Van Wezel just canceled Christmas.”

Not quite, but many beloved holiday concerts were either canceled or relocated to other venues.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis took cultural groups by surprise when he vetoed arts grants worth $32 million for the first time in the state’s history. Most of Sarasota’s large cultural institutions — the Sarasota Opera, Sarasota Ballet, Sarasota Orchestra, Asolo Repertory Theatre and Florida Studio Theatre — each lost at least $50,000. Collectively, about 30 local arts groups lost $1.6 million in state funding.

That may not seem like much, but the veto sent a chill through the arts community. The air got colder when three smaller groups — the outdoor art exhibition Embracing Our Differences, the International Chalk Festival and WSLR/Fogartyville — were denied tourism tax funding by the Sarasota County Commission.

The Venice Theatre got the cold shoulder from the county commission when it decided how to allocate $200 million in federal funds to help communities recover from Hurricane Ian and prepare for future storms. The 75-year-old theater still needs $14 million to repair damage to its Jervey Theatre.

What do hurricanes and funding cuts have in common ? Those developments blew long held assumptions out the window. Before 2024, it was believed that Sarasota was safe from a direct hit by a hurricane and that the arts would continue to receive government funding even in politically polarized times.

But our “Cultural Coast” is resilient, resourceful and collaborative.

Arts groups moved quickly to find alternate dates and venues for performances, and donors such as Hugh and Eliza Culverhouse stepped up to

FANCY FOOTWORK Sarasota arts groups showed agility as they dealt with everything from grants cuts to hurricanes.

Image courtesy of Sorcha Augustine

Sara Esty performs in Asolo Rep’s “Crazy For You,” which wrapped Jan. 4.

fill funding gaps. The Culverhouses donated $107,643 to Embracing Our Differences to replace state and county funding.

The news wasn’t all bad. Five Tampa Bay museums, including The Ringling and the Sarasota Art Museum, joined forces for the Skyway exhibit of contemporary Florida art.

Nik Wallenda launched a new circus and Marie Selby Botanical Gardens opened the world’s first net positive energy restaurant, The Green Orchid.

After a two-year search, Sarasota Orchestra found a new music director, Nashville Symphony Music Director Giancarlo Guerrero.

A month after Milton, Sarasota Rising founder Jeffery Kin produced the first Living Arts Festival, which buoyed spirits after the storms.

Arts groups were forced to turn on a dime in 2024. That’s why we’ve dubbed it the “Year of Fancy Footwork.” Little did we know when Sara Esty was tapping her heart out in Asolo Rep’s “Crazy For You,” she was setting an example for all of us.

Sand dunes rose to nearly the top of the first floor at one of the Hermitage Retreat’s historic buildings following Hurricane Helene.

Right: “Undom Endgle and the Souls’ Journey” by Trenton Doyle Hancock in the Skyway exhibition at Sarasota Art Museum.

Image courtesy of Michael Underwood

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SEE YEAR IN REVIEW PAGE 2

A Native American dancer performs at the Living Arts Festival opening party in the Art Ovation Hotel.

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ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT | THURSDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2024

Marie Selby Botanical Gardens opens a major expansion

Image courtesy of Foteini Christofilopoulou

The Sarasota Ballet won favor with London critics with such productions as Sir Frederick Ashton’s “Dante Sonata,” part of the program of “Ashton Celebrated.” at the Royal Opera House.

Sarasota Ballet is the talk of Londontown Because he’s a native of Yorkshire, it wasn’t strange to hear Sarasota Ballet Director Iain talking about the dangers of “taking coals to Newcastle” when he discussed his company’s participation in the Royal Ballet’s 2024 celebration of British choreographer Sir Frederick Ashton.

Webb and his wife, Sarasota Ballet Assistant Director Margaret Barbieri, have been dedicated to preserving the dances of Ashton and the English style of ballet since they arrived at the Sarasota Ballet in 2007.

Earlier in their careers, Webb and Barbieri danced the principal roles in Ashton ballets at the Royal Ballet, where Ashton was choreographer under Ninette de Valois and later director of the company.

In the U.S., where the legacy of Russo-American choreographer George Balanchine continues to loom large, Ashton ballets are not performed as frequently in the rest of the country as they are here.

In June, the Sarasota Ballet flew to London and performed in “Ashton

Celebrated” at the invitation of Royal Ballet Director Kevin O’Hare, but the residency at the Royal Opera House was fraught with peril, to hear Webb tell it.

How would London critics and audiences respond to Sarasota Ballet’s renditions of Ashton’s ensembledriven “Dante Sonata,” the showcase of choreographic satires “Facade,” the abstract “Sinfonietta,” the waltzing “Valses nobles et sentimentales” and Ashton’s self-parody “Varii Capricci?”

Would the company’s efforts be dismissed because Ashton’s works are familiar to ballet lovers on the other side of the pond?

Fortunately Webb’s fears were for naught. The ticket sales were brisk, the reviews were glowing across the board with one exception and Webb left London with a heavier suitcase than when he arrived.

He came home with the British National Dance Award for Outstanding Achievement, named in honor of Dame de Valois. You can’t pick up that kind of souvenir at an airport gift shop; it’s the work of a lifetime.

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Selby Gardens’ new welcome center was designed by SweetSparkman Architecture.

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Nik Wallenda debuts his Wonderland circus Superstar aerialist Nik Wallenda opened his first Wonderland in 2023, but the circus wrapped in 2024, so we’re including it this year.

A member of the famed Flying Wallenda family that has been entertaining audiences since the 1700s, Nik Wallenda is billed as Sarasota’s Hometown Hero, and with good reason.

In addition to performing daring feats that have been broadcast globally on network TV, Wallenda walks the high wire at home.

In 2023, he started what already has become a holiday tradition with the help of Pedro Reis and Dolly Jacobs, co-founders of the Circus Arts Conservatory.

The CAC has its own Circus Sarasota, which performs in a tent in February and The Ringling’s jewelbox Historic Asolo Theater in the summer. Would there be enough demand to support both Wonderland and Circus Sarasota?

So far, so good. Last year, Wonderland drew 50,000 audience members, and Wallenda says he expects to hit 60,000 this year with a show that’s got all the holidays covered, not just the yuletide ones.

In 2017, when Marie Selby Botanical Gardens announced a $92 million project to build a new welcome center, parking garage and research facility on its waterfront property, the plan wasn’t exactly hailed by its neighbors. They worried that it would increase traffic and noise in the area.

But when Joel Morganroth, chair of the board of trustees, cut the ribbon on Phase 1 of the expansion in January, the welcome was considerably warmer. Speakers praised the innovative upgrade, which added 188,030 square feet of new facilities to Selby Gardens’ downtown campus.

Additions such as the Morganroth Family Living Energy Access Facility enabled the opening of the world’s first net-positive energy restaurant entirely utilizing solar power in May. Operated by Michael’s On East, The Green Orchid sources its fresh produce from a rooftop garden and is powered by a nearly 50,000-square-foot array of solar panels.

The world took notice of Selby’s makeover. It was named one of Time magazine’s “World’s Greatest Places” for 2024, placed third in USA Today’s Readers Choice Awards for best botanical garden in the U.S. and was cited

by The Wall Street Journal as one of five places for the best architecture of 2024.

Unlike some of Sarasota’s cultural jewels, Selby Gardens held up well during a busy storm season. Its worldrenowned collection of orchids, bromeliads and other plants survived intact.

But Hurricane Helene delayed the opening of the annual orchid show and Milton forced the cancellation of the annual “Lights at Spooky Point.” In the aftermath, Selby managed to put up 2 million twinkling lights for its holiday Lights in Bloom show at its downtown campus.

Selby got a boost in December, when President and CEO Jennifer Rominiecki announced the capital campaign for the master plan’s second phase has reached 66% of its $60.9 million goal.

Sarasota Orchestra hires a new music director It took almost two years, but Sarasota Orchestra found a music director who may have the power to inspire as much devotion as his predecessor, beloved maestro Bramwell Tovey, who died unexpectedly in 2022.

The Grammy Award-winning conductor Giancarlo Guerrero, who begins his job full time during the 2025-26 season, is only the seventh music director during Sarasota Orchestra’s 75-year history.

He is currently completing his 16th season as the music director of the Nashville Symphony. However, he made a triumphant debut in his first appearance as music director designate at the Sarasota Opera House in November, conducting the first Masterworks concert of the season, “Going Places.”

In her review for the Observer, Gayle Williams wrote, ”His movement was purposeful though at times entertaining on its own.

Skipping, bouncing, even stomping on the podium translated into a forceful and clearly disciplined performance that won the hearts of the audience.”

Born in Nicaragua in 1969 to a family that fled civil war and immigrated to Costa Rica, Guerrero received his training as a member of Costa Rica Youth Symphony and the Costa Rican National Symphony Orchestra. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Baylor University and a master’s from Northwestern University.

Guerrero clearly has the passion that Sarasota Orchestra’s audiences expect from their conductors, but he also has the commitment to youth training and community outreach that will serve the institution well as it builds its new Music Center.

Earlier this month, Sarasota Orchestra made its final appointment to the development team for a 32-acre site on Fruitville Road near I-75. OJB Landscape Architecture joins Boston’s William Rawn Associates, which is the design architect, executive architect HKS of Orlando, Stage Consultants of New Jersey, the acoustics and theater planner, and George F. Young of St. Petersburg, civil engineer.

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Catara Brae played a woman accused of murdering a doctor in Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe’s original musical “Ruby.”

WBTT presents a polished ‘Ruby’ Audience members at the world premiere of Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe’s “Ruby” may not have realized Sarasota’s homegrown Black theater was making history with the production, but it was.

During its 25-year history, WBTT founder and Artistic Director Nate Jacobs has been delighting audiences with his musical revues and with plays and musicals by others.

Some WBTT revues, like “Marvin Gaye: Prince of Soul” have been so popular that they have been revived more than once.

But “Ruby” was WBTT’s first fully realized musical production. It was finally staged in April 2024, after the pandemic and its aftermath caused “Ruby” to be postponed, not just once, but two times. “The third time was the charm,” Jacobs says.

The story of a prosperous Black woman in 1950s Florida who killed a white physician was first suggested by one of WBTT’s patrons. The muse, whose name has been lost to history, was impressed that the murder case was covered by famed Black author Zora Neale Hurston.

Jacobs says he wouldn’t have been able to create “Ruby,” which starred Catara Brae as Ruby McCollum and Ashley Elizabeth Crowe as Zora Neale Hurston, without the help of his brother. Michael Jacobs collaborated with Nate on the book for “Ruby” and wrote the lyrics.

Composer Nehemiah Luckett received credit for “additional music,” but Jacobs says Luckett’s experience with orchestral arrangements was invaluable in bringing “Ruby” to the stage.

Not everyone was pleased with the outcome of “Ruby,” whose heroine was involved in a sexual relationship with the doctor she killed and who was sent to the state insane asylum in Chattahoochee before being eventually released. McCollum died at the age of 82 in 1992.

Jacobs countered those who thought McCollum got off easy for the crime of murder by noting she was likely coerced into the affair with her doctor. In any event, the audience’s verdict on “Ruby” came down firmly in favor of WBTT.

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ARTS YEAR IN REVIEW

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ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

Sarasota School of Architecture member Victor Lundy dies at 101

An artist’s rendering of Galloway’s Furniture Showroom, an iconic Mid-Century Modern building designed by Victor Lundy.

goda Building, now the home of The Bay, and St. Paul Lutheran Church.

Lundy was the subject of exhibition at Architecture Sarasota’s McCullough Pavilion and was formally honored during its Modernism Weekend in 2023 and again this year after his death.

In a statement issued following Lundy’s death, Architecture Sarasota President Morris “Marty” Hylton III said, “Lundy’s buildings

often rely on simple, symmetrical plans based on pure geometries that bely the complex sections and spaces made possible by the laminated wood structural systems.”

Born Feb. 1, 1923, to Russian immigrants in New York City, Lundy was studying architecture at New York University when he enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1942. After World War II, Lundy earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in architecture at Harvard.

He arrived in Sarasota in 1951, opened an architecture firm in 1954 and worked here until 1960, when he moved back to New York City after marrying Anstis Burwell.

The couple relocated to Houston in the 1970s. They had two sons, Nicholas and Mark. Anstis Burwell Lundy, who died in 2009, introduced her husband to Colorado, where they built a home in Aspen.

Even though Lundy left Sarasota more than 60 years ago, his work continues to be admired and preserved. Several of Lundy’s buildings are on the registry called “Moderns That Matter: Sarasota 100” recently compiled with input from the community by Architecture Sarasota.

A succession plan succeeds at Circus Arts Conservatory net programs at Sarasota High School and Booker Middle School.

It is impossible to underestimate the role Jacobs and Reis played in reviving the circus arts in Sarasota, once the summer home of Ringing Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

“When Dolly and Pedro started Circus Sarasota, our community was one with a rich circus heritage but no working circus,” notes Key Chorale Artistic Director Joseph Caulkins, who collaborates with Reis each year on the Cirque des Voix (Circus of Voices).”

The CAC presents Circus Sarasota under the big top each year during season and in the summer at The Ringling’s jewelbox Historic Asolo Theater. In 2024, Circus Sarasota had a summer residency for the first time in the Berkshires of Massachusetts, where it was well received.

In the last fiscal year, the CAC presented 250 performances to 117,000 audience members, educated 9,000 students across 45 schools and five counties in Florida and trained more than 120 year-round student athletes through the Sailor Circus Academy.

The group also trained 1,000 summer campers and mentored 110 in-school circus students through magnet programs.

Courtesy images

Circus Arts Conservatory co-founders Dolly Jacobs and Pedro Reis and CAC President and CEO Jennifer Mitchell break ground on the renovation of the Sailor Circus Arena.

Although Reis and Jacobs are relinquishing their top management titles, they will continue to provide guidance and support to the CAC. Reis will hold the title of founder while Jacobs will serve as vice president.

Reis will continue to work as a producer for Circus Sarasota and to pursue his dream of bringing a circus arts festival to Sarasota.

Sarasota’s first Living Arts Festival arrives just in time It was Tuesday, Nov. 19, and Sarasota Rising founder Jeffery Kin was still walking on air two days after the close of the first Living Arts Festival, a project he had been working on for three years. Kin, the longtime artistic director of the Sarasota Players, couldn’t have been blamed if he decided to burst into song, a trait that’s not unusual among theater folk.

What Broadway tune would he have chosen?

We’ll vote for “It’s a Hit” from Stephen Sondheim’s “Merrily We Roll Along.”

Kin’s fledging festival drew attention, audiences and appreciation just weeks after Hurricane Milton knocked out major venues in town, including one that Kin had booked for his eight-day fest.

To riff further on “Merrily,” the Blob was also giving the first Living Arts Festival a thumbs-up.

What, you ask, is the Blob?

In Sondheim’s play, it’s a group of tastemakers who collectively decide what’s in and what’s out. Before internet influencers, we depended on the Blob to measure an event’s hip quotient.

As he sat in the shadow of a statue of Sarasota founding father John Gillespie in Links Park doing a postmortem with a reporter, passersby stopped to congratulate Kin. Sarasota Rising’s closing event, “A Celebration of Youth,” was a rousing success, thanks to help from Joseph Caulkins, artistic director of Key Chorale, and Circus Arts Conservatory co-founder Pedro Reis.

The Sunday night show took place in the CAC’s Sailor Circus Arena and featured the next generation of Sarasota’s performers — singers, dancers, musicians and circus artists.

The students came from organizations such as the Circus Arts Conservatory, Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe, Cuban Ballet School, the Sarasota Ballet Studio Co., the Venice and Riverview High School choirs and others.

“We’re broke, but it was worth it,” Kin said after the Living Arts Festival. He had budgeted carefully, but expenses shot up at the last minute when FEMA took over the Sarasota Municipal Auditorium in the wake of Hurricane Milton. As a result, Sarasota Rising had to rent more tents than planned for its “Rise and Shine Saturday” on the Municipal Green next door.

No matter. The ever-ebullient Kin was ready to once again beat the drum for Sarasota’s answer to South Carolina’s Spoleto and raise more money.

He had defied the skeptics and demonstrated the power of collaboration in a community that buckled but didn’t break from unprecedented weather. Finally, Kin could exhale.

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It had been apparent for years that Pedro Reis and Dolly Jacobs, co-founders of the Circus Arts Conservatory, were grooming Jennifer Mitchell to be the next leader of the 25-year-old nonprofit. But no one was sure when the handover was going to occur.

At the end of the day on Nov. 19, the CAC announced that Mitchell, a 16-year veteran of the umbrella organization for Circus Sarasota and the Sailor Circus Academy, would assume the role of president and CEO immediately.

Mitchell was previously CAC executive vice president and chief operating officer, a position she held for more than a decade. She joined the circus arts organization in 2008, when it was known as Circus Sarasota, as marketing and public relations coordinator.

In a statement, the CAC credited Mitchell with the 2011 acquisition of the Sailor Circus, which led to the creation of the conservatory in 2013.

During Mitchell’s tenure as COO, the CAC participated in a Circus program at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 2017 and completed a $5 million campaign to renovate and add air conditioning to the Sailor Circus Arena. Mitchell also served as the lead strategist in developing circus mag-

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2024

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As the end of his life approached, architect Victor Lundy was far from forgotten. An exhibition at the Sarasota Art Museum that was jointly organized with Architecture Sarasota honoring Lundy’s circular design for Galloway’s Furniture Showroom was praised by the Wall Street Journal.

Word was that the WSJ article was read to Lundy before he died on Nov. 4 in Texas at the age of 101. The SAM show, “Modern Masterpiece Uncovered: Galloway’s Furniture Showroom by Victor Lundy,” closed Oct. 27.

Lundy was a leading member of the Sarasota School of Architecture, a group whose existence the self-proclaimed “wild man” was known to deny.

The school, which includes such architectural luminaries as Ralph Twitchell, Paul Rudolph, Carl Abbott and Ralph and William Zimmerman, was part of a movement to build innovative homes, schools and churches in the post-World War II era.

In addition to Galloway’s Furniture Showroom, which sits on the SAM grounds and is currently used for storage, Lundy designed such Sarasota landmarks as the Blue Pa-

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ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT | THURSDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2024

THURSDAY

THIS WEEK

WONDERLAND CIRCUS: ‘ILLUMINATE’ 2 and 6 p.m. at the Big Top at UTC, 195 University Town Center Drive $30-$100 Visit CircusArts.org.

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

Runs through Jan. 5, 2025.

‘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.

Not just another jukebox musical, Asolo Repertory Theatre’s production of “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical” tells the story of King’s life, from her early days churning out songs for other artists with thenhusband Gerry Goffin to her rise as the voice of her generation. Runs through Jan. 5, 2025.

DON’T MISS SAILOR CIRCUS HOLIDAY 75TH ANNIVERSARY SHOWS During eight Diamond Jubilee shows, 60 Red Troupe members — the most advanced circus students — pay tribute to the rich history of the Sailor Circus Academy with appearances by alumni such as Circus Arts Conservatory cofounder Dolly Jacobs and with photos and videos showcasing memorable performances over the years. Audiences will enjoy the trampoline wall, high wire, juggling, skating and flying trapeze and other circus arts. Runs through Dec. 29.

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‘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 remember the Jackson Five singing “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” to appreciate Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe’s “Motown Christmas.” This energetic program of Hitsville holiday favorites guaranteed to warm the hearts of any Grinch. Runs through Jan. 5.

‘THE HEART SELLERS’ 8 p.m. at FST’s Keating Theatre, 1241 N. Palm Ave. $25-$42 Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.

Take a time trip back to Thanksgiving 1973 when a chance meeting between two recent Asian immigrants develops into an unexpected friendship. Runs through Feb. 16.

The 75th anniversary shows of Sailor Circus take place from Dec. 26-29 at Sailor Circus Arena.

IF YOU GO When: 2 and 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 26 Where: Sailor Circus Arena, 2075 Bahia Vista St. Tickets: $20-$40 Info: Visit CircusArts.org.

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

Jazz Club of Sarasota presents 14 winners of its 2024 scholarship awards, performing in jazz jam and concert format.

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. 12, 2025.

SUNDAY ’SHINIQUE SMITH: PARADE’ 10 a.m. at The Ringling Museum of Art, 5401 Bay Shore Road Free with $25 admission Visit Ringling.org.

FRIDAY FRIDAY JAZZ @ TWO 2 p.m. at Unitarian Universalist SRQ, 3975 Fruitville Road. $15-$20 Visit JazzClubSarasota.org.

The yearlong exhibition of Shinique Smith’s colorful fabric sculptures in dialogue with The Ringling’s Renaissance masterpieces is coming to a close. The cross-

cultural conversation embodies the universality of the human experience while incorporating voices of the African American diaspora and circus. The end result?

Nothing short of monumental. Runs through Jan. 5.

SALUTE TO VIENNA NEW YEAR’S CONCERT 7 p.m. at the Sarasota Opera House, 61 N. Pineapple Ave. $32-$112 Visit SaluteToVienna.com.

Moved from the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall to the Sarasota Opera House, this Old World

OUR PICK

PERLMAN MUSIC PROGRAM WINTER RESIDENCY It’s the most wonderful time of year — when the Perlman Music Program comes to town for its winter residency.

Founded 20 years ago by virtuoso violinist Itzhak Perlman and his wife, Toby, PMP Suncoast will bring together 32 gifted young musicians to receive mentoring and performance experience.

For music lovers, that means free admission to rehearsals, master classes and works in progress in a heated tent. The residency runs through Jan. 10.

IF YOU GO When: 7:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 30 Where: USF Sarasota-Manatee campus, 8350 N. Tamiami Trail Tickets: Free Info: Visit PerlmanMusicProgramSuncoast.org.

program re-creates the beloved concert hosted each year during Vienna’s Golden Age. The short musical pieces performed by a full orchestra, including the Blue Danube Waltz, are brought to life by ballroom dancing and ballet, ushering in the new year with charm and elegance.

TUESDAY NEW YEAR’S EVE BLOCK PARTY 1 p.m. on Pineapple Avenue Downtown Free Visit DestinationDowntownSarasota. com.

New York has the ball in Times Square, Key West has its Red Shoe Drop and Sarasota greets the new year with a 12-hour block party that culminates in the famous Pineapple Drop. Now in its 25th year, the party gets underway at 1 p.m. in Five Points Park, with food, fun and festivities for the family, including live music and carnival rides for kids.

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Acrylic and velvet flock on wood panel, 72 x 56 x 2 in. Museum purchase with funds from Drs. George and Sarah Pappas Art Acquisition Fund, 2022, 2022.33. © William Villalongo. Courtesy of © Villalongo Studio LLC. Photo: Bill Massey 437733-1

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ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT | THURSDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2024

IF YOU GO ‘MENOPAUSE THE MUSICAL 2: CRUISING THROUGH THE CHANGE’ When: Jan. 4 Where: Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail Tickets: $45-$85 Info: Visit VanWezel.org.

Image courtesy of Mark Garvin

The Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall will reopen with “Menopause The Musical 2: Cruising Through the Change” on Jan. 4.

Melanie Souza is making the most out of ‘Menopause’ (the musical) The Sarasota resident became a professional actress in midlife.

MONICA ROMAN GAGNIER ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

T

hese days, it’s considered poor form to comment on someone’s appearance in any way — size, color, age, etc. But Sarasota actress Melanie Souza started it, so let’s keep it going.

During a telephone interview, Souza mentioned that she’s 4 feet, 11 inches tall. Her professional profile

at theater trade publication Backstage lists Souza as 5 foot 1, but who are we to quibble about details?

Oddly enough, Souza hails from Rhode Island, whose nickname is “Little Rhody” because it’s the smallest state in the U.S. When you’re an aspiring actor and you’re really tall, like the late actor Fred Gwynne (“My Cousin Vinnie,” TV’s “The Munsters”), or diminutive like Souza, casting directors remember you for character roles.

A full-time Florida resident since 2000, Souza became a professional actress as a second act in life. After a career in hairdressing, she began performing here in community theater and after joining Actors Equity,

Melanie Souza

in regional theater and touring productions from Maine to Florida.

Souza is part of an ensemble cast in “Menopause the Musical 2: Cruising Through the Change.” It’s the first show at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall when it reopens on Jan. 4.

As its tagline implies, “MTM 2” is set on a cruise ship. It features frank and funny discussion about a oncetaboo topic as well as a lot of singing and dancing.

Souza was also in the original “MTM.” In both shows, her character is known as “Earth Mother.”

We haven’t seen either of the “Menopause” musicals, but we’ll assume that someone called “Earth Mother” might recommend natural

INSIGHTS & 2024 INSPIRATIONS 2025

remedies for hot flashes. Just a guess.

We don’t want to ruin things for those seeing the musical for the first time. When an interviewer tells Souza that she overheard women in the bathroom of the Sarasota Opera House discussing their upcoming girls outing to “MTM 2,” the actress replied, “It’s a sisterhood.”

She elaborated by saying, “It’s four women on stage. We talk about things and the women in the audience say, ‘OMG, that’s me. I gotta bring my girlfriend.’ They often come more than once.”

The original “MTM” had music that echoes the sounds of the 1960s and ’70s, but the sequel dances to more of an ’80s beat, Souza says.

According to her Backstage professional profile, Souza, who is of Portuguese descent, can play 48- to 58-year-old women of various ethnic backgrounds, including Middle Eastern, European and multiracial.

What does that mean?

In “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical,” Souza played the singer’s mother, Genie King, in a production at Theatre by the Sea in her native Rhode Island. She portrayed Abuela Claudia “In the Heights” at American Stage in the Park in St. Petersburg.

Souza is a favorite in ensemble productions such as “9 to 5 the Musical,” in which she’s played Roz Keith both at Theatre by the Sea and at The Alhambra in Jacksonville.

THE FAMILY THAT SINGS TOGETHER ...

When Souza was growing up, she dreamed of becoming a ballerina and began taking lessons at the age of 3.

While her mother was a homemaker and her father was a firefighter, they were a musical family and encouraged their daughter’s talents.

A big inspiration was her aunt,

Marie Chaplin, who was the catalyst for six family members performing in a musical revue called “All These Years.” Her aunt is still singing at age 88, though she has officially retired, Souza says.

Souza graduated from the University of Maine in Farmington, where she developed her love of theater.

However, after college she took a practical turn: She went to hairdressing school.

In addition to operating her own salon, “Rave Reviews” (note the theatrical reference), on the east side of Providence, she taught hairdressing and became a platform artist at hair shows.

“Hair show openings are flashy.

You have costumes and dancers. I was able to use some of my theater skills there,” she says.

Theater was on the back burner until Souza and her husband moved to Sarasota full time and she became involved in community theater.

A turning point came when she met her mentor, vocal coach Carlo Thomas, she says. Every time she appears on stage, Souza sends love to “Carlo” in the playbills that audiences receive at performances.

After starring as Sally Bowles in Venice Little Theatre’s production of “Cabaret” in 2006, Souza decided to get her Actors Equity card, which would make her a professional in the eyes of the theater world.

To get that coveted card, Souza participated in a special program requiring her to perform for 50 weeks in professional theaters. “It takes time because most contracts are six weeks. It took me six years,” she says.

Does Souza have any advice for actors who want to make the jump from community theater to legit (professional) theater?

“You have to really want it,” she says. “You’re away from home a lot if you want to work, so your family has to support your dreams.”

With many casting directors requiring online submissions of auditions, a trend that started during the pandemic and stuck around, Souza advises aspiring actors to get a ring light and invest in good video recording equipment. “Have really great cameras and sound,” she says.

The most important tip: “Follow the instructions.”

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RUTH REICHL EATING OUR WORDS 7 pm | The Ora at the Morganroth Event Center | $36-72

Ruth Reichl is recognized as one of the most discerning voices in the food world, with accolades as a bestselling author, revered restaurant critic, and culinary industry influencer. Her icon status stems from groundbreaking roles in food journalism, including restaurant critic at The New York Times and Editor-in-Chief of Gourmet magazine. A six-time James Beard Award winner, capped by her 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award, Reichl's work raises her to the highest tier of her field with top honors for best-selling books, magazine articles, restaurant critique, and multimedia food commentary.

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ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2024

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Executive director of Artist Series Concerts announces retirement The group’s board has formed a search committee to find a successor.

MONICA ROMAN GAGNIER ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

A

rtist Series Concerts has announced that its executive director, Marcy Miller, will retire at the end of the 2024-25 season.

Miller has been in the position since 2019, when she was hired as the successor to John Fischer, who served as the cultural group’s managing director for 17 years.

Prior to joining Artist Series Concerts, Miller served as executive director of the William King Museum of Art in Abingdon, Virginia.

The organization that is today known as Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota was conceived in 1996 by co-founders Jerold Ross and Lee Dougherty Ross. Dedicated to promoting excellence in live musical performance, Artist Series Concerts presents about 25 concert programs a year.

During her tenure with Artist Series Concerts, Miller moved the group’s concerts from indoors to outdoors as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The al fresco format was so well received, the group added two outdoor events each year.

Miller is credited for obtaining a $50,000 grant from the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation to create an artist residency program, allowing it to reach more students.

Miller also helped recruit Sarasota Orchestra Concert Master Daniel Jordan as director of artistic planning at Artist Series Concerts. “His expertise and passion have been instrumental in bringing remarkable performers to Sarasota, and his work continues to elevate the quality of the performances we present to our community,” she said.

Miller told patrons and donors in an email that her job at Artist Series

Courtesy image

Concerts has been “more than an occupation — it has been a calling.”

She added, “I am deeply committed to our mission of supporting the next generation of musical talent, from launching the careers of rising young stars to nurturing music education and competition opportunities for students in our community.

This mission will always hold a special place in my heart.”

Commenting on programming, Jordan said, “In addition to presenting young talent, we also look to balance our offerings with some of the top performers in the world today, who help us nurture students in our own community through outreach into local schools.”

Following her retirement, Miller said she plans to travel with her husband and spend time with their children and grandchildren. She will remain involved with Artist Series Concerts both as a board member and a volunteer.

Miller’s love of live performance predates her arrival in Sarasota. She is a singer who performed in school productions growing up. In college, she sang with Yale’s all-women’s a cappella group, the New Blue.

Artist Series Concerts’ board of directors has formed a search committee to find Miller’s successor. To apply, visit ArtistSeriesConcerts. org. The application period closes on Jan. 31, with a start date in early May.

Marcy Miller is stepping down as executive director of Artist Series Concerts.

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2024

Best of Black Tie After all, what would a social season be without circus acts, picturesque ballrooms and plenty of surprises for those engaged in Sarasota’s philanthropic scene?

OBSERVER STAFF

W

hat a year! The Black Tie season came out bigger and better in 2024 with stylish events, gorgeous themes and a few changes to keep things fresh (including maybe some not-sowelcome ones with a few hurricanes).

But those who participate in Sarasota’s philanthropy know that although the parties can be dazzling, there’s a reason for the season: raising millions to fund the numerous nonprofits in town and their worthwhile causes.

Here are some of our favorite moments of the year from the social scene.

Mirali Chawla, Umbreen Khalidi-Majeed and Nathalie Michalowski

BEST PARTY

Lori Sax

WONDERBALL

Dancing, an internationally known DJ and glow sticks galore. It was all party, no pretense at this year’s Wonderball, which raised money for the Circus Arts Conservatory.

Lori Sax

HOSPITAL GALA

Nancy DeVries and Jennifer Hunnings

Holy sparkles, Batman. Sarasota Memorial Healthcare Foundation’s Hospital Gala is one of the most successful fundraisers of the year in terms of dollars, but it also sets the bar for beauty in transforming The Ritz Carlton, Sarasota into one of the most elegant event backgrounds around.

Lori Sax

Steven Brown, WBTT Founder and Artistic Director Nate Jacobs and Patricia Vandenberg

WESTCOAST BLACK THEATRE ANNIVERSARY GALA Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe founder Nate Jacobs couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate the theater’s 25th anniversary than with a gala filled with show-stopping performances.

MEMORABLE MOMENTS

CIRCUS GALA

It’s dinner with a side of circus, and this year’s show by the Circus Arts Conservatory wowed the audience with a royal theme.

The Sweet Escape Trio: Allana Belanger, Alina Reutska and Raushaniia Sakun Scotti Horowitz, Dan Malawsky, Tess Koncick and Willa Nance

WINE, WOMEN & SHOES

Wine? Shoes? The occasional shirtless male? Five-hundred or so of your new best friends? This blockbuster event for Forty Carrots Family Center always seems to outdo itself, and this year was no exception.

Photos by Janet Combs

Jeremy and Alysha Shelby model with their children, Jersey, Ashyer and Alyza

FLIP FLOPS & FASHION

Given the fact that Venice Beach and Sharky’s on the Pier got hammered with hurricanes just a few weeks prior to this event, restaurant staff and Children First rallied to get everything ready for Flip Flops & Fashion Nov. 1. It gave both organizers and attendees a much-needed moment to have some fun.

Spotted from 10 tables away: Dolce & Gabbana’s Canvas Floral Print Sandals worn by Claire Conway.

Right: Jane Jankulovski and Ethan Kidd-Oyakhilome define their core values at WW&S 2024.

Nina SeduleRoss loves to show off her lobster.

ARTFUL LOBSTER

After being hit not once, but twice by hurricanes, the Hermitage Artist Retreat dusted the sand off itself and kept on marching with its Artful Lobster event, relocated to The Ora under the circumstances.

YourObserver.com

BLACK TIE

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2024

BLACK TIE

The lone wearer of cat ears is Kendra Simpkins, with Carrie Dennison to celebrate Cat Depot’s 20th anniversary.

Janet Combs

Janet Combs

Ron Kendall is dressed in style with Kristi and Michael Ballantyne at Party in Paradise, benefiting Gulf Coast Conservation Foundation (now Big Waters Land Trust).

Katherine Harris as the Good Witch, and her counterpart, Elle McComb, aka The Wicked Witch of the West, at Cooking for Wishes, benefiting the Make-AWish Foundation.

Nancy Guth

Ringling Students Isabelle Drischler and Kendall Gathas at Ringling College of Art and Design’s Avant-Garde event.

STANDOUTS We love a good theme — and the folks who commit to carrying it out in their wardrobe choices for the evening.

Lori Sax

Kathleen Coty and Carol Kalikow at Children First’s Fairytale Ball.

Right: Inspired by Yayoi Kusama’s painting, “Eyes Flying in the Sky,” Pearl DeBrular repurposed a $6 Goodwill dress with her own design to fit the theme of Marie Selby Botanical Gardens’ Orchid Ball.

Janet Combs

These patrons went the extra step to make their attire pop.

Carl Troiano and Charlotte Stewart coordinate perfectly for Sisterhood for Good’s Masquerade Ball.

Jonathan Coleman and Rick Kerby don their masks at the Sarasota Opera Gala.

Nancy Guth

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

D E C E M B E R 6 , 2 0 2 4 - J A N UA RY 1 , 2 0 2 5 From TIME. © 2024 TIME USA LLC. All rights reserved. Used under license.

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BLACK TIE | THURSDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2024

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BEST SURPRISES

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.

thing you’ll discover

Shianne Akers models gloves, a ball gown and champagne at New College of Florida’s annual Clambake event.

Youth Mental Health Research: Advancing treatments and solutions.

at an event.

WELCOME, NEWBIES

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

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BEST DESSERT

The dessert at Sarasota Orchestra’s gala celebrating its 75th anniversary was a pure masterwork: a tiny grand piano made of chocolate filled with fresh berries and topped off with white chocolate bearing the event’s logo.

THURSDAY

DEC 26

Rose performers Charlie Klippel and Rosemary Scribner delight guests Heidi and Bob Rittenhouse at the Ringling Museum Garden Dinner.

what unexpected

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

Presents

Nancy Guth

You never know

This year brought two notable newbies to the nonprofit fundraising season: a new venue and a new organization.

For all of us whose cars travel on autopilot straight to our wellknown and well-loved ballrooms during the social season, the Jewish Federation brought a breath of fresh venue air with the opening of The Ora. With space always at a premium in this town, it already has a packed schedule for the upcoming year.

Another addition to the area’s philanthropic world is a new organization, Women in Philanthropy. Created by two powerhouse founders, Margaret Wise and Katherine Harris, the nonprofit seeks to connect established women leaders in the area to up-and-comers and provide them with mentorship and networking opportunities. Its Inaugural Soiree, held at Harris’s house, demonstrated the caliber of clout this group promises moving forward.

SUNDAY

DEC 29

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

Island Gallery and Studios invites you to our First Friday Artists Reception every month from Nov - May from 5-7pm. Discover Bradenton’s Island Gallery and Studios offering one of a kind fine arts created by local artists. Come and enjoy Artist Demonstrations, Art Classes and Critique Corner.

TICKETS $20-$40 CircusArts.org

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BLACK TIE

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2024

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BLACK TIE

Brinda Pola, RCAD President Larry Thompson, Emily Joslin and Phillip Lanham

Tuesday, Dec. 10, at the Alfred R. Goldstein Library, Ringling College of Art and Design campus | Benefiting Ringling College of Art and Design

Town Hall Platinum Appreciation Dinner

Implementing Change for Good The theme for Safe Children Coalition this year is Change Happens Here. This theme rings true in almost every aspect of the organization, from new programs for parents and children to an expanded mission statement that now includes young adults.

Photos by Janet Combs

If you’re not familiar with Safe Children Coalition (SCC), it’s the community-based care agency for Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto counties. Its services include Foster Care, Adoptions, and Prevention and Diversion programs including programs One area where SCC has made significant for homeless youth, many dealing with progress is the turnover rate among case managers. SCC has increased their salaries significant mental health issues. and reduced their caseloads to improve SCC served over 9,000 children in the last retention. “I think the case management job fiscal year. While approximately 1,600 were is the most important job in this agency,” in the foster care system, the remainder said Jacqueline House, Vice President benefited from prevention and diversion of Communications and Community programs designed to help keep children Engagement. “They are the people that have with their families. a direct line of contact with families and SCC always strives to create innovative children.” programs to fill the gap for families and children in our community. In the past year, the organization has collaborated with many partners in the nonprofit community to help families and children thrive, no matter their circumstances.

Barbara Campo, Aldo Massara, Barbara Edlin, and Nancy and Roger Hitchcock

Slater added: “We want to professionalize staff so we can continue to lower turnover rates because it’s so important for families to have stability and continuity.”

The staff becomes emotionally attached to their children and families, as evidenced by a girl in care who was recently placed in a boarding school to complete high school.

The day she left SCC’s youth shelter, House said, “we all told her, when she graduates from high school, we’re taking a road trip to go see her graduate.”

Graduation is significant to the SCC staff, children and families. Every summer on the same day, two ceremonies honor This year’s SCC HIPPY Program graduates preschoolers and first-generation college with supporters Susan Wood and Tom students. The children and young adults Faessler of the Wilson Wood Foundation represent two programs, HIPPY and Achievers, and the brighter futures they In the last fiscal year, it expanded its create. programs to include a Fatherhood Program to work with dads and reunite them with their “The work that we do really changes people’s children. The organization also partners with lives,” said House. “It changes the trajectory the local NAMI (National Alliance on Mental of what they can accomplish, not just for Illness) to provide services for high needs them, for generations to come.” youth with significant mental health issues by utilizing peer services. Another program it collaborates with, Parents for Parents, pairs peers who have completed reunification with their children with those who are currently working towards reunification.

Sarasota Orchid Society Annual Show & Sale January 4-5, 2025 Sat 9-5 & Sun 10-4

“Having a peer who has been through the system saying ‘I’ve been there. I’ve done that’ has been amazing,” said Brena Slater, President and CEO of SCC. “We’ve seen a lot of progress and amazing results with that program.”

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Jaqueline House and members of the Junior League at the SCC Youth Shelter Capital Campaign Milestone Event

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Lisa Levenson, Cheryl Munday and Stephania Feltz

Joyce and Victor Rendano enjoy the Alfred R. Goldstein Library on the RCAD campus.

care for their children, along with following up with the thousands of post-adoption children to ensure their families are following up with medical, dental, and mental health needs. Plus, the organization developed a Youth Intervention Services program aimed at high-needs kids and their families who have not yet had any interaction or calls to the abuse hotline. “Our goal is for these families not to even come to our attention of having an abuse report against them,” Slater said.

YourObserver.com

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT | THURSDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2024

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