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ARTS + CULTURE SCENE & HEARD
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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2015
Courtesy photo
The Rosemary Artist Housing Project will include five townhouses with 20 bedrooms for visiting artists at Florida Studio Theatre.
Ernie Kretzmer donates $500,000 for theater housing Local arts advocate and philanthropist Ernie Kretzmer has donated $500,000 toward the construction of FST’s Rosemary Artist Housing Project. The housing initiative will expand the theater’s ability to house guests artists by providing 20 bedrooms in five new townhouses to be built on Cohen Way in the Rosemary District. The project is scheduled to break ground in early 2016. Kretzmer, who has been a Sarasota resident for more than 25 years, is an avid supporter of the Sarasota arts community. A patron and supporter of the Sarasota Orchestra, Sarasota Ballet and Sarasota Opera, he recently donated a sizable gift to the ballet to build the company a brand new twostory rehearsal studio. With a yearlong winter and summer main stage and cabaret seasons, FST invites and houses more than 100 guest artists and theater apprentices each year. Additional artist housing was necessary to continue the theater’s growth. “The need for this project has become more and more urgent as our theater continues to grow and expand,” says Richard Hopkins, FST producing artistic director. “Florida Studio Theatre is now a five-theater operation that reaches over 200,000 people a year. With this level of growth, it is crucial to have the support of the community and generous philanthropic hearts like Ernie Kretzmer.”
Shaking up
Shakespeare Asolo Repertory Theatre’s New Stages Tour puts a modern spin on Shakespearean classics.
Photos by Nick Reichert
Josh James, Mark Comer and Jordan Ben Sobel peek behind a curtain during rehearsals for a summer-camp rendition of “Twelfth Night.”
NICK REICHERT A+E EDITOR
I
t was the quietest shipwreck in maritime history. Bodies heaved and rocked against the crashing tides, but when the maelstrom cleared, there was no wreckage to be found —only a group of actors rehearsing at the Asolo Repertory Theatre. This scene from the opening moments of William Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” is being played out in silence as part of a rehearsal exercise devised by director Jen Wiseman. PAGE 2
Kelsey Petersen, Ally Farzetta and Jordan Ben Sobel sing one of many pop songs featured in the production.