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ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

PUTTING TOGETHER

ROMAN GAGNIER ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

For Sarasota’s arts organizations, summer is supposed to be the slow season.

But it doesn’t always turn out that way. Just ask Iain Webb, director of the Sarasota Ballet. Several of his principal dancers moved onto other dance companies or retired at the end of the 2024-25 season.

Then just two weeks after Webb took his world-renowned company to Jacob’s Pillow in July, a fatal workplace accident shut down the the storied dance festival in the Massachusetts Berkshires for the rest of its summer season.

THE PIECES

Sarasota Ballet wasn’t affected directly, but the tragedy was a reminder both of how fragile life is and how the unexpected can upend even a well-established cultural institution. Founded in 1933 by Ted Shawn for his modern men’s dance troupe, Jacob’s Pillow has since become a global dance center.

But through it all, Webb has never taken his eyes off the prize — planning a stellar season to prove that his jewel of a ballet company on Florida’s Gulf Coast shines as brightly as ever.

Webb says he was sorry to see the Sarasota Ballet dancers go, but that for him and his team, “it’s all about the company.” Following the departure of female principals Jennifer Hackbarth and Macarena Gimenez, Webb and his wife, Assistant Director Margaret Barbieri, hired Misa Kuranaga as a principal guest dancer.

A former principal with the San Francisco Ballet who spent 16 years with the Boston Ballet, Kuranaga made her debut with Sarasota Ballet at Jacob’s Pillow. The company performed Jessica Lang’s world premiere, “The Lorenz Butterfly,” and two classics by Sir Frederick Ashton, the British choreographer whose works Webb and Barbieri have championed.

Kuranaga will play a leading role at Sarasota Ballet during its latest season, which kicks off Oct. 24-26 at FSU Center for the Performing Arts. Program One, titled “Intrinsic,” includes “Lorenz Butterfly,” Michel Fokine’s “Les Sylphides” and “Changing Light,” Will Tuckett’s ballet inspired by Sarasota’s (mostly) paradisiacal weather.

The departure of Gimenez and Hackbarth gives more room in the spotlight for principal dancer Jessica Assef, who joined Sarasota Ballet in 2023 from the Atlanta Ballet, as well as fellow principal Marijana Dominis and junior principal Sierra Abelardo.

Sarasota Ballet Director Iain Webb likens programming a season to assembling a puzzle.

Among male principals, the end of the season saw the departure of Maximiliano Gimenez, who left when his wife took a job as principal dancer with the Miami City Ballet, and Daniel Pratt, who retired.

FINDING CHOREOGRAPHERS

BOTH AT HOME AND AWAY

Longtime Sarasota Ballet male principal and choreographer Ricardo Graziano is in fine form this season (leg surgery in 2023 sidelined him for more than a year), Webb says. Other male principals returning to the Sarasota stage are Ricardo Rhodes and Luke Schaufuss. Character principal Rick Bertoni will be back playing villains, often in heavy makeup.

As he sat down for an interview in the well-appointed corner office of Sarasota Ballet Executive Director Joseph Volpe, the retired general manager of New York’s Metropolitan Opera, Webb laid to rest any speculation about possible changes in the ballet’s executive offices.

The ballet recently promoted Michelle Butler to deputy executive director, a new position, from senior director of philanthropy. This promotion would appear to leave her well-positioned to suc -

ceed Volpe,but Webb says, “Joe’s not going anywhere.”

After ostensibly retiring to Sarasota, Volpe joined the Sarasota Ballet’s board in 2014 and was named executive director in 2016.

Like many would-be retirees who arrive in Sarasota, Volpe got pulled back into the professional world. His contacts and skills honed over four decades at the Metropolitan Opera have helped Webb and Barbieri, both veterans of London’s Royal Ballet.

The troika has led the Sarasota Ballet to the heights of the global dance world, culminating in a June 2024 residency at the Royal Opera House in London’s Convent Garden as part of an “Ashton Celebrated” program.

In addition to returning home with rave reviews, Webb brought back the 2024 British National Dance Award for Outstanding Achievement, named for Dame Nanette De Valois, founder of the Royal Ballet.

So what is the secret to Webb’s success? Although ballet is traditionally associated with full-length productions such as “Swan Lake,” “Giselle” and the holiday-themed “Nutcracker,” Webb says he leans toward programs with three short dances and one or two intermissions. This approach plays well into the shorter attention spans of modern audiences.

Season after season, Webb has created a dazzling, variegated mix of programs demonstrating his creative virtuosity. Besides carrying the torch for Ashton, whose wide-ranging repertoire ranges from full-length ballets to short, whimsical diver-

tissements, Sarasota Ballet has made a name for itself by commissioning new works from leading choreographers such as Jessica Lang, Ashley Page and Gemma Bond.

The ballet has also looked inhouse and cultivated the choreography talents of principal dancer Graziano, who was the company’s resident choreographer for a decade.

In January 2024, Graziano was honored for his 10-year service with a tribute program. It included a world premiere he developed during COVID-19, “Schubert Variations,” as well as his widely acclaimed “In a State of Weightlessness,” which premiered at the company’s first appearance at Jacob’s Pillow in 2015.

TAPPING FRIENDS AND BEING ON THE LOOKOUT

So it’s not just Ashton’s golden oldies that have elevated the Sarasota Ballet’s international reputation. Relying on his vast network of contacts and friends like Sir David Bintley, former artistic director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet of England and a prolific choreographer, Webb takes an opportunistic approach to programming. He picks up the rights to ballets and buys costumes and sets when they are available at an attractive price, storing them for future seasons until the time is right.

“Putting together a season is like piecing together a puzzle,” Webb says.

The perfectionist in Webb keeps him searching for the right combination, even after preliminary marketing materials go to press. Webb originally planned to lead Program Two, “Written Motion,” on Nov. 21-22, with a world premiere by Ashley Page. Instead, he is closing with it.

Program Two’s opener is now Ashton’s “Valses nobles et sentimentales,” which replaced Ashton’s

MONICA

Photo by Christopher Duggan Ricardo Graziano, Sierra Abelardo and other members of the Sarasota Ballet will perform the world premiere of Jessica Lang’s “The Lorenz Butterfly.”

BALLET

JOIN US FOR A UNIQUE HALLOWEEN EVENT FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY!

fri, Oct 31

4:30–7:30 PM

• Admission is free with a non-perishable item for All Faiths Food Bank

• We encourage our littlest visitors to come between 4:30-5:30 PM

• Enter through the Museum of Art gates (not the Visitors Pavilion)

Food trucks + Art Making in the Museum of Art Circle AT

Halloween animation shorts in the Museum of Art Courtyard

Not-too-spooky gallery tours

Seek and Find Adventure in the Museum of Art Galleries

Candy in the Courtyard Trick or Treat with us!

*No registration is required for this event. The event will be closed to new visitors once we reach capacity (1,200 participants). Please leave swords, wands, and other costumes/costume accessories that might pose a risk for The Ringling’s collection at home or in the car. No candy may be eaten in the galleries.

“Illuminations.” Mark Morris’ “The Letter V,” which was to be the closer, will now be the middle dance.

Webb says his first consideration in creating a season of seven programs (there are “extras” featuring visiting companies with boldface names like Martha Graham, Paul Taylor and Mark Morris and student dancers), is the availability of stages.

“Since we dance on three different stages — the Sarasota Opera House, FSU (Center for the Performing Arts) and Van Wezel (Performing Arts Hall), I first look to see which are available and what the dates are,” Webb says.

The Van Wezel has both the largest stage and the most seats (a little over 1,700), so it is where Sarasota Ballet stages full-length productions such as last year’s triumphant production of Ashton’s “Romeo and Juliet,” delayed for five years by COVID. Such full-length ballets call for the largest sets and the greatest number of performers. Including apprentices, there are about 45 dancers in the Sarasota Ballet.

For the 2025-26 season, only one ballet will be at the Van Wezel. Program Six, “Life and Liberty,” will be held at the Van Wezel on March 27-28, 2026. In honor of America’s 250th birthday, the program will include George Balanchine’s “Stars and Stripes” with patriotic music by John Philip Sousa. Also on the bill is Sir David Bintley’s zebra-infused “Still Life at the Penguin Café” with music by Simon Jeffes.

The Sarasota Orchestra will play live during Program Six, as it does at most performances. Live music is a luxury unknown to patrons of other regional ballet companies.

Anniversaries like America’s 250th and birthdays of choreographers often figure into Webb’s puzzle as he schedules a season.

Since joining Sarasota Ballet in 2007 and 2012, respectively, Webb and Barbieri have leaned heavily into the works of Ashton, considered the father of the English ballet style. Ballet companies around the world are celebrating Ashton’s legacy from 2024-28, which is what prompted

Sarasota Ballet’s London residency. At Sarasota Ballet, Ashton’s works are staged by Barbieri. She learned at the hand (and foot) of “Sir Fred,” as he is fondly called, when she was a principal dancer for Royal Ballet. When a choreographer creates a ballet, he handles a dancer the way an artist molds clay, twisting limbs to achieve his steps. The moves that sum up a ballet were first recorded with a notation system.

In modern times, choreography has been preserved through video and digital recordings. But the repertoire of choreographers like Ashton and George Balanchine is still transmitted directly to the next generation of dancers by specialists known as répétiteurs.

When Sarasota Ballet performs an Ashton ballet, it is Barbieri who plays this role. When it stages bal-

The perfectionist in Webb keeps him searching for the right combination, even after preliminary marketing materials go to press.

lets by Balanchine, whose athletic, commanding repertoire still dominates American ballet, the company uses répétiteurs authorized by the George Balanchine Trust such as Sandra Jennings and Philip Neal.

To prepare for Program One’s “Les Sylphides,” Barbieri will pass down the knowledge she acquired from prima ballerina Alicia Markova, who coached her when she performed the romantic reverie. Markova was coached by choreographer Fokine himself when she danced the role.

In an article for Sarasota Ballet’s 2025-26 season playbill, noted dance critic and performing arts historian Alistair Macauley writes that Barbieri is “passing on the details of arms, of line, of footwork of eyes. These are details that transform academic ballet into expressive style and into artistry.” Few outside the ballet world understand the demands placed on répétiteurs, who are too often unsung heroes.

At Sarasota Ballet, much of Barbieri’s work takes place behind the scenes. It is the dancers who shine in the spotlight.

Theatre Odyssey revives its One-Act Play Festival

The festival returns to the Jane B. Cook Theatre after a two-year hiatus.

MONICA ROMAN GAGNIER

EDITOR

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

With the new theaters and festivals popping up in Sarasota, it’s sometimes hard to keep up. The last two years have seen the advent of Katherine Michelle Tanner’s Tree Fort Productions theater company, the Squeaky Wheel Fringe festival and Sarasota Rising’s Living Arts Festival, to name just a few.

After a hiatus of two years, Theatre Odyssey’s One-Act Play Festival is returning to the Jane B. Cook Theatre inside the FSU Center for the Performing Arts on Oct. 18-19. Now in its 21st year, the theater company is best known for its Ten-Minute Play Festival, which celebrated its 20th run in January, as well as its radio productions.

Theatre Odyssey’s niche is new short works, explains Tom Aposporos, a real estate agent and former politician who helped found Theatre Odyssey in 2006 to promote playwriting in Sarasota and to pay its performers, unlike some community theaters where actors perform for the love of their craft and the appreciation of their audiences.

Asked to describe Theatre Odyssey’s mandate, Aposporos immediately responds, “We are a not-forprofit play production company specializing in short plays with the idea that everyone would be compensated for their time and talent.”

Talk about a refined elevator pitch!

Unlike the Ten-Minute Play Festival, which is restricted to Florida residents, the One-Act Play Festival is open to playwrights across the U.S. It only accepts 100 submissions, however. This year, that limit was reached 72 hours after the application process opened, compared with 45 days for the first One-Act Play Festival.

“It just shows the nationwide demand for a place where playwrights can get new short works produced,” Aposporos says. He notes that Urbanite Theatre’s Modern Works Festival is restricted to female playwrights and calls for full-length plays.

To avoid any chance or appearance of favoritism, submissions for Theatre Odyssey’s play festivals are given to readers for screening without the author’s name on them, he adds.

This is only the fifth year the festival has been presented due to interruptions from COVID-19 and difficulties in booking the Cook Theatre, Theatre Odyssey’s preferred venue, in 2023 and 2024.

“We really feel like the Cook is

our home and we’re glad to be back there,” Aposporos says. The theater seats about 160, he notes.

Most of the plays in the 2025 OneAct Play Festival run about 20 minutes. The entire lineup is staged in three performances that each run 2 hours and 15 minutes with an intermission. At the end of the festival, the winning play, determined by a panel of judges, receives the $1,000 Verna Safran Prize.

FAMILIAR FACES AND ASPIRING

NEWCOMERS

While the playwrights are from out of town, the directors and actors who participate in the One-Act Play Festival include familiar faces who perform in Sarasota, Bradenton and

Venice. Also on stage are young newcomers, some of whom are studying at Booker High School’s prestigious Visual and Performing Arts program.

Among Theatre Odyssey veterans who have risen to great heights is actress Annie Morrison, currently appearing as the lead in the Broadway touring production of “Kimberly Akimbo,” which is coming to Tampa from Nov. 18-23.

Another distinguished alumni is the late Howard Millman, who brought the Asolo Repertory Theatre back from the brink during his second tenure as producing artistic director from 1995-2006, and served as a godfather to Sarasota Jewish Theater and Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe.

THEATRE ODYSSEY ONE-ACT PLAY FESTIVAL

“Lock It Down.” Written by John Kelly and directed by Blake Walton. An inexperienced teacher must deal with a lockdown while acting as a substitute in a mass communications class.

“The Disappearing Woman.” Written by Holly Hepp-Galván and directed by Lee Gundersheimer. When an elderly woman’s body starts to disappear piece by piece in this farce, her granddaughter stands up for her.

“Seedubya and Mizhall.” Written by John C. Davenport and directed by Meg Gilbert. An elderly white woman interacts with a Black shoeshine man in a Dallas barber shop of the 1960s.

Just Asking.” Written by Cary Pepper and directed by Yinoelle Colón. A widow is contacted by her late husband’s attorney, who wants her to refrain from trying to reach his client on the other side.

“Primitive Intelligence.” Written by James Perry and directed by James Perry. In this surrealistic tale, a besotted Neanderthal seeks help from AI to win a woman’s love.

This year’s lineup of five plays is the strongest he’s seen in the OneAct Play Festival’s history, says Don Walker, 2025 festival production manager.

Walker has has been involved in Theatre Odyssey since 2011. That’s when he says his wife, Jenny Aldrich Walker, “dragged him to an audition” for the Ten-Minute Play Festival.

The two, who met and fell in love at Venice Theatre, performed together in “A Bottle of Vodka” at the TenMinute Play Festival in 2014. A former technical writer and editor who moved to Sarasota in 1991, Walker was recently nominated for Outstanding Actor by Theater Tampa Bay for his performance in the “The People Downstairs” at Stageworks in Tampa.

Although his title for the One-Act Play Festival is production manager, Walker functions as a jack of all trades at Theatre Odyssey, both on and off stage. His editorial expertise is brought to bear in the group’s website and promotional materials.

“We’re a small company and we all wear a lot of hats,” Walker says.

He, too, is glad to be back at the Cook Theatre. “When you don’t have a brick-and-mortar theater, it’s sometimes difficult for people to find you,” he says. That’s where Walker’s marketing skills come in handy — helping to spread the word about Theatre Odyssey’s productions.

Like other Theatre Odyssey hands, Walker is active in other companies.

He appeared in Tree Fort’s “Notes From the Dashboard” in January and has been cast in the Sarasota Jewish Theatre’s 2026 production of “The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife.”

IF YOU GO

Theatre Odyssey One-Act Play Festival. Oct. 18-19 at Jane B. Cook Theatre, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail. $30. $15 student tickets available by phone only at (941) 748-5875. Visit TheatreOdyssey.org.

Another Tree Fort Productions collaborator who’s part of the 2025 One-Act Play Festival is Lee Gundersheimer, who is directing “The Disappearing Woman.” Gundersheimer says he was recruited by Aposporos to lend a hand at Theatre Odyssey after leaving The Sarasota Players, where he was artistic director from January to August 2022.

“Tom and I got to be good friends when I was working in the box office of Asolo Rep, where he is front-office manager,” Gundersheimer says.

A teacher at Teen Success, a Bradenton charter high school, and an acting coach, Gundersheimer, like Walker, wears many hats. He directed Tree Fort’s “Notes From a Dashboard,” about two recovering alcoholics who share a love of classic cars, and will be directing “Terms of Endearment” at Manatee Players in Bradenton this season.

While readings of short and fulllength plays with real actors are common at Sarasota theaters, what makes the One-Act Play Festival stand out is that it uses sets for its productions.

What Walker describes as “cubes” can be quickly moved between plays. “Think of them as modular set pieces,” Gundersheimer says. “Because there are five different plays, it’s not about the scenery, it’s about the performances and text.”

As a veteran actor and director who has worked in New York and Minnesota, what Gundersheimer finds most exciting about the One-Act Play Festival is “the sudden shifts in tone during the evening.”

He notes the first play in the festival lineup is about a high school lockdown. The play Gundersheimer is directing, which he calls “an allegorical play about Alzheimer’s that’s really a farce,” comes next. “You have to be ready to change lanes emotionally,” he says.

Those ready for the roller-coaster ride should buy their tickets online in advance, Aposporos says, because ticketing is not handled by the Asolo Rep box office at FSU Center for the Performing Arts. “We will have a table outside the Cook with a limited number of tickets for sale at the door,” he says.

In any event, he advises festival attendees to arrive early because seating is general admission only.

Photo by Cliff Roles

Don Walker, production manager of the 2025 Theatre Odyssey One-Act Play Festival, and Olivia Yagy starred in “Tagged” by Jim Moss, winner of Theatre Odyssey’s 2018 One-Act Play Festival.

THIS WEEK

THURSDAY

STRINGS CON BRIO 10TH

ANNIVERSARY CONCERT

6 p.m. at Venice Community Center, 326 Nokomos Ave. S., Venice Free

Visit StringsConBrio.org.

Led by Maestro Kenneth Bowermeister, community orchestra

Strings Con Brio celebrates its 10th anniversary with a free party and concert.

BUGS, BATS AND BIRDS

7:30 p.m. at Holley Hall, 709 N. Tamiami Trail

$48-$69

Visit SarasotaOrchestra.org.

Guest conductor Stuart Chafetz leads the Sarasota Orchestra on a musical tour of creepy and crawly music from opera, movies, ballet and rock ‘n’roll. The wide-ranging program opens with the overture to “Die Fledermaus” and ends with a Beatles tribute, with themes from Batman TV shows and movies. Runs through Oct. 18.

‘HEATHERS THE MUSICAL’

7:30 p.m. at Dingbat Theatre Project, 7288 S. Tamiami Trail

$10-$60

Visit DingbatTheatre.org.

Luke Manual’s Dingbat Theatre Project leans into the spooky season with “Heathers the Musical,” a dark comedy about a couple of misfits who want to deepsix the troika of girls named Heather who are the Mean Girls of Westerberg High. The musical is based on the R-rated 1989 film of the same name starring Winona Ryder and Christian Slater. It contains references to illicit teen pastimes that give parents nightmares. Runs through Oct. 26.

‘MISERY’

7:30 p.m. at Manatee Performing Arts Center, 502 Third Ave. W, Bradenton

$31.50

Visit ManateePerformingArtsCenter. com.

OUR PICK

LEGACY CONCERT

Artist Series Concerts salutes Joseph Holt, who recently retired as artistic director of Choral Artists of Sarasota. In his program, Holt joins Sarasota Orchestra Concertmaster Daniel Jordan and assistant principal cellist Christopher Schnell in all-Russian program of Rachmaninoff, Kabalevsky and Shostakovich.

IF YOU GO When: 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 19 Where: Fischer/ Weisenborne Residence, 7459 Cabbage Palm Court Tickets: $70 Info: Visit ArtistSeriesConcerts. org,

Joseph Holt

What happens when a celebrated author is abducted by his No. 1 fan?

Find out during this Manatee Players production of William Goldman’s play based on Stephen King’s bestselling novel of the same name. Runs through Nov. 2.

FRIDAY

‘I NEVER SAW ANOTHER BUTTERFLY’

3 p.m. at 3501 S. Tamiami Trail, Unit 1130 $25 Visit SarasotaJewishTheatre.com.

Sarasota Jewish Theatre presents “I Never Saw Another Butterfly,” a 45-minute adaptation of Celeste Raspanti’s play based on a book of artwork created by children at the Terezin Concentration Camp during World War II, Runs through Oct. 19.

‘PURLIE’

7:30 p.m. at Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe, 1012 N. Orange Ave. $54 adults, $24 students 25 and under and active military Visit WestcoastBlackTheatre.org.

Directed by Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe founder and artistic director, “Purlie” is a musical based on Ossie Davis’ Tony-winning play, “Purlie Victorious,” which premiered on Broadway in 1970 and was revived to great acclaim in 2023. In the WBTT production Raleigh Mosely II stars as a Black preacher who returns to his home in the Jim Crow South to save his community church. Sarasota audiences will see such local favorites as Jannie Jones, Chris Caswell, Patric Robinson and Jazzmin Carson as well as WBTT newcomers Cody Farkas and Marcey Green. Runs through Nov. 9.

‘A BAND CALLED HONALEE’

7:30 p.m. at FST’s Goldstein Cabaret, 1239 Palm Ave. $39 and up Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.

The subtitle to this Florida Studio Theatre cabaret show is “A Tribute to Peter, Paul Mary… and Friends,” but any self-respecting folk rock fan can spot the play on words in the name “A Band Called Honalee.” ICYMI, it refers to the mythical land made famous by the children’s song “Puff the Magic Dragon.” Runs through Nov. 2.

RICHARD O’BRIEN’S ‘THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW’

7:30 p.m. at Venice Theatre, 140 Tampa Ave. W., Venice $40-$18

Visit VeniceTheatre.org,

Can it really be the 50th anniversary of this timeless classic? Let’s do the “Time Warp” again as Venice Theatre presents the story of Brad and Janet, repressed sweethearts who end up in the spooky mansion of a mad, cross-dressing scientist after they get a flat tire. Cosplay and audience interaction is encouraged. Runs through Oct. 25.

SATURDAY

‘EDGAR AND EMILY’ PLAY READING

2 p.m. at Tree Fort Productions, 3501 S. Tamiami Trail, Suite 136 $25

Visit TreeFortProductionsProjects. com.

Katherine Michelle Tanner’s Tree Fort Productions Projects presents Joseph McDonough’s “Edgar and Emily,” which imagines what would happen if Edgar Allen Poe stepped into the boudoir of Emily Dickinson.

FST IMPROV: ‘WE’RE DOOMED!’

7:30 p.m. at Florida Studio Theatre’s Bowne’s Lab, 1265 First St. $15-$18 VisitFloridaStudioTheatre.org.

‘Tis the spooky season, and one way to get some thrills, chills and a few laughs at the same time is with an original horror movie that is created by FST Improv performers with audience input. As the action unfolds, you decide whether to press “rewind,” “fast forward” or “play” on this never-before-seen production. Runs Saturdays through Oct. 25.

BIJAYINI SATPATHY INDIAN CLASSICAL DANCE AND RECEPTION

7:30 p.m. at The Ringling’s Historic Asolo Theater, 5401 Bay Shore Road $100 Visit Ringling.org.

The Ringling opens its Art of Performance season with Bijayini Satpathy’s “Doha,” a program that explores the relationship between prayer and play that Satpathy developed during a yearlong residency at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Repeats Oct. 19,

DON’T MISS

‘TWILIGHT IN CONCERT’

When it was first released in 2008, the teen vampire romance “Twilight” sparked pandemonium, largely due to the onscreen chemistry and real-life romance between its stars Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson. As the young adult novel that inspired the “Twilight” franchise celebrates its 20th anniversary, GEA Live and Lionsgate Films are screening the original film in 60 cities around the country with a live orchestra on stage and hundreds of candles. Groups of 10 or more can call the Van Wezel at 941-263-6726 to arrange seating at this goth extravaganza.

IF YOU GO

When: 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 17

Where: Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail Tickets: $46 and up Info: Visit VanWezel.org.

when a regular performance costs $40-$50.

MONDAY

BEHIND THE CURTAIN

1:30 p.m. at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail $15 Visit ArtsAdvocates.org.

A docent leads a tour of the paintings and sculptures that adorn the “Purple Palace,” the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall. Participants then step onto the stage where a Van Wezel guide shares stories and anecdotes. Presented in partnership with the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, proceeds from the tour benefit the education/outreach programs of Arts Advocates and the Van Wezel.

‘ANCESTRAL EDGE’

10 a.m. at The John and Mable Ringling Art Museum, 5401 Bayshore Road Free with $30 admission; Mondays free Visit Ringling.org.

The Ringling has recently been bringing more visibility to contemporary Native American art, first with its 2023 show, “Reclaiming Home” showcasing members of Florida tribes, and now with “Ancestral Edge” featuring nine female artists from across the U.S. Their bold multimedia works occupy the Keith D. Monda Gallery for Contemporary Art through April 2026.

TUESDAY

‘LILLIAN BLADES: THROUGH THE VEIL’

10 a.m. at the Sarasota Art Museum campus of Ringling College,1001 S. Tamiami Trail Free for museum members; $20 Visit SarasotaArtMuseum.org.

Award-winning artist Lillian Blades invites visitors to get lost in her first solo museum exhibition at Sarasota Art Museum. Her installation of “veils” combines handcrafted and found objects to create a mesmerizing display. Blades attributes her use of dazzling color to her childhood in The Bahamas and her process of creating large-scale assemblages to her late mother, an accomplished seamstress. Runs through Oct. 26.

‘Feeling Good’ croons with a smooth groove

A trio brings brio to Rat Pack faves and Michael Bublé hits in this Florida Studio Theatre cabaret.

MARTY FUGATE THEATER CRITIC

“Feeling Good” is crooning its tune on FST’s cabaret stage. So, what the heck is crooning? Great question. Ahem … Crooning emerged in the 1920s when those newfangled “microphones” let singers stop belting and get soft and smooth. Singers like Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett perfected the style by the mid-20th century. Battalions of nightclub Pavarottis milked it for all it was worth by the century’s end.

Survivors of the 1970s will remember Bill Murray’s louche lounge singer on “Saturday Night Live.” His character was smarmy, corny, sentimental, insincere and square. This show sings a different tune.

This revue is the brainchild of Richard and Rebecca Hopkins, with musical direction by Nathaniel Beliveau and arrangements by Jim Prosser, the show’s pianist. He’s accompanied by drummer Christian “CC” Allen. Outstanding musicianship, tight structure.

But the trio of singers is the main attraction. Haley K. Clay, Andrew Leggieri and Russell Mernagh are old school, but not old hat. Neither are their songs. The selections range from the Rat Pack to Lady Gaga.

“New York, New York” kicks off the first act. The tune sounds like a fossil from the Boss Tweed administration, but Ebb and Kander wrote it for Scorsese’s 1977 movie of the same name. “Me and Mrs. Jones” wistfully explores the anti-social contract of adultery. (This song had three fathers — Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff and Cary Gilbert.) It was a monster hit for Billy Paul and subsequent

cover singers. Van Morrison’s mesmerizing “Moondance” never gets old.

Johnny Mercer and Harold Arlen’s “That Old Black Magic” still casts a subtle spell. But it’s not all double entendre. Cole Porter’s “Let’s Do It (Let’s Fall in Love)” is a horny hoot with no hidden message — the title spells it out. Dorothy Fields and Jerome Kern’s “The Way You Look Tonight” could melt Medusa’s heart of stone. Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen’s “Come Fly With Me” is a seductive dream of aerial escape — a relic from the era of luxurious air travel.

The first act’s pattern is crystal clear. No songs about rivers, political protest, talking to animals, or climbing mountains. Just love songs. (OK, “New York, New York” is about a city — but it’s also a love song.) These tunes are all basically love letters set to music.

The second act takes a different path — and hits the highway.

Bobby Troup’s “Route 66” is a hip ode to hipsters on the Mother Road from Chicago to Los Angeles. Fred Fisher’s “Chicago” is a paean to the gritty city by the lake. Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn’s “Style” digs the substance of cool.

So far, so good. But the road ahead gets rough. Percy Mayfield’s “Hit the Road Jack” sends a mooching lover packing. George and Ira Gershwin’s “They Can’t Take that Away from Me” finds comfort in lost love’s memories. Sad.

Further down the road, life takes a turn for the better. Dean Kay and Kelly Gordon’s “That’s Life” is a defiant refusal to give up when love dies and luck runs out.

Michael Bublé’s “It’s a Beautiful Day” is a ray of sunshine. Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse’s

“Feeling

IF YOU GO

“Feeling Good.” Through Feb. 8, 2026. FST Court Cabaret, 1265 First St. $37-$42. Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.

titular “Feeling Good” sings the promise of Black liberation and a better day for all of us. “Fly Me to the Moon” equates love with space travel. The final frontier, baby.

FST Associate Producer Catherine Randazzo directs “Feeling Good” without leaving any fingerprints. The show demands this approach. You see the trio on stage, not the puppet master pulling their strings. You relate to the trio as a band, not three singing actors playing parts. Randazzo’s

invisible direction makes the band feel real.

Hey, I’m not saying it’s a trio of holograms. Clay, Leggieri and Mernagh are as real as it gets. The FST newcomers share their journey to the Sarasota stage and their appreciation of the genre they’re performing. They’re not doing imitations of Sinatra, Peggy Lee and the usual suspects. They’re just being themselves and having fun with male-female duets, male duets and solos. But they don’t always sound like crooners.

Back in the day, crooners had a smooth, gentle rhythm with no big surprises. This trio constantly surprises you. They keep mixing things up with sudden shifts in tempo and attitude. That’s not old school at all. So what?

Terms like “old” and “new” are so 20th century. “Timeless” is a

far better word. The revue’s songs aren’t in chronological order. Meaning and mood define the tune selection, not the years the songs were written. Old school or new, this talented trio sells you on the show’s timeless vibe. They’re all great singers with great chemistry. Randazzo outfits the men in tuxes and the woman in a spangly, sequined dress. (A little formal for the likes of 2025 Florida.) Such period cosplay reminds me of the holograms in the ruined Vegas nightclub of “Blade Runner: 2049.” Elvis sang; showgirls danced. To paraphrase Faulkner: The past isn’t dead. It’s entertainment. This revue is insanely entertaining. And full of life. You will be feeling good.