Arts + Entertainment 2.10.22

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ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT FEBRUARY 10, 2022

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Onstage date night Adelaide Boedecker will sing with her husband in her hometown a week after Valentine’s Day, and right after that, she has an opportunity to achieve a career highlight.

SPENCER FORDIN A+E EDITOR

A

delaide Boedecker stands poised at the precipice of the biggest moment of her career.

But first she has a homecoming performance to savor in Sarasota.

Boedecker, who will appear courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera, will be the featured performer at the Choral Artists of Sarasota’s “A Night at the Opera” program on Feb. 20, where she’ll get to sing selections from “The Marriage of Figaro” with her husband, Calvin Griffin.

That’s a special moment for Boedecker, who began singing at Church of the Redeemer before she was even in school and was a member of the Youth Opera at age 9.

“It never gets old,” she says about her return. “Are you kidding? I love coming home.”

Boedecker made her professional debut right here with the Sarasota Opera at age 17.

But this time, Boedecker, who attended Pine View School for the Gifted, will be home for only one night.

She has to fly in the night before, get her bearings, sing her heart out and get right back on a plane the evening of her performance.

And she has to be in that rush for a good reason: She’s engaged as cover for the role of Thibault in “Don Carlos” at The Met, which opens later this month.

The soprano does not know if she’ll get to make her Met debut as part of this production, but she knows that her huge moment could come with only the faintest advance notice.

“It’s not new, but it’s new because it’s The Met,” she says. “It’s pretty exciting, and it’s very surreal that I’m going to be there.

“The chance I’m going to go on is very high. That would be some way to make my Met debut, the moment where they’re like, ‘And you’re on!’”

Whenever that moment happens, it will be the culmination of a life in the arts.

Boedecker said she began singing at Church of the Redeemer when she SEE DATE NIGHT, PAGE 2

Illustration by José Valle

Adelaide Boedecker and husband Calvin Griffin will get the rare opportunity to perform together Feb. 20.

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2022

Date night FROM PAGE 1

was only two or three years old, and she credited Ann Stephenson-Moe and Daniel Moe for stoking her precocious talent.

That’s where she began loving music, she said, and she entered the Youth Opera after seeing her sister’s friend perform.

Boedecker credited Maestro Victor DeRenzi and the staff at the Sarasota Youth Opera for helping her find her bearings and ultimately her voice.

“I don’t think I ever imagined really doing it as a job,” she says of her origins in opera. “I just knew I enjoyed that music. A 9-year-old doesn’t think about that stuff. It was probably when I was in high school when I thought, ‘This can never happen.’ And now it’s happening.”

It’s not just happening; it’s happening at home and with the love of her life, and it’s happening less than a week after Valentine’s Day. Boedecker first saw her husband when she was a resident artist with the Pittsburgh Opera.

He came in to audition, and her heart immediately grew two sizes.

Fate intervened later when both were pulled by their prodigious voices to perform with the Santa Fe Opera.

But if you ask Boedecker, they’d be married even if Griffin couldn’t sing.

“I got butterflies in my stomach right when I saw him, and really that’s only happened one other time in my life,” she says. “That time it had been because I saw a famous person, but this was totally different. Calvin walked in and I couldn’t speak; I knew that was my soulmate.

“About four months later we were both in Santa Fe. If you meet Calvin, he’s really good with faces but won’t remember a name off the top of his head. He’s super duper smart with faces. He came right up to me and said, ‘You’re Addy. I remember you from Pittsburgh.’”

Boedecker said her relationship with Griffin started as friendship before blossoming into romance.

“We both had crushes on each other the whole time,” she says, “But we got to know each other really

Courtesy photos

It’s rare for Adelaide Boedecker and Calvin Griffin to perform together, but they savor the moments when they do.

well.”

Their chemistry will come in handy on Feb. 20, when they perform selections from “The Marriage of Figaro” for the first time on stage; but not for the first time as a couple.

Boedecker says that she and Griffin sing all the time together when they’re not touring separately.

“We do that all the time. We’re a very musical home,” she says. “We’re kind of always singing stuff together, which is probably very annoying for our neighbors. But we don’t mind.”

Griffin, a bass-baritone, made his Met debut in “Fire Shut Up in My Bones” in 2021, so he’s well acquainted with the milestone Boedecker is about to achieve.

Here in Sarasota, they won’t get to rehearse together due to the compressed timing, and Boedecker says that really doesn’t matter.

“I feel super comfortable, and I’m getting to do most of it with Calvin,” she says. “There’s no stress there because we’re a team. That’s kind of the beauty of when we get to perform together. There are no nerves because I know no matter what hap-

IF YOU GO

A NIGHT AT THE OPERA When: 5 p.m., Feb. 20 Where: Church of the Palms, 3224 Bee Ridge Road Tickets: $35; $5 students Info: ChoralArtistsSarasota.org

pens, my biggest source of support is right there.”

Ironically, if Boedecker wasn’t able to make this performance, she might’ve gone a couple months without seeing her husband. The nature of their respective careers means that both Boedecker and Griffin are constantly on the road singing in different markets. That means that their Date Night is frequently conducted over FaceTime.

Boedecker and Griffin will make the same meal and then cue up Netflix and watch the same program.

They sing together not on FaceTime but by sending each other voice memos from across the country.

“We are so fortunate,” she says.

“I think about all the people that brought me up in music. When they had to travel, it was before FaceTime and cell phones and long distance plans. It’s just so different.

“I was talking to my teacher and she and her husband, he was in Germany and she was working in San Francisco. They would spend thousands of dollars on two-minute phone calls once a week. It was just insane amounts of money.”

Enter the Choral Artists, who offered the performers an opportunity they couldn’t refuse.

It’s their chance to perform one of their favorite operas together in front of the people they love. Boedecker said that Griffin’s family is coming to town from Kentucky, giving the couple an extra large supporting section.

“My whole family is here,” she says. “Usually, it’s a family affair.

My family is really, really supportive.

And Calvin’s whole family is too.

We’ve got our built-in cheer team when we do things in my hometown.”

Joseph Holt, artistic director of the Choral Artists of Sarasota, is part of that cheer team. Holt said he had

Top: Adelaide Boedecker Above: Calvin Griffin

to rearrange the schedule to ensure that Boedecker could perform, and he was thrilled to be able to do that.

The program, says Holt, offers a number of exciting selections.

There’s an overture penned by a young Mozart on the bill, and Holt said he was excited to present a couple pieces by William Grant Still, one of the premier African-American composers of the last century.

Most of all, though, Holt says he’s proud to perform with Boedecker right before her artistic milestone.

“When the Met comes calling, you don’t want to miss it,” he says.

“That’s such a huge jump for her.”

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Couple makes beautiful music together – literally Forget love at first sight. For Sarasota Orchestra couple Betsy and Fernando Traba, it was more like love at first sound.

IF YOU GO

‘BE MINE’ When: 5:30 p.m., Feb. 9; 7:30 p.m., Feb. 10; 5:30 p.m., Feb. 11; 8 p.m., Feb. 12; 4 p.m., Feb. 13 Where: Holley Hall, 709 N. Tamiami Trail Tickets: $42-$65 Info: SarasotaOrchestra.org

SPENCER FORDIN A+E EDITOR

B

etsy Traba can still remember the first time she heard her future husband play the bassoon.

The year was 1993, and she had just arrived in Sarasota to join the Florida West Coast Symphony.

The orchestra was rehearsing Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony when she heard a texture she had never heard before.

Decades later, she laughs when she hears it described as love at first sound.

“I had heard that solo played many times,” says Betsy. “But he started to play, and his tone was so much richer and so gorgeous. I literally did what you’re never supposed to do in the orchestra: I turned around to look. You’re never supposed to turn around and stare at somebody when they’re playing. But I did. I thought, ‘Wow, who is that bassoon player?

He’s really awesome.’ That was what drew me first, listening to him play.”

Weeks earlier, Fernando Traba had had a similar experience. He was part of the committee formed to hire new musicians for the symphony, and he heard Betsy play her flute from behind a screen.

Neither musician could imagine how their lives were about to change.

The Trabas are still playing with the Sarasota Orchestra, and they’ve raised two girls who have gone on to become Division I college athletes.

Music has given so much to their lives, but more importantly, it helped lead them to their most important relationship.

“I actually think the relationship — two musicians being married — is easier,” says Fernando. “When we go to work, it’s not like we’re talking to each other. We’re part of a team.

We have to contribute. The unifying element is we both love music. That’s what brings us together.

“When we go to work, I don’t think of Betsy as, ‘Oh my gosh, what happened with the washing machine?’ We’re working on a common goal, the music.”

Right now, the Trabas are working on the Be Mine program, a Valentine’s Day-themed selection that will have five showings at Holley Hall. But the truth is that their lives and their career journeys have been

Spencer Fordin

Fernando and Betsy Traba enjoy a lighter moment in rehearsal.

passionately enhanced by their love for music and each other.

For Fernando, who was born in Mexico City, it’s been a circuitous path to Sarasota.

His father, who was born in Spain but immigrated to Mexico as a refugee in 1939, taught him how to play the bassoon, and Fernando earned his first professional orchestra position at age 16. But he had to leave Mexico to pursue his dream and get better at the bassoon.

The position he had in Mexico was a dream in itself. The orchestra was subsidized by the government, and Fernando could expect to play there 30 years and retire with a pension.

But he knew that if he wanted to improve, he had to leave home and pursue further education.

“I left that amazing job. I would’ve been retired 15 years ago. And I gave all that up because I saw what was possible,” he says. “When I think of living in Mexico for the rest of my life, I could not have imagined the amazing life that I’ve had.”

Fernando followed his passion, studying first at the Cleveland Institute of Music and then at Juilliard. He took hs courses in a second language, and he jokes now that he sounded like Tarzan in his early attempts at speaking English.

But he wouldn’t be denied. Traba’s skill and determination took him first to Portugal and then to Spain, and a few years after that he found himself moving to Sarasota in 1992.

Betsy, meanwhile, had been on a similar odyssey. The principal flutist says she is the product of an excel-

lent public music school program in Ohio, then she studied at Baldwin Wallace University and the Manhattan School of Music. At one point, says Betsy, she crossed paths with Fernando but didn’t know it.

“We did discover that he actually came in and subbed in my college orchestra in 1981 or 1982,” she says. “He was on the contrabassoon, which is an enormous instrument, the size of a coffin.

“I remember him arriving because he arrived late to a rehearsal, and that was a big no-no. He was a sub, so the conductor grumbled and let him in.”

Betsy, like Fernando, had to move to Europe to pursue her career after college. She played for three years with the Hofer Symphoniker in Germany before returning to the United States in 1990.

Three years later, she moved to Sarasota, which she has called home ever since.

The Trabas didn’t begin dating right away; they both had relationships but ultimately wound up drawn to each other.

And they both say that holding the same career made navigating their relationship a little easier, especially when it came to managing their time.

“Nobody makes plans for a Saturday night because nobody’s ever free on a Saturday night,” says Betsy. “Friday and Saturday nights are always booked for a nine-month period. If you want to plan a family outing, it almost always has to be on a Monday. That’s our day off.”

“And that’s the day I teach,” adds Fernando.

BOULEVARD

So how did they make it work when they were trying to raise children?

By understanding the importance of the division of labor and making sure that they both had time to themselves.

Betsy says that they “completely co-parented” and that it took a lot of coordination. At one point, she says, they really had time to talk only when they were in the car on the way to a rehearsal or a concert.

At home, their time was devoted to raising their children but also finding a way to carve out some rehearsal space for their burgeoning careers.

“If we’re playing a week’s worth of concerts where he has to play ‘The Rite of Spring’ — which is one of the most difficult bassoon parts in the repertoire — I know he needs space,” says Betsy. “I know he needs time at home with his instrument. He needs time to practice. He needs time to make reeds.

“Similarly, if we’re playing ‘Daphnis and Chloe’ or ‘Prelude to Afternoon of a Fawn’ — some of the repertoire that’s really hard for a principal flutist — he knows to keep a wide berth. And he doesn’t resent it. We understand the pressures that each other is under.”

Both Traba daughters, Isabel and Mercedes, eschewed the family business. Isabel is a swimmer at the University of Miami, and Mercedes swims for Vanderbilt University.

Back when they were learning their strokes, Betsy said the schedule required maximum coordination and cooperation.

“They had practice at 5 a.m. every

day before high school,” she says.

“We were getting up at 4 a.m. to drive them down to Potter Park. Get home from a concert at 10:30, go to bed at 11:30, get up at 4, drive kid number one to the pool. Fernando would get up at 5 to drive kid number two to the pool and pick up kid number one.’”

Things didn’t get any easier at night. Betsy says that the couple required five babysitters at one point because none of them could individually handle the Trabas’ chaotic schedule. There were nights when one babysitter had to hand off to another because both Betsy and Fernando were occupied.

And even at home, they filled different niches.

Betsy took on the task of making sure everybody got their work done and out of the house on time; Fernando became the easygoing father figure, the parent likely to soothe his daughter to sleep by taking her for a late-night bike ride.

Fernando handles the cooking, which Betsy says was a requirement for any relationship.

“I wasn’t going to marry anyone unless they liked to cook because I can’t stand it,” she says. “He’s a night owl. I’m not. He’s an introvert. I’m an extrovert. He loves technology. I have a not great relationship with my computer.

“Mostly, he’s the kind of person who can focus on one thing and become completely immersed in it body and soul. I much more constantly have 16 things going on at the same time.”

The opposites-attract mentality even manifests in how they listen to music.Fernando is always listening to music; he listens in the car and he listens when he’s in his studio making reeds. It feeds his passion.

But for Betsy, she needs some time and space where she can get away from it all.

“When I’m away from work, I just want quiet,” says Betsy. “I don’t want any music around me.

“If I have the radio on in the car, it’s NPR or it’s the news. If he’s been the last one to drive the car, I turn the car on, and there’s immediately an orchestra blaring in my face.”

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2022

Award-winning pianist Mackenzie Melamed is ready for his Sarasota closeup.

‘THE SIMON AND GARFUNKEL STORY’ 8 p.m. at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 7777 N. Tamiami Trail $42-$82 Visit: VanWezel.org Hello darkness, my old friend.

Are you ready to hear the story behind the close-knit harmonies of the beloved acoustic duo?

The touring show will take you from Simon and Garfunkel’s humble origins through their historic split and reunion at the Central Park Concert in 1981; it will have you singing from your seat.

THIS WEEK THURSDAY MIKE MCCARTHY 7 p.m. at McCurdy’s Comedy Theatre, 1923 Ringling Blvd. $25 Visit McCurdysComedy.com.

Mike McCarthy, the self-styled “Comedy Barbarian,” will bring his high-speed comedy act to McCurdy’s for six shows. McCarthy has appeared on Showtime and Comedy Central and bills himself on Twitter as a sports fanatic, a heavy drinker, a family man and a crowd-slayer. Runs through Feb. 12.

FRIDAY JAZZ AT TWO: SARASOTA JAZZ PROJECT 2 p.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church SRQ, 3975 Fruitville Road $10 members, $20 non-members Visit JazzClubSarasota.org.

George McLain, co-founder of the Sarasota Jazz Project Big Band, will lead the 16-piece band through a number of jazz standards and classics. Pete BarenBregge, Kevin Celebi, Greg Caputo and Dave DeWitt will join others in the band for a performance lasting about two hours.

IN-STUDIO PERFORMANCE FEATURING RAYCHEL CECIRO AND EUGENIA TITTERINGTON 7 p.m. at SCD Home Studio, 1400 Boulevard of the Arts $20 Visit SarasotaContemporaryDance. org.

of fine arts and fine crafts, and a number of artists from different disciplines will have their works on sale to the public.

Works will include paintings, clay, glass, sculpture, fiber, wood, jewelry and more for shoppers in all price ranges. The event will also take place at the same time on Sunday.

OUR PICK

CIRCUS SARASOTA The Circus Arts Conservatory will bring its annual Circus Sarasota event to Nathan Benderson Park, where patrons will be invited to enjoy the spectacle of performance in an intimate European-style big top tent.

There will only be 650 seats under the tent, and every one of them will feel close to the action.

Aerialists, acrobats and jugglers will be on the bill, and many of the performers have made their mark on television programs like “America’s Got Talent.”

There will also be animal acts incorporated into the show and plenty of opportunities to see the spectacle as Circus Sarasota will run through March 6.

SUNDAY

What do you have in common with a coral reef? Find out as Raychel Ceciro and Eugenia Titterington move and emote through a program designed to illustrate the turbulent lifespan of coral on Earth. The program will also be danced through on Saturday at 7 p.m., and viewers can virtually stream that performance for $10.

‘A.D. 387’ 7:30 p.m. at Church of the Palms, 3223 Bee Ridge Road $40-$50 Visit KeyChorale.org.

Watch, listen and learn as Key Chorale sings the Te Deum, an ancient Christian hymn believed to date to the fourth century. Take a ride through the history of the hymn from Gregorian chant to trumpet and timpani and finally to the soaring melodies of the Romantic period.

‘THE TEMPS, TOPS, SUPREMES AND GLADYS: A MOTOWN REVIEW’ 8 p.m. at Manatee Performing Arts Center, 502 Third Ave. W., Bradenton $30-$55 Visit ManateePerformingArtsCenter. org.

The Soul Sensations are bringing some friends and tearing through the Motown songbook to give new life to classic tracks from R&B and soul. Rich voices, extraordinary craftsmanship and memorable choreography will transport you back in time to the days of Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross and Gladys Knight.

‘COPACABANA VALENTINES’ The Pops Orchestra 3 p.m. at Riverview Performing Arts Center, 1 Ram Way $30-$35 Visit ThePopsOrchestra.org.

‘THE SHADOW BOX’ 8 p.m. at Howard Studio Theatre, 5840 26th St. W., Bradenton $15 Visit SCF.edu/Academics/ DramaticArts/default.asp.

Come see the students of State College of Florida embodying the work of Michael Cristofer. “The Shadow Box” made its Broadway debut in 1977 and earned the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play that year. The play was also made into a telefilm helmed by Paul Newman in 1980. Runs through Feb. 27.

OSHIMA BROTHERS 8 p.m. at Fogartyville, 525 Kumquat Court $15, $20 non-members Visit WSLR.org/Fogartyville.

Maine-based indie duo Oshima Brothers — featuring real-life siblings Sean and Jamie Oshima — will treat Fogartyville to an evening of tight harmonies. Watch as the brothers employ acoustic and electric guitars, foot percussion, keyboards and bass to flesh out their infectious pop songs.

SATURDAY SARASOTA OPEN AIR FINE ART SHOW 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Phillippi Estate Park, 5500 S. Tamiami Trail Free Visit HotWorks.org.

The historic Phillippi Estate Park will play host to this two-day festival

Does Barry Manilow know that you raid his wardrobe?

Dust off your leisure suit and sample the infectious ballads of the master pop craftsman courtesy of The Pops Orchestra and tribute artist Mark Sanders. The show will be held for two nights: Sunday night at Riverview Performing Arts Center and Monday night at the SCF Neel Performing Arts Center.

SUNCOAST JAZZ AMBASSADORS 3 p.m. at Northminster Presbyterian Church, 3131 61st St. $5 Visit SunCoastConcertBand.org.

Swing into Sunday with the Suncoast Jazz Ambassadors. The big band will be playing its monthly engagement at Northminster Presbyterian Church, and all seating will be first come, first served.

‘PORTRAITS AND LANDSCAPES’ 5 p.m. at Church of the Redeemer, 222 S. Palm Ave. $25 Visit RedeemerSarasota.org.

Violinist Tania Moldovan, horn player William Winter and pianist Christopher Goddard will play selections from Brahms and other exciting works for horn and organ, and violin and piano.

The event is meant to draw a dichotomy between the isolated indoor spaces and the boundless outdoor world.

IF YOU GO WHEN: 7 p.m., Feb 11 WHERE: Circus Sarasota Big Top, Nathan Benderson Park TICKETS: $20-$60 INFO: CircusArts.org.

MACKENZIE MELEMED 6 p.m. at St. Boniface Episcopal Church $20, $10 students Visit BonifaceChurch.org.

There just aren’t enough awards for Mackenzie Melamed.

The young pianist has already been the recipient of the Arthur Rubenstein Prize, and he added a jade medal at the 2019 China International Music Competition.

Melamed, a graduate of Juilliard, has performed all over the United States and Europe, and he moved to Finland in 2020 to establish a new home base.

SUSAN WERNER 4 p.m. at Fogartyville, 525 Kumquat Court $30; $25 members, $15 students Visit WSLR.org/Fogartyville.

Contemporary folk artist Susan Werner will play hits and deep tracks from her nearly three-decade run as

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a singer-songwriter. Werner, an Iowa native, released her latest album, “Flyover Country,” in 2020.

MONDAY

THE FOUR PHANTOMS IN CONCERT 8 p.m. at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 7777 N. Tamiami Trail $27-$77 Visit VanWezel.org.

How did this spectral act get its name? By performing in one of the biggest Broadway acts.

The titular Four Phantoms — Brent Barrett, John Cudia, Franc D’Ambrosio and Ciarán Sheehan — have a wealth of experience performing in “The Phantom of the Opera” in its many incarnations.

The concert experience is brought to life by music supervisor David Caddick and music director Ryan Shirar.

TUESDAY MOZART, BARTOK AND MORE! 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. at Church of the Redeemer, 222 S. Palm Ave. $30 Visit: ChamberOrchestraSarasota. org.

Music from the masters is on the menu at Church of the Redeemer.

The Chamber Orchestra of Sarasota will take on the work of Mozart, Bartok, Dvorak and Tchaikovsky.

If that’s not enough, they’ll also

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2022

play through the world premiere of “William Dawson Jr: A Songful Cycle,” featuring vocalists Christopher Holloway and Stephanie Lorenz.

GLADYS KNIGHT 8 p.m. at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 7777 N. Tamiami Trail $67-$102 Visit VanWezel.org.

Hear it through the grapevine.

Sure, tribute acts to Gladys Knight are very popular, but she’s not done singing her own tunes.

The legendary soul singer will be live in Sarasota sans Pips singing “The Midnight Train to Georgia” and several other tracks from her transcendent career that has lasted more than a half-century.

FEBRUARY/MARCH SHOWS

WEDNESDAY ‘BEEHIVE: THE ’60S MUSICAL’ 7:30 p.m. at Studio 1130, 3501 S. Tamiami Trail $25 Visit ThePlayers.org.

TUE, FEB 15 • 8PM “You and I Ain’t Nothin’ No More,” “Midnight Train to Georgia,” “I Heard it Through the Grapevine,” “If I Were Your Woman”, “That’s What Friends are For”

The Players Centre presents big voices and big hairdos. This show, which will run through Feb. 27, follows six young women who grow up in the turbulent 1960s and features a soundtrack of easily hummable hits like “Son of a Preacher Man” and “My Boyfriend’s Back.”

SPONSORS: Florida Power & Light (FPL) and Herald-Tribune Media Group

since its debut in Rome in January 1900, and the Sarasota Opera will give it new life with eight performances between Feb. 12 and March 19.

The opera is concerned with the historic events that transpired a century before its debut, namely Napoleon’s invasion of Italy, and it takes the audience on a memorable ride that includes some transcendent arias.

DON’T MISS

PUCCINI’S ‘TOSCA’ This Giacomo Puccini opera has been thrilling audiences throughout the world

IF YOU GO When: 7 p.m., Feb. 12 Where: Sarasota Opera House, 61 N. Pineapple Ave. Tickets: $23-$130 Visit: SarasotaOpera.org.

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Sarasota Open Air Fine Art Show

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THE LEGEND CONTINUES ...

February 12 & 13, 2022 At Phillippi Estate Park, Sarasota

MON, FEB 28 • 8PM In a career spanning over 50 years, Engelbert Humperdinck has generated sales in excess of 140 million records, including 64 gold albums and 35 platinum, four Grammy nominations, a Golden Globe, and stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Las Vegas Walk of Fame and Leicester Walk of Fame.

A TRIBUTE TO

NEIL DIAMOND TUE, MAR 1 • 8PM www.hotworks.org Facebook.com/HotWorksArtShows Instagram @HotWorksArtShows

Starring Jay White, this production is an authentic Neil Diamond concert experience not to be missed!

Christine Moore, Mixed Media

Professionally Juried Fine Art & Fine Craft Show At Phillippi Estate Park, 5500 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota

Box Office: M-F 10-6, Sat 10-4, Open Later on Show Days

All Art is Original, Personally Handmade & for Sale by the Artist Present at the Show Saturday, February 12 & Sunday, February 13 ~ 10am-5pm Daily

Free Admission; Parking $5 supports Plus! Call for Entries: Youth Art Competition for grades K-8 or ages 5-13. More info www.ArtsAndEducationInc.org

See Art, Love Art, Buy Art!™

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8th Sarasota Fine Art Show March 12 & 13, 2022 at Phillippi Estate Park, Sarasota

Prices, dates and times subject to change without notice.

TICKETS & PRESHOW DINING

941.263.6799 vanwezel.org

View the Latest Safety Protocols on Our Website

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COVID safety guidelines in place: Social distancing, all booths spread apart, face coverings recommended and more

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2022

REVIEWS

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

Photo courtesy of Cliff Roles

Kenn E. Head in the role of the Stage Manager in a production of “Our Town.”

A Wilder place than you expect ‘Our Town’ explores the cycles of human life in a moving Asolo Rep production.

MARTY FUGATE CONTRIBUTOR

Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” is now on stage in the second Asolo Repertory Theatre production to unfold on an indoor stage since March 2020. So what’s the play

about? If you’d asked me before I saw this show, I’d have given you a bad answer.

I’d read (or skimmed) “Our Town” in high school and watched snippets of Sam Wood’s 1940 movie adaptation. Decades later, I had a vague impression of Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play.

It’s a cornball play about smalltown America at the dawn of the 20th century. Its claim to fame is a lack of sets. It’s all just ladders and stuff.

That was my fuzzy notion.

Wilder’s play is surprisingly

mystical. You can see the influence of transcendentalism and Buddhist notions of cyclic existence.

The wheel of life turns. Breakfast, lunch, dinner. Blue skies, rain.

Sunshine, stars. Birth, life, death.

The playwright eyes the big picture through a small lens. The play’s stuffed with quotidian minutiae.

Wilder famously takes minimalism to the max with “Our Town.”

The actors mime most of the action. You have to imagine the soda fountains, cows and baseball diamonds. It makes daily life seem like a kind of dance. And a beautiful dance, at that.

Wilder’s original play was a WASP nest. Grover’s Corner, New Hampshire, had plenty of churches but no synagogues or mosques.

The womenfolk did all the housework; the men had all the paying jobs. Director Desdemona Chiang mixes that with a rainbow of genders and ethnic origins.

The “Stage Manager” character (Kenn E. Head) functions as the play’s folksy omniscient narrator.

Head plays him as detached and bemused. This entity cares about the townsfolk’s lives, but he’s living on a higher plane.

George Gibbs (Alex Benito Rodriguez) is an all-American boy who’s great at baseball and lousy at math.

As a young teen, he gets his neighbor Emily (Caroline Mixon) to help him with his algebra homework.

Rodriguez’s George is head over heels for his neighbor.

Mixon’s Emily is intellectual and politely reserved.

The study partners gradually become romantic partners. They ultimately marry and stay in town.

IF YOU GO

When: Through March 26 Where: FSU Center for the Performing Arts, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota Tickets: $29-$90 Info: Call 351-8000, or visit AsoloRep.org.

Greg Watanabe and Summer Dawn Wallace play George’s parents, Dr. and Mrs. Gibbs. He heals people; she tends to the homefront.

Gregg Weiner and Diana Coates play Emily’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Webb. He runs the town newspaper and tells everyone what to do in his editorials, but he has no marriage advice for his daughter or future son-in-law. Mrs. Webb is warmhearted and equally void of marriage counsel.

Simon Stimson (Garrick Sigl) is the local choir director. Some unspecified “troubles” have turned him into a cynical alcoholic. Sigl plays him at the intersection of comic and tragic.

Diverse casting makes these characters accessible. That’s the director’s choice, and it’s not arbitrary. Diversity is true to the spirit of the play. “Our Town” was universal to begin with.

Others on the Asolo Rep’s creative team contribute to the sense of universality. Costume designer Christine Tschirgi dresses the characters in jeans and other contemporary clothes. Matthew Parker’s sound design fills your ears with mooing cows, crowing roosters and lonesome train whistles. The world

you see on stage might be minimal, but the world in your ears is richly textured.

Xavier Pierce’s lighting contributes to the otherworldly vibe. It’s the illumination of dreams and memory. Sara Ryung Clement’s beautifully sparse set design might seem like a no-brainer, but less is not just more. It’s harder.

“Our Town” could be Anytown.

Or your hometown. You project yourself into it. And the play’s characters start to feel like your family, friends and neighbors.

For the first two acts, the play’s tone is as homespun and upbeat as a Norman Rockwell painting. And it’s all moving toward a happy ending, right?

Wrong. “Our Town” ends with a tragedy. Simply put, somebody dies. (In case you’re one of the five people in the United States who didn’t read this play in high school, I won’t name names.) But in Wilder’s world, death is just another cycle on the cosmic wheel. And no big deal. The real tragedy is living life without paying attention.

At the end of the third act, a ghost poses a question to the Stage Manager: “Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it … every, every minute?”

“The saints and poets, maybe — they do some,” is his reply.

Carpe diem is Wilder’s obvious takeaway. Seize the day!

Carpe diem has been around since a Roman poet named Horace wrote it down in 23 B.C. Assuming he didn’t steal the line, the sentiment is 2,044 years old.

People still aren’t seizing the day.

Wilder’s lesson still applies.

FSU/ASOLO CONSERVATORY FOR ACTOR TRAINING 2021-22 season

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2022

Mark and Shawn Thompson

Above: President Christine Johnson with Kay Mathers and Claudia Cardillo Left: Katheryn Ross-Nash and Chamie Brown

Anna and Will Chase with Dean Piccirillo

PALM BALL Saturday, Feb. 5, at Bay Preserve | Benefiting Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast

T

he Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast paid tribute to the beauty and biodiversity of Southwest Florida with its colorful Palm Ball on Feb. 5.

Hundreds of guests headed to the Bay Preserve at Osprey for the 14th annual gala. The night’s “The Kaleidoscope of Nature” theme played up vibrant blues, yellows and other shades, and guests matched those colors with their own creative outfits.

Guests mingled outdoors during the reception before it was time for the program to start inside the colorful tent space.

President Christine Johnson thanked the audience for their support for the nonprofit’s many programs protecting the area’s environmental health before food was served. The paddle raise and live auction followed soon after, with the nonprofit raising more than $300,000 by the end of the night.

Renee Phinney and Glenn Reith

—HARRY SAYER

The Pops Orchestra is proud to welcome the Josie Music Awards “Tribute Artist of the Year” nominee, Mark Sanders, to the stage singing all your favorite Barry Manilow hits from “I Write the Songs” to “Copacabana.” This is THE Valentine ticket to get this season on the Suncoast!

Chairwomen Cornelia Matson, Wendy Carlton and Rosemary Eure

SUNCOAST WALKATHON March 5 | Nathan Benderson Park

Gates Open: 9:00 a.m. ~ Let’s Walk! 10:00 a.m. ~ Raffle Drawing: 11:30 a.m.

Join Us for Our Fun, FREE, Dog-Friendly Walkathon & Festival

We invite you and your pups to the Southeastern Guide Dogs Walkathon.

Enjoy a 3K walk and festival including music, food, vendors, and an exciting raffle. By fundraising, you can make a big impact for people with vision loss, veterans with disabilities, and children with significant challenges.

SUN, FEB 13, 3PM Riverview Performing Arts Center

MON, FEB 14, 7:30PM SCF Neel Performing Arts Center

Get your tickets today!

Sign up online at GuideDogsWalkathon.org MADE POSSIBLE BY OUR SPONSORS

General $30 Premium $35

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www.ThePopsOrchestra.org 941-926-POPS (7677) All donations are tax deductible as allowed by law. A copy of the official registration and financial information may be obtained from the Division of Consumer Services by calling toll free 1.800.435.7352 within the state. Registration does not imply endorsement, approval, or recommendation by the state. Registration number CH0475.

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2022

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e b l l i w l a v ! i t r s e e v f e 2 e 02

The 2

the

s r e v i most d

13 TH ANNUAL

m o rt s k i r bol l

OF SARASOTA-MANATEE SPONSORED BY THE JEWISH FEDERATION OF SARASOTA-MANATEE

March 2 – 13, 2022

Photos by Harry Sayer

Henry Louis Gates Jr. speaks to attendees.

Food for thought at library event

[IN-PERSON SCREENINGS MARCH 2– 13; VIRTUAL SCREENINGS MARCH 3 – 24]

MARSHA EISENBERG

JFF CHAIR

Thursday, Feb. 3, at Sarasota Municipal Auditorium | Benefiting the Library Foundation for Sarasota County

T

he Library Foundation for Sarasota County brought Henry Luis Gates Jr. to its 10th annual “Love Our Libraries” author luncheon on Feb. 3.

The event kicked off with a VIP reception outside Art Center Sarasota, where the renowned professor and author signed copies of his book, “The Black Church.”

Afterward, more than 400 attendees filled the Sarasota Municipal Auditorium for the luncheon.

Gates spoke about the life experiences that got him interested in genealogy and eventually led him to start the hit PBS show, “Finding

We are proud to present a fascinating line-up of 16 remarkable and diverse films that is sure to impact, provoke, and move you, as well as make you laugh. They are documentaries, narratives, tragedies and comedies, mysteries and love stories. Most have won awards and will have special meaning to our community of viewers.

For more information, or to purchase tickets, visit

JFEDSRQ.org/JFF

OPENING NIGHT

n

Your Roots.”

He remarked how despite our different stories, genetically humans are “99.9% the same,” and urged the crowd to unite over our similarities rather than divide over our differences. The event concluded with a Q&A led by his longtime friend and fellow author, Charlayne Hunter-Gault.

The luncheon benefits the Library Foundation’s work to supplement the county’s libraries via book-donation programs, creation stations, digital resources and more.

—HARRY SAYER

TIGER WITHIN “A thought provoking, warm movie dealing with friendship starring everyone’s favorite in his last film, Ed Asner.”

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2

FEATURING SPECIAL GUEST

Above: Joseph Wharton and Lou Bertha McKenzie-Wharton Right: Charlayne HunterGault addresses the crowd.

LIZA ASNER CLOSING EVENT

n

GREENER PASTURES “What really happens when you move into a senior living facility? You’ll never believe it! Cookies anyone?”

SUNDAY, MARCH 13

SEE YOU AT THE MOVIES! OPENING NIGHT SPONSOR

SY GOLDBLATT

More than 400 people attended the luncheon.

CLOSING EVENT SPONSOR

OUR OPENING EVENT IS GENEROUSLY SPONSORED BY SY GOLDBLATT IN MEMORY OF HIS WIFE, SHELLY

NADIA RITTER

SILVER SPONSORS

MARSHA EISENBERG

CHERYL AND STEVE SHAPIRO

MEDIA PARTNERS Photo courtesy of Cliff Roles

To become a sponsor, contact Jeremy Lisitza at 941.343.2113 or jlisitza@jfedsrq.org

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Above: Library Foundation Executive Director Alisa Mitchell Left: Andy Sulavik and Director of Libraries and Historical Resources Renee Di Pilato

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2022

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Love is in the Air… and in the Trees!

HARRY SAYER

Row Your Boat

A Change in Perspective Strap artist Darren Trull and performer Sareen Tchekmedyian sailed through the air on straps to end the Circus Gala’s production on Jan. 28.

It was a definite change in perspective for Tchekmedyian, who spent six years with the Sarasota Ballet School. It’s one thing to dance on the ground in ballet, but the show would require her to take to the air.

“Performing and being flown in the air gets this feeling that you dream of when dancing on the ground,” Tchekmedyian said. “You want to be able to look like you’re defying gravity when you jump.”

Tchekmedyian moved back to Sarasota to join her fiance during the pandemic and had started on

Photo courtesy of Cliff Roles

her upper-body strength when Trull contacted her.

Trull and Tchekmedyian are moving on to new opportunities, but the dancer says she hopes she can take to the air again soon.

“I’m sort of addicted,” Tchekmedyian said. “I want to keep going with it.”

Jon Thaxton and Dru Greene took the scenic route to the gala.

Zip•Climb Swing•Soar

Family Furs

Kara Saunders has been on a journey of her own during the pandemic.

The health and wellness figure has spent the last year going vegan and also embraced yoga life.

Though a vegan, she recently arrived at the Van Wezel Foundation’s Inspiration gala on Jan. 27 wearing a luxurious fur.

There may be some dissonance at first glance, but it’s personal for Saunders: The fur is nearly a century old and was given to her by her great-grandmother Jean Lozier.

Lozier lived a long life — outliving three husbands and often being seen at social events wearing flamboyant looks of her own — but died a few years ago. She left a number of articles of clothing behind for Saunders, who gravitated toward the elegant fur.

“It has her initials, and I feel like she’s with me when I wear it,” Saunders said. “It has a ton of sentimental value.”

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It’s likely that no one will be beating the arrival of Jon Thaxton and his wife, Dru Greene, at the 2022 Palm Ball on Feb. 5.

Thaxton has ridden his bike to the Bay Preserve at Osprey for the colorful event in the past, but the couple went harder this year. Jon and Dru rowed a canoe to the event.

“The thought occurred years ago.

I was waiting for the right weather and tide,” Thaxton said. “I thought emphasizing a human-powered vehicle to go places was a good image for environmental conservation.”

Well, they wouldn’t see it as going hard: Thaxton has been canoing and kayaking since he was 12. He admits he cheated a little by changing into his tuxedo only near the end of the route — he had to jump out and wade through before that — but Dru wore her dress the entire time.

REAL RAIL presents: 43rd Annual

Model Railroad Expo February 19th & 20th• Saturday 10-4 & Sunday 10-3

1.00

$ DISCOUNT 1 person per ad

• All Scales • More than 100 Dealer Tables • Railroad Antiques and Collectibles • Kids can run trains on our kids portable layout • See Downtown Tampa built with Legos

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Bradenton Area Convention Center • 1 Haben Blvd • Palmetto, Fl ADMISSION Adults $8.00 • Kids 13 & Under FREE with Paid Adult

WINTER OPERA FESTIVAL

CDC REQUIREMENTS APPLY

Tosca

by Giacomo Puccini Feb. 12 - Mar. 19, 2022

Scan to Register

Free Admission

or RSVP to Roz@BookThatEscape.com

The Daughter of the Regiment

by Gaetano Donizetti Feb. 19 - Mar. 18, 2022

The Pearl Fishers

by Georges Bizet March 5-19, 2022

Attila

APRIL 21, 2021 7:30 PM Wednesday, February 4:30 16, TO 2022 • 4 - 7:30 pm NATHAN BENDERSON PARK, FINISH TOWER SARASOTA,Country FLORIDA The Meadows Club 3101 Longmeadow, Sarasota �SlLVERSEA"

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View the Schedule at BookThatEscape.com/SRQLuxuryTravel. _ill_PONANf Speakers• Refreshments• Personal Travel Consultations

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by Giuseppe Verdi March 12-22, 2022 All operas performed in the original language with translations above the stage.

Observer advertising made possible through the generous support of the AUDREY ROBBINS / HARRY LEOPOLD Fund of the Community Foundation of Sarasota County.

WINTER SEASON OPENS FEBRUARY 12!

Tickets | (941) 328-1300 | SarasotaOpera.org

Speakers • Refreshments • Personal Travel Consultations

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The Winter Opera Festival is sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Arts and Culture and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture. Paid in part by Sarasota County Tourist Development Tax revenues.

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2022

Photos by Harry Sayer

Paula Norwood, Allen McGee, Pat Anderson, Gail Goldrath and Larry Milas

Unconventional Evening Wednesday, Feb. 2, at Sarasota Art Museum | Benefiting Sarasota Art Museum

T

he Sarasota Art Museum (SAM) entertained its supporters with a most Unconventional Evening on Feb. 2.

The new fundraiser brought a number of activities and art showcases to the museum for a night of interactive fun and creativity. Some guests mingled outside while watching a Cirque Vertigo cube-spinner performer while others headed into the museum to mingle, have their likenesses sketched

by Ringling College of Art and Design students and even pick up paintbrushes and throw paint onto models acting as canvasses.

Sarasota Contemporary Dance company members performed a series of dances across the museum’s Judith Linhares exhibit on the second floor.

SAM supporters met the theme with a variety of colorful and creative attire that included leisure suits, funky patterns, mohawk headdresses and more.

Special Events Manager Laura Stuart Wood said much of the night’s entertainment was to highlight the museum’s many exhibits and art pieces.

The night ended with dinner in the Tom & Sherry Koski Gallery.

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4420 South Tamiami Trail, Sarasota 941.260.8905 www.shellysgiftandchristmasboutique.com Monday - Saturday 10:00am - 6:00pm

Above: A Cirque Vertigo performer works with a spinner cube outside during the reception. Below: Pat and Larry Thompson with Executive Director Virginia Shearer

—HARRY SAYER

Journey to the past.

l a u n rd An 33 VENICE

Hosted by:

Italian Feast

& Carnival

Live Music | Entertainment | FOOD | Vendors | Rides & Games

FREE ADMISSION February 24, 25, 26, 27, 2022 Starts at 4pm - Thursday & Friday Starts at NOON - Saturday & Sunday VENICE AIRPORT | Parking $10 www.ItalianAmericanClubOfVenice.com/Feast/

SARASOTA PREMIERE!

Sponsored by Wilde Lexus Sarasota and ABC7

ENTERTAINMENT SCHEDULE:

*Young people ages 5-18 can see the show for FREE when accompanied by a full-paying adult!

THURS 4-4:30pm Venice High School Band THURS 5-8pm The 301 Traveler’s Band - The Ultimate Country Rock Experience FRI 4-6pm The Best of Jimmy Mazz Variety Show FRI 7-10pm Bandana - Classic Rock and Roll SAT 12-3pm License to Chill - Tropical Rock SAT 4-5pm Tarantella Dancers - Italian Folk Dancing SAT 6-9pm Kettle of Fish - Rock, Blues, and R&B

Box Office: M-F 10-6, Sat 10-4, Open Later on Show Days

SUN 12-3pm All That Jazz SUN 4-7pm Bandana - Classic Rock and Roll

Prices, dates and times subject to change without notice.

Joe Cerrito on the Accordion in the Food Tent

TICKETS & PRESHOW DINING

941.263.6799 vanwezel.org

View the Latest Safety Protocols on Our Website

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FRI, MAR 18* • 7:30PM SAT, MAR 19 • 2PM & 7:30PM SUN, MAR 20 • 1PM & 6:30PM

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Covid-19: by visiting the feast you voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to covid-19. For the Safety of All - No Personal Food, Drinks, or Pets Permitted on the Airport Grounds

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Robert Mapplethorpe, Hyacinth, 1987. Courtesy of Graphicstudio, University of South Florida Collection and Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation.

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Above: Melissa Morsli, Ashley Kozel, Jaclyn Brunckhorst, Donna Koffman, Umbreen Khalidi-Majeed, Elisabeth Waters, Roxanne Permsley and Maria Beck Left: Lissa Murphy tosses paint onto canvas models Below: Steven Dixon and Peggy Allen with Skip and Janis Swan

PRESENTING SPONSORS Drs. Joel Morganroth and Gail Morrison Morganroth

LEAD SPONSORS

SELBY.ORG

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Marianne and William McComb

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2022

OPENING FRIDAY NIGHT!

2022

Fri Feb 11 –

Photos by Harry Sayer

Chairwoman Bridget Spiess accompanies the Rev. Frank Dewane into the hotel.

Sun Mar 6, 2022

Catholic Charities Ball Saturday, Feb. 5, at The Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota | Benefiting Catholic Charities Diocese of Venice Inc.

2022

T

he Catholic Charities Ball made its grand return to The Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota, on Feb. 5.

The event put on by the Catholic Charities Diocese of Venice Inc. celebrated its “Together Again” theme with an elegant evening that brought hundreds of supporters to the Ritz ballroom.

People arrived at the space early, but the event really kicked off in earnest when the Rev. Frank Dewane, the bishop of the Diocese of Venice in Florida, arrived at the

Ritz to the sound of bagpipes.

Guests mingled for a time and then entered the Ritz ballroom, where they were welcomed by emcee Ray Collins and listened to an invocation from the Rev. Dewane.

The Dynasty Dancers put on a dance performance before dinner was served.

Following the live auction, the audience heard success stories from people who have benefited from the Catholic Charities programs.

—HARRY SAYER

Featuring BELLO NOCK!

Above: Riley Beaver and Judy Kozlowski Left: Emcee Ray Collins and Erin Hurter

Tickets $20 - $60 20% OFF All Tickets for the First 10 Shows!

(Fri, Feb 11 – Fri, Feb 18)

N E W LO C AT I O N !

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