Arts + Entertainment 11.24.22

Thanks to an assist from the Food Network, the Alpine Steakhouse is famous for its turducken.

You don’t have to call Matt Reb han to tell him he’s on TV again. His cash register is already ring ing off the hook.

Rebhan, the proprietor of Alpine Steakhouse on U.S. 41 in Sarasota, is currently working through his busiest season of the year thanks to a brush with culinary celebrity that occurred more than a decade ago.

Rebhan and his restaurant’s signa ture dish, the turducken, were fea tured on the Food Network’s “Din ers, Drive-ins and Dives” hosted by Guy Fieri in 2007, and the resulting notoriety helped fuel the eatery’s growth into a national footprint.

Today, 15 years later, Rebhan says the program is still paying dividends.

“They play it year after year. And you can tell,” he says. “If the show starts at 8:30 at night, I’ll be answer ing calls until midnight. We have an app on the phone that shows us emails of all the orders coming through and it will just be like, ‘Ding ding ding ding ding.’

“Then we come in the next day and we start boxing them up and ship ping them out.”

Rebhan is a third-generation res taurateur, and the steakhouse and meat market he runs was opened up by his grandfather, Henry Rebhan, in 1975. Mark Rebhan, Henry’s son and Matt’s dad, ran Alpine for decades, and he brought the turducken — which is a deboned turkey with a deboned duck and chicken cooked inside of it — here to Sarasota.

The dish originated in New Orleans and rose to national consciousness in

1996, when famed NFL analyst John Madden tore one apart on national television.

Matt Rebhan says he tried for years to get one of his turduckens in front of Madden to no avail, but then one day in 2007, his restaurant’s fortunes changed when Fieri came calling.

At that point, says Rebhan, Alpine was lucky if it sold more than 12 tur duckens in a given year.

“We didn’t even have a website at the time,” he says. “Talk about grow ing pains. ‘How are we going to do this? This is going to be insane.’

“We thought we had a few months to figure it out before it aired on national TV. But it hit front page on the Herald-Tribune the very next day. I think everyone in Sarasota wanted to try turducken overnight. It was incredible.”

In retrospect, it’s easy to see why the video clip became iconic.

There’s Fieri, now one of Ameri ca’s most recognizable food person alities, dropping catch phrases like “That was money, dude,” before they had entered the national vernacular.

“This is kind of like culinary Dis neyland for a dude like me,” he says, sunglasses perched backward on his head as he watches Rebhan demon strate deboning technique.

After Rebhan seasons and begins grilling the turducken in front of him, Fieri speaks up again.

“I bet you have a lot of friends come Thanksgiving and Christmas

time.”

Before the action-packed segment ends, Fieri pronounces that the dish is “a flavor fest.”

The Alpine Steakhouse turduck en became an overnight success, and Fieri later featured the dish on another Food Network program.

But first, “Saturday Night Live” took notice. Cast member Bobby Moynihan did his best Guy Fieri impression during a 2010 Weekend Update segment, and toward the end, he referenced Rebhan’s moment in the sun.

“If you think that’s crazy, then you will flip your bean when you hear this,” says Moynihan as a faux Fieri. “A chicken inside of a duck inside of a turkey inside of a rabbit, inside of a pig, inside of a baby cow, inside of a big cow, inside of a horse. All stuffed into a Cornish game hen. ...It’s called a Turducken Rabpigcowcow Hors enish Game Hen.”

THE REAL THING

Rebhan’s turducken has matured over the years, but the recipe is large ly the same.

The developments have come in the way that Alpine Steakhouse has mastered assembly.

Alpine Steakhouse tried bring ing in deboned turkeys, ducks and chickens, says Rebhan, but they found that the process was done by machines and didn’t leave enough margin for error. Now, he says, they divide the labor to make sure each bird is properly stitched.

“Typically when we make them, we set up a little factory line,” he says. “We’ve got some people bon ing them, some people stuffing them

and one or two people sewing them. That’s it. You’ve just got to plan your day around it, and it’s typically done on a day we’re closed.”

Once the meats have been deboned and conjoined, that’s when the cook ing process starts. Rebhan says they render the skin on the meat to carry some of the Cajun seasoning.

The only bones left in the turkey are the wingtips and the drums to keep its aesthetic shape. Otherwise, it’s just a 25-pound turkey with a chicken and a duck shoved inside.

“The whole cavity has been removed,” says Rebhan. “That allows the heat to penetrate the inside of the bird. It’s a very low and slow process. The Big Bird is right around a 12- or 13-hour bake at 200 to 225 degrees. Each set of birds comes with a differ ent set of instructions, but they’re so dense that it takes a low temperature to let the heat penetrate.

“For the last hour of the process, you’re basting it. And then you’re turning up the heat to brown it.”

The Alpine Steakhouse turduck en also includes homemade stuff ing between the layers of meat that includes cornbread and sausage.

The full bird costs $299 and can be shipped anywhere across the coun try, and Rebhan says he’s sent a full turducken all the way to Hawaii and to Puerto Rico.

Alpine Steakhouse has also begun selling a smaller turducken dubbed the turducklet, and it offers a tur ducken roll and a turducken half-roll for families feeding fewer people.

The full turducken sold out this year, and its preparation consumed the staff for much of October. First they’re assembled, says Rebhan, and then they’re frozen and packed in Styrofoam for their journey.

“We just had FedEx come by with a ground truck and an express van,” Rebhan said weeks before Thanks giving. “I had 40 birds leave today.

“We ship Monday through Wednesday to ensure these products leave in the working week so they don’t sit in a warehouse overnight or on the weekend.”

At this point, Alpine Steakhouse has stopped counting how many tur duckens it sells.

Seven out of every 10 turducken customers, Rebhan estimates, are ordering it on a regular basis, and

people who pick up the turducken locally are able to get it on Monday or Tuesday the week of Thanksgiving.

The staff makes them for Christ mas, for Thanksgiving and for Eas ter. And they sell out every time.

Rebhan says the preparation of the dish is complicated but also reward ing, and he says he’s been amused to see the trend blossoming out in the world of social media.

He’s seen seafood turduckens with shrimp, and he’s seen stuffing with nuts and cranberries.

He said he’s even seen something wild like a steer inside of a lamb or something like that.

It’s crazy, says Rebhan, and not something he ever could have fore seen a decade or two ago.

“Never in my wildest imagination would I have thought that this would have exploded into what it did and that we get to continue to make as many as we do,” he says.

“After you get the Food Network treatment, it’s like, ‘OK, boom, everybody wants it and then they’ve got to try different things.’ But this has really stuck and become a tradi tion for families and for customers.”

The Sounds of Silence

Zad Zad’s final exit slowly turns into a plan.

Mordy’s pharmaceutical expertise comes in handy. (Supposedly, a kale smoothie can be fatal to people on blood thinners.)

Jane’s closest to Zad Zad’s nursing home. And she’s got a blender.

The plot takes several left turns after that. Do the kids kill Zad Zad or not? Don’t ask me, and that’s not really the point.

The playwright’s more interested in alienated family relationships — and not just Mordy and Jane.

You see the siblings on stage.

Thanks to their texts, you see Mommy, Zad Zad, and Jane’s husband and kids in your mind’s eye.

Matt Schatz’ “The Burdens” shares the ongoing dialogue of two siblings about “Zad Zad,” their unbearable grandfather.

Since they live on opposite sides of the country, that conversation is long-distance.

They communicate by text, email, and occasionally voicemail. Lately, they’ve got a lot to talk about.

Jane (Morgan Lavenstein) is a high-powered attorney and mother of three (with one more on the way) based in New Jersey. Her younger brother, Mordy (Jake Fallon), is a wannabe rock star living in L.A.

The only gigs he gets are openmic nights; he pays the rent with a part-time job as a pharmacist’s assistant. They’re both unhappy that their 100-year-old grandfather is putting their widowed mother (aka “Mommy”) through hell.

Zad Zad’s draining her financial resources, breaking her heart, and calling her names we can’t print in a family newspaper.

How can her kids possibly help?

This dilemma emerges in the siblings’ fragmented texts.

Thanks to a random typo, a potential (if illegal and immoral) solution pops up. Jane wishes that Zad Zad appreciated their mommy.

Mordy replies, “I hope he dies.”

He’d meant to type, “I hope he does.” But Jane takes his mistake seriously at first.

After a good laugh, the siblings begin to think the unthinkable. Their dark “what-if” fantasy for

Director Brendan Ragan brings this fractured fairy tale to life with pitch-perfect pacing.

The music of Schatz’ comedic dialogue is first-rate. It’s not really natural speech, but it sounds like it. And it never settles into predictable set-up/punch line beats.

Ragan hears the music.

Jane (Lavenstein) and Mordy (Fallon) put the “fun” in dysfunctional family in this dark comedy. Their murder plot comes together like an improv game. (“Yes, and … here’s how we’ll kill him!”)

They stumble onto the scheme by a process of free association.

As preposterous and unethical as it is, the siblings’ runaway train of thought also reveals who they are.

As with many stage plays, most action happens off-stage.

You hear what happen in anecdotes, family stories and snippets of dialogue. That’s true in “The Burdens,” but with a difference.

As noted, the siblings’ text and emails comprise the play’s dialogue. These messages don’t pop up on various screens.

The two actors face the audience. They speak their texted lines to us — and not each other.

The effect is as creepy as an old “Outer Limits” episode.

It also violates every basic lesson in Acting 101. Actors typically play off each other.

In this play, they’re on their own.

What’s the playwright’s point?

A jab at modern communication is the obvious takeaway.

Digital tech connects us. And simultaneously disconnects us.

We talk, but we don’t really talk. “People talking without speaking,” to quote Paul Simon’s “Sounds of Silence.”

This production smartly evokes that digital divide.

Tom Hansen’s maze-like set design and Ethan Vail’s on-again, off-again lighting conveys the disjointed lack of context of each scene. Alison Gensmer’s costumes are visible to the audience, not the two characters.

(Mordy definitely doesn’t think he’s being watched.)

Alex Pinchin’s sound design interweaves the beeps, bloops and chimes of today’s chatty smartphones and computers.

Smartphone stupidity is definitely one of Schatz’ satirical targets. But it’s not his only target.

He also takes aim at the old-fashioned, hurtful stupidity of many

human families.

Aside from its 21st-century medium, the play’s message is pretty clear. Fathers, mothers, sisters and brothers can play mind games on each other, and those games can sometimes be cruel. Jane and Mordy’s childhood memories of their grandfather boil down to a series of snubs and insults.

Zad Zad’s past hurts still sting; his present-day cruelties do, too.

It’d be easy to dismiss the man as a rotten human being.

Zad Zad sometimes was (and sometimes is) rotten indeed. But he’s more than that.

That’s the reason Mordy and Jane still love him even though they still want to kill him.

That’s my takeaway. But it’s the 21st century, and the signal noise can be murderous. I’ll let you make the call.

IF YOU GO

‘THE BURDENS’

When: Runs through Dec. 4

Where: Urbanite Theatre, 1487 Second St. Tickets: $25-$39 Info: Call 321-1397 or visit UrbaniteTheatre.com.

‘The Burdens’ plays a game of digital telephone in Urbanite Theatre’s latest dark comedy.

THIS WEEK

FRIDAY

AL ROMAS

7 p.m. at McCurdy’s Comedy Theater, 1923 Ringling Blvd.

$25 Visit McCurdysComedy.com.

McCurdy’s crowd favorite Al Romas, co-host of “The Talking Dicks Comedy Podcast,” is back for an evening of comedy. Romas will also play two shows on the other side of the holiday break, but McCurdy’s is closed for Thanksgiving.

‘SOMETHING ROTTEN!’

8 p.m. at Gompertz Theatre, 1265 First St. $49 Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.

Something old is new again. Join in the fun as Florida Studio Theatre goes back in time to Elizabethan England and imagines what it might have been like to compete on the same stage as William Shakespeare. It’s a colorful show with costumes directly from the national tour. Runs through Jan. 1.

SATURDAY

‘CHARLOTTE’S WEB’

10 a.m. at Keating Theatre, 1241 Palm Ave. $10 Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.

It’s the final performance of “Charlotte’s Web,” which has been

charming local children and arts editors alike since the beginning of October. There’s physical comedy and brilliant wordplay from the children’s novel penned by E.B. White 70 years ago, and kids of all sizes will delight in the coming-ofage tale starring pig Wilbur and his spider friend Charlotte.

DAVE KOZ AND FRIENDS’ 25TH ANNIVERSARY CHRISTMAS TOUR 8 p.m. at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall $62+

Visit VanWezel.org.

Saxophone ace Dave Koz is coming to town with an All-Star team

OUR PICK

‘MYSTIC & KINGS’

Key Chorale and the Sarasota Ballet’s Studio Co. join together for an evening of song and dance. This is the fifth year for the collaboration between the two companies, and they’ll be performing a rare composition by Margaret Bond in addition to music that features both the sitar and the tanpura.

IF YOU GO When: 4 p.m., Nov. 27

Where: Sarasota Opera House, 61 N. Pineapple Ave. Tickets: $20-$55 Info: KeyChorale.org.

including Rick Braun, Peter White, Keiko Matsui and Rebecca Jade to bring you some holiday cheer. Koz has toured the country for decades and put 11 No. 1 albums onto Billboard’s Current Contemporary Jazz Albums chart.

SUNDAY

THANKSGIVING CONCERT

Lakewood Ranch Wind Ensemble 2 p.m. at Peace Presbyterian Church, 12705 FL-64 E., Lakewood Ranch $10 Visit LWRWindEnsemble.org.

Celebrate Turkey Day with the Lakewood Ranch Wind Ensemble, led by Joe Miller, who will play through a group of compositions by John Phillip Sousa, Karl King, Percy Grainger and more.

‘CABARET’

2 p.m. at FSU Center for the Performing Arts, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail $35-$99

Visit AsoloRep.org. Out there, life is chaos. But in here, life is beautiful. The world is dissolving around the performers at the Kit Kat Club, but they’re living minute-to-minute and songto-song. Director Josh Rhodes brings this venerable classic to the Asolo Repertory Theatre, which will run through New Year’s Eve. Iris Beaumier and Lincoln Clauss star as Sally Bowles and the Emcee.

FRUITVILLE’S DRAG QUEEN BINGO BONANZA 8 p.m. at McCurdy’s Comedy Theatre, 1923 Ringling Blvd. $25 Visit McCurdysComedy.com.

Sarasota institution Beneva Fruitville is back in town, and she’s bringing her signature brand of Drag Queen Bingo back to McCurdy’s Comedy Theatre. Come finish off your Thanksgiving weekend with a little extra stuffing.

MONDAY

A CEREMONY OF CAROLS 7 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church of Sarasota, 2050 Oak St. $35 Visit MusicaSacraSarasota.com.

Ann Stephenson-Moe conducts Musica Sacra as they sing on compositions by Benjamin Britten, Gustav Holst and John Rutter. Harpist Giuseppina Ciarla will play heavenly harmonies on these 20th century holiday carols. The title composition, “A Ceremony of Carols,” was written by Britten for chorus, solo voices and harp in 1942.

THE ALLMAN FAMILY REVIVAL 8 p.m. at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail $60-$104 Visit VanWezel.org.

Gregg and Duane Allman are gone, but their music remains. The Allman Family Revival, anchored by Gregg’s son, Devon, will feature performances by the Devon Allman Project, Duane Betts, Donavon Frankenreiter, Maggie Rose, Jimmy Hall, Larry McCray, Alex Orbison and The River Kittens. The legacy of Southern Rock takes center stage at the Van Wezel.

TUESDAY

‘CHICAGO’ 7:30 p.m. at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail $42-$97 Visit VanWezel.org.

This musical has been to Broadway, Hollywood and beyond. The original “Chicago” premiered in 1975, and its revival came to the stage in 1998. In all, it’s one of the longest running Broadway shows. The stage musical has won a slew of Tony Awards, and the 2002 film adaptation won the Academy Award for Best Picture. Runs through Nov. 30.

‘A CHANTICLEER CHRISTMAS’

7:30 p.m. at Sarasota Opera House, 61 N. Pineapple Drive $25-$85

Visit SCASarasota.org.

If Turkey Day has passed, that means the decks are cleared for boughs of holly. Grammy Awardwinning chorus Chanticleer, formed in 1978, has sold more than a million albums and performed in over 1,000 concerts over the decades. Chanticleer sings Renaissance, classical and gospel, and you’ll hear classics like “Come All Ye Faithful,” “Ave Maria” and more.

WEDNESDAY

COLLABORATIVE:

CROSS ARTS

NEW VOICES AND NEW WORKS

5 p.m. at Donelly Theatre, 1012 N. Orange Ave. $5, registration required Visit HermitageArtistRetreat.org.

The Hermitage Artist Retreat sponsored this collaboration between artists from Florida Studio Theatre (Tsebiyah Mishael Derry) and Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe (Derric Gobourne Jr.). Derry, a singer, actress and poet, and Gobourne Jr., a new jack swing artist and dancer extraordinaire, will share

DON’T MISS

‘LANGSTON

HUGHES’ BLACK NATIVITY’

This is actually a preview performance of the Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe’s Christmas card to the community. Opening Night of “Langston Hughes’ Black Nativity” is on Dec. 3; Nate Jacobs, the founder of WBTT, remixes and adapts this holiday special every time it’s staged, but the central theme is always a celebration of the nativity story told to Langston Hughes poetry and a sampling of gospel and blues.

IF YOU GO When: 7:30 p.m., Nov. 30, Runs through Dec. 23 Where: Donelly Theatre, 1012 N. Orange Ave.

December 3, 2022

December 17, 2022 Timothy Chooi and ChangYong Shin

January 28, 2023 Michelle Ross

April 15, 2023 Max Tan, Sam Boutris, and Chelsea Wang

excerpts of the works they created during their time as Hermitage fellows.

‘THE BURDENS’

7:30 p.m. at Donelly Theatre, 1487 Second St. $7-$41 Visit UrbaniteTheatre.org.

What’s better for the holiday season than a comedy about a pair of siblings considering a murder in the family? This inventive play, told almost entirely through sarcastic and misspelled texts and emails, stars Morgan Lavenstein and Jacob Fallon as scheming siblings who plan to usher their Grandpa into the Great Beyond.

‘A PLACE IN THE SUN’

7:30 p.m. at Goldstein Cabaret, 1239 N. Palm Ave. $34

Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.

FST just called to say they love you. Joshua Pyram and Ben Senneff will bring you the music of Stevie Wonder in this original revue, and they’ll be supported by guitarist Hannah Taylor, drummer Marcus James and pianist Sean Holland II.

Sarasota Art Museum presents a classical music program features world-class artists performing in an intimate casual setting.

Join our diverse roster of musicians this season on Saturdays at 2 pm in Thomas McGuire Hall.

Curated by concert violinist Max Tan, each salon-style event includes a short, classical music program, insights from the artists, and conversation.

Tickets: $20-$55 Info: WestCoastBlackTheatre.org. 1001 South Tamiami Trail Sarasota, FL 34236 941.309.4300

Human Relations Award Dinner

Thursday, Nov. 17, at Michael’s On East | Benefiting AJC West Coast Florida

There were plenty of reasons for celebration during AJC West Coast Florida’s 2022 National Human Relations Award Dinner on Nov. 17.

In addition to the annual award that was presented to Sarasota philanthropists Joel and Gail Morganroth for their continued support of AJC’s programs and initiatives, guests also celebrated the arrival of a new CEO leading the Jewish advocacy organization.

Guests met at Michael’s On East for the annual event, where they mingled and eventually packed the Michael’s On East ballroom for an evening of support.

AJC West Coast director Brian Lipton welcomed the audience and thanked all in attendance for their continuing contributions. AJC then led the Motzi blessing before dinner — which was comprised of miso glazed salmon, aparagus, red peppers, salad and more — was served.

AJC Regional President Anne Virag then took to the stage to welcome the night’s keynote speaker — new AJC CEO Ted Deutch, who recently joined the organization.

Veronica Brady led a tribute to the Morganroths before the duo took the stage to thank the audience for the award.

Side by Side Brunch

Sunday, Nov. 13, at Michael’s On East | Benefiting Sarasota Orchestra

The Sarasota Orchestra met supporters for its annual “Side By Side” brunch on Nov. 13.

The annual brunch event brought Sarasota Orchestra staff and guests to Michael’s On East bright and early for a morning of breakfast foods and mingling. Guests picked up food outside the Michael’s ballroom before heading inside for the program to begin.

Guests heard from co-chairs Henry Kahwaty, Molly Dooher and Kay Aidlin before enjoying their meals.

The brunch also had music performances from a number of Sarasota Orchestra musicians including a bass duet, a percussion segment, samplings from the John Miller Jazz Ensemble and more.