Arts + Entertainment 1.29.26

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ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

ORIGINS OF AN ART OASIS

MARTY FUGATE CONTRIBUTOR

Two exhibitions are now open in Sarasota documenting the town’s heyday as an artists colony. One is at Ringling College of Art and Design. The other is at the downtown offices of Michael Saunders & Co. Ringling College’s “Origins: Sarasota Artist Colony, 1945-1965” was co-curated by Tim Jaeger and William Hartman. It’s a fascinating origin story. Florida’s filled with beach communities. This ambitious historical exhibition reveals how Sarasota became an arts community. But it’s not the whole picture. At Ringling College, historical wall notes put the artworks in context. The effect is like walking into a giant art history book. The illustrations are actual drawings and paintings. World War II is the overarching context. It planted the seeds of Sarasota’s growing artist colony in the post-war years.

THE POST-WAR ART BOOM In the two decades after World War II, Sarasota attracted artists from around the country. With great weather and cheap rent, it’s easy to see why. The GI Bill kicked the process into overdrive — and an influx of talented veterans took advantage of it.

The Ringling School of Art, the predecessor to today’s college, provided many with training and a reason to stay. Their budding arts community transformed the larger community. “About 1,000 artists were living in a town of roughly 15,000 people,” notes Jaeger, chief curator of Ringling College. “One

A Ringling College exhibit traces the history of the Sarasota Artist Colony.

out of every 15 Sarasotans was creating original art.” While these artists lived and worked in Sarasota, they had no regional style. These rugged individualists marched to different drummers. This exhibit celebrates their parade with 36 creations from Sarasota’s artist colony days.

ART FOR THE ARTISTS’ SAKE

Jon Corbino’s “Refugees” (1937) is a storm-tossed scene of desperate people clinging to a tiny boat. His broad, vivid brushwork is ideal for this violent vignette; it’s painterly, muscular and gestural.

Corbino blocks in the survivors with limited, earthy colors; his blurry figures merge with sea and sky. This tempestuous scene is representational, but it works as an abstraction. While Corbino’s painting pre-dates Abstract Expressionism, he’s moving in that direction. Ben Stahl’s undated “Thunder on the Beach” also crackles with stormy weather. In his dramatic painting, the storm hasn’t hit yet. You see a crosssection of humanity — on what looks like an Italian beach. Modest nuns,

SEE ART PAGE 2

IF YOU GO

‘ORIGINS: SARASOTA ARTIST COLONY, 1945-1965’

When: Through April 11

Where: Ringling College’s Stulberg Gallery, 2700 N. Tamiami Trail Info: Visit Ringling.edu/ Galleries.

‘A LEGACY IN THE MAKING: SARASOTA’S VISUAL ARTS HISTORY 1945-1965’ Where: Michael Saunders & Co. 605 Main St., No. 101 Info: Visit SarasotaLegacy. art for images, timeline and video tour.

topless women, a cigar-smoking man in a beach chair — you see all kinds. Many huddle for shelter under a billowing canopy. Others (like the serene woman enjoying a bottle of wine) don’t mind getting wet.

Syd Solomon’s “Resurge” (1961) is an abstract piece, but it’s stormy in its own right. A turbulent color field of forceful brushstrokes. A diagonal composition. The energy slashes up from left to right. Solomon painted this before the hard-edge abstractions of his later work. Those evoked a cool sense of oceanic depths and labyrinths of coral caves. This is more like a firestorm.

Craig Rubadoux’s “Man with Lion” is high and dry. This dreamy painting depicts a wide-eyed bald man (clown or harlequin?) holding a surprised-looking lion. A brilliant use of negative space — he stands in one corner, with no background behind him. Who is this man? Why is he holding a lion? With his signature surreal wit, Rubadoux lets the mystery be.

That’s just a sample of what these mid-20th-century artists created. Other artists included in the Ringling College exhibit are Judy Axe, Robert Chase, Shirley Clement, Jerry Farnsworth, Glenna Finch, Martha and William Hartman, Robert Larsen, Sidney Laufman, Hilton and Dorothy Leech, George Kaiser, Roy Nichols, Al Parker, Nike Parton, Elden Rowland, Helen Sawyer, Harold Slingerland, Thornton Utz, Loran Wilford and Eugene White.

But they didn’t do it alone.

COMMON CAUSE

Without sacrificing individuality, these Sarasota talents empowered each other. Visual artists formed close friendships and collaborations. They also joined or created artistic organizations such as The Ringling School of Art and The Sarasota Art Association (now Art Center Sarasota) along with The Petticoat Painters, a group of women’s artists. In addition to creating art, they had a lot of fun and a lot of parties.

Visual artists also joined forces with architects, authors and circus artists. Until 1960, Sarasota was the winter headquarters of The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Cir-

cus. “The Greatest Show on Earth” often needed artists to paint its wagons, banners and displays. Artists like Corbino and Wilfred Berg returned the compliment by making circus life the subject of their paintings. These creative collaborations transformed Sarasota into a subtropical arts colony. The two decades following World War II were its glory days. But that’s all history now. Preserving that history is the point of the Ringling College and Michael Saunders initiatives.

YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW

“Origins” at Ringling College illustrates Sarasota’s artist colony history with historical art. At Michael Saunders & Co., a new installation, “Legacy in the Making: Sarasota’s Visual Arts History 194565,” unfolds that history with a timeline of historical images. Curated

by Jaeger, this 200-foot mural wall is suitably larger than life. SarasotaLegacy.art puts Sarasota’s artistic glory days online in exquisite detail. It includes a video tour.

An exhibition. A mural. A website.

Putting them together was a Herculean task. Why go to so much trouble?

“We need to preserve Sarasota’s artistic heritage,” explains Jaeger. “We want to hold onto this work. We need to keep telling stories about the artists who created it. Newcomers and future generations need to hear it.”

Jaeger notes that many area residents aren’t aware of Sarasota’s post-war arts legacy. “Economic forces have created a cultural amnesia,” he says. “We want to reverse that. Sarasota was a true artist colony in the past. If we hold onto that memory, we just might be an artist colony in the future.”

Through a looking glass, darkly

Michael Donald Edwards reflects on directing ‘The Mirror Crack’d’ on the Asolo Rep stage.

MARTY FUGATE CONTRIBUTOR

Rachel Wagstaff’s “The Mirror Crack’d” is Asolo Rep’s latest production. Her adaptation of Agatha Christie’s novel unfolds in the early 1960s in an English village — which happens to be a film location. A glamorous American film star disrupts small town life. When a guest is murdered at a charity ball, that’s even more disruptive. Fear not! Miss Marple is on the case — in her first theatrical appearance, no less. Michael Donald Edwards is directing, and it’s not his first rodeo. He’s the company’s former producing artistic director. Now he’s thrilled to return — especially with only one job. What did Edwards find on the other side of the cracked looking glass? Here’s his take ...

What attracted you to “The Mirror Crack’d” as a director?

(Asolo Rep Producing Artistic Director) Peter Rothstein wanted me to direct an Agatha Christie stage adaptation, and I’d never done one before. We looked at many titles — and Rachel Wagstaff’s play caught my eye. It was a brand-new adaptation, and that gave me room to reinvent it. So, I read the original novel and really liked it — and I liked the play, as well. I’d never seen the movie, so I came to it with fresh eyes.

What’s your take on Agatha Christie’s writing?

She was a great observer of people. She dealt in strict parameters and classic tropes, but nobody was what they appeared to be. Christie had her thumb on human nature. We all project personas — socially, economically, politically. Beneath all of that, people are always more

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complicated. Christie knew it — and Miss Marple did too. There’s a moment where someone tells her, “You’re so clever.” She replies, “I’m not clever. I just know what people are like.” That’s profound.

“The Mirror Crack’d” is set in the early 1960s — an unusual time period for an Agatha Christie mystery. Does that impact this story?

Very much so. She published her novel in 1962, when England was still recovering from the war. The aristocracy couldn’t afford great houses anymore. There was a housing shortage, a baby boom and huge social and economic upheaval. That’s all reflected in the world of this mystery.

So, it’s not the posh Downton Abbey setting you’d expect ... No, it isn’t. And that’s what she observed in this time. Christie was always interested in what was happening in society, though she’s often labeled as a conservative middle-class woman. Her work is quietly subversive. She insists that no one is exactly what they seem. Do you know what occupation she had listed on her passport?

No.

She identified her profession as “housewife and mother.” I love that!

To me, that’s definitely subversive. Christie was one of the 20th century’s most influential writers. But she refused the label of “author” and didn’t present herself as extraordinary. I think that’s fascinating.

This is Miss Marple’s first appearance in a theatrical adaptation of Agatha Christie’s work. Did that surprise you?

Yes. I was shocked. Everyone knows Miss Marple, but through novels, films and television — not theater. Wagstaff’s adaptation claims her for the stage. She represents one of Christie’s most powerful ideas: the underestimated woman. Miss Marple uses her age and social invisibility to disarm people.

The play’s title suggests fracture, not reflection. What does the “crack” in the mirror symbolize for you?

That’s revealed in the piece, but I’m not telling you now. The audience needs to experience it and decide for themselves.

Fair enough. What’s the driving force in this play?

It’s largely driven by women — and that trope of the underestimated woman is central to Christie’s work. Poirot is underestimated too, in a very different way — or Columbo, for that matter. But Miss Marple is the classic example.

What’s the mood in the sleepy English village?

Well, there’s a murderer on the loose, so that immediately puts the small town in a state of anxiety. Everyone stands in some relation to the crime. The characters might be innocent or guilty, but they’re connected in ways they’d rather not reveal. In a way, everyone must prove they’re not guilty. As the investigation proceeds, everyone with something to hide becomes nervous. They’re all under pressure — and that’s the mood.

How do you keep the mystery clear without telegraphing it?

I begin by knowing exactly what’s going on. I’ll then make sure the audience understands the story and each character’s narrative purpose. The clues must be clear, but not obvious. Maintaining that balance is always a challenge with a mystery.

IF YOU GO

‘THE MIRROR CRACK’D’

When: Through March 14

Where: FSU Center for the Performing Arts, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail

Tickets: $31-$97

Info: Visit AsoloRep.org.

“The Mirror Crack’d” is a collision at the intersection of mystery, character study and social observation. How did you approach all that in rehearsals? It’s about casting well and giving the actors the tools they need to keep all those balls in the air. Our cast is presenting a living puzzle for the audience to solve. But they’re also deeply focused on who their characters are — their histories, their personalities and their places in postwar British society.

What role does design play in your interpretation?

Design is critical. One of Rachel Wagstaff’s smartest choices was setting two scenes in a film studio, which doesn’t happen in Chris-

tie’s novel. Embracing that design choice gives us enormous freedom. Using the set itself as a film studio lets us tell the story in a more cinematic way.

Like you’ve stepped through the looking glass?

Yes, exactly. This play moves very fast. That sense of being a few steps removed from reality pulls the audience into the action.

How does it feel to be returning to Asolo Rep as a director?

It’s been wonderful. During tech rehearsal, I told everyone that I felt surrounded by excellence and competence. Now that we’re in production, what I feel is a mix of nostalgia, pride and excitement — and it’s a great feeling.

What’s the ideal audience experience?

I hope theatergoers will get caught up in the mystery and actively try to solve it. By the end, I hope they’ll feel exhilarated — and that their moral assumptions will have been expanded a little. That’s what Christie does best.

THIS WEEK

THURSDAY

‘MR. SWINDLE’S TRAVELING

PECULIARIUM’

7 p.m. at Sarasota Fairgrounds, 3000 Ringling Blvd.

$42.75-$70. Ages 18 and up. ID required Visit Mr.Swindles.com.

For better or worse, kids can see it all on the internet today, but Mr. Swindle’s founders Allison Blei and Ivan España don’t want to contribute to the corruption of minors, so it’s adults only at their naughty circus. The husband-and-wife team are circus veterans and have come up with a winning formula that blends thrills, chills and sex appeal. If you think you know circus, think again.

‘THE LIGHTNING THIEF’

7 p.m. at 3501 S. Tamiami Trail, Suite 1130 $25; students $15 Visit ThePlayers.org.

The Players Studio, the education arm of the community theater The Sarasota Players, presents the tale of a half-blood son of a Greek god accused of stealing Zeus’s master lightning bolt. Adapted from the best-selling book of the same name, “The Lightning Thief” stars local students and features a pulsating rock score. Runs through Feb. 1.

RIVERDANCE 30 — THE NEW GENERATION

7 p.m. at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail

$56-$191 Visit VanWezel.org.

Some things never go out of style, and the Irish dance troupe Riverdance is one of them. A new

cadre of young dancers electrifies the stage with the fusion of Irish and international dance and music that has won millions of fans as well as a Grammy Award.

‘JOB’

7:30 p.m. at Urbanite Theatre, 1487 Second St.

$5-$44

Visit UrbaniteTheatre.com.

Making its regional premiere is Max Wolf Friedlich’s taut tech thriller, “Job.” Be afraid — be very afraid of what can happen when one of your social media posts goes viral. Runs through Feb. 15.

‘EISENHOWER: THIS PIECE OF GROUND’

7:30 p.m. at Florida Studio Theatre’s Bowne’s Lab, 1265 First St. $31-$48

Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.

Robert Zukerman stars as Dwight D. Eisenhower in Richard Hellesen’s play running in Florida Studio Theatre’s edgy Stage III series. After helping win World War II as supreme commander of the Allied Forces in Europe, the popular conception is that Eisenhower spent his time in the White House playing golf and presiding over an Ozzie and Harriet America. The reality was more complex. Runs through March 22.

‘PRIMARY TRUST’

7:30 p.m. at FSU Center for the Performing Arts, 5555 N. Tamiami

Trail

$31-$77

Visit AsoloRep.org.

Asolo Repertory Theatre presents “Primary Trust,” winner of the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Eboni

OUR PICK

‘THE BLUE-SKY BOYS’

In 1962, President Kennedy said, “We choose to go to the Moon.” But how to get there? Like an improv troupe with wicked math skills, NASA’s engineers and scientists cooked up the “blue-sky” method with wild brainstorming sessions. Ask anything, think about anything. Deborah Brevoort’s fearless play celebrates these brainy oddballs. Directed by Richard Hopkins with Kate Alexander as associate director. Through March 8.

IF YOU GO

When: 8 p.m. Thursday. Jan. 29

Where: Florida Studio Theatre’s Gompertz Theatre, 1265 First St.

Tickets: $39-$59

Info: Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.

Booth’s play follows a middle-aged man whose quotidian routines are disrupted when he loses his job at a bookstore. The upheaval forces him to explore the possibility of intimacy that he’s previously shunned. Runs through Feb. 11.

‘THREE PIANOS’

7:30 p.m. at Florida Studio Theatre’s Gompertz Theatre, 1265 First St.

$18-$42

Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.

FST’s winter cabaret show “Three Pianos” is an ode to superstars of the keyboard, such as Ray Charles, Elton John and Alicia Keys. These mavericks didn’t tinkle the ivories; they tore up the rulebook. Runs through April 5.

‘PARADISE BLUE’

7:30 p.m. at Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe, 1012 N. Orange Ave.

$20-$40

Visit WestcoastBlackTheatre.org. Set in 1949 in Detroit’s Black

Bottom neighborhood, Dominique Morisseau’s drama “Paradise Blue” follows a trumpet player who is pondering the sale of his oncevibrant jazz club to pursue a better life. But will he leave his soul behind in the process? Runs through Feb. 8.

FRIDAY

JAZZ AT TWO — JAMES SUGGS

2 p.m. at Unitarian Universalists SRQ, 3975 Fruitville Road

$15-$20 Visit JazzClubSarasota.org.

There’s no better way to roll into the weekend than Jazz Club of Sarasota’s weekly Jazz at 2 series, which features two full hours of jazz. This week’s featured artist is Tampabased trumpeter James Suggs, who first picked up the instrument when he was 9 years old and was playing professionally by 15. Joining Suggs are Michael Ross, Patrick Bettison and Jean Bolduc.

ON BROADWAY: DEFYING GRAVITY

7:30 p.m. at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail

$41-$99

Visit SarasotaOrchestra.org.

Guest conductor Evan Roider takes the baton for this Sarasota Orchestra tribute to Broadway blockbusters. Roider, who conducted more than 1,000 performances of “Wicked,” knows a little something about the topic. With a trio of outstanding vocalists, the orchestra will dazzle you with hits from “The Lion King,” “Hamilton,” “Jersey Boys,” “The Phantom of the Opera” and of course, “Wicked.” John Boswell is the featured pianist.

SATURDAY

EMBRACING OUR DIFFERENCES

TOUR 10 a.m. at Bayfront Park, 5 Bayfront Drive Free Visit EmbracingOurDifferences.org.

Embracing Our Differences’ annual exhibition of 50 pieces of billboardsize art comes to Sarasota’s Bayfront Park. During its 23 years in existence, EOD has welcomed 5.2 million visitors. The exhibition features artwork and artists from 125 countries and 48 states. Runs through April 19 with weekly tours each Saturday at 10 a.m.

MARY GAUTHIER

7 p.m. at Fogartyville, 525 Kumquat Court

$35 Visit WSLR.org.

Acclaimed singer/songwriter Mary Gauthier is celebrating the 25th anniversary of her groundbreaking release, “Drag Queens and Limousines,” by rereleasing the

album on vinyl and touring. A Sarasota favorite, Gauthier is known for her pandemic release “Dark Enough to See the Stars,” which followed her collaborative work with Iraq war veterans, “Rifles & Rosary Beads.” Joining her at Fogartyville is special guest Jaimee Harris.

‘LIFE’S A BEACH’

7:30 p.m. at Florida Studio Theatre’s Bowne’s Lab, 1265 Main St. $17-$20 Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.

Watch as talented FST Improv performers poke fun at Sarasota rituals and customs, including the annual snowbird migration, confusion about who has the right of way in a roundabout and dogs in strollers. Did somebody mention never-ending construction? It’s all grist for the tropical mill in “Life’s a Beach.” Runs weekends through March 23.

SUNDAY

‘ESSENTIALLY ELLINGTON’ FEATURING VINCE DIMARTINO

7 p.m. at Neel Performing Arts Center, 5840 26th St. W., Building 11, Bradenton $30 and up Visit ThePopsOrchestra.org.

Celebrated trumpeter Vince DiMartino is the headliner of this show featuring the Footnote Jazz Sextet, but he’s in good company. Joining him are Pete Barenbregge, former director of the Air Force Airmen of Note, David Pruyn, leader of The Fabulous Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, and Greg Nielsen, trombonist with the Four Tops and Cab Calloway. When the 3 p.m. show of “Essentially Ellington” sold out, The Pops Orchestra added a second.

THE BEAT GOES ON 7 p.m. at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail $36-$71 Visit VanWezel.org.

The life of pop diva Cher contains so many chapters she had to write her memoir in two volumes. Part one was published in late 2024 and part two is coming later this year. But Cher fans don’t have to wait until then to relive the greatest moments of her career. All of Cher’s eras are captured in “The Beat Goes On,” a Broadway-style show led by Lisa McClowry, recently named Tribute Artist of the Year.

MONDAY

FOLLOW THE LIEDER

4 p.m. at Fischer/Weisenborne Residence, 7459 Cabbage Palm Court $70 Visit ArtistSeriesConcerts.org.

DON’T MISS

‘MJ THE MUSICAL’

Sometimes you want to have your socks knocked off and sometimes you want to wear sequin socks. You’ll get the chance to do both when the Broadway hit “MJ the Musical” comes to the Van Wezel.

Created by Tony Award-winning director/ choreographer Christopher Wheeldon and Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage, “MJ” tells the backstory of Michael Jackson’s 1992 “Dangerous” world tour. Find out the meaning of “bad,” but in a good way. Runs through Feb. 8.

IF YOU GO

When: 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 3

Where: Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail

Tickets: $68-$178

Info: Visit VanWezel.org.

This Artist Series Concerts program

features Blake Pouliot on violin and Henry Kramer on piano. Pouliot was the grand prize winner at the 2016 Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal Manulife Competition while Kramer’s numerous honors include an Avery Fisher Career Grant. They will perform pieces by Schumann, Chausson and Dvorak as well as music from “Carmen.”

MONDAY NIGHT JAZZ

7:30 p.m. at FST’s Court Cabaret, 1265 First St.

$34-$39 Visit JazzClubSarasota.org.

Jazz Club of Sarasota presents Jeremy Carter, a Nebraska native who has toured and performed with global icons including Los Pericos, Los Auténticos Decadentes, Tony Monaco and Terrace Martin. With his Jeremy Carter Quartet, he brings his energy and artistry to jazz/fusion. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for food and beverage service.

ANCIENT ART FROM CYPRUS AND THE MEDITERRANEAN

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

In 1928, circus magnate John Ringling moved beyond collecting Baroque paintings with a major acquisition of more than 2,000 pieces of Cypriot art at the Anderson Galleries in New York, where the Metropolitan Museum was selling parts of its ancient art collection. For the first time, Ringling’s treasures have a permanent home in Gallery 12 after a decadelong project.

TUESDAY

‘ART DECO: THE GOLDEN AGE OF ILLUSTRATION’

10 a.m. at the Sarasota Art Museum

Jordan Markus plays MJ in “MJ the Musical.”

campus of Ringling College, 1001 S. Tamiami Trail Free for museum members; $20 Visit SarasotaArtMuseum.org.

The Sarasota Art Museum celebrates the 100th anniversary of the exposition that kicked off the Art Deco movement. More than 100 eyecatching posters from the Crouse Collection as well as industrial furniture, home furnishings and other objects loaned by the Wolfsonian-Florida International University are on display. Through March 29, 2026.

WEDNESDAY

LOVE NOTES

5:30 p.m. at Holley Hall, 709 N. Tamiami Trail $48-$64 Visit SarasotaOrchestra.org

Why not kick off Valentine’s Day celebrations early this year with Sarasota Orchestra’s Great Escapes concert, “Love Notes”? Led by guest conductor Matthew Troy, “Love Notes” features a selection of popular standards and classical masterpieces designed to sweep you off your feet.

‘REMEMBER THIS: THE LESSON OF JAN KARSKI’

7:30 p.m. at The Sarasota Players, 3501 S. Tamiami Trail $40 Visit SarasotaJewishTheatre.com.

Sarasota Jewish Theatre dynamo

Michael Raver stars as the Polish World War II hero whose efforts to bring the horrors of the Holocaust to the Allies were met with skepticism. The cautionary tale about the dangers of complacency is directed by another SJT stalwart, Gus Kaikkonen. Runs through Feb. 15.

Sarasota Ballet revives ‘Valsinhas’ for ‘Notes Unspoken,’ but with a twist

Portuguese for ‘Little Waltzes,’ the piece was choreographed by Brazil-born principal dancer Ricardo Graziano.

MONICA ROMAN GAGNIER A+E EDITOR

For the average person, it takes an accident or an illness to learn how precious life is. For dancers and athletes, life’s fragility is always top of mind. They can usually only perform professionally for a decade or two at most, and an injury can end a career just as it’s getting started. To handle that vulnerability with grace requires not just physical strength, but emotional resilience.

Sarasota Ballet principal dancer Ricardo Graziano has both of those attributes. Approaching his 40th birthday, he’s in fine form after tearing his Achilles tendon in 2023. He’s long been preparing for his next act by choreographing nearly a dozen ballets for the Sarasota Ballet. He’s staging one of them, “Valsinhas” (Portuguese for “Little Waltzes”), for the Ballet’s Program Four, “Notes Unspoken,” on Jan. 30-Feb. 2.

On a lunch break during rehearsals, Graziano was feeling nostalgic as he recalled choreographing “Valsinhas,” set to 25 waltzes by Franz Schubert, each a minute or less that Graziano separates with a “breath.”

Although “Valsinhas” didn’t debut until May 2013, Graziano said he wanted to take time with the ballet, which was only the third he had choreographed at the time. As a result, he started rehearsing parts of “Valsinhas” as early as October 2012. When he was given the assignment by Sarasota Ballet Director Iain Webb, Graziano was told there was a budget for live music but the venue (then, as now, FSU Center for the Performing Arts) wasn’t large enough to accommodate a full orchestra.

“I chose the waltzes because they could be played with just a piano,” he says.

When he was conceiving of “Valsinhas,” Graziano decided to create a ballet exclusively for men.

“One of the reasons I came up with the idea of working only with men is because I’m a male dancer,” Graziano says with a laugh.

“The female dancers get to dance all the time because they have all this corps work and they have ballets like ‘Giselle’ and ‘Serenade.’ Sometimes the guys are barely there,” he says.

By using only five male dancers for the waltzes, Graziano says he could give each a solo, duet and a trio, and most important, the chance to focus on their own performance without the worry involved in dancing with a partner.

However, even though “Valsinhas” was choreographed with an all-male cast and premiered with one, the Sarasota Ballet is changing it up this time around.

Only some of the five performances in Program Four will have an allmale cast. There will be all-female performances, as well.

The public won’t be privy to the information in advance, Graziano says. “If you miss the all-male cast, you’ll have to come back for the next one,” he says, only half in jest because some balletomanes who attend Sarasota Ballet performances often come back the next day and watch the program a second time.

Both casts will wear minimalist costumes of velvet shorts and mesh tops that Graziano describes as a “biketard, not a leotard.”

Although Graziano agreed to add female dancers to “Valsinhas,” he didn’t change the contemporary dance choreography with the exception of one step.

A double tour en l’air (in the air) is being modified to a single rotation for women because it could be dangerous for them to perform, resulting in injury. “Men train their entire lives

for the double tour, but some ladies aren’t ready for it, so they can do a single tour,” he says.

Unfortunately, injury is something Graziano is intimately familiar with.

On Jan. 9, 2023, he tore his Achilles tendon and had surgery on Jan. 25. “I started physical therapy immediately. I had to learn how to walk again. That was the most interesting thing, realizing that you don’t know how to walk,” he says.

He credits six months of semiprivate lessons with Deirdre MilesBerger, now Sarasota’s assistant director of education, with getting him back on stage.

Before joining the Sarasota Ballet in 2011, Graziano spent five years with the Tulsa Ballet, whose repertoire included contemporary works choreographed by Naccio Duato, who was influenced by Czech dancer and choreographer Jiri Kylian.

“Every choreographer influences the next,” Graziano says. “I didn’t realize it at the time, but from having exposure to these works, it kind of got ingrained in me and my body.”

For a decade, Graziano was the resident choreographer of the Sarasota Ballet. He stepped away from that position in 2023, when choreographer Jessica Lang became artistin-residence, a new role.

After that transition occurred, Sarasota Ballet honored the occasion with “Graziano Celebrated,” a January 2024 program that included three of his ballets — the abstract

“Schubert Variations,” “Sonatina,” one of Graziano’s most classical works, and “In a State of Weightlessness,” his most critically acclaimed ballet. At 39, Graziano is dancing nearly a decade after the age when he once thought he might retire. Does he have a new date in mind? “I live in the present and savor every moment,” he said.

A son of the theater helps a venue come into its own

Ben Turoff has made sure the Glenridge Performing Arts Center has a place in Sarasota’s cultural scene.

MONICA ROMAN GAGNIER

EDITOR

In January 2025, the New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players brought the Victorian musical “H.M.S. Pinafore” to the 1,700-seat Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall. Later in the year, the company performed a stripped-down version of “The Pirates of Penzance” at the 260-seat Glenridge Performing Arts Center. A smaller G&S show required a more intimate theater, but the level of professionalism remained the same.

Most arts fans in Sarasota are familiar with the Van Wezel, an eyecatching venue on Sarasota Bay that has been known both as the “Purple Palace” and the “Purple Cow” since it opened in 1970. Love it or hate it (its lack of a middle aisle can be frustrating), the Van Wezel is a Sarasota landmark.

Located eight miles from downtown in the middle of The Glenridge On Palmer Ranch retirement community, the Glenridge Performing Arts Center doesn’t have the same profile in the entertainment world as the Van Wezel.

Indeed, the venue isn’t usually on the radar of tourists and snowbirds unless a show they want to see is playing there. But that’s been happening more often, thanks to Ben Turoff, who’s been managing GPAC since 2006.

When he took over, the Glenridge stage was dominated by classical music and community theater shows aimed at residents. These days, the palette of performances is more variegated. Turoff is the son of Robert and

Roberta Turoff, founders of the Golden Apple Dinner Theatre, a mainstay of Sarasota theater for more than 40 years until it closed for good in 2013. The Golden Apple may be gone, but it lives on in the libretto of local cabaret shows and ad libbed community theater dialogue.

Forgot your line when your character is asked, “Whatever happened to Nancy?”?

“I hear she’s working down in Florida at a place called the Golden Apple Dinner Theater” is always good for a laugh or two from Sarasota audiences.

But as old-timers go to their eternal rest and newcomers arrive in droves, memories of old-time Sarasota, built on John Ringling’s circus, GI Bill-backed artists and theaters such as the Golden Apple are in danger of fading away.

But even though he presides over a relatively new theater and an upgraded restaurant, The Kiltie Grill, Ben Turoff embodies the traditions and gentility of those bygone days.

Introducing a Jan. 25 concert of banjo virtuoso Cynthia Sayer, Turoff tells a packed house, “There’s only one act I’ve booked every year in the 19 years since I’ve been at Glenridge, and you’re about to see her.”

When Sayer takes the stage, the recent winner of the prestigious Steve Martin Banjo Prize muses out loud, “Has it really been that long? It all goes by so fast.”

Sayer proceeds to introduce her mother and other family members in the crowd, much the way Turoff acknowledged his father’s birthday on Nov. 8, the night New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players brought their one-act “Pirates of Penzance” to GPAC, the acronym for the theater.

Sayer started performing at Glenridge before her parents retired there. What keeps her coming back?

“Ben has made this place a beautiful performing arts center,” Sayer says, referring to GPAC. “It’s easy to relate to him because he was a

IF YOU GO CHIPPER LOWELL

When: 2 p.m. on Feb. 15

Where: Glenridge Performing Arts Center, 7333 Scotland Way

Tickets: $30

Info: Visit GPACTix.com.

performer himself. He’s not just an administrator. He’s very involved. There’s an advantage in that. He has a certain eye.”

During a recent interview, as a reporter starts to draw Turoff out about his showbiz roots with the first line of Judy Garland’s “Born in a Trunk,” Turoff doesn’t miss a beat and picks up the tune himself.

“I wasn’t born in a trunk, but pretty close to it,” he adds, noting he arrived in this world when his parents were on the road.

“The theater is my home. It always has been and always will be,” said Turoff during a December interview, right after he’d been drafted on the fly to play Santa Claus on one of Glenridge’s units.

But even though he’s been in his job nearly 20 years and attracts name acts like The Kingston Trio (a sellout Jan. 7), The Four Freshmen (Feb. 22) and The Yale Whiffenpoofs (March 1), Turoff still has to deal with some misconceptions when it comes to his venue.

The biggest one is that performances aren’t open to outsiders or that it’s difficult to get to GPAC. Eight miles can seem far to those who stay in their neighborhood, even though Sarasota theater fans routinely travel 60 miles to Tampa’s Straz Center for the Performing Arts.

Turoff’s got a secret weapon to help outsiders feel welcome and to encourage Glenridge residents to leave their homes and come to the building that houses GPAC, the Kiltie Grill, The Thistle Stop lounge and

an art gallery. Her name is Samantha Harris and she manages the GPAC box office.

When he takes the stage to introduce his entertainers, Turoff tells the audience that Glenridge is unique because when you call the box office, you “get a live person” instead of a recording.

He smoothly promotes upcoming headliners, including Chipper Lowell, “a magician who is a comedian or a comedian who is a magician, we don’t which” who’s performing Feb. 15. In many ways, GPAC is a marketing opportunity to potential Glenridge residents. Taking in a show is often part of the tour for couples and individuals deciding whether to retire to Glenridge.

At a reception following a rapturous Dec. 17 performance by Seraphic Fire, an eavesdropper was privy to bits of conversation: “I’ve lived here for just a month and I have more friends than I’ve ever had in my life,” and “This level of friendliness would

drive me nuts.”

At the Kiltie Grill, a couple from New Jersey who didn’t want to be named asked a visitor, “Why would you come to a concert here?” Well, tops on the list would be the chance to see big-name acts in a comfortable, intimate setting. What could compare to watching GPAC audience members try to stump New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players Artistic Director James Mills with a request he didn’t know? One person nearly succeeded, as Mills had to consult his iPad. Here was an audience that knew G&S, chapter and verse!

Tartan alert: Stay away from the Glenridge If you’re not a fan of all things Scotland. The Highlands references could drive a lass crazy. But the Scottish love of a bargain is apparent in the reasonable prices for GPAC seats and in the Kiltie Grill, where tipping isn’t allowed because employees are paid a living wage. That’s reason enough to “haste ye back” to Glenridge.

BLACK

Forks & Corks Grand Tasting

Sunday, Jan. 25, at The Ringling Museum | Benefiting Sarasota-Manatee Originals and the All Star Children’s Foundation

Other than a few early gusts, it was hard to imagine a better day in the courtyard of the Ringling Museum as Sarasota’s weeklong epicurean festival known as Forks & Corks came to its culmination Jan. 25.

VIP guests to the Grand Tasting event were greeted with early entry, a Champagne toast and a wine store ready with carts to fill.

Under the watchful eye of The Ringling’s David statue, which stands just over 16 feet tall at the west edge of the courtyard,

more than 1,500 guests packed the venue. Dolled up in their finest colors, hats, suit jackets and footwear, attendees made it a true garden party.

Dana Lawrence and his Kettle of Fish band provided the tunes, while restaurants and winemakers bustled about serving up the kind of food and wine these discerning palates have come to expect.

Forks & Corks is hosted by SarasotaManatee Originals, an organization made up of independent and locally owned restaurants. For the event, the establishments work together to bring local chefs and restaurateurs together with winemakers from around the world.

In addition to supporting the work the Originals does to market the Suncoast as a culinary destination, the event donated $5,000 to the All Star Children’s Foundation, which helps children and families in

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every Saturday from 2-4 pm featuring the works of Sarasota Colony artists, the Florida Highwaymen, and changing monthly exhibits.

Eugene White, Painter of Vintage Florida

February 6, 4-6 pm

Arts Advocates Gallery

Sarasota Art Colony artist Eugene White painted the world around him. His art reflects the landscape and the spirit of Sarasota’s mid-century moment. White’s daughter Annie Bixler and Alecia Harper, centennial archivist for Art Center Sarasota, present a fascinating talk.

Talkback Tuesday Dasha Reich - The Flag: Nine Artists, Nine Flags

February

Luncheon

The Jazz Club of Sarasota

February 19, 11 am-1 pm Sarasota Yacht Club

The Jazz Club is dedicated to promoting America’s original musical art form. Club president Ed Linehan and jazz pianist Chris Neville will educate and entertain.

Fresh Perspective Lunch Series

Wednesday, Jan. 21, at Sarasota Art Museum

Benefiting Sarasota Art Museum

“Lighting is the most transformative design element, it sets the mood long before furniture enters the room. Layered lighting creates warmth, depth, and drama while enhancing how every surface is experienced.”

Kristin Goff, Interior Designer

“”“Great dining seating isn’t just about looks—it’s about comfort, proportion, and how long people actually want to stay at the table.”

HERE! INSPIRATION STARTS

““Our wallpaper collection travels the world. We source wallpapers from around the globe, selecting patterns, textures, and materials that bring depth, artistry, and a sense of place into every room.”

““Our exclusive mattress collection was created with the same intention we bring to every interior—layered comfort, thoughtful materials, and craftsmanship you can feel from the very first night.”