Arts + Entertainment 2.20.25 by The Observer Group Inc.

< ARCHITECTURAL ODYSSEY: Joey Panek co-stars in freeFall Theatre’s ‘Road Show.’ 6

BLACK TIE INSIDE:

ANNUAL

GALA: Sarasota Ballet triumphs with tutus and turns 9 >

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

GARDEN PARTY

Selby Gardens honors George Harrison’s healing pastime with an astonishing exhibition.

MONICA ROMAN GAGNIER

EDITOR

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

If you grew up in the ’60s, you’ll know that each member of the Beatles had a persona. Paul was the cute Beatle, John was brainy, Ringo was fun and George was quiet, and then later on, mystical. Well, it turns out that George was also the gardening Beatle.

Who knew? People on the other side of the pond do because they are familiar with Friar Park, the Victorian estate restored by Harrison and his wife, Olivia, in Henley-onThames, England. But thanks to Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, we Yanks can also learn about George’s gardening prowess and how it helped him cultivate a sense of peacefulness — without taking a plane across the Atlantic.

It’s the fashion among museums and other cultural institutions (Selby considers itself a “living” museum) to mount ambitious shows with boldface names to get audiences knocking down the gates.

In a world filled with fickle patrons and uncertain government funding for the arts, the name of the game is generating the low-level anxiety that has been dubbed “FOMO” (Fear Of Missing Out).

Some of these splashy endeavors land with a bellyflop or worse yet, are greeted with a yawn.

“George Harrison: A Gardener’s Life” avoids the pitfalls of a tenuous connection, crass commercialism or dissonance. It’s enchanting, sublime and spiritual, as nature is itself.

First and foremost, this achievement is due to the participation of Harrison’s widow, Olivia, a record industry producer whom he married in 1978 shortly before the birth of their son, Dhani. She became a true life partner for George and, since his death, conservator of his legacy.

Under the stewardship of Selby President and CEO Jennifer Rominiecki and Chief Curator David Berry, an Oxford Ph.D. who is veteran of The Ringling, Selby has created an astonishing living memorial to George (all Beatles are forever known by their first name) that whispers but never shouts.

What makes the Selby Gardens tribute to George even more stunning is that it was put together by the living museum’s team of 80 employees and 800 volunteers in the wake of last year’s hurricanes and not long after 2 million twinkling lights were taken down from its holiday “Lights in Bloom” exhibition.

SEE GEORGE PAGE

“George Harrison: A Gardener’s Life” is the ninth installment of the annual Jean and Alfred Goldstein Exhibition Series. Last year’s show focused on the relationship between the artists Yayoi Kusama and Georgia O’Keefe, while the 2023 exhibition was a tribute to stained glass artist Louis Comfort Tiffany.

Monica Roman Gagnier

A “garden” of guitars pays tribute to George Harrison’s song, “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.”

An overhead view of the colorful Kolam Garden in the “George Harrison: A Gardener’s Life” exhibition, which runs through June 29 at Selby Gardens.

A silhouette of a hand is filled with bromeliads inside the Selby Gardens Conservatory.

Images courtesy of Ryan Gamma

With the Goldstein series, Selby looks at “major artists through the lens of their connection to nature in our botanical garden setting. Along the way, we’ve really tried to find surprising connections,” Rominiecki says.

Walking around the 15-acre sanctuary on the Sarasota bayfront where gardens and botanical displays have been erected to mirror those in Friar Park, you can’t help feeling Harrison would approve of this living tribute. After all, he dedicated his 1980 memoir, “I, Me, Mine” to “gardeners everywhere.”

Upon entering Selby Gardens through its new visitors center, guests are greeted by whimsical topiary trees reminiscent of those found at Friar Park.

GUITARS DECORATE A (GENTLY) WEEPING GARDEN

It doesn’t seem forced or corny to see a collection of white guitars suspended above “Ye (Gently) Weeping Garden” or to be surrounded by the strains of Ravi Shankar’s sitar in the colorful “Ye Kolam Garden.” George first met Shankar in 1966 and shortly after began studying music with him, despite being in the throes of full-scale Beatlemania.

In fact, it feels profound to hear Harrison’s “My Sweet Lord” as you stroll through one of Selby’s “horticultural vignettes,” as they are called by the living museum, that play off references to George’s life.

“I really want to see you, Lord. I really want to be with you,” Harrison sang in “My Sweet Lord.” Unfortunately, he got his wish too soon — he was just 58 when he left our Earthly plane. But you don’t have to be a follower of Emerson or Thoreau to understand that George was with God in his garden and that we, too, can commune with the divine in Selby Gardens.

A giant horizontal photograph of George hangs over Selby’s koi pond and is reflected in the water below. He seems right at home with the Zen vibe of the place.

Images courtesy of Ryan Gamma

A photograph of George and Olivia Harrison hangs above a display of Olivia’s new book of poems, “Came the Lightening: Twenty Poems for George” inside Selby Gardens’ Museum of Botany & the Arts.

Throughout the exhibition, you can find signs with lyrics from songs written by George and from poems written by Olivia Harrison published in her 2022 book, “Came the Lightening.”

There’s a silhouette of a giant hand inspired by the cover of George’s 1973 album, “Living in the Material World,” in the Tropical Conservatory that has a hollowed-out interior filled with bromeliads. You’ll find it in “Ye Palm Garden” (pun intended).

For those who need a history lesson on Beatlemania, the Selby House Cafe, the home that founder Marie Selby and her husband, Bill, built in the 1920s, has a collection of Fab Four memorabilia.

The displays in the Museum of Botany & the Arts are devoted to the transformation of Friar Park, a rundown, 30-room Victorian mansion that Harrison acquired from nuns after the Beatles dissolved. The front

of the museum has been wrapped with a photograph so that it appears to be greenhouse with an imposing figure of George.

Harrison was just 27 when he bought Friar Park, but “his nerves were shot” from being a Beatle, Olivia Harrison said during a Feb. 11 luncheon at Selby Gardens. The estate was a place where he could come to heal, she said.

During the luncheon conversation, Financial Times gardening columnist and British historian Robin Lane Fox asked Olivia why George was drawn to gardening. Why would a man who had grown up in a modest brick house in Liverpool, a gritty industrial city, care about plants?

Olivia Harrison told the sold-out event that Friar Park took George back to the days when he could escape from the hustle and bustle of the city in the Victorian-era Calderstones Park, near his school.

Season 29 | Talent Unveiled ArtistSeriesConcerts.org 941-306-1202

Harp Royalty

Hannah Cope Johnson, Eleanor Kirk, Phoebe Powell, Katherine Siochi

March 2 • 4:00 pm • First Presbyterian Church

This program brings together four of the most celebrated harpists, each of whom has Sarasota roots. From the Metropolitan Opera to the San Francisco Symphony, these powerhouse players present a diverse program that includes original works by Caroline Lizotte, innovative arrangements from the classical canon, and beloved hits from the Great American Songbook.

Horns of Plenty

Hugo Bliss and Scott Sanders, horns with Joseph Holt, piano; Michael Turkell and Chungyon Hong, violin; Stephanie Block, viola; and Natalie Helm, cello March 13, 11:00 am (includes lunch) Sarasota Yacht Club

Sarasota Orchestra’s co-principal horn Hugo Bliss is joined by Milwaukee Symphony’s hornist Scott Sanders, whose career also began in Sarasota. This program is a cornucopia of music for the most magnificent horn, including Beethoven’s mighty sextet for two horns and string quartet.

Restoring the Neo-Gothic house and gardens on the 30-acre estate built by lawyer Sir Frank Crisp was a massive undertaking, particularly since it included an Alpine rock garden with a scale model of the Matterhorn. Fortunately, George had the resources to finance the restoration of Friar Park, where he was joined by Olivia, who supported him in his quest Believe it or not, Selby Gardens has created a tribute to the Alpine Garden as part of its exhibition, but on a smaller scale.

AMNESIA RELEASES A TALENT FOR WRITING POETRY

One of the most fascinating revelations of the talk between Fox and Olivia Harrison was that she began writing poems after suffering a bout of amnesia due to a neurological condition. It was the first time in her wide-ranging career, which has included music and film producing and philanthropy, that she had taken up poetry.

The daughter of Mexican immigrants, Olivia Harrison was born Olivia Arias in Los Angeles in 1948. She met her future husband while working at A&M Records and later helped him found his own record label, Dark Horse.

Among Olivia’s film projects are a production of “Concert for George,” which won a Grammy in 2005, and her co-production of Martin Scorsese’s 2011 documentary about her husband.

Harrison was a film producer himself through HandMade Films, the production company he formed with partner Denis O’Brien to finance “Monty Python’s Life of Brian” that also made other films.

IF YOU GO

‘GEORGE HARRISON: A GARDENER’S LIFE’ When: Through June 29

Where: Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, 1534 Mound St. Tickets: $28. Info: Visit Selby.org.

Olivia Harrison may not be quite the gardening enthusiast her spouse was, but she has taken up the shovel in her husband’s memory. In 2008, she teamed up with Yvonne Innes to design a garden honoring George for the Chelsea Flower Show in London. There is a short film streaming inside Selby’s Museum of Botany & the Arts about their collaboration on the pop-up garden, which included four sections representing different parts of George’s life.

Most of the 20 poems Olivia wrote for George in her book, “Come the Lightening,” focus on grief, loss and the realization that each season, even each day, is precious when shared with a loved one who may not have much time left.

Olivia wrote “Another Spring” a month after George died from lung cancer in November 2001. “All I wanted was another spring,” wrote the bereft widow. “Was it too much to ask?”

Walking through the hedge maze for “Losing Ye Bodies” inspired by Friar Park and other horticultural installations filled with George’s music and memorabilia, one might think Olivia Harrison orchestrated a spring in Sarasota to replace the one she never got.

Monica Roman Gagnier

Selby Gardens President and CEO Jennifer Rominiecki poses in front of the Museum of Botany & the Arts, the entry of which has been transformed by a photo of George Harrison in his greenhouse at Friar Park.

An overhead view of the Treble Garden Selby Gardens planted as part of its “George Harrison: A Gardener’s Life” exhibition, which runs through June 29.

For Jimmie Fadden, the circle is still unbroken

MONICA ROMAN GAGNIER

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

Jimmie Fadden is a patient man. Maybe it comes from being legally named “Jimmie,” which strangers constantly spell “Jimmy” or assume that it’s short for “James.”

A founding member of the iconic Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Fadden was born in Long Beach, California, where the band began nearly 60 years ago. Today, he makes his home in Sarasota, where he returned in 2006 after a stint in Nashville. If folks know one thing about the Dirt Band, it’s that they sang “Mr. Bojangles.” Jerry Jeff Walker first recorded his ditty about a wise old man who’s had some tough times in 1968. The Dirt Band’s cover (an artist’s version of a song written by someone else) came two years later, and it zipped up the charts. Even superstar Sammy Davis Jr. recorded “Mr. Bojangles.” But unlike

Walker and Davis, who both have moved on to the great recording studio in the sky, the Dirt Band is still touring — for now.

So chances are, when the band plays the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall on Feb. 25, in what is being billed as a farewell tour, more than one person is going to scream, “Mr. Bojangles.” They’ll probably yell again if they don’t get what they want. Then someone else will call out “Will the Circle Be Unbroken.”

That’s a Christian hymn recorded by the Dirt Band that kicked off a franchise of sorts for the group and its collaborators. It’s the title of the band’s groundbreaking 1972 album that brought together such bluegrass and country performers as Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson, Mother Maybelle Carter and Jimmy Martin.

Unsolicited audience requests might piss some people off. But Fadden isn’t one of them. “Sometimes, it’s hard to play the same song over and over again with the right amount of feeling. But you get past that and you realize what a privilege it is to be in that position,” he says.

Indeed, the Dirt Band’s enduring appeal is underscored by the recent

PBS documentary, “Nitty Gritty Dirt Band: The Hits, the History & the Dirt Does Dylan.”

Many singers and musicians who once filled the recording studios of New York, Los Angeles and Nashville have died, retired or were struck down by alcohol, drugs or predatory record companies. Those who survived learned to pace themselves in a demanding business where touring brings lots of wear and tear.

CREATING A SUSTAINABLE

LIFESTYLE

Fadden and his fellow band members are survivors. “We have fashioned a life that allows us to take time off, especially the winters,” he says.

“Touring gets difficult as you get older, and it can be dangerous.”

While some artists mourn the end of the golden age of radio and the cushy perks provided by music labels, Fadden marvels at the wonders of music streaming channels and how social media can connect artists with their fans.

“The big difference today is that with streaming and licensing, artists are actually getting paid,” Fadden says.

Communing online is far cry from hanging out at the local music store, which is how Fadden found his life’s calling. The emporium that started it all was McCabe’s Music Store, in Long Beach, a cousin of the more famous shop in Santa Monica. That’s where Fadden met Jeff Hanna.

Together they formed the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band along with Bruce Kunkel, Ralph Barr, Les Thompson and Jackson Browne, who didn’t stick around long. He was replaced by longtime member John McEuen.

“We wanted to avoid working,” Fadden says. What about Vietnam? “Luckily, to a man, we all ended up in the reject pile.”

After the success of the first “Will the Circle Be Unbroken,” the group’s focus moved to Nashville, as music industry honchos saw country-andwestern gold in their sound. Turns out, they were right. In the 1980s, the band scored 15 Top 10 country hits, including “Modern Day Romance” and “Fishin’ in the Dark” (co-written by Jim Photoglo, a current member of the Dirt Band).

A follow-up to “Circle” was released in 1989, the same year that

COMING UP AT THE VAN WEZEL!

Fadden moved to Nashville for a 10-year stint. The second “Circle” included contributions by such singer/songwriters as John Prine, Roseanne Cash and John Hiatt. It won two Grammy Awards. The third “Circle” came in 2003 and included tracks from Johnny Cash, Dwight Yoakam, Emmylou Harris, Taj Mahal and others.

Fadden first moved to Sarasota in 1979, attracted by the Gulf Coast’s laid-back lifestyle, which reminded him of California in his youth. In Sarasota, instead of hanging out at a music store, he started spending time with the legendary boatbuilder George Luzier, and learning the craft.

Before he retired at age 93, the late Luzier built 250 wooden boats and Fadden was hooked on boatbuilding. Some musicians develop a passion, even a mania, for collecting instruments. At first, Fadden says he likes to keep things simple: He has a drum set in Sarasota and one in Nashville.

But after awhile, you learn that he has a penchant for collecting tambourines, shakers and other percussion instruments in the hopes that their sound will end up on an album.

Later in the conversation he reveals that around 2000 he became possessed by a mania for bongo drums.

“I can’t offer a legitimate explanation,” he says. “It just came over me.”

Despite the fame he has achieved, Fadden remains down to earth.

Asked to define success, he says: “To have the privilege of making music, to help people relive old memories and make new ones.”

The Dirt Band’s mission is also about passing the torch to the next generation. Besides original members Hanna and Fadden, the current band includes Hanna’s son, singer and guitarist Jaime Hanna. There’s also longtime member Bob Carpenter on keyboards, accordion and vocals, Ross Holmes on fiddle and mandolin and Photoglo on bass.

“Each one of us has our own niche of interesting stuff. Each brings their own piece to the quilt,” Fadden says. Is this really the Dirt Band’s farewell tour? That billing is used so often that we didn’t ask. We have a feeling Fadden won’t be able to stay away from performing. He’s been known to play around town with a trio, so keep an eye out. It’s hard to break the circle.

SUN, MAR 16 • 7PM SAT, MAR 15 • 8PM GET THE LED OUT: A CELEBRATION OF “THE MIGHTY ZEP” TUE, MAR 11 8PM WED, MAR 5 7:30PM

Image courtesy of Rick Malkin

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band founding member Jimmie Fadden has made his home in Sarasota off and on since 1979.

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band performs at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall on Feb. 25 in what is billed as a farewell tour after nearly 60 years in the business.

THIS WEEK

Rossini’s humorous opera, “The Barber of Seville,” runs from Feb. 22 until March 29 at the Sarasota Opera’s 2025 Winter Opera Festival.

THURSDAY

ARTS ADVOCATES LUNCHEON:

GREG RUMPH

11:30 a.m. at Arts Advocates Gallery, The Crossings at Siesta Key mall, 3501 S. Tamiami Trail

$30-$35 Visit ArtsAdvocates.org.

Greg Rumph, artist, assistant principal and head of Booker High School’s Visual & Performing Arts Program, will speak about training

DON’T MISS

MASTERWORKS: MELTING

POT OF MUSIC

Led by Miguel Harth-Bedoya, guest conductor, Sarasota Orchestra performs a musical gumbo that blends European traditions with Afro-Peruvian spice and popular music. This Masterworks concert even has a saxophonist, Steven Banks, as its guest soloist playing Billy Childs’ Concerto for Saxophone and Orchestra. The program also features Strauss’ Suite from “Der Rosenkavalier” and Ravel’s “La Valse.” Runs through Feb. 23.

IF YOU GO

When: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 21

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

Tickets: $39-$105

Info: Visit SarasotaOrchestra.org.

the next generation of artists in this luncheon showcasing student talent.

CIRCUS SARASOTA 2025

7 p.m. under the Big Top in Nathan Benderson Park, 5851 Nathan Benderson Circle

$28-$80 Visit CircusArts.org.

Circus Sarasota returns to the Big Top in Nathan Benderson Park with a lineup of all new acts presided over by Ringmaster Joseph Bauer. Among the circus artists featured are tight wire artist Brando Anastasini, a 2024 Generation Next honoree in the Circus Ring of Fame, aerialist Eve Diamond, the Pellegrini Brothers hand balancers, juggler Noel Aguilar and the Flying Caballeros trapeze artists. Runs through March 9.

‘CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA/ PAGLIACCI’

7:30 p.m. at Sarasota Opera House, 61 N. Pineapple Ave.

$39-$162

Visit SarasotaOpera.org.

The Sarasota Opera’s double bill of “Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci” form an adulterous duo that is staged together so often that they are known as “Cav” and “Pag,” for short. “Cav” takes place on an Easter morning in a small village in Italy, while “Pag” is a play within a play and is the mother of all sad clown stories. Runs through March 29.

‘JOHN PROCTOR IS THE VILLAIN’

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

Trail

$40

Visit AsoloRep.org/Conservatory.

FSU/Asolo Conservatory presents newcomer Kimberly Belflower’s play about Georgia high schoolers who try to tell the difference between fact and fiction as they study Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible.” Runs through March 2.

‘FENCES’

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

$22-$52

Visit WestcoastBlackTheatre.org.

Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe presents “Fences,” the sixth play of playwright August Wilson’s 10part American Century Cycle. Set in 1957, it follows Troy Maxson, a garbage collector whose baseball dreams were derailed by bigotry. His unresolved anger creates trouble with his son, Cory, who’s got his own big league ambitions. Runs through Feb. 23.

‘THE CANCELLATION OF LAUREN FEIN’

8 p.m. at FST’s Gompertz Theatre, 1265 First St. $25-$42

Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.

Written by Miami lawyer Christopher Demos-Brown, “The Cancellation of Lauren Fein” tells the story of a “woke” professor (Rachel Moulton) forced to defend herself against charges of racism and sexual molestation. Leave your assumptions at the theater door. Runs through March 15.

‘THE HEART SELLERS’

8 p.m. at FST’s Keating Theatre, 1241 N. Palm Ave.

$25-$42

Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.

Take a time trip back to Thanksgiving 1973, when a chance meeting between two recent Asian immigrants develops into an unexpected friendship. Kate Alexander directs this heartwarming tale about the search for acceptance by newcomers to America. Spoiler: Just because the holiday has passed, it’s not too late to talk turkey about assimilation, identity and female bonds. Runs through Feb. 23.

FRIDAY

SARASOTA OPERA HOUSE TOUR

10:30 a.m. at Sarasota Opera House, 61 N. Pineapple Ave.

$15-$20 Visit ArtsAdvocates.org.

Arts Advocates presents a tour of the historic Sarasota Opera House, built in 1926 and restored at a cost of $20 million from 2007-08. Learn about the history of the building and the Sarasota Opera, including its apprentice and youth opera programs, its costume shop, stage, and how things work behind the scenes.

JAZZ @ TWO: PETE CARNEY QUARTET

2 p.m. at Unitarian Universalists of Sarasota, 3975 Fruitville Road

$15-$20 Visit JazzClubSarasota.org.

If it’s Friday afternoon, it’s time to roll into the weekend with Jazz @ Two, presented by the Jazz Club of Sarasota. This week’s concert features the Pete Carney Quartet playing the music of Stan Getz, the tenor sax player known as the “Sound.” Getz had a tempestuous life but was one of the godfathers of the bossa nova with “Getz/Gilberto,” his award-winning collaboration with Brazilian vocalist Astrud Gilberto.

SCDE SPRING IN-STUDIO PERFORMANCE

7 p.m. at Sarasota Contemporary Dance, 1400 Boulevard of the Arts, Suite 300 $20 Visit SarasotaContemporaryDance. org.

“Poetry in Motion” is the title of the Spring In-Studio Performance of Sarasota Contemporary Dance Ensemble, led by artistic director Leymis Bolanos Wilmott. British musician Thomas Dolby (“She Blinded Me With Science”) would approve. Runs through Feb. 24.

ALAIN PEREZ QUINTETO

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

$40-$50 Visit Ringling.org.

The Ringling presents Alain Perez, the Grammy-winning singer, songwriter and multitalented instrumentalist who is an ambassador of Cuban music. His wide-ranging career has included collaborations with jazz legends and as well as his own orchestral project. Runs through Feb. 22.

SATURDAY

‘THE BARBER OF SEVILLE’

7:30 p.m. at Sarasota Opera House, 61 N. Pineapple Ave.

$32-$155 Visit SarasotaOpera.org.

Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville” is one of two operas in the Sarasota Opera’s 2025 Winter Festival that follow the adventures of Figaro. In “Barber,” the clever servant of Count Almaviva uses disguise and trickery to help his master woo his beloved Rosina. “Barber” is considered the prequel to Mozart’s masterpiece, “The Marriage of Figaro,” even though it was written later. Spoiler: No one dies in “Barber,” and there are a lot of laughs in this light-hearted opera. Runs through March 29.

Image courtesy of Rod Millington

7:30

Arts Center, 1 Indian Ave., Building 5, Venice

$38-$70

Visit TheVeniceSymphony.org.

Led by Maestro Troy Quinn, the Venice Symphony takes a musical tour of Tinsel Town with songs from “A Summer Place,” “Ben-Hur,” “Top Gun: Maverick” and other hits of the silver screen featuring guest artist Andrea Zomorodian.

SUNDAY

WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN

3 p.m. at Northminster Presbyterian Church, 3131 61st St.

$5 Visit SuncoastConcertBand.org.

Now in its 92nd season, Suncoast Concert Band draws musical inspiration from two of our greatest presidents with this affordable concert. Call 941-907-4123 to reserve a ticket.

‘A FEW OF OUR FAVORITE THINGS’

7 p.m. at Church of the Redeemer, 222 S. Palm Ave.

$5-$40

Visit ChoralArtistsSarasota.org.

Choral Artists of Sarasota presents “A Few of Our Favorite Things,” an intimate recital featuring soprano Adelaide Boedecker and pianist Joseph Holt. The program features works by Mozart alongside Gershwin and Chopin with African American spirituals.

TUESDAY

‘IMPROVISING MOZART’

7 p.m. at St. Boniface Episcopal Church, 5615 Midnight Pass Road

$20-$75 Visit SoundBoxVentures.org.

Max Tan and pianist David Kaplan combine music, conversation and

OUR PICK

‘THE CHINESE LADY’

Sarasota has some wonderful stages and some of them are in unexpected spaces. FSU/Asolo Conservatory presents “The Chinese Lady” in the Wagon Room of The Ringling Museum. Written by Lloyd Suh, whose “The Heart Sellers” is currently running at Florida Studio Theatre, “The Chinese Lady” follows Afong Moy, the first Chinese woman to immigrate to America. Runs through March 2.

IF YOU GO

When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 20

Where: The Ringling Museum of Art, 5401 Bay Shore Road

Tickets: $40 Info: Visit AsoloRep.org/Conservatory.

comedy in this “Listen Hear” salon concert from Soundbox Ventures. Tan and Kaplan will perform four Mozart violin sonatas, improvising both within and beyond Mozart’s scores. The program culminates with Mozart’s newly discovered “Fantasia,” improvised live by Kaplan.

WEDNESDAY

JOY MCINTYRE LECTURE: ROSSINI AND MOZART 10:30 a.m. at Selby Library, 1331 First St. Free with registration Visit SarasotaMusicArchive.org.

Joy McIntyre is a local cultural treasure, having worked as an opera singer and a professor before “retiring” to Sarasota. Her lecture on Rossini and Mozart, sponsored by the Sarasota Music Archive, is the perfect accompaniment to the two Figaro operas by these composers featured in the Sarasota Opera’s 2025 Winter Festival.

‘STAYIN’ ALIVE — ONE NIGHT OF THE BEE GEES’

7:30 p.m. at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail $25-$60 Visit VanWezel.org.

This Bee Gees’ tribute show doesn’t get stuck in the disco groove. In addition to hits from the “Saturday Night Fever” soundtrack, such as “How Deep is Your Love” and “You Should Be Dancing,” the show features songs of the Brothers Gibb from 45 years at the top of the charts, from “I Started a Joke” to “Nights on Broadway.”

FreeFall Theatre’s ‘Road Show’ stars Joey Panek as architect Addison Mizner.

a Sondheim fan and you’ve never seen “Road Show”? Well, actually you may have seen the musical about the buccaneering brothers Addison and Wilson Mizner. Over the years, the Stephen Sondheim-John Weidman musical has been variously known as “Bounce,” “Wise Guys” and “Gold!”

But if you haven’t seen “Road Show,” you’re in luck. You can take a road trip to St. Petersburg for freeFall Theatre’s regional premiere. FreeFall’s production, which runs through March 16, stars Sarasota’s Joey Panek as Addison Mizner and Robert Teasdale as his visionary brother, Wilson. According to his Wiki biography, Wilson Mizner was a playwright, raconteur and entrepreneur. Other accounts aren’t so kind, referring to the man about town during both the Klondike gold rush of the 1890s and the Florida land boom of the 1920s as a con artist, shyster and hustler.

Helping to put Wilson Mizner’s visions into material form was his talented architect brother, Addison. During his career, Addison Mizner shaped the distinctive Med-Rev style of Palm Beach and neighboring communities in Florida.

To bring the Mizners’ story to life in freeFall’s black-box theater, Eric Davis, the theater’s artistic director and the play’s director, relies on video to create the shape-shifting world inhabited by the brothers over four decades.

Tom Hansen designed the set, which uses video columns to display the architectural styles created by Addison Mizner.

Like other Sondheim-Weidman

collaborations (“Pacific Overtures,” “Assassins”) “Road Show” is steeped in history. But it has never made it to Broadway. Now that Sondheim’s 1981 flop, “Merrily We Roll Along” has been revived and adorned with Tony award glory, “Road Show” is the one that got away.

Asked why they think “Road Show” never quite landed, Davis and his music director, Michael Raabe, agreed that audiences were overwhelmed by the scope of the narrative. “There were just too many historical facts,” Raabe says.

By producing the musical in a small theater with a flexible cast (there are just five other actors besides Panek and Teasdale), Davis and Raabe think they can keep the audience focused.

“In an intimate space, the musical becomes the story of two brothers trying to capture their slice of the American dream,” Davis says. Panek was introduced to Sondheim as a teen through a production of “Into the Woods,” but hadn’t heard of “Road Show” until recently.

“There’s a reason why people keep coming back to it,” he says. “There’s something beautiful about this story of brothers. There’s a lot of heart in it, especially under Eric’s direction.”

In addition to Panek and Teasdale, the cast features Drew H. Wells as Hollis Bessemer, along with Greg Austin, Sara DelBeato, James Putnam and Julia Rifino, who each play a variety of character roles.

In line with the production’s intimate feel, musicians can be seen on stage during “Road Show.”

The costumes in the production are in neutral colors that are affected by lighting and are designed for quick changes, Davis says. Elaborate hats with feathers also help set the scene as the brothers chase their get-rich-quick schemes for nearly 40 years.

A RETURN TO THE STAGE For Panek, who juggles broadcasting, marketing and acting jobs, “Road Show” represents a welcome

IF YOU GO

SHOW’

‘ROAD

When: Through March 16

Where: FreeFall Theatre, 6099 Central Ave., St. Petersburg.

Tickets: $25-$55.

Info: Visit FreeFallTheatre.com.

return to the stage after a hiatus of about two years.

Although he’s a familiar face as a co-host on ABC 7’s “Suncoast View,” the last time he was on the boards was in Florida Studio Theatre’s cabaret show, “Up on the Roof.” The last-minute gig reminded Panek how much he enjoys performing, he said in a telephone interview.

A native of Syracuse, New York, Panek spent his teens performing in community theater before moving to New York City at age 18.

Sarasota audiences first saw Panek’s talents in a 1999 touring production of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” that ran at the now-defunct Golden Apple Dinner Theatre.

“It’s amazing, the number of people who came through there,” Panek says. A mainstay of Sarasota theater, the Golden Apple was in business from 1971 until 2011, when it was sold by owners and artistic directors Robert and Roberta Turoff. The space is now part of FST’s campus.

Like other Actors Equity members,

Panek benefited from the Golden Apple’s long relationship with the union, which it ultimately severed due to financial difficulties. (Equity members get paid more than community theater players, who sometimes work for free.)

Panek has been a full-time resident of Sarasota since 2006. He was an early advocate of using social media platforms to promote the arts. The now-mainstream marketing strategy was viewed skeptically when he first suggested it, Panek says.

Perhaps because he’s on TV, Panek’s the kind of guy whom people greet when he’s walking around downtown Sarasota. The youngest of four boys born to a woman who was a politician, Panek is at ease with strangers. Someone who yells, “Hey, Joey!” is likely to hear, “Hey, you!”

Even though “Road Show” wasn’t a smash, it gave audiences a memorable song. Like “Good Thing Going” in Sondheim’s “Merrily,” “The Best Thing That Has Ever Happened” echoes through “Road Show.”

It’s a bona fide crowd pleaser, Raabe says, along with “Gold!” and “Brotherly Love,” where the two siblings let their guards down.

“The overriding theme is bookended by the way the play begins and ends — that is legacy,” Davis says. That’s a timely issue on Florida’s Gulf Coast, where many residents have the time and means to contemplate, “How will I be remembered?”

collectors John and Mable Ringling.

humble origins, John Ringling and four of his brothers started a circus and the rest is history! This journey extends from John’s first year running a circus to the lasting cultural legacy they built. This ticket includes entry into the Museum of Art, Circus Museum, and Bayfront Gardens.

$25 + Museum Admission / $15 for Members

Courtesy image

Joey Panek and Robert Teasdale star as Addison and Wilson Mizner in freeFall Theatre’s production of “Road Show,” playing through March 16 in St. Petersburg.

TICKETS GOING FAST!

MON, MAR 3 • 7:30PM

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Members and GRAMMY® Lifetime Achievement winners, THE TEMPTATIONS and THE FOUR TOPS, are coming for a night of classic Motown hits, harmonies, flashy wardrobes, and original choreography! Celebrating 60 years, THE TEMPTATIONS have prospered, propelling popular music with a multitude of award-winning and chart-topping songs and albums, and sold-out performances throughout the world. THE FOUR TOPS have been thrilling audiences with their infectious blend of pure vocal power and sweet harmonies since 1954.

Visit VanWezel.ORG for the lowest ticket prices!

PROUD SPONSORS

A+E REVIEW

Sarasota Opera performs a double bill that withstands the test of

GAYLE WILLIAMS CONTRIBUTOR

The Sarasota Opera’s opening night double bill of “Cavalleria Rusticana” and “Pagliacci” packed more of a wallop on Feb. 15 than one might expect.

Pietro Mascagni pioneered Italian verismo (realism) with his popular “Cavalleria Rusticana,” yet never surpassed that early fame.

From the first notes, this overture opens a vision of paradise — the sublime, lofty strings, harp, flute and far more — as it grows more complex and emotional. This music juxtaposed with the raw anguish, jealousy and bloodlust of the action pulls this one-act opera into a satisfying whole.

Mezzo-soprano Lisa Chavez portrays Santuzza, a woman tossed aside by the faithless Turiddu for the married trollop Lola. Rarely out of sight, wretched Santuzza repents, begs and accuses with desperation. Both the music and Chavez’s voice adapt to the emotion of the moment.

Rafael Davila’s Turiddu jilts Santuzza and callously brushes her aside. Davila is an accomplished singer-actor with a voice to match. He is brash and arrogant until the jealous husband Alfio confronts him. In a key moment with Turiddu’s mother, we see the scared boy.

Jean Carlo Rodriguez cuts a dashing figure as Alfio, and his voice is also one that pleases. But he meant business when it came to a duel. We don’t see the final thrust, but we feel it.

Lucia, Turiddu’s mother, is a comforting influence in the hands of Lauren Paul. Sara Kennedy plays Lola spot-on as the married flirt who finds all of this a game.

“Pagliacci,” Ruggerro Leoncavallo’s most memorable opera, tells another tale of betrayal and jealous rage. Both Davila and Rodriguez returned to the stage as Canio and Tonio, respectively.

Ashley Milanese and her lyric soprano voice charms us as Nedda, the entrapped wife of troupe leader Canio. As Nedda, Milanese convincingly rebuffs the deformed actor Tonio and stands up to her jealous husband. Her brief love duo with Benjamin Dickerson as Silvio is a breath of fresh air and hope.

The aria that the world knows is Canio’s heartbroken “Vesti la giubba.” Davila sang this as if feeling his most fragile.

The highlight of the show was the actual commedia dell’arte play. The pantomimed antics of Nedda’s Colombina with Alejandro Luéva-

When: Through March 29

Where: Sarasota Opera House, 61 N. Pineapple Ave.

Tickets: $39-$162.

Info: Visit SarasotaOpera.org.

nos playing Peppe as Arlecchino were delightful until Davila’s Canio, as Pagliaccio, unravels to his own murderous jealousy. Blind with range, the beast takes control.

Throughout these two operas, we enjoyed a most talented and well-used orchestra chorus. Kudos to Martha Collins for her excellent stage direction.

The chorus sings richly and naturally. In “Pagliacci,” their action on stage was a critical factor of the successful climax.

This Sarasota Opera orchestra continues a tradition of excellence, creating the sublime in both operas and etching out wrought emotions whenever called upon. Victor DeRenzi as conductor and artistic director has ensured a remarkably consistent level of achievement.

The 2005 productions revived for these two operas consist of artful and realistic sets, detailed costuming and lighting that miraculously withstands the passage of time.

The entire team deserves an ovation: David P. Gordon, scenic designer; Howard Tsvi Kaplan, costume designer; Ken Yunker, lighting designer; and Sue Schaefer, hair and makeup designer.

If we’ve learned anything over the years, it is to expect the best from the Sarasota Opera. There will be blockbusters that stand out from time to time, but every production it mounts is its own jewel.

Courtesy image

The Sarasota Opera’s 2025 winter festival kicked off Feb. 15 with a double bill of “Cavalleria Rusticana” and “Pagliacci.”

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2025

The Sarasota Ballet Gala

The Sarasota Ballet held its annual gala on Feb. 16 at Sarasota’s newest event space, The Ora.

Doors opened to a Champagne reception at 4 p.m., with 400 guests donning their neatly pressed tuxes and ball gowns, fresh coiffures and buffed and shined shoes.

Honoring Patricia Golemme and Timothy Fullum for their many contributions to the organization, the event began in the foyer with cocktails. At 4:50 p.m., lights flickered and, after everyone settled into the ballroom, a specially curated ballet performance began.

This was followed by another cocktail reception where guests enjoyed photo ops and socializing as event organizers and the catering team transformed the room for dining and dancing.

A paddle raise was held between the entree and dessert.