Arts + Entertainment 2.6.25 by The Observer Group Inc.

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ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

STILL HITTING THE HIGH

NOTES AT 80

In a town filled with cultural options, Sarasota Concert Association’s concerts with world-class artists consistently sell out.

MONICA ROMAN GAGNIER

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

For the first 75 years of its history, the Sarasota Concert Association operated solely on a volunteer basis, bringing world-class musicians and orchestras to town and selling subscriptions and single tickets to the performances.

As fate would have it, when SCA hired Linda Moxley as its first executive director in 2020, her first job was to cancel the season because of COVID-19 shutdowns.

Although it might not seem like an auspicious beginning, the timing was actually fortunate because Moxley had the administrative chops to handle the task.

Before joining SCA, Moxley served both as vice president of marketing and director of artistic and education programs with the Baltimore Symphony. She ran her own eponymous communications firm and also held marketing positions with the Atlanta Symphony and the San Francisco Symphony.

While some regional arts organizations haven’t bounced back since the pandemic, SCA has been reporting annual subscriber growth of 20% or more during Moxley’s tenure.

This season, its concerts have been selling out. “An Evening with Yo-Yo Ma,” scheduled for Feb. 27 at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, sold out soon after tickets went on sale in July for the crowdpleasing cellist’s concert.

Other sellouts include the Jan. 15 concert of French pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet playing Debussy at Riverview Performing Arts Center and the March 14 concert celebrating the 300th anniversary of Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons,” featuring baroque violinist Théotime Langlois de Swarte and Les Arts Florissants.

There still are tickets available for SCA’s presentation of the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, led

by Jan Chalupecky, on Feb. 13 at the Van Wezel. The performance will include Mozart’s “Prague” Symphony No. 38 and Dvořák’s Piano Concerto, featuring 21-year-old international competition winner Maxim Lando.

Another anticipated concert of SCA’s 80th anniversary season is the National Symphony Orchestra directed by Gianandrea Noseda on March 24 at the Van Wezel. The orchestra will be joined by Grammy Award-winning violinist Hilary Hahn in Brahms’ Violin Concerto.

Unlike the Sarasota Orchestra, which also performs at the 1,700-seat Van Wezel, SCA wasn’t affected by the closure of the Purple Palace for the remainder of the 2024 season after the building was flooded by Hurricane Milton on Oct. 9. That’s because SCA’s season didn’t start in earnest until after the Van Wezel opened again in 2025.

“We were fortunate that we didn’t have a concert in fall 2024,” Moxley says. “We’re having such a great season. We’re getting some great performers that people are excited about. We keep setting the bar a little higher each year.”

There’s a lot of star power light-

IF YOU GO SARASOTA CONCERT ASSOCIATION PRESENTS THE CZECH NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

When: 7:30 p.m. Feb. 13

Where: Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail Tickets: $30-$95 Info: Visit SCASarasota.org.

McIntyre previously served as president from 2013-21. She succeeded the late John Goodman (no relation to the actor) in the job. McIntyre returned to the post again last summer after her predecessor, Dr. Dale Anderson, resigned to focus on his campaign for a seat on the Sarasota Memorial Hospital board, which he lost. Anderson remains on the SCA board.

The Sarasota Concert Association presents the Czech National Symphony Orchestra on Feb. 13 at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall.

Image courtesy of Sage Art Veteran arts marketing executive Linda Moxley was named executive director of Sarasota Concert Association in 2020.

Image courtesy of Jan and Martin Maly

Robert Casadesus, piano (1951-52)

Rudolf Serkin piano (1959-60)

Isaac Stern violin (1959-60)

Leontyne Price, soprano (1971-72)

Rise Stevens, mezzo soprano (1960-61)

Andre Watts piano (1975-76)

Murray Perahia, piano (2015)

Courtesy Images

ABEO QUARTET

the seats are located in the Van Wezel and Riverview, the venues where the concerts are held. There also is a three-concert option.

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

Horns of Plenty

Hugo Bliss and Scott Sanders, horns with Joseph Holt, piano

March 13, 11:00 am (includes lunch)

Sarasota Yacht Club

A cornucopia of music for the most magnificent horn, including Beethoven’s mighty sextet for two horns and string quartet.

Catalyst Quartet

March 30, 4:00 pm

First Presbyterian Church

This Grammy Award-winning quartet has toured widely throughout the United States and abroad, including sold-out performances in the world’s most prestigious venues. Their program includes music by Gershwin, Piazzolla, and Ravel.

Tessa Lark, violin

April 8, 7:30 pm

First Congregational Church

Nominated in 2020 for a Grammy Award in the best classical instrument solo category, Tessa Lark is also a highly acclaimed fiddler in the tradition of her native Kentucky. This program is comprised of original works inspired by her combination of classical training and Appalachian upbringing – a style she lovingly calls “Stradgrass.”

War II but returned after the war with a roster of concerts at the Sarasota Municipal Auditorium, with some interruptions. In the late 1940s, SCA made headlines around the country when soprano Helen Jepson performed in a boxing ring at the American Legion Coliseum that was transformed into a stage for her concert.

She was unable to perform at the Municipal Auditorium due to a dispute between the city-owned facility and the Musicians Union, which blacklisted the auditorium because the city refused to guarantee that only union musicians would perform there.

The Ringling Circus offered to put up a tent for Jepson’s performance, but heavy rainfall and poor drainage scuttled that plan.

Jepson got into the spirit of her boxing arena venue, hamming it up for photographers by climbing through the ropes to get to the center of the ring and donning boxing gloves while her accompanist looked on in either real or mock horror.

McIntyre notes that in the immediate post-war period, SCA was “the only game in town. It was in the business of importing performers. The opera and the orchestra came later.”

But the advent of other highbrow cultural organizations in Sarasota didn’t diminish the appeal of SCA’s concerts, McIntyre says. “Everything worked together to make Sarasota a cultural center,” she notes.

When the Van Wezel opened in 1970, SCA began presenting its concerts there.

An SCA program from 1950 shows that membership dues were $6.55 a year. Today, SCA subscriptions range from $150 to $450 for five concerts, depending on where

While subscriptions are the lifeblood of any arts organization, Moxley doesn’t discount the importance of single-ticket sales.

“Most people start as single-ticket buyers. Single tickets are important because they introduce people to us,” she says.

SCA showcases local musicians with its free Music Matinee series.

Online registration for these events begin a month ahead of the scheduled performance.

Upcoming concerts include Church of the Redeemer organist and choirmaster Sam Nelson on March 26 and jazz vocalist Synia Carroll on April 23.

There are also special events, such holiday concerts, including Chanticleer in 2024 and Canadian Brass in 2023. There’s even a trip to Switzerland from Aug. 30 to Sept. 7, which SCA is offering to 25 music lovers in partnership with Classical WSMR radio. The trip will include tickets to the renowned Lucerne Festival as well as excursions in the Swiss Alps and on Lake Lucerne.

While Moxley sees herself as the glue that holds SCA together, none of its concerts and events would be possible without the work of its volunteers, she notes. Prior to her arrival, the only paid employee in the organization’s history was a box office manager.

Among SCA’s committees are those devoted to artist selection, development to help attract county and state grants, hospitality to make sure that artists have food, drink and whatever else they might need while they’re in town and finance to review ticket prices.

Funding from the Sarasota County Tourist Development Tax helps SCA keep its ticket prices affordable, Moxley notes.

“The depth of knowledge and expertise on the board has been valuable in decision-making,” she says.

Njioma Grevious, violin; Rebecca Benjamin, violin; James Kang, viola; Macintyre Taback, cello

Schubert

Courtesy image Sarasota Concert Association brought the Chicago Symphony Orchestra to town in 2023.

Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe goes all in on August Wilson

WBTT presents Wilson’s autobiographical show, ‘How I Learned What I Learned,’ in honor of Black History Month.

MONICA ROMAN GAGNIER

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

Wali Jamal didn’t write the book on August Wilson, but you might say he majored in the works of the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright.

Jamal is the first and only actor in the world to have performed in all 10 of the plays that make up Wilson’s American Century Cycle. He will star in the late playwright’s autobiographical show, “How I Learned What I Learned,” from Feb. 9-16 at Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe.

WBTT founder and Artistic Director Nate Jacobs first met Jamal, like Wilson a native of Pittsburgh, in 2019 at the National Black Theatre Festival in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Jacobs didn’t see Jamal perform at the festival, now known as the International Black Theatre Festival, but when he met the actor, he got a good feeling about him.

Anybody who had that much experience performing Wilson’s plays must be good at what he does, Jacobs reckoned.

“He (Wilson) is very wordy; an actor really has to commit to those roles,” says Jacobs. “And Wali has performed in all 10 of Wilson’s American Century Cycle plays; that is about as committed as an artist can be.”

After Jacobs decided to revive “Fences” for WBTT’s 2024-25 season, he decided to bring Jamal to Sarasota to present “How I Learned What I Learned” in tandem with the Wilson play set in the 1950s.

“Fences” tells the story of Troy Maxson, a promising baseball player whose career was derailed due to bigotry and a sense of duty. The gar-

bageman (Patric Robinson) provides for his family but seems to determined to thwart son Cory’s (Zion Thompson) athletic ambitions and to break his wife’s (Ariel Blue) heart with his selfishness. It runs through Feb. 23 at WBTT.

When Jamal appeared in “Fences” in 2015 at Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company, he played Maxson’s buddy, Bono, a fellow garbageman with whom he trades stories and a bottle of liquor.

Speaking of stories, it’s not clear from talking to both Jamal and Jacobs who approached whom first about bringing “How I Learned What I Learned” to WBTT in honor of Black History Month. In the end, it really doesn’t matter.

“I thought it would be a great opportunity for our patrons to learn more about August Wilson the man as well as his work,” Jacobs says. “Our patrons love the information we provide during our Community Voices and other educational programs.”

Jacobs spoke with WBTT’s Education Director/Artistic Associate Jim Weaver, who coordinated Jamal’s one-week run of “How I Learned What I Learned.” During his time at WBTT, Jamal will also present a lecture, “August Wilson: Acting in His Plays and How it Led to Writing My Own,” on Feb. 6.

Wilson was born in Pittsburgh’s Hill District in 1945 and died in Seattle, where he developed a relationship with the Seattle Repertory Theatre, which produced his 10-play cycle and “How I Learned What I Learned.”

All 10 of the plays in Wilson’s American Century Cycle went to Broadway. “Fences” (1987) and “The Piano Lesson” (1990) both won the

IF YOU GO

‘August Wilson: Acting in His Plays and How It Led to Writing on My Own’

When: Feb. 6 at 4 p.m.

Where: at WBTT, 1012 N. Orange Ave. Tickets: $15

August Wilson’s How I Learned What I Learned.’ When: Feb. 9-16

Where: at WBTT, 1012 N. Orange Ave. Tickets: $37

Info: Visit WestcoastBlackTheatre.org

ington produced “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.”

In November 2024, Washington produced “The Piano Lesson” starring his son, John David Washington, and Samuel L. Jackson. Washington has a deal with Wilson’s estate to create film versions of the other American Century Cycle plays.

Both Jacobs and Jamal were fortunate enough to meet Wilson before his death in 2005. Jacobs credits a chance meeting with Wilson at the National Black Theatre Festival during the early 2000s with giving him the strength to keep going with WBTT.

At the time, he was considering giving up on his fledgling theater troupe devoted to African American stories and leaving Sarasota.

Recalls Jacobs: “He looked at me, and said, ‘Son, if anything is happening for you the way you told me today, for what you’re doing, Sarasota is the place you’re supposed to be.’”

GETTING HIS FEET WET IN COMEDY

Jamal was a comedian for 10 years before he became an actor in 1998 and began appearing in the Wilson plays produced at Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre. He was set to make his debut in “How I Learned What I Learned” in December 2017, but a snowstorm canceled the show.

“I got to boo-hooing on Facebook, and a friend, Miss Lynne Conner, invited me down to the UNC at Charlotte, where she is head of the theater department. I performed the play and gave a masterclass on August Wilson,” Jamal says.

Jamal has performed “How I Learned What I Learned” three times at Pittsburgh’s August Wilson African American Cultural Center. Jamal recalls meeting WBTT’s Jacobs briefly at the National Black Theatre Festival in 2019. “I gave out my information to whoever would take a flyer,” Jamal says.

Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Nine of the plays were nominated for Tony Awards for Best Play; “Fences” won. Oscar-winning actor Denzel Washington has produced and sometimes starred in film adaptations of Wilson’s plays. In 2016, Washington produced “Fences,” in which he played the protagonist Maxson opposite Viola Davis. In 2020, Wash-

Jamal says he met Wilson at a reading of “Jitney” at the home of Mark Southers, founder and producing artistic director of the Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company.

“August comes walking in out of nowhere,” Jamal recalls. “He read the character of Turnbo. August was off the chain (slang for wild). I even got to talk with him while we were both on the porch smoking cigarettes.”

Over the years, Jamal’s version of “How I Learned What I Learned” has evolved. “It’s still very dialoguedriven, but it’s a lot sharper, a lot more exciting. I could do this play under a tree.”

In Sarasota, that would be a palm tree if he was forced to perform al fresco. Luckily, Jamal will be on stage in WBTT’s comfortable Howard Millman black-box theatre.

Image courtesy of Sorcha Augustine August Wilson’s “Fences” runs through Feb. 23 at Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe.

Courtesy image

Wali Jamal will star in August Wilson’s one-man show, “How I Learned What I Learned,” at Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe from Feb. 9-16.

THIS WEEK

THURSDAY

HISTORY UNCOVERED: WHAT WOULD THE FOUNDING FATHERS THINK OF AMERICA TODAY?

10 a.m. at The Ora, 578 McIntosh Road

$49-$125

Visit YourObserver.com.

Observer Media Group presents Wendy Schiller of Brown University with a lecture about what Washington, Jefferson and other founding fathers would have to say about the state of the nation today. Schiller is chair of the Political Science Department at Brown University and is a six-time recipient of Brown’s Undergraduate Teaching and Research Award.

DUO KAROLINA & IWO

11 a.m. at Sarasota Yacht Club, 1100 John Ringling Blvd.

$70 Visit ArtistSeriesConcerts.org.

Artist Series Concerts presents Karolina Mikolajczyk on violin and Iwo Jedynecki on accordion, whose repertoire includes everything from Bach to Mozart. They have won first prize at several international competitions. There’s lunch, too!

LUIS BRAVO’S ‘FOREVER TANGO’

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

$30-$70 Visit VanWezel.org.

Take a trip down to Buenos Aires without leaving Sarasota. Featuring 14 world-class dancers, “Forever Tango” tells the history of the tango, from its birth in the bordellos to its ascendancy as one of Argentina’s best-known exports.

‘SPACEMAN’

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

$5-$44

Visit UrbaniteTheatre.com.

Leegrid Stevens’ play follows a female astronaut (Terri Weagant) who travels to Mars after her late husband’s failed attempt to reach the Red Planet. Be prepared for a “sensesurround” experience as Summer Dawn Wallace bravely goes where no director of a black-box theater has gone before. (Apologies, “Star Trek” fans!) Runs through Feb. 16.

‘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” while confronting injustice in the world around them. Runs through March 2.

‘59TH STREET BRIDGE’

7:30 p.m. at FST’s Goldstein Cabaret, 1239 N. Palm Ave.

$18-$42

Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.

Feelin’ groovy? Simon and Garfunkel fans know that expression from the hit song that gives this cabaret show its title. Florida Studio Theatre pays tribute to early folk-rock artists such as John Denver, Simon and Garfunkel, Bob Dylan and Joan Baez. Continues through March 30.

RINGLING UNDERGROUND

8 p.m. at The Ringling Museum of Art Courtyard, 5401 Bay Shore Road

Tickets $15; free for students and members Visit Ringling.org.

Locals and visitors in the know never miss Ringling Underground, an arts jamboree in the museum courtyard that is free for students and members. The event mixes art and ambience and presents up-andcoming local and regional musicians.

‘THE CANCELLATION OF LAUREN FEIN’

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

Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.

Written by Christopher DemosBrown, “The Cancellation of Lauren Fein” tells the story of a “woke” professor 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

JAZZ @ TWO: SARASOTA JAZZ

PROJECT

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

$15-$20 Visit JazzClubSarasota.org.

Jazz Club of Sarasota presents Sarasota Jazz Project with a program of swinging Big Band jazz under the direction of George McLain.

SATURDAY

SCD IN-STUDIO SERIES

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

This In-Studio performance by Sarasota Contemporary Dance Ensemble features the work of choreographer Bliss Kohlmyer.

ABEO QUARTET

7:30 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church, 2050 Oak St. $25-$35 Visit PerlmanMusicProgramSuncoast.org.

Join the Abeo Quartet as they play works by renowned composers, including Mozart, Reena Esmail and Franz Schubert. The quartet takes their name from an African word meaning “an expression of joy.”

OUR PICK

BAROQUEFEST

Key Chorale’s Baroquefest kicks off with a Biergarten Experience that includes German food, beer from Calusa Brewing and Bill Milner’s Oompah Band. The festival moves inside with the “Titans of Baroque” concert showcasing the works of Vivaldi and Handel featuring Yulia Van Doren, Thea Loba, Ryne Cherry and Daniel Jordan. The

festivities continue Saturday, Feb. 8, with a “Psychedelic Bach” organ recital in the morning and an evening concert of French Baroque music played on period instruments.

IF YOU GO

When: 5:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 7

Where: Church of the Redeemer, 222 S. Palm Ave.

Tickets: $15-$210 Info: Visit KeyChorale.org.

Courtesy images

Luis Bravo’s “Forever Tango” comes to the Van Wezel Performing Arts Center on Thursday, Feb. 6.

SUNDAY

‘LOVE IS IN THE AIR’

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

$5 Visit SuncoastConcertBand.org.

Suncoast Concert Band, now in its 92nd season, gets ready for Valentine’s Day with a program titled “Love is in the Air.” Call 941-907-4123 to check on ticket availability.

‘THRILL OF A LIFETIME’

4 p.m. at Riverview Performing Arts Center, 1 Ram Way $16 Visit SarasotaOrchestra.org.

The Sarasota Youth Orchestra will be joined by its big brothers and sisters in the Sarasota Orchestra as they play side by side in a concert billed as a “Thrill of a Lifetime.”

The Sarasota Youth Orchestras are comprised of eight ensembles representing more than 50 schools with students from third grade through high school.

MONDAY

BEHIND THE CURTAIN:

EXPLORING THE VAN WEZEL FROM THE ART TO THE STAGE

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

One of the best things about the reopening of the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall is the revival of its tours by Arts Advocates. A docent leads a tour of the paintings and sculptures inside the Purple Palace. Participants then step onto the stage where a Van Wezel guide shares stories. Proceeds benefit the education/outreach programs of Arts Advocates and the Van Wezel.

TUESDAY

‘THE CHINESE LADY’

7:30 p.m. at The Ringling Museum of Art, 5401 Bay Shore Road

$40 Visit AsoloRep.org/Conservatory.

Sarasota has some great stages and some are in unexpected places.

FSU/Asolo Conservatory presents “The Chinese Lady” in the Wagon Room of The Ringling Museum of Art. Written by Lloyd Suh, whose “The Heart Sellers” is currently running at Florida Studio Theatre, the play follows the first Chinese woman to immigrate to America. Runs through March 2.

BURTON CUMMINGS

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

$65-$100 Visit VanWezel.org.

HERB ALPERT & THE TIJUANA BRASS

Fans of the 1960s’ sensation

“A Taste of Honey” might want to take advantage of a rare opportunity to see Herb Alpert and a new version of Tijuana Brass in concert. Best known for his album “Whipped Cream & Other Delights,” Alpert is touring for the first time in 35 years and will perform at the Van Wezel a little over a month before his 90th birthday.

IF YOU GO

When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 12

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

Tickets: $45-$70 Info: Visit VanWezel.org.

Canadian Burton Cummings and his bandmates in The Guess Who once warned the “American Woman” to stay away from them. Evidently, feelings have mellowed over the years. Americans gals (and guys) are invited to take a trip down memory lane with the singer/songwriter as he celebrates 60 years since The Guess Who first topped the charts with songs such as “These Eyes” and other hits.

IMANI WINDS

7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 1031 S. Euclid Ave. $43 Visit ArtistSeriesConcerts.org.

Artist Series Concerts presents Imani Winds, winner of the 2024 Grammy Award in the classical compendium category. The ensemble features Brandon Patrick George on flute, Toyin Spellman-Diaz on oboe, Mark Dover on clarinet, Kevin Newton on French horn and Monica Ellis on bassoon.

Saturday, February 15, 2025

CHURCH

Czech National Symphony Orchestra

Jan Chalupecký, conductor | Maxim Lando, piano

Feb 13, 7:30 pm | Van Wezel

Conductor Jan Chalupecký will lead the Orchestra in Mozart’s “Prague” Symphony No. 38 and Dvořák’s Piano Concerto featuring 21-year-old international competition winner pianist Maxim Lando.

Upcoming Concerts

Vivaldi Four Seasons

Les Arts Florissants | Théotime Langlois de Swarte, violin

March 14, 2025, 7:30 pm

Riverview Performing Arts Center

A 300th anniversary celebration of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and other celebrated works by Vivaldi and Monteverdi.

National Symphony Orchestra

Gianandrea Noseda, Music Director

Hilary Hahn, violin

March 24, 2025, 7:30 pm | Van Wezel

Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 and Brahms’ Violin Concerto featuring violinist Hilary Hahn.

The

premiere of

Lady Molly is on the case

Ken Ludwig’s ‘Lady Molly of Scotland Yard’ cracks the code for World War II farce on the Asolo Rep stage.

Ken Ludwig’s “Lady Molly of Scotland Yard” is on the case in this world premiere at Asolo Repertory Theatre. The playwright borrowed the heroine and her sidekick from Baroness Orczy’s 1910 detective stories, created his own new plot and shifted the time and place.

The year is now 1940. There’s a war on! And the game’s afoot at Bletchley Park on the outskirts of London. This obscure estate is home to the “Ultra Secret” project.

Within its walls, Great Britain’s team of mathematicians, cryptographers and linguists are working to crack Nazi Germany’s “Enigma” machine — a device that sends coded instructions to deadly U-boats.

When someone starts killing Bletchley’s codebreakers, Scot-

land Yard realizes a Nazi spy has infiltrated the project. They task Lady Molly (Kate Loprest) with stopping the mole. Thanks to her mathematics education at Cambridge, Molly’s qualified to be a cryptanalyst. Her plucky assistant Peg (Adelin Phelps) is right by her side.

What follows is a rapid series of reversals, plot twists and inventive bits of business. It’s fun, funny stuff. Ludwig set his comedy in one of the 20th century’s most pivotal settings — with guest appearances by some of the era’s greatest heroes, including Alan Turing and Louis Armstrong. The stakes? Nothing less than the survival of the free world. Sounds like a movie, doesn’t it? Asolo Rep Producing Artistic Director Peter Rothstein’s direction is cinematic indeed. (His approach reminds me of Richard Lester’s work in the Beatles’ films.)

This fast-paced farce shifts locations in the blink of an eye.

Greg Emetaz’s inventive projections create literal movies in the background and expand the world of the play. The actors deftly populate that world.

“Lady Molly” feels like a largecast production. But only 11 actors play the 45 characters in the production. Except for the lead roles, they all have multiple parts.

Loprest’s Lady Molly is a dynamo of verve and vivacity. She’s a proto-feminist living in a man’s world. Her character outsmarts and outruns them all — and does an end run around any misogynist trying to hold her back.

Phelps is great as the plucky Peg. She’s loyal, but not a lackey. Lady Molly and Peg are the greatest detective team since Holmes and Watson. Loprest and Phelps deliver great comic chemistry.

The rest of the cast is cooking, too. Brian Zane sets the mood as

Ludwig’s movie-of-the-mind comes to life with flair and technical wizardry.

Alexander Dodge’s set is adaptable, flexible and creative. It doubles as nightclubs, mansions, war offices or code rooms, as the scene requires. Emetaz’s crowdpleasing projections include a perilous plane flight and a bad guy’s precipitous fall to his welldeserved bad end.

Alex Ritter’s sound design and Philip Rosenberg’s lighting add to the cinematic hyperreality. Jen Caprio’s costumes have a playful period accuracy. Lady Molly is a true clothes horse. Caprio’s talents shine in Molly’s kaleidoscopic, high-fashion costume changes.

While this play’s not a musical, it’s stuffed with music. Music Director Jenny Kim-Godfrey has a great ear for the era’s mood. Ken Ludwig’s “Lady Molly” has a lot going for it — including wit, sparkling dialogue, inventive physical comedy and period nostalgia. The one thing it lacks? Realism.

IF YOU GO ‘LADY MOLLY OF SCOTLAND YARD’ When: Through Feb. 8 Where: FSU Center for the Performing Arts, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail. Tickets: $29-$95. Info: Visit AsoloRep.org.

the designated pianist in several nightclub scenes. Christian Thompson does a spot-on Louis Armstrong impression. Jake Loewenthal’s Alan Turing reminds me of David Tennant’s Dr. Who. His character’s full of quiz-kid manic energy — and far from Benedict Cumberbatch’s depressive take in “The Imitation Game.” Chris Hoch plays Winston Churchill with gravitas. He resists the temptation to overdo the oratory.

The playwright’s done his homework; don’t get me wrong. Ludwig anchored this play in historical fact. That said, his depiction of the “Ultra Secret” is about as realistic as the depiction of Eastern religion in Richard Lester’s “Help!” Which is to say … not realistic at all. And that’s OK.

“Lady Molly” is a very funny play. But it’s a farce, not satire or parody. Lady Molly isn’t a bumbling ninny like Peter Sellers’ Inspector Clouseau — she’s a damn good detective.

The play doesn’t poke fun of the thriller genre, either. It seems to mock its own artifice. This is an unreal, make-believe world.

“Lady Molly” revels in that fact and doesn’t try to hide it. This is a thriller in name only; we all know how the story ends. (Spoiler alert: The Allies won World War II.)

“Lady Molly” takes a light touch with heavy topics. But there’s no hint of camp. When characters express their patriotism or mourn someone’s death, it’s never played for laughs. The play laughs at its unreal world. It never laughs at the heroes of the real world.

MARTY FUGATE

world

Ken Ludwig’s “Lady Molly of Scotland Yard” runs through Feb. 8 at Asolo Repertory Theatre.

Sarasota Orchestra soars to new heights

The performance of Márquez’s ‘Fandango for Violin and Orchestra’ left the audience begging for more.

GAYLE WILLIAMS MUSIC CRITIC

After watching the Masterworks Four: Heroic Spirit concert at SCF Neel Performing Arts Center on Jan. 30, I think we’ve identified the performance that stands above all others of the Sarasota Orchestra in recent years.

Violinist Anne Akiko Meyers’ stunning virtuosity in Arturo Márquez’s “Fandango for Violin and Orchestra,” combined with the allout commitment of musicians and conductor, splashed all the treasures of music before us. Everyone begged for more.

Early in the concert it became clear that Music Director Designate Giancarlo Guerrero has established a tight bond with the Sarasota musicians, who ably delivered a straightforward “Beethoven: Coriolan Overture, Op. 62.” It was clear, smooth and performed with marked contrasts to develop a narrative. While heroic in its way, this was not brash Beethoven, but still quite effective with an ebbing pizzicato heartbeat conclusion.

Not all conductors are as entertaining to watch, nor should they be. However, it is interesting to watch the variety of ways that Guerrero is finding to communicate with the orchestra.

From the start of “Fandango,” Latin rhythms set a deeply resonating pulse that bound us to a compelling melodic journey flavored by the fandango’s Spanish flamenco roots blended with the Mexican Huastecan style of the dance form.

Marquez showed his own compelling voice through the progression of three movements, each drawing out the full color of orchestral instruments along with the solo violin through a progression of intoxicating melodic lines.

Meyers leaned into the heart and subtleties of the music, seemingly becoming one with the whole. With so much beauty drawing us into the Folia Tropical and Plegaria movements, the final Fandanquito shot a jolt of electricity through the hall at State College of Florida.

Thrill-factor tempos and virtuosic challenges seemed hardly a concern for Meyers, so securely in control of it all.

How I wish we could have gotten

Sarasota Orchestra Music Director

Designate Giancarlo Guerrero conducted Masterworks: Heroic Spirit from Jan. 30 through Feb. 2.

an encore of all three movements.

Music new to our ears, as this Florida premiere was for nearly all, surely deserves repetition. (Those who truly wanted an encore could find it at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, where Masterworks: Heroic Spirit was performed from Jan. 31 through Feb. 2.)

As the Sarasota Orchestra launched into the epic world of Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47, we heard a large orchestra proudly displaying what it can do with music that the composer described as “a lengthy spiritual battle crowned by victory.” Guerrero held the reins, but the musicians built this tumultuous, and in the end redeeming, soundscape.

When all the strings — violins, violas, cellos, bass — blend to such a point that they sound like a massive organ, that is notable and honestly not frequently achieved to the extent heard in this concert.

Soloists from the winds and brass each had moments where their individual voices shone through, often offering an olive leaf of optimism, or in the sardonic waltz, yet another note of sarcasm.

The entire percussion section had some heavy lifting to do in providing the threatening backbone to the looming tragedy.

Guerrero provided his direction without a score and often with only a glance, a shrug and one arm reaching out. Such is his confidence in the Sarasota Orchestra. One could feel the confidence and respect streaming both ways, beyond well-deserved. The clamorous audience felt the same.

FEBRUARY

Adrianne Black returns to the SarasotaManatee area for her only in-person event in Florida to speak about her book, TheKlansman’sSon, and her life as R. Derek, successor of the white nationalist movement in the US.

Their story has been featured in numerous interviews and publications since the book debuted in May 2024. Black’s efforts have also been recognized by the AntiDefamation League.

From being “The Klansman’s Son” to an openly transgender antiracism advocate, Black’s journey is both enlightening and inspiring.

Tickets are on sale now.

Image courtesy of Dokk Savage

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2025

SUPERHEROES IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Friday, Jan. 31, The Big Top at Nathan Benderson Park Benefiting the Circus Arts Conservatory

With an assemblage of some 290 guests at The Big Top on Regatta Island at Nathan Benderson Park, the Circus Arts Conservatory’s annual gala welcomed guests dressed as superheroes in support of its mission Jan. 31.

The CAC’s newly appointed CEO and president, Jennifer Mitchell, beamed as she took the stage and addressed attendees while co-founder Pedro Reis adorned her with her own purple superhero cape.

Mitchell took center ring after beginning her career 17 years ago as a marketing and public relations coordinator and rose through the ranks to executive vice president and chief operating officer. She said she feels well-prepared for her new leadership thanked everyone for unwavering support.

The night began with a cocktail hour as student performers and professional circus artists showed off their dazzling skills on lyres and stilts while others juggled. During the circus performance, audible gasps could be heard as performers impressed with talents — some twisting their bodies into unimaginable poses, performing on the silks and all showcasing their circus arts

After dinner, dancing was held in the center ring with a DJ and a creative photo booth. With a mission to change lives, this annual event raises funds for the CAC’s youth circus programs, which help build confidence, creativity and discipline for participating kids.

— JANET COMBS

Photos by Lori Sax

Umbreen Khalidi Maseed, Karen Bell and Eduardo Anaya

David and Christine Chabira, Erendira and Nik Wallenda, Aaron and Karen Foreman

Wendy and Jerry Feinstein

Dawn Spencer and Patrick Smith

Donna Koffman and Matt Snesavage

Chris Allison as the Riddler

Behind the Curtain: 95 Years of The Sarasota Players

Saturday, Feb. 1, at Sarasota Garden Club Benefiting The Sarasota Players

We Invite You!

2025 DARE to C.A.R.E. Collaboration Celebration! Collaboration. Action. Responsiveness. Evolution.

AS WE CELEBRATE 35 YEARS OF SERVICE + IMPACT, HONOR OUR 3RD ANNUAL EMERGING LEADER AWARDEES, & REVEAL EXCITING DEVELOPMENTS ABOUT OUR FUTURE!

Thursday, February 27, 2025 8:30-10:00 am, Breakfast Buffet

Carlisle Inn & Conference Center 3727 Bahia Vista Street, Sarasota 34232

Peterly Jean Baptiste

[Education and Outreach Associate, Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe] Denise Gibson

[Program Director, Town Square University Parkway] Claudia Lagnese

[Director of Post-Secondary Initiatives, Girls Inc. of Sarasota County]

For information, tickets and sponsorships, contact Karen Zelden, Chief Development Officer (941) 867-4382; kzelden@gs-humanservices.org If you cannot attend, donations gratefully accepted at www.gs-humanservices.org

Christine Jennings and Mary Dailey

Photos by Janet Combs

Amanda Heisey and Minna Montagna with Caren Brady’s design for the 2023 production of “The Drowsy Chaperone.”

Joseph and Gloria Kaminsky

Crossword Fun!

Sarasota Opera Gala: A Night in Seville

Monday, Feb. 10: 10:30 am Church of the Palms, 3224 Bee Ridge Rd, Sarasota 3:00 pm Venice Presbyterian Church, 825 The Rialto, Venice

Dave Bennett, Clarinet

Dave Bennett, jazz clarinet, doesn’t fit the mold. You may not find even one other clarinet virtuoso who breaks from his Swing Era repertoire to sing rockabilly hits while accompanying himself at the piano or electric guitar. He’s also a songwriter - his first rock album is “Nowhere Fast”.

GLOBAL ISSUES I

Tuesday, Feb. 11: 10:30 am First United Methodist Church, 104 S Pineapple Ave, Sarasota 2:30 pm Venice Community Center, 326 S Nokomis Ave, Venice

Wednesday, Feb. 12: 11:00 am Cornerstone Church, 14306 Covenant Way, Lakewood Ranch

The Dark Arts: Ungentlemanly Warfare for

GLOBAL ISSUES II

Thursday, Feb. 13: 10:30 am First United Methodist Church, 104 S Pineapple Ave, Sarasota 5:00 pm Cornerstone Church, 14306 Covenant Way, Lakewood Ranch Friday, Feb. 14: 10:00 am Venice Community Center, 326 S Nokomis Ave, Venice