Arts + Entertainment 4.10.25 by The Observer Group Inc.

Hauser’s the kind of woman you’ll immediately want to call Tammy, even if you just met her. But beneath the Midwestern folksiness lies a shrewd businesswoman who has honed her marketing skills in retail, theater and arts nonprofits.

The recent gyrations in the stock market have worried Hauser, who holds an MBA. People who usually might take four or five tours with Discover Sarasota might cut back to just one.

Each 90-minute tour costs about $55, and it’s not uncommon for visitors to take more than one during a vacation. “If they come for one, they almost always come back for another and bring friends and family,” Hauser says. After nine years in Florida, Hauser’s a trouper who knows how to deal with destructive hurricanes. She even managed to stay afloat during the pandemic by operating an ice cream truck when she had to suspend her trolley tours. Still, she needs her customers to feel financially secure enough to buy a book about circus history in the gift shop or foot the bill for family members on one of her company’s air conditioned trolley tours.

Like other successful entrepreneurs, Hauser understands the importance of diversification and expansion, not to mention quality and reliability. On the diversification front, she’s got several different tours that repeat at the same time each week, according to the calendar. Needless to say, Halloween and Christmas are banner seasons.

After partnering with Venice Florida Tours, Discover Sarasota Tours recently expanded its operations to Venice, our neighbor 17 miles to the south. A beautiful town of pink Mediterranean-style architecture, Venice is where the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus moved its winter home in 1960, after spending 33 years in Sarasota. Circus- and architecture-themed tours have been a big draw for Hauser in Sarasota, and they have been popular in Venice, which is quieter and more conservative than Sarasota,

an eclectic town whose thriving arts scene employs and attracts a diverse crowd.

When you’re running a tourist operation like Hauser, it’s good to have several income streams. Besides generating revenues from tours and the gift shop, Discover Sarasota sells advertising in its guidebooks, which patrons hold onto for future reference.

When they open up the books again, they’ll see ads for restaurants, stores and arts organizations such as Sarasota Ballet and the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall. In addition to all the other hats she wears, Hauser is in the media business.

Hauser got her start running trolleys in Sarasota when she moved here a decade ago. At the time, she was an arts consultant working for the Sarasota Center for Architecture, a predecessor organization to Architecture Sarasota, on assignment from the Gulf Coast Community Foundation.

Through her Blue Sky Thinking LLC arts consultancy, Hauser advised the architectural organization to start a trolley tour. “I looked around and I couldn’t believe there wasn’t a trolley tour in a tourist destination like Sarasota, with its magnificent architectural history,” she said.

To act as guides for the tour, Hauser hired longtime architecture columnist Harold Bubil and historic preservation expert Lorrie Muldowney. Hauser believes in recruiting well-known experts to lead her tours.

“Every Thursday, we rented a trolley and ran this tour,” Hauser recalls. “It would sell out every week. People absolutely loved it. I looked around and found that there weren’t any trolley tours for all these interesting things about Sarasota — history, the Amish, the circus.”

With that realization, Hauser put away her nonprofit persona and decided to go into business for herself. She formed Discover Sarasota Tours, conveniently located a few doors down from The Breakfast House, Siegfried’s German Restaurant, the Chamber of Commerce and the city’s tourist organization, Visit Sarasota.

Hauser discovered the 1930s-era cottage that is now Discover Sarasota Tours’ home when she dropped

off marketing materials to the chamber. She noticed a “For Rent” sign by Marlene Lancaster Realty. Once Lancaster showed her the property, the deal was sealed.

“Marlene is third-generation Sarasota,” according to Hauser. “Her father worked for the city’s Parks and Rec department. He was responsible for putting up the Dolphin Statue Fountain at Bayfront Park. Marlene loved the idea of tours to show off the city’s history.”

When Discover Sarasota Tours opened in October 2018, the first excursions offered were ghost tours because it was the spooky season. The company’s launch coincided with a red tide outbreak, which sent tourists scrambling for alternatives to the beach.

The next year, Hauser offered eight tours by leasing a trolley that came with a driver. At the time, Hauser was the reservationist for all of the tours. Everything was going well until she was forced to shut down in March 2020 because of COVID.

“It was absolutely devastating,” she recalls. “I was not at all prepared for it. I had to refund thousands of dollars.”

ICE CREAM TO THE RESCUE

Enter the ChillMobile, a 1970s ice cream truck that Hauser had purchased on Facebook Marketplace after a gin and tonic or two. (“Don’t

SPONSORS: WUSF

drink and shop online!”) She had originally planned to park the truck next to the company bungalow and use it to sell drinks and snacks.

When Hauser realized she wasn’t going to qualify for government aid to small businesses because she didn’t meet the requirement of two full-time employees (her tour guides are contractors), Hauser decided to go into the ice cream business full time. She obtained her cold comforts from Sweetheart Ice Cream in Tampa, Pop Craft in North Gate and Lickety-Split in Lakewood Ranch.

“Every day in 2020 and 2021, I was out in the ice cream truck with my dog, Max,” she says. “I built a business off of Facebook, word of mouth and by driving hours and hours, mostly in Lakewood Ranch.”

Hauser ultimately qualified for COVID relief funds for arts organizations. When that came through, she used it to buy her own trolley, which she christened Dolly. The trolley was custom built for Hauser in Wisconsin and arrived in Sarasota in 2021.

Today, Hauser runs between six and 17 tours a week, depending on the season. Because Discover Sarasota Tours only owns one trolley, each tour has its own day and time that doesn’t vary.

Excursions run the gamut, from a general City Tour of local landmarks to a Psychic Sundays tour with psychic Deni Dreazen to a murder mys-

tery outing called “Who Killed the Circus Queen?” with real actors in character and costume.

A perennial favorite is “Leading Ladies of Sarasota,” with guide Kathryn Chesley playing one of the city’s “founding mothers,” either Bertha Palmer, Marie Selby or Mable Ringling for the duration of the tour. Chesley and her husband came to Hauser soon after she opened Discover Sarasota Tours and pitched her on history tours led by Kathryn and arts tours led by Jerome Chesley.

Another crowd pleaser is the Amish Experience tour, which teaches guests about the Amish and Mennonite neighborhoods in Sarasota in what Hauser calls a “respectful” fashion.

Stops on the tour include Der Dutchman for a pie sample, the Carlisle Inn to view folk art and Alma Sue’s Quilt Shop to learn about the importance of quilting in the communities’ culture.

Stock market ups and downs not withstanding, Hauser’s trolley tours are rolling along. But there are always fires to be put out.

A recent visit to Discover Sarasota Tours found Hauser sorting out technical difficulties with Dolly the Trolley’s state-of-the-art sound system. But she took it all in stride. After all, what’s fixing a crackling sound system compared to surviving a pandemic and hurricanes?

Courtesy image

DON’T MISS

‘GOOD NIGHT, OSCAR’

Most famous for his role in “An American in Paris,” the troubled pianist and funnyman Oscar Levant has largely been forgotten.

Asolo Repertory Theatre’s production of the Broadway hit “Good Night, Oscar” focuses on Levant’s appearance on “Tonight Starring Jack Paar,” where he spoke frankly about his mental health, shocking the audience. Runs through April 26.

IF YOU GO

When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 10

Where: Asolo Repertory Theatre, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail

Tickets: $35-$95

Info: Visit AsoloRep.org.

THIS WEEK

THURSDAY

‘WEALTH IN AMERICA’

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

$49-$125 Visit YourObserver.com.

Part of The Observer’s History Uncovered Series, this lecture by University of Texas professor Jeremy Suri looks at men who expanded the U.S. economy and became super-rich. Suri will talk about how earlier generations — Vanderbilt, Rockefeller and Carnegie — compare with modern moguls like Gates, Bezos and Musk.

‘LES MISÉRABLES’

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

$50-$155

Visit VanWezel.org.

It’s a misconception that this musical is set during the French Revolution. But the show was actually inspired by the Paris revolt of 1832. “Les Miz” includes such favorites as “Master of the House,” “One Day More” and “I Dreamed a Dream.” Runs through April 13.

OUR PICK

‘MY GUARDIAN ANGEL’

Directed by Nya Chambless, a 15-yearold student at Booker High School, “My Guardian Angel” was inspired by Chambless’ real-life experience of losing a friend to illness in elementary school and watching her be bullied.

IF YOU GO

When: Noon on Saturday, April 12

Where: Morganroth Auditorium, Ringling College, 2700 N. Tamiami Trail

Tickets: $20

Info: Visit SarasotaFilmFestival.com.

Ring Sarasota invites you to celebrate their 15th performance season with a musical journey through the year. This concert will feature a vibrant selection of handbell arrangements with each piece capturing the essence of a different month. Join us as we commemorate this special anniversary!

‘NO ONE IS FORGOTTEN’

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

$5-$44

Visit UrbaniteTheatre.com.

Written by New York playwright

Winter Miller and directed by Urbanite Artistic Director Summer Dawn Wallace, “No One is Forgotten” is the moving tale of two American women who withstand captivity in a foreign prison through grit, humor and solidarity. Runs through April 27.

‘JERSEY BOYS’

8 p.m. at FST’s Gompertz Theatre, 1265 First St.

$49-$69

Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.

There are countless imitations, but there is only one “Jersey Boys.” Winner of both the Tony and Olivier awards, the musical tells the true story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. Runs through May 25.

FRIDAY

JAZZ @ TWO WITH THE DANNY SINOFF TRIO

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

$15-$20 Visit JazzClubSarasota.org.

TGIF! Roll into the weekend with Jazz @ Two, presented by Jazz Club of Sarasota. Fort Myers-based pianist and vocalist Danny Sinoff will perform his interpretations of songs made famous by Frank Sinatra, Bobby Darin, and others.

LA MUSICA CHAMBER FESTIVAL: BEETHOVEN, MARTINU, DVORAK

7 p.m. at Sarasota Opera House, 61 N. Pineapple Ave. $64 Visit LaMusicaFestival.org.

The first of three concerts during La Musica’s annual chamber music festival, the program features La Musica artistic director and pianist Wu Han, violinists Chad Hoopes and Kristin Lee, violists Aaron Boyd and Milena Pájaro-van de Stadt and cellists Dmitri Atapini and David Finckel. Continues April 14 and 17.

SATURDAY

‘JOE FIG’S CONTEMPLATING VERMEER’

10 a.m. at Sarasota Art Museum, 1001 S. Tamiami Trail Free with admission Visit SarasotaArtMuseum.org.

It’s last call for “Joe Fig: Contemplating Vermeer.” The exhibition features Fig’s exquisite paintings of museumgoers looking at the historic Vermeer exhibition held at Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum in 2023. Closes April 13.

COMEDY ROULETTE

8:30 p.m. at Florida Studio Theatre’s Bowne’s Lab, 1265 First St. $15-$18

Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.

Looking to have fun on a Saturday night without breaking the bank? Look no further than Florida Studio Theatre Improv. Four experienced improvisers deliver a mix of short form, long form and musical improv in a memorable mashup. Weekends through May 30.

SUNDAY

MUSIC FROM THE BIG AND SMALL SCREEN

3 p.m. at Northminster Presbyterian Church, 3131 61st St. $5 Visit SuncoastConcertBand.org.

The Suncoast Jazz Ambassadors play your favorite tunes from movies and TV in this affordable performance. Call 941-907-4123 to reserve a ticket, and please be sure to dial the right number.

RING SARASOTA: CELEBRATE!

JOIN THE PARTY!

5 p.m. at St. Armands Key Lutheran Church, 40 N. Adams Drive $20 Visit RingSarasota.org.

Sarasota’s premier handbell ensemble comes to St. Armands Circle. We’re not making any promises, but “Singing in the Rain” is on Ring Sarasota’s setlist for this season, so April showers may bring a performance of this piece.

TUESDAY

AEOLUS QUARTET WITH PETER

DUGAN

7:30 p.m. at LEC — Harvest House, 3650 17th St. $10-$40 Visit PMPSuncoast.org.

Perlman Music Program Suncoast presents Aeolus Quartet with a special performance by pianist Peter Dugan. The quartet, which has won top prizes in major competitions and performed globally, consists of Nicholas Tavani and Rachel Shapiro on violin, Caitlyn Lunch on viola and Jia Kim on cello.

WEDNESDAY

‘THE ROCKET MAN SHOW’

7:30 p.m. at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail $35-$65 Visit VanWezel.org.

How many tribute shows are headlined by an artist handpicked by the performer they are personifying? “The Rocket Man Show” stars Scotsman Rus Anderson, Elton John’s official body double on the “Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour.” Anderson blasts off with a show of greatest hits, virtuoso piano and outrageous costumes. It’s gonna be a long, long time before you see a tribute show like this one.

SUNDAY, APRIL 13TH FROM 5:00-7:00 PM

AT ST ARMANDS KEY LUTHERAN CHURCH

40 N ADAMS DRIVE, SARASOTA, FL 34236

TICKETS $20 EACH

Courtesy image

Max Roll plays pianist Oscar Levant and Harris Milgrim portrays George Gershwin in “Good Night, Oscar” at Asolo Rep.

Looking back at a magical summer

The Mundy sisters don’t know it, but their lives are about to be upended.

MARTY FUGATE

THEATER CRITIC

Brian Friel’s “Dancing at Lughnasa” is a bittersweet remembrance of things past. The memory play is set in rural Ireland in the summer of 1936. For the Mundy family, it’s when things fell apart and the center couldn’t hold.

The adult Michael (Tyler Michaels King) is the man with the memories. He’s the narrator, and he tells the story from his adult perspective, looking back at his 7-year-old self — a child born out of wedlock in a judgmental culture.

In the magical summer of childhood memory, Michael, his mother and her four sisters share a cottage. They live at the edge of poverty, but find fleeting joy in music, dance and a radio that doesn’t always work.

The Mundy sisters are always working. Kate (Gina Costigan) is a schoolteacher at a Catholic parish school; the others do piecework, like laundry and glove-stitching. So long as they pay the bills, the Mundy family’s separate peace endures.

But Father Jack (Mark Benninghofen) upsets the household’s precarious balance when he returns from missionary work at a leper colony in Uganda. He had contracted malaria — and also “went native,” as they used to say.

The line between the rituals of Catholic Christianity and African animism blurred in Father Jack’s fevered brain. Once that happened, the Church shipped him back home. But rural Ireland’s not that far from its own pagan traditions.

The Harvest Festival is coming up in August — a rebranded version of the Celtic festival of La Lughnasa. (There are whispered rumors of drunken farm boys turned into human torches by its bonfires.)

The Church in County Donegal wants to put a stop to such devilish nonsense — and thinks Father Jack is a poor role model for today’s youth. Kate’s taken Father Jack into her home. The Church is Kate’s employer. She fears they’ll fire her to force Father Jack out of town. Kate has reason to fear.

Friel’s spoken language is a Joycean dance of words. Director Joe Dowling has a good ear, and he’s sensitive to the playwright’s speech rhythms. Every character has a unique voice. Casual phrases echo like musical motifs.

Dowling captures the playwright’s dance steps with a seemingly matter-of-fact approach. With his direction, you’re a fly on the wall observing life as it happens in the Mundy home. Or the way Michael remembers it.

The actors don’t miss a step.

King’s Michael is the play’s memorable narrator. He poignantly plays his childhood self in scenes where he interacts with other characters. His innocent 7-year-old self didn’t know what was going on. His adult self does, and it’s poignant.

King’s Michael looks back without anger at a lost world.

Costigan’s Kate is the oldest sister — a devout Catholic schoolteacher who fights to keep the family together. She comes off as harsh and strict — a police officer for the reality principle. It’s a thankless task, but somebody has to do it.

Derdriu Ring’s Maggie is the beating heart of the home — a warm-hearted, sharp-witted, riddle-spouting woman who shouts down the family’s fears.

Maeve Moynihan’s Rose was not meant for this world. This sweet, simple soul might also be simpleminded with an unspecified disability. Her Rose is childlike, innocent and trusting — perhaps too trusting.

Doireann Mac Mahon’s Christina is the youngest Mundy sister and Michael’s mother. Her character’s romantic yet disillusioned by the lad’s wandering father. He’s broken her heart, but she’s still madly in love with him.

Clare O’Malley’s Agnes is deeply devoted to Rose and works tirelessly to help support the family. She harbors her own feelings for Gerry, but keeps them to herself.

Gerry (Collin Kelly-Sordelet) is a charming, rakish rogue. He’s Michael’s largely absent Welsh father and Christina’s ex-lover. His big dreams fluctuate from selling gramophones to teaching dance to fighting with the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War.

The flighty fellow proposes to Christina, but she declines. She knows Gerry wouldn’t stick around for long. It’s not his nature.

Benninghofen’s Father Jack isn’t all there — or so it seems. You initially think he left his heart in Africa — along with his mind. Then he has several moments of clarity. These usually revolve around his experiences in Africa. You realize that Father Jack hasn’t lost his mind. He’s changed it. His time in Uganda has tuned his mind to a different world view.

It’s a profound revelation. The playwright reveals it offhandedly, without any blood and thunder.

Friel’s Pulitzer prize-winning drama avoids excessive dramatics. For plays tackling the clash of God, gods and belief systems, this breaks the mold.

Like Anthony Shaffer’s “The Wicker Man” and Peter Shaffer’s “Equus,” Friel’s play deals with the resurgence of paganism in modern times. Needless to say, he takes a far gentler approach than the Shaffer brothers. No horses are blinded, no policemen set on fire.

In a more strident play, Father Jack would be a mad pagan prophet. He’d start a bonfire in the village square and proclaim the gospel of La Lughnasa. Nah.

IF YOU GO

‘DANCING AT LUGHNASA’

When: Through April 19

Where: FSU Center for the Performing Arts, 5555

N. Tamiami Trail

Tickets: $33-$95

Info: Visit AsoloRep.org.

Father Jack is a merely an addled eccentric with aphasia who picked up a few African rituals. Friel’s play suggests a détente between paganism and Christianity. But it’s only a suggestion. There’s no grand message about religion, politics or culture. Friel takes sidelong glances at the big picture. But he’s more interested in the small picture — the granular details of a family coming apart. The picture he paints is as unsentimental as it gets. And utterly realistic.

Many Americans get their notions of Ireland from Irish Spring commercials and old John Ford movies. You won’t find that Ireland in Friel’s play.

“Dancing at Lughnasa” is a true memory play, not a nostalgia play. Nostalgia is false memory — it’s a sentimental dream of an imaginary past. This is the real deal. And it’s not a pretty picture.

Friel’s rural Ireland is a place of struggle, loss and unforgiving social judgment. He shows you a family of hardworking, faithful people. The Mundy family holds onto their core values and traditions. They’re good Catholics, good people. They keep the faith. But their community doesn’t keep faith with them.

La Lughnasa approaches. The sisters have one last wild, free dance to a reel on the radio. The lights dim; the radio goes silent; the dance becomes a memory. Later on, Kate has an epiphany. She realizes that, “hair cracks are appearing everywhere.” She fears the family’s fragile happiness is about to collapse. Her words prove prophetic.

The adult Michael looks back without anger at this lost summer. And the last time his sisters danced like no one was watching.

Image courtesy of Adrian Van Stee

Tyler Michaels King and Derdriu Ring star in “Dancing at Lughnasa,” which runs through April 19 at Asolo Repertory Theatre.