This Week in A+E: June 9-15

The Sarasota Music Festival and Summer Circus Spectacular highlight a busy week of music, theater and comedy in Sarasota.


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  • | 5:00 a.m. June 7, 2022
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Thursday

The Calidore String Quartet will serve as guests of honor at the opening event of the Sarasota Music Festival.
The Calidore String Quartet will serve as guests of honor at the opening event of the Sarasota Music Festival.

Darkness to Light
4:30 p.m. at Holley Hall, 709 N. Tamiami Trail
$29-$40
Visit SarasotaOrchestra.org

The Calidore String Quartet are the guests of honor at this program, which represents the opening event of the Sarasota Music Festival. The quartet, which consists of violinists Jeffrey Myers and Ryan Meehan plus viola player Jeremy Berry and cellist Estelle Choi, was formed at The Colburn School in Los Angeles in 2010.  Other standout musicians include pianist Jeffrey Kahane, the festival's music director, as well as clarinet player Franklin Cohen and flute payer Carol Wincenc.

Ten-Minute Play Festival
8 p.m. at The Cook Theatre, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail
$28
Visit TheatreOdyssey.org.

How do you like your drama? Theatre Odyssey will present the best quick-and-dirty plays from artists arrayed throughout Florida over four days at the Cook Theatre. None of these plays run over 10 minutes, but they're full realized works that fast forward to the denouement. Connie Schindewolf, a Bradenton resident, has won Best Play at this festival twice previously, and she returns with a work entitled "Ancestry" for this year. Runs through June 12

Jazz Thursdays at SAM: Darcie Allen and the Five Points Quintet
5:30-8 p.m. at Sarasota Art Museum, 1001 S. Tamiami Trail
$20 guests, Free for museum members
Visit JazzClubSarasota.org.

Local vocalist Darcie Allen is fronting an All-Star band that took its name from a famous Sarasota intersection. Allen will be supported by Marc Mannino, Pete Carney, Bob Lunergan and Peter Innocenti, and they'll play a selection of jazz songs in a contemporary format. The beautiful Marcy and Michael Klein Plaza will serve as backdrop for the show, and the museum's galleries, Bistro and Shop will remain open for the duration of the concert.

Dean Napolitano
7 p.m. at McCurdy's Comedy Theater, 1923 Ringling Blvd.
$25
Visit McCurdysComedy.com.

Come down for some comedy Napolitano style. Napolitano, a native of Long Island, NY, has done the hard work of building a name for himself by relentlessly touring comedy clubs in Florida and around the country. Nothing is sacred for Napolitano, and he'll joke about anything and everything that will bring a laugh from the audience.

Opening Reception: Here Comes the Sun
5-8 p.m. at Creative Liberties, 901B Apricot Ave.
Free
Visit CreativeLiberties.net

Come down and meet the artists who are helping artists. Elizabeth Goodwill and Barbara Gerdeman started Creative Liberties with the hope of providing studio space and assistance in staging exhibitions for less experienced artists, and Here Comes the Sun will give patrons a chance to peruse and purchase art from local artisans in a variety of mediums.

 

The Summer Circus Spectacular appeals to circus fans of all ages. (Courtesy photo)
The Summer Circus Spectacular appeals to circus fans of all ages. (Courtesy photo)

Friday

DON'T MISS

Summer Circus Spectacular

Sarasota, a circus city, is bracing for the summer spectacular, which will bring the art of circus to the Historic Asolo Theater.

The event, a partnership between the Circus Arts Conservatory and The Ringling, will bring a number of phenomenally talented artists to Sarasota from June 10 to August 13.

Heidi Herriott, a third-generation circus performer, will serve as master of ceremonies, and the acts will include an aerial duo, a hand balancing team and a hand balance/contortion act. Abrehem Mola, a skilled acrobat and juggler, will perform on the rolla bolla, and Chris Allison, a graduate of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus Clown College, will provide comic relief. 

When: 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; 2 and 5 p.m. Saturday
Where: Historic Asolo Theater, 5401 Bay Shore Road
Tickets: $18; children over 12 $12; children 12 and under free
Info: Ringling.org

In-studio performance featuring Lisa del Rosario
7 p.m. at SCD Home Studio, 1400 Boulevard of the Arts
$20
Visit SarasotaContemporaryDance.org.

Lisa del Rosario, a Texas-based ballet instructor, will be performing for one night only at Sarasota Contemporary Dance's home studio. There will be a virtual showing of the event on Saturday at 7 p.m.

‘Athena’ by Gracie Gardner
7:30 p.m. at Urbanite Theatre, 1487 Second St.
$20-$36
Visit UrbaniteTheatre.com.

You've seen rival dramas in just about every sport. But have you tried fencing? This play, written by Gracie Gardner and directed by Summer Wallace, centers on a pair of aspiring fencers who compete against each other and practice together; but do they really like each other? June 10 is the opening night, and it will run through July 10.

Reunion
7:30 p.m. at Sarasota Opera House, 61 N. Pineapple Ave.
$29-$50
Visit SarasotaOrchestra.org.

This Sarasota Music Festival event will reunite faculty members and fellows to make beautiful music. Faculty violinist James Dunham will lead a group of string fellows in Bach's famous Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, and the woodwind fellows will perform on Carl Nielsen's Wind Quintet. The fellows will also play Florence Price and Dvořák in this show.

Next to Normal
7:30 p.m. at Rise Above Performing Arts Center, 3501 S. Tamiami Trail
$17-$27
Visit RiseAboveArts.com

This show has made its mark on the American theater, taking home three Tony Awards in 2009. It's a complex family drama set to music, and each of the character's gets a chance to make their perspective felt. Runs through June 18.

 

Ya-Fei Chuang will play Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Minor at the Sarasota Music Festival's Chuang Plays Chopin event. (Courtesy photo)
Ya-Fei Chuang will play Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Minor at the Sarasota Music Festival's Chuang Plays Chopin event. (Courtesy photo)

Saturday

Our Pick

Chuang Plays Chopin
7:30 p.m. at Sarasota Opera House, 61 N. Pineapple Ave.
$29-$65
Visit SarasotaOrchestra.org.

We've got some alliteration in this event on the Sarasota Music Festival docket. Pianist Ya-Fei Chuang, a Festival alumna, will take center stage on Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Minor. The Festival Orchestra, led by conductor Yaniv Dinur, will play Jessie Montgomery's "Starburst" and Beethoven's Symphony No. 4 to complete the program.

‘Hood’
8 p.m. at Mertz Theatre, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail
$30-$76
Visit AsoloRep.org.

You can feel good about Hood. This musical adaptation of the timeless Robin Hood tales has been produced just one time previously, and it's been reworked substantially since that run in 2017. This musical comes from the real-life partnership of playwright Douglas Carter Beane, a five-time Tony nominee, and his husband lyricist Lewis Flinn. Runs through June 26.

 

Sunday

HD at the Opera House: ‘Romeo and Juliet’
1:30 p.m. at Sarasota Opera House, 61 N. Pineapple Ave.
$22
Visit SarasotaOpera.org.

Get your popcorn and settle in for a classic of ballet cinema. Shakespeare's timeless romance is set to music by Sergey Prokofiev and choreographer Kenneth MacMillan, and the music is played by the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. Dancers Marcelino Sambe and Anna-Rose O'Sullivan hit their marks in this eternal production.

Rising Stars 1
2:30 p.m. at Holley Hall, 709 N. Tamiami Trail
$15-$22
Visit SarasotaOrchestra.org.

Come hear fellows work together on ensembles that play many of the giants of the classical genre. Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms and Schubert will all be on the bill for this festival event, which will run 90 minutes with an intermission.

Ring of Fire
7 p.m. at Gompertz Theatre, 1265 First St.
$45
Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.

Love is a burning thing. And it makes a fiery ring. Scott Moreau stars as Johnny Cash in this show, which will take you on a tour through the beloved artist's canon. The show, created by Richard Maltby Jr. and conceived by William Meade, made an outsized impact on Broadway before touring Sarasota. Runs through June 19.

 

Tuesday

Rock & Roll Reignited with Not Fade Away
8 p.m. at FST’s Court Cabaret, 1265 First St.
$36
Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.

It's the debut of Florida Studio Theatre's Summer Cabaret show, which will run through Aug. 7. This production — based on the classic music of Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis — has successfully toured the country and performed in more than 150 cities. The musical arrangements are done by Jared Mancuso and Nick Gallardo.

 

Wednesday

Michael Mack and the Faces of Rock
7 p.m. at McCurdy’s Comedy Theatre, 1923 Ringling Blvd.
$25
Visit McCurdysComedy.com.

Is it standup comedy or a musical revue? Maybe it's both? Michael Mack brings his off-color song parodies to this show, which also thrives on audience participation. Runs through June 19

 

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