Scene & Heard

+ Garcia calls the shots at Ringling College
Ringling College of Art and Design students are getting used to the comings and goings of mysterious black SUVs.

In February, domestic doyenne Martha Stewart toured the campus under such heightened security, local photogs were forbidden to snap her picture. (But that didn’t stop Stewart’s publicity people. The mogul was photographed on her blog last month riding shotgun on a golf cart with Ringling President Dr. Larry Thompson at the wheel.)

Andy Garcia, the latest celeb guest to visit RCAD’s Digital Filmmaking Studio, arrived last week under a little less pomp and circumstance.

The 55-year-old actor participated in a student Q&A prior to a screening of his 2009 film, “City Island,” which stars Julianna Margulies and his real-life daughter, Dominik Garcia-Lorido.

For those of you who are fans of Garcia’s work, the actor provided some memorable one-liners during his Sarasota stopover.

Here are a few:
“Michael Chiklis was going to play my part (in “City Island”), but he didn’t have enough hair.”

“If a studio passes on your film, you better have a good relationship with your dry cleaner, because the money has to come from somewhere.”

“Good actors won’t let a director derail them.”

“You have to believe in your own sensibilities as an artist. At the end of the day, I’m the guy who has to go on ‘The Tonight Show’ and tell people to see my film.”

How’s that for eloquence?

+ Artist’s work featured in 9/11 ceremony   
Who knew the proprietor of Sarasota’s Zacchini Bar & Grill was also a talented sculptor?
Olympia Zacchini, whose work has appeared in galleries across the country and abroad, recently returned from New York City, where her sculpture of the World Trade Center (“Call to Freedom”) was featured in a 9/11 ceremony honoring former Pennsylvania governor and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge.

The 20-inch-high bronze sculpture, which features a 23-karat gilded eagle perched on top of a globe, was chosen during a nationwide search for an icon to pay tribute to federal law enforcement officers.

Further adding to the artist’s fascinating background: Zacchini is related to Edmondo Zacchini, inventor of the human cannonball act.

+ Morgan Fairchild signs onto TV pilot
Good news for Sanborn Studios: TV vixen Morgan Fairchild has just joined the cast of “Workers’ Comp,” a Sanborn-produced comedy about a family insurance company starring Robert Carradine (“Revenge of the Nerds”) and David Proval (“The Sopranos”).
 
Written by Sarasota native Castille Landon and Harrison Sanborn, the 19-year-old son of Sarasota studio founder Ken Sanborn, the series is based on real-life workers’ compensation claims.

It began filming this week in Sarasota and Bradenton. 

In case you’re wondering what the 61-year-old Fairchild has been up to lately, she’ll appear alongside John Goodman later this year in the coming-of-age comedy, “Spring Break ’83.”

+ Asolo Rep scores big bucks at DWB
Designing Women Boutique is spreading the liquidation love.

The Asolo Repertory Theatre walked away with a $35,000 check last week made possible through a gift from Longboat Key resident Ethel Taub’s estate.  

A generous (and glamorous) philanthropist, Taub, who died in 2010, bequeathed her impressive jewelry collection to her family, who, in turn, donated it to DWB.

Says Asolo Rep Artistic Director Michael Donald Edwards: “It means her spirit and devotion to Sarasota lives on.”

HOT TICKETS
‘Victor Victoria’: The Players Theatre wraps up its Broadway Series with “Victor Victoria,” running April 14 to May 1. A feel-good musical comedy based on the 1982 Academy Award-winning film starring Julie Andrews, “Victor Victoria” has all the components of a modern-day HBO series: gender confusion, transvestitism, flashy night club scenes and, of course, romance. 
For tickets, call 365-2494 or visit www.theplayers.org.

SPARCC’s ‘Chair-ity’ exhibition: In the market for a funky re-purposed rocking chair? See what Sarasota’s thrifty artists have been up to at SPARCC’s annual “Chair-ity” exhibition at Art Center Sarasota. Bids are already rolling in for the decorated chairs. The exhibit will come to a close with a silent auction from 6 to 8 p.m. April 21, at the Art Center. Pop in and grab a seat.
For more information, call 365-2032 or visit www.artsarasota.org.