The best things to do around Sarasota for Nov. 17-23

The best of British ballet comes to Sarasota, which will also play host to comedy, live music, tribute acts and world class theater this week.


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  • | 5:00 a.m. November 15, 2022
A rendering of the ice skating rink at the new St. Armands Circle Winter Spectacular.
A rendering of the ice skating rink at the new St. Armands Circle Winter Spectacular.
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Thursday

'Keyed-In: A Piano Performance and Conversation'
6 p.m. at Oak Street Stage, 2050 Oak St.
$5, registration required
Visit HermitageArtistRetreat.org.

Hermitage fellow Conrad Tao will both discuss classical piano and play it at this event at Oak Street Stage. Tao has appeared as a soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, and Boston Symphony, and as a composer, his pieces have been performed by orchestras throughout the United States.

 

Friday

A site map shows the proposed layout of the winter festival in St. Armands  Circle.
A site map shows the proposed layout of the winter festival in St. Armands Circle.

St. Armands Circle Winter Spectacular
4-9 p.m. at St. Armands Circle
$10-$20
Visit WinterOnTheCircle.com.

See the Circle transformed into a winter wonderland. Attractions include an ice skating rink, a trackless train, Santa’s North Pole Experience and a carousel. Open 4-9 p.m. weekdays and noon to 9 p.m. weekends and holiday weeks through Jan 3.

'Melodies That Capture the Heart'
10:30 a.m. at First Presbyterian Church of Sarasota, 2050 Oak St.
Free
Visit SarasotaMusicClub.org.

Flutist Rick Aaron will play on compositions by Rachmaninoff, Ravel, Bach and Faure, and he'll also break into a number of Broadway tunes. Lee Dougherty Ross will accompany Aaron on piano.  The performance was originally scheduled to be held in First Presbyterian's sanctuary, but it is now slated for the church's Fellowship Hall.

Jazz at Two: Patricia Dean Trio
2 p.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Sarasota, 3975 Fruitville Road
$15-$20
Visit JazzClubSarasota.org.

Patricia Dean will star on drums and vocals, and she'll be supported by Jeff Phillips on keyboard and Dave Trefethen on bass. Dean won't just be keeping time behind the drum kit; she'll also be filling in the spaces with her expressive voice.

'Hamlet P.O.V.'
7:30 p.m. at Venice Theatre, 140 Tampa Ave. W.
$26; youth $15
Visit VeniceTheatre.org.

What if Hamlet, one of the world's most famous dramatic experiences, was streamlined into a one-woman play? That's the conceit of this show, which stars Vera Samuels, who will tell the story completely through Hamlet's perspective. Hamlet in other formats can easily surpass four hours, but Samuels will deliver the whole story in 54 minutes. Runs through Nov. 20.

Marijana Dominis and Ricardo Rhodes in Kenneth MacMillan's
Marijana Dominis and Ricardo Rhodes in Kenneth MacMillan's "Dances Concertantes." (Courtesy photo by Frank Atura)

'Expressions'
7:30 p.m. at Sarasota Opera House, 61 N. Pineapple Ave.
From $35
Visit SarasotaBallet.org.

Make way for Barry Wordsworth, the Royal Ballet's principal guest conductor, as he leads Sarasota Ballet through classic routines choreographed by Frederick Ashton and Kenneth MacMillan. Two of the three ballets — MacMillan's "Dances Concertantes" and Ashton's "Dante Sonata" — have never been performed by Sarasota Ballet. The third ballet, Ashton's "Rhapsody," was created for the Queen Mother's birthday in 1980, and Mikhail Baryshnikov danced in its premiere. Continues at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

'Tchaik Strikes!'
7:30 p.m. at Venice Performing Arts Center, 1 Indian Ave., Venice
$33-$61
Visit VenicePerformingArtsCenter.com.

The Venice Symphony will treat you to an evening of Glinka, Weber and Tchaikovsky. The first piece they'll play will be the Overture from Mikhail Glinka's opera "Ruslan and Lyudmila," and the second piece will be Paul Hindesmith's "Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes by Carl Maria von Weber." The evening will close with Tchaikovsky's "Symphony No. 4 in D Minor." The performance will be reprised on Saturday.

 

Saturday

'The Elvis Presley Experience'
2 and 8 p.m. at Manatee Performing Arts Center, 502 Third Ave. W., Bradenton
$30-$55
Visit ManateePerformingArtsCenter.org.

You're never too young to appreciate the classics. Eighteen-year-old Matt Stone has emerged as one of the nation's most exciting Elvis Presley tribute acts, and he'll transport you back in time for a seminal concert experience unequalled since Presley died in 1977. Love him tender. Love him true.

Inside ‘In C’
8 p.m. at PepsiCo Arcade, 5313 Bay Shore Road
$15
Visit NewMusicNewCollege.org.

The students at New College will play on Terry Riley's "In C" experimental composition, which never sounds the same a second time. The piece consists of 53 short segments that each performer will progress through, and all performers are synchronized to a repeated pulse. Each player decides how many times to repeat each segment and how long to rest.

 

Sunday

Jazz on the Water
2 p.m. at Marina Jack Plaza, 2 Marina Plaza
$30-$35
Visit JazzClubSarasota.org.

Take to the seas with the Sarasota Jazz Club. The Tom Carabasi Quintet will be the musical guests of honor, and boarding will begin at 1:30 p.m. at Marina Jack Plaza. Then you'll hit the water on the Marina Jack II for an afternoon cruise on Sarasota Bay, and the quintet will provide all the entertainment you'll need outside of watching the water and the horizon.

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

The Suncoast Concert Band will play the music of Appalachia at this Sunday concert at Northminster Presbyterian Church. 

'The Rat Pack Now'
3 p.m. at Venice Performing Arts Center, 1 Indian Ave., Venice
$35-$60
Visit VenicePerformingArtsCenter.com.

Rub your eyes and peek again. No, that's not Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. back from the dead. But this Rat Pack tribute show — starring Art Poco, Ben Bagby and Bob Hoose — will amp up the nostalgia and take you back to a simpler time. The trio have taken their act all around the country over the last 17 years, but they're just warming up.

John Kaneklides and Joseph Holt
4 p.m. at Fischer/Weisenborne Residence, 7459 Cabbage Palm Court
$55
Visit ArtistSeriesConcerts.org.

North Carolina native John Kaneklides is an acclaimed tenor who has sung in a number of operas and musical theater performances, and he'll sing for an intimate group of listeners as part of this Artist Series Concert. Joseph Holt, the artistic director of Choral Artists of Sarasota, will accompany Kaneklides on piano.

Handbell Soloist Danny Lyons in Concert
5 p.m. at Pine Shores Presbyterian Church, 6135 Beechwood Ave.
Free
Visit PineShoresPres.org.

Hear the bells a-ringing! Danny Lyons, the inventor of a method that allows him to play eight bells in hand — a technique he's dubbed "Danny's 8" — will bring you a holiday concert as a solo artist. Lyons, a former piano technician and rebuilder, is now semi-retired, and he has even more time in his life now to wow you with his bell-ringing solo show.

Paul Reiser brings the funny business to Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall. (Courtesy photo)
Paul Reiser brings the funny business to Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall. (Courtesy photo)

Paul Reiser
7 p.m. at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail
$27-$67
Visit VanWezel.org.

This is not his office! Everyman Paul Reiser will bring his comedic schtick to the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, and he'll be trying to remind you why you're Mad About him. Helen Hunt will not be part of this performance, but who knows, maybe Mr. Reiser will hold forth about his former co-star. The comedian is famous for his roles in "Beverly Hills Cop" and "Aliens", and more recently Reiser has turned up in "Stranger Things" and in the 2014 film "Whiplash."

 

 

Monday

Monday Night Jazz at the FST Cabaret
7:30 p.m. at FST’s John C. Court Cabaret, 1265 First St.
$34-$39
Visit JazzClubSarasota.org.

Join Ella & The Bossa Beat, a father-daughter duo consisting of Magrus and Ella Borges, for an evening of Brazilian jazz and pop. Ella Borges, born in Miami and raised in Brazil, sings in Portuguese, Spanish and English. The duo released their first album in 2020 and expect to release another one soon.

 

Tuesday

The Revs. Norman Pritchard and Robert Dziedziak at the 2021 interfaith service.
The Revs. Norman Pritchard and Robert Dziedziak at the 2021 interfaith service.

Interfaith Service and Dinner
5 p.m at St. Mary, Star of the Sea, 4280 Gulf of Mexico Drive, Longboat Key
Free
Call 383-1255.

Clergy from several denominations and churches on the barrier islands come together for a pre-Thanksgiving service, open to all.

Iris Beaumier and Lincoln Clauss star in
Iris Beaumier and Lincoln Clauss star in "Cabaret" at the Asolo Repertory Theatre. (Courtesy photo)

'Cabaret'
7 p.m. at FSU Center for the Performing Arts, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail
$35-$95
Visit AsoloRep.org.

Cabaret's opening night is on Nov. 19, and the beloved musical will run all the way through New Year's Eve. Director and choreographer Josh Rhodes has taken an innovative look at the classic and given it his own spin, and Iris Beaumier and Lincoln Clauss star as Sally Bowles and the Emcee, respectively.

 

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