- December 21, 2024
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When Mary Bensel was growing up in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, she got to experience firsthand the excitement sparked by bright lights. Her father, a commercial glass blower, created the famous “Trenton Makes/The World Takes” sign on a bridge spanning the Delaware River, and one for the Broadway musical “Hair.”
Throughout her career, Bensel has been surrounded by glowing theater marquees, first as a box office manager in Pittsburgh, then as a theater manager in Philadelphia, a facilities manager in Fort Myers and as executive director of the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall for nearly 17 years.
While bright lights advertise her work to the public, much of Bensel’s job could be called “paperwork,” even if it is in digital form. Along with selecting which touring Broadway shows, concerts, dance performances and other live arts will grace the Van Wezel stage, she negotiates financial details with producers.
Of course, everyone is ruled by the calendar, but the scheduling decisions made by Bensel affect not only herself, but the arts patrons who fill the Van Wezel’s 1,741 seats.
In addition to 100 traveling shows, the Van Wezel hosts 50 performances by local arts groups such as the Sarasota Orchestra, the Sarasota Ballet, the Sarasota Concert Association and the Ringling Town Hall Lecture series.
But there’s something even more powerful than Bensel’s calendar: the weather. On Friday, Oct. 11, Bensel and other city employees decided to cancel all Van Wezel performances through the end of the year because of damage from Hurricane Milton.
Canceled are shows such as “Dear Evan Hansen” (Nov. 1-2), “Wheel of Fortune Live!” (Nov. 12), “Tina: The Tina Turner Musical” (Dec. 13-15) and “Clue” (Dec. 30-31), as well as numerous holiday-themed celebrations like the Vienna New Year’s concert slated for Dec. 29.
Because other arts groups use the Van Wezel, damage to the performing arts hall has a domino effect. The Sarasota Orchestra is scrambling because Music Director Designate Giancarlo Guerrero was scheduled to direct the Sarasota Orchestra in Masterworks 1 on Nov. 9-10.
Similarly, Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe planned to celebrate its 25th anniversary with a concert Nov. 14 at the Van Wezel.
“I’m heartbroken to see the damage sustained to our beautiful Van Wezel,” Bensel said in a statement. “We are already working to remove the water and repair the building. We will come back stronger, and we look forward to the day we can welcome you back to the hall.”
Anyone who has met Bensel knows the word “heartbroken” isn’t hyperbole. This gal’s gotta lot of heart, and yes, she wears it on her sleeve. When Bensel takes the stage at the Van Wezel to announce an upcoming season, she commands the audience.
“When I was growing up, I wanted to be Barbra Streisand, but the job was taken,” Bensel says. If you look close enough, you’ll see a little Ethel Merman in Bensel’s charming yet forceful personality.
Like her heroine Streisand, Bensel comes from a working-class background and doesn’t speak with the Mid-Atlantic accent favored by many in the theater world. Unlike Streisand, who went straight from high school to the stage, Bensel was the first person in her family to attend college.
Bensel majored in acting at Mansfield State College in Pennsylvania. She went on to earn her master’s degree in acting and directing at the University of Pittsburgh.
She earned her box-office stripes through a job as assistant business manager of the Pittsburgh Public Theatre, where she got national exposure on “The Today Show.”
“When you’re young, you’re fearless. ‘The Today Show’ was coming to Pittsburgh and we happened to be doing a show called ‘Steel City’ about the history of steel,” Bensel recalls. “So I just called up ‘The Today Show,’ which was doing shows in each state, and got us on as the opening and closing acts when they came to Pittsburgh.”
Still, there’s a bit of “always a bridesmaid” thread in Bensel’s memories. “At one point, I was the No. 7 soprano in the state of Pennsylvania, but my best friend was No. 2,” Bensel recalls. “So she’d get to be Maria in ‘The Sound of Music’ and I was the mother abbess. When we did ‘South Pacific,’ she was Nellie Forbush and I got to be Bloody Mary.”
But life has a way of working out. After leaving Pittsburgh for a 15-year stint in Philadelphia, first at Walnut Street Theatre and then at the Schubert-owned theater now known as the Merriam, Bensel was in the running for a job at Disney’s live theater arm.
When Disney wavered in its hiring decision, Bensel opted for a position running Barbara Mann Hall in Fort Myers for Professional Facilities Management (PFM).
The skills and contacts she made during her 10 years in Fort Myers would serve her well when she joined the Van Wezel in December 2007.
“Things have kind of come full circle. As we started planning for a new building, I felt we needed an owner’s rep for the city. I called my old boss, Lynn (James L.) Singleton, who owns a house on Manasota Key, and introduced him to Marlon Brown, the city manager. PFM is now representing us as owner’s rep on this project.”
Much of the push to replace the Van Wezel, from Bensel and others, has focused on the need for more seats (the proposed new facility will have 2,200 seats in its main theater) and cutting-edge technology to accommodate ever-more elaborate special effects.
Milton’s damage underscores the need to “climate-proof” Sarasota’s arts venues, many of which are close to the water. As a member of various committees, Bensel is involved in the labyrinthine process of creating the successor to the city-owned Van Wezel on Sarasota’s bayfront.
Nicknamed the “Purple Palace,” the Van Wezel was designed by William Wesley Peters of Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin Firm and opened in 1970.
When the city first approved a Bayfront master plan with a new performing arts hall in 2018, Bensel assumed that she’d be the one programming events at the Van Wezel’s successor. As the process has taken longer than expected, it’s become apparent that she will retire before the new Sarasota Performing Arts Center (SPAC) is up and running. Bensel says she hope to have an emeritus role.
Helping to choose an architect for the SPAC allowed Bensel to indulge her other great love besides theater — travel.
Before Renzo Piano Building Workshop was selected in June as the architect for the new performing arts center, Bensel and others traveled to see examples of the firm’s work in places such as New York, where Piano designed The New York Times Building in Times Square, and Athens. That’s the home of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, which includes a park, library and theater complex.
Popping up to New York is something that Bensel does the way Sarasota folks go up to Tampa. As a member of the League of American Theatres and Producers, Bensel votes on the Tony Awards; she’s also constantly scouting for productions to bring to the Van Wezel.
During a recent visit, a giant notepad stood on an easel in Bensel’s homey office in the Van Wezel. “Pretend you didn’t see that,” Bensel says, pointing to the list of proposed shows for the 2025-26 season.
We promised, but we can’t resist going public with just one possibility: “Oh, Mary!” Cole Esola’s dark comedy about Abraham Lincoln’s wife, is a Broadway sensation. “Who do they think they are?” one New York friend exclaimed about the show. “I haven’t seen ticket prices like this since ‘Hamilton!’”
Did somebody say “Hamilton”? Even though the touring production of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s racy hip-hop musical had already played in Tampa twice, it was still a sellout for the Van Wezel.
During its March 25-April 7 run, “Hamilton” exceeded the 99.61% seating capacity for “The Lion King,” which played for three weeks at the Van Wezel during 2019.
In addition to filling the Van Wezel without the benefit of Broadway touring productions that need a bigger house, Bensel has had to adjust to changing audience tastes.
“In the beginning, we had a much bigger orchestra interest,” she says. “I did a major orchestra series with the New York Philharmonic, the Royal Phil, all the big symphonies. As time passed, interest eroded. Of course, we have an excellent orchestra in the Sarasota Orchestra.”
When the Van Wezel is closed, as it is now, or has a long-running show like “The Lion King” or “Hamilton,” it prevents the Sarasota Orchestra from booking the hall. That’s one reason the orchestra is building a new music center on Fruitville Road.
Luckily, the two organizations have a good working relationship. “My first friend here in Sarasota was Joe McKenna, who is the president of the orchestra,” Bensel says. “We’ve maintained a great friendship and we’ve always supported each other.”
Despite the storm-related cancellations, there’s still much to look forward to in 2025 at the Van Wezel. High on that list is “Moulin Rouge! The Musical,” which runs from March 18-23. Based on the Baz Luhrmann film, “Moulin Rouge!” is set in the titular Paris nightclub.
Also in the Van Wezel’s 2025 Broadway lineup are the family oriented frightfest “The Addams Family” (Jan. 28-29), “Come From Away” (Feb. 18-24), which tells the story of Canadian hospitality to stranded travelers following 9/11, and “Beetlejuice” (April 22-27), the new musical based on Tim Burton’s classic film.
Dance and music performances coming to the Van Wezel in 2025 include “Forever Tango” (Feb. 6), Twyla Tharp Dance: Diamond Jubilee (March 4) and the Branford Marsalis Quartet (April 2).
But for Streisand fans like Bensel, one show stands above the rest. It’s the revival of “Funny Girl,” the musical that made Streisand a star (Jan. 14-19).
As heroine Fanny Brice sings in the show, “Don’t Rain on My Parade.”
And don’t wash away the Van Wezel!
