- January 8, 2025
-
-
Loading
Loading
If you have family or friends who work at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall and you haven’t seen much of them lately, forgive them.
Whether they’re employees of the City of Sarasota, which owns the “Purple Palace,” or contractors, they’ve been working 24/7 since Oct. 10. That’s the day after coastal surge from Hurricane Milton flooded the Van Wezel’s kitchen and orchestra pit, causing millions of dollars worth of damage.
Everyone involved in the historic cleanup got a little time off for Thanksgiving and Christmas, but the Van Wezel team has been working overtime to meet the deadline set by Executive Director Mary Bensel to reopen in 2025.
Whew! They made it. The Van Wezel kicked off its delayed season on Jan. 4, with “Menopause the Musical 2.” Everything went off without a hitch, with a sold-out matinee and the evening performance at 84% capacity.
Theatergoers may have noticed some changes. The carpeting in the lobby has been replaced by polished concrete in a shade that the folks at the Van Wezel call “amethyst.” Says Muffy Lavens, public relations director for the Van Wezel, “You either hate it or you love it.”
Sarasota arts patrons aren’t shy about expressing their opinions, so no doubt we’ll be hearing more about the Van Wezel’s lobby, but the current setup is not necessarily permanent. “It’s the most cost-effective, attractive solution we could come up with in time,” Bensel says.
This being a show biz story, let’s waste no time before the opening credits. These are the stars of the show, the people who helped save the remainder of the Van Wezel’s 2024-25 season.
Now, in Hollywood or on Broadway, agents, publicists and union officials spend a lot of time haggling over the order of the credits. We’re going to take the approach used by star-studded ensemble productions and list the players alphabetically.
According to Bensel, the Van Wezel couldn’t have opened in the new year without the tireless efforts of Ed Bopp, facilities supervisor; Griffyn Holcomb, assistant technical director; Nate Myers, technical director; Jerry Sheffer, facilities manager; and Kyle Turoff, general manager, as well as many others, including employees of Florida Power & Light.
How about a round of applause for the box office staff? They had to refund nearly $2 million worth of tickets after their phone lines were restored Nov. 4. Like other team members, they worked from home or government offices until they could return to the Van Wezel on Nov. 18.
A moment of silence, please, for the productions that didn’t make it to the Van Wezel stage in 2024 because of Hurricane Milton.
Some performances got moved to other venues. Sarasota Orchestra’s first Masterworks of the season moved to the Sarasota Opera House as did the annual Salute to Vienna New Year’s Concert. The Allman Betts Family Revival, all the more poignant this year because of Dickie Betts’ death in April, was relocated to Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater, as was Derek Hough: Dance for the Holidays.
Other shows were rescheduled for later in the year. Among them are the perennial favorite, Neil Berg's 50 Years of Rock 'n' Roll (Jan. 30), The Commodores (April 17) and Air Supply (May 4). Fans of Tina Turner will have to wait until 2026 to see the musical based on her life.
Unfortunately, a few of the productions that Bensel and her team worked hard to bring to the Van Wezel will not come in the near future because the tour is ending or the moment passed.
That includes British-Carribean musician Billy Ocean, whose 1984 No. 1 hit, "Caribbean Queen" is still sampled by rap musicians, and a tribute show to George Michael, the sexy superstar who began his career as one half of the pop band WHAM!
One canceled show that is close to Bensel's heart is "Dear Evan Hansen," which was to be finally making its Sarasota debut on Nov. 1-2. The show tells the tale of an anxious high schooler who finds himself embroiled in a tragedy due to a letter he wrote. "I was really looking forward to Evan," Bensel says.
How about a little good news? Bensel and her right-hand woman Turoff, who is often assumed to be a man because of her first name, were able to add Gladys Knight to the Van Wezel's lineup.
Like many soul stars of her era, Knight was a product of Berry Gordy's hit factory, Motown Records, but her career came into full bloom when she left Motown for Buddah Records in 1973.
During her long career, Knight (with the backing of her incomparable Pips) has recorded such hits as "Best Thing that Ever Happened to Me," "Midnight Train to Georgia" and "Neither One of Us."
Along the way, Knight has mastered genres such as pop, gospel and R&B with her inimitable phrasing and has won seven Grammy awards.
Knight joins a roster of highly anticipated productions whose scheduling was not upended by weather. Among the Sarasota premieres are:
Returning to Sarasota are the Broadway shows "The Addams Family," based on the 1960s TV show about a lovable macabre clan (Jan. 25-28), and "Come From Away," about how a Canadian town welcomed stranded travelers on 9/11 (Feb. 18-20).
The closing of the Van Wezel didn't just affect the shows booked by Bensel and her team. The venue is used by the Sarasota Orchestra, Sarasota Ballet and the Town Hall Lecture Series sponsored by Ringling College Library Association, among others.
Bensel worked to move some performances scheduled for the Van Wezel to the historic Sarasota Opera House, which seats about 1,100, compared with the Van Wezel's capacity of roughly 1,700 patrons.
The Town Hall Lecture Series was supposed to kick off Jan. 13 with actress Glenn Close, a favorite of Bensel's. Close canceled, but she has been replaced by Ron Howard, who evolved from child star as Opie in "The Andy Griffith Show" to Oscar-winning director of such films as "A Beautiful Mind," "Apollo 13" and "Parenthood."
Howard's down-to-earth lifestyle, which includes marrying his high school sweetheart and raising a family in Connecticut during their marriage of nearly 50 years, is straight of of Mayberry, the fictional TV town where he grew up before our eyes.
The reopening of the Van Wezel brings cultural opportunities offstage as well. Want to shake off the winter doldrums? Take a master class tied to an upcoming performance taught by former Broadway hoofer Justin Gomlak, director of education and community engagement at the Van Wezel. Gomlak's dance classes are accessible to retired professionals and newbies alike and will leave you walking on air even if your "moonwalking" days are over.
If efforts to develop a replacement for the Van Wezel have piqued your interest in the purple pavilion, help is on the way. Arts Advocates of Sarasota is reviving its popular "Behind the Curtain" tours of the Van Wezel, including its art collection, beginning Jan. 13. Visit the Van Wezel box office or call (941) 263-6799 for tickets.
As Bensel sat down for an interview just before Christmas and painstakingly outlined the nuts and bolts and dollars and cents of the Van Wezel's cleanup operation, she was surprisingly candid. Asked about ticket sales after the Van Wezel box office reopened in December, Bensel first commended the generosity of ticket holders who converted their refunds into donations. Then she admitted that ticket sales have been restrained.
"The region has worked hard to get back on its feet, but people have suffered a shock. Some have lost homes and businesses. They're not sure what their true restoration costs are going to be. So they take a pause on spending," Bensel says, sounding more like a business major than the theater major she once was.
The same thing happened nationwide after 9/11. People simply stopped spending for awhile.
Remember how President George W. Bush encouraged people to help the country get back on its feet after an unprecedented terrorist attack by going shopping? He took some heat for the advice, but the fact is consumer spending represents more than two-thirds of U.S. gross domestic product, for better or worse.
So maybe the way to jumpstart Sarasota's recovery from back-to-back hurricanes is to attend a live performance of music, dance or opera. Fans of the 1960s sensation "A Taste of Honey" might want to take advantage of a rare opportunity to see Herb Alpert and a new version of Tijuana Brass in concert. Best known for his album "Whipped Cream & Other Delights," Alpert is touring for the first time in 35 years.
Alpert will perform at the Van Wezel on Feb. 12 , a little over a month before his 90th birthday. His compadre Sergio Mendes, whose bossa nova breakthrough album "Brasil '66" he produced, died in 2024. Keyboardist Mendes, whom Alpert called his "brother from another country," introduced the trumpeter to Lani Hall, who became his wife.
Not a music fan? Maybe "Come From Away," about how humans can put aside their differences and pull together in the face of disaster, is just the ticket as Sarasota's delayed season kicks into high gear thanks to a lot of community teamwork.
