- January 27, 2026
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‘Mr. Swindle’s Traveling Peculiarium’
7 p.m. at Sarasota Fairgrounds, 3000 Ringling Blvd.
$42.75-$70. Ages 18 and up. ID required
Visit Mr.Swindles.com.
For better or worse, kids can see it all on the internet today, but Mr. Swindle’s founders Allison Blei and Ivan España don’t want to contribute to the corruption of minors so it’s adults only at their naughty circus. The husband-and-wife team are circus veterans and have come up with a winning formula that blends thrills, chills and sex appeal. If you think you know circus, think again. Arrive thirsty and indulge in some pre-circus libations such as Cactus Juice and “The Moaner” at the Drink-Ory Garden, where proceeds go to charitable organizations.
‘The Lightning Thief’
7 p.m. at 3501 S. Tamiami Trail, Suite 1130
$25, students $15
Visit ThePlayers.org.
The Players Studio, the education arm of the community theater The Sarasota Players, presents the tale of a half-blood son of a Greek god accused of stealing Zeus’s master lightning bolt. Adapted from the best-selling book of the same name, “The Lightning Thief” stars local students and features a pulsating rock score. Runs through Feb. 1.
Riverdance 30 - The New Generation
7 p.m. at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail
$56-$191
Visit VanWezel.org.
Some things never go out of style and the Irish dance troupe Riverdance is one of them. A new cadre of young dancers electrifies the stage with the fusion of Irish and international dance and music that has won millions of fans around the globe as well as a Grammy Award.
‘Job’
7:30 p.m. at Urbanite Theatre, 1487 Second St.
$5-$44
Visit UrbaniteTheatre.com.
Newcomers to Sarasota often make the mistake of thinking that theater consists of little more than repertory. There’s plenty of that here, but not at Urbanite Theatre, where artistic director and co-founder Summer Dawn Wallace delivers plays that pack a punch. Making its regional premiere is Max Wolf Friedlich’s taut tech thriller, “Job.” Be afraid, be very afraid of what can happen when one of your social media posts goes viral. Runs through Feb. 15.
‘Feeling Good’
7:30 p.m. at Florida Studio Theatre’s Court Cabaret, 1265 First St.
$18-$42
Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.
“Feeling Good” pays tribute to contemporary crooners like Michael Bublé and Bette Midler. A dynamic trio — Haley K. Clay, Andrew Leggieri and Russell Mernagh — makes its Florida Studio Theatre debut with such swingin’ hits as “Come Fly With Me,” “It Had to Be You” and “Me and Mrs. Jones.” Runs through Feb. 8. Returns Feb. 19-March 1.
‘Eisenhower: This Piece of Ground'
7:30 p.m. at Florida Studio Theatre’s Bowne’s Lab, 1265 First St.
$31-$48
Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.
Robert Zukerman stars as Dwight D. Eisenhower in Richard Hellesen’s play running in Florida Studio Theatre’s edgy Stage III series. After helping to win World War II as supreme commander of the Allied Forces in Europe, the popular conception is that Eisenhower spent his time in the White House playing golf and presiding over an Ozzie and Harriet America. The reality was more complex. Runs through March 22.
‘Primary Trust’
7:30 p.m. at FSU Center for the Performing Arts, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail
$31-$77
Visit AsoloRep.org.
Asolo Repertory Theatre presents “Primary Trust,” winner of the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Eboni Booth’s play follows a middle-aged man whose quotidian routines are disrupted when he loses his job. The upheaval forces him to explore the possibility of intimacy that he’s previously shunned. Runs through Feb. 11.
‘Three Pianos’
7:30 p.m. at Florida Studio Theatre's Gompertz Theatre, 1265 First St. $18-$42
Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.
FST’s winter cabaret show “Three Pianos” is an ode to superstars of the keyboard such as Ray Charles, Elton John and Alicia Keys. These mavericks didn’t tinkle the ivories; they tore up the rulebook. Runs through April 5.
‘Paradise Blue’
7:30 p.m. at Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe, 1012 N. Orange Ave.
$20-$40
Visit WestcoastBlackTheatre.org.
Set in 1949 in Detroit’s Black Bottom neighborhood, Dominique Morisseau's drama “Paradise Blue” follows a trumpet player who is pondering the sale of his once-vibrant jazz club to pursue a better life. But will he leave his soul behind in the process? Runs through Feb. 8.
‘The Blue-Sky Boys’
8 p.m. at Florida Studio Theatre's Gompertz Theatre, 1265 First St.
$39-$59
Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.
In 1962, President Kennedy said, “We choose to go to the Moon.” But how to get there? Like an improv troupe with wicked math skills, NASA’s engineers and scientists cooked up the “blue-sky” method with wild brainstorming sessions. Ask anything, think about anything. Deborah Brevoort’s fearless play celebrates these brainy oddballs. Directed by Richard Hopkins with Kate Alexander as associate director. Through March 8.
Jazz at Two: James Suggs
2 p.m. at Unitarian Universalists SRQ, 3975 Fruitville Road
$15-$20
Visit JazzClubSarasota.org.
There’s no better way to roll into the weekend than Jazz Club of Sarasota’s weekly Jazz at 2 series, which features two full hours of jazz. This week’s featured artist is Tampa-based trumpeter James Suggs, who first picked up the instrument when he was 9 years old and was playing professionally by 15. Joining Suggs are Michael Ross, Patrick Bettison and Jean Bolduc..
On Broadway: Defying Gravity
7:30 p.m. at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail
$41-$99
Visit SarasotaOrchestra.org.
Guest conductor Evan Roider takes the baton for this Sarasota Orchestra tribute to Broadway blockbusters. Roider, who conducted more than 1,000 performances of “Wicked,” knows a little something about the topic. With a trio of outstanding vocalists, the orchestra will dazzle you with hits from “The Lion King,” “Hamilton,” “Jersey Boys,” “The Phantom of the Opera” and of course, “Wicked.” John Boswell is the featured pianist.
Sarasota Ballet: Notes Unspoken
7:30 p.m. at FSU Center for the Performing Arts, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail
$35-$125
Visit SarasotaBallet.org.
For Program Four, Sarasota Ballet revives Ricardo Graziano's "Valsinhas" ("Little Waltzes" in Portuguese), which premiered with an all-male cast in 2013. This year, the company will alternate between male and female casts for the athletic contemporary ballet. Also on the bill are "The Waiting Room," a world premiere by Gemma Bond, and Antony Tudor's "Lilac Garden." Runs through Feb. 2.
‘The Mirror Crack’d’
7:30 p.m. at FSU Center for the Performing Arts, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail
$31-$77
Visit AsoloRep.org.
Former Asolo Rep Producing Artistic Director Michael Donald Edwards directs Rachel Wagstaff’s adaptation of the classic spy novel, “The Mirror Crack’d," a period drama set in a quiet English village. When the gentry fete a Hollywood siren and her entourage, a murder occurs that only Miss Marple can solve. Runs through March 14.
Embracing Our Differences Tour
10 a.m. at Bayfront Park, 5 Bayfront Drive
Free
Visit EmbracingOurDifferences.org.
Embracing Our Differences’ annual exhibition of 50 pieces of billboard-sized art from around the world celebrating kindness, inclusion and respect comes to Sarasota’s Bayfront Park. During its 23 years in existence, EOD has welcomed 5.2 million visitors. The exhibition features artwork and artists from 125 countries and 48 states. Runs through April 19 with weekly tours each Saturday at 10 a.m.
Mary Gauthier
7 p.m. at Fogartyville, 525 Kumquat Court
$35
Visit WSLR.org.
Acclaimed singer/songwriter Mary Gauthier is celebrating the 25th anniversary of her groundbreaking release, “Drag Queens and Limousines,” by releasing the album on vinyl and by touring. A Sarasota favorite, Gauthier is known for her pandemic release “Dark Enough to See the Stars,” which followed her collaborative work with Iraq war veterans, “Rifles & Rosary Beads." Joining her at Fogartyville is special guest Jaimee Harris.
‘Life’s a Beach’
7:30 p.m. at Florida Studio Theatre’s Bowne’s Lab, 1265 Main St.
$17-$20
Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.
Watch as talented FST Improv performers poke fun at Sarasota rituals and customs including the annual snowbird migration, confusion about who has the right of way in a roundabout and dogs in strollers. Did somebody mention never-ending construction? It’s all grist for the tropical mill in “Life’s a Beach.” Runs weekends through March 23.
'Essentially Ellington' featuring Trumpeter Vince DiMartino
7 p.m. at Neel Performing Arts Center, 5840 26th St. West, Bldg. 11, Bradenton
$30 and up
Visit ThePopsOrchestra.org.
Celebrated trumpeter Vince DiMartino is the headliner of this show featuring the Footnote Jazz Sextet, but he’s in good company. Joining him are Pete Barenbregge, former director of the Air Force Airmen of Note; David Pruyn, leader of The Fabulous Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, and Greg Nielsen, trombonist with the Four Tops and Cab Calloway.
The Beat Goes On
7 p.m. at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail
$36-$71
Visit VanWezel.org.
The life of pop diva Cher contains so many chapters that she had to write her memoir in two volumes. Part one was published in late 2024 and part two is coming later this year. But Cher fans don’t have to wait until then to relive the greatest moments of her career. All of Cher’s eras are captured by “The Beat Goes On,” a Broadway-style show led by Lisa McClowry, recently named Tribute Artist of the Year at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville by the Josie Music Awards.
New to You Art Sale
9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at All Angels by the Sea, 563 Bay Isles Road, Longboat Key
Free
Call 941-383-8161.
Check out the season's selection of carefully curated donated art pieces at the kickoff of this annual art sale. The sale continues through Feb. 26, open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and noon to 3 p.m. on Sundays. Special hours of 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 21 and noon to 4 p.m. on Feb. 22. All proceeds go to Turning Points of Bradenton.
Follow the Lieder
4 p.m. at Fischer/Weisenborne Residence, 7459 Cabbage Palm Court
$70
Visit ArtistSeriesConcerts.org.
This Artist Series Concerts program features Blake Pouliot on violin and Henry Kramer on piano. Pouliot was the grand prize winner at the 2016 Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal Manulife Competitio while Kramer’s numerous honors include an Avery Fisher Career Grant (2019). They will perform pieces by Schumann and Chausson, Pouliot’s own arrangement of Dvořák’s Zigeunerlieder, and music from “Carmen.”
Monday Night Jazz with Jeremy Carter
7:30 p.m. at FST’s Court Cabaret, 1265 First St.
$34-$39
Visit JazzClubSarasota.org.
Jazz Club of Sarasota presents Jeremy Carter. Nebraska native Carter has toured and performed with global icons including Los Pericos, Los Auténticos Decadentes, Tony Monaco and Terrace Martin. With his Jeremy Carter Quartet, he brings his energy and artistry to jazz/fusion. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for food and beverage service.
‘MJ the Musical'
7 p.m. at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Traill
$68-$178
Visit VanWezel.org.
Sometimes you want to have your socks knocked off and sometimes you want to wear sequin socks. You’ll get the chance to do both when the Broadway hit “MJ the Musical” comes to the Van Wezel. Created by Tony Award-winning director/choreographer Christopher Wheeldon and Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage, “MJ” tells the backstory of Michael Jackson’s 1992 “Dangerous” world tour. Find out the meaning of “bad,” but in a good way. Runs through Feb 8.
Love Notes
5:30 p.m. at Holley Hall, 709 N. Tamiami Trail
$48-$64
Visit SarasotaOrchestra.org.
Why not kick off Valentine’s Day celebrations early this year with Sarasota Orchestra’s Great Escapes concert, “Love Notes"? Held in Holley Hall, these casual concerts start at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays so you and your Valentine can dine after the show. Led by guest conductor Matthew Troy, “Love Notes” features a selection of popular standards and classical masterpieces designed to sweep you off your feet.
‘Remember This: The Lesson of Jan Karski'
7:30 p.m. at The Sarasota Players, 3501 S. Tamiami Trail
$40
Visit SarasotaJewishTheatre.com.
Sarasota Jewish Theatre powerhouse Michael Raver stars as the Polish World War II hero whose efforts to bring the horrors of the Holocaust to the Allies were met with skepticism. The cautionary tale about the dangers of complacency is directed by another SJT stalwart, Gus Kaikkonen. Runs through Feb. 15.
