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Arts + Entertainment | Reviews

Brooke Turner stars as Margot, Zia Lawrence plays Maxine and Mark Benninghofen plays Inspector Hubbard in Asolo Rep's production of "Dial M for Murder."
    By
  • Marty Fugate
  • April 5, 2024
Asolo Rep redials the 1950s classic 'Dial M for Murder' with a twist

Director Céline Rosenthal keeps her eye on the ball so the audience doesn't get lost.

  • Arts + Entertainment
  • Reviews
"Westminster" runs through April 28 at Urbanite Theatre.
    By
  • Marty Fugate
  • April 1, 2024
Urbanite Theatre's 'Westminster' asks: 'Whose dog is it anyway?'

The biting absurdist satire questions the limits of personal responsibility.

  • Arts + Entertainment
  • Reviews
Aneisa J. Hicks plays Esther, a seamstress, and Sasha Andreev plays Mr. Marks, a shopkeeper, in Asolo Rep's "Intimate Apparel."
    By
  • Marty Fugate
  • March 22, 2024
Asolo Rep's 'Intimate Apparel' reveals naked truth about its characters

Director Austene Van keeps it simple and sincere, with no flashy, stagey gimmicks.

  • Arts + Entertainment
  • Reviews
Pianist Michelle Cann performs with the Sarasota Orchestra on March 14 at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall.
    By
  • Gayle Williams
  • March 16, 2024
Michelle Cann joins Sarasota Orchestra for rousing 75th birthday performance

Cann soars with Florence Price's Piano Concerto in D Minor and Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue."

  • Arts + Entertainment
  • Reviews
"The Flip Side" runs through June 1 at Florida Studio Theatre's Court Cabaret.
    By
  • Marty Fugate
  • February 29, 2024
FST's reinvented 'The Flip Side' brings songs in the key of laughs

Florida Studio Theatre's "The Flip Side" flips the script with funny songs on the human condition.

  • Arts + Entertainment
  • Reviews
Christopher Oglesby plays Sir Edgar and Ashley Milanese plays Lucia in Sarasota Opera's production of "Lucia di Lammermoor."
    By
  • Gayle Williams
  • February 26, 2024
Sarasota Opera rises to occasion with 'Lucia di Lammermoor'

Donizetti's tale of star-crossed lovers features multifaceted roles and beautiful bel canto-era music.

  • Arts + Entertainment
  • Reviews
The cast of FSU/Asolo Conservatory's "Clyde's," which runs through March 9 at the Jane B. Cook Theatre.
    By
  • Marty Fugate
  • February 24, 2024
'Clyde’s' turns up the heat at FSU/Asolo Conservatory

When four ex-cons find work in Clyde’s kitchen, they discover it’s just another prison.

  • Arts + Entertainment
  • Reviews
Matthew Amendt (left) plays Christopher Marlowe and Dylan Godwin plays William Shakespeare in "Born With Teeth" at Asolo Rep.
    By
  • Marty Fugate
  • February 23, 2024
'Born with Teeth' snarls with biting Elizabethan wit

William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe risk their lives to create great theater in this historical tragicomedy on the Asolo Rep stage.

  • Arts + Entertainment
  • Reviews
Chelsea Laggan (center) stars as a carefree gypsy caught in a tragic love triangle between a bullfighter (Andrew Manea, left) and a guard (Victor Starsky) in Sarasota Opera's production of "Carmen."
    By
  • Gayle Williams
  • February 18, 2024
A 'Carmen' to make you fall in love again

Sarasota Opera's opening night of the Bizet crowd-pleaser exceeded expectations.

  • Arts + Entertainment
  • Reviews
Florida Studio Theatre's "The Lehman Trilogy" follows a trio of immigrants as they re-invent themselves in a story that spans 163 years.
    By
  • Marty Fugate
  • February 12, 2024
'The Lehman Trilogy' captures rise and fall of Wall Street empire

The Horatio Alger tale unfolds in a three-hour-plus Florida Studio Theatre production masterfully directed by Richard Hopkins.

  • Arts + Entertainment
  • Reviews
Andrew Long and the rest of the cast at Asolo Rep's "Inherit the Wind."
    By
  • Marty Fugate
  • January 26, 2024
It's science vs. faith in Asolo Rep's production of 'Inherit the Wind'

Director Peter Rothstein takes an evenhanded approach in this American classic based on a 1925 trial.

  • Arts + Entertainment
  • Reviews
Livy Scanlon stars in "Judith."
    By
  • Marty Fugate
  • January 20, 2024
Urbanite Theatre's 'Judith' is a Shakespearean shapeshifter

The play's star, Livy Scanlon, changes voices, accents and posture in the blink of an eye.

  • Arts + Entertainment
  • Reviews
Gil Brady, Jean Tafler and Kraig Swartz star in "Pictures From Home," playing through Feb. 18 at FST's Keating Theatre.
    By
  • Marty Fugate
  • January 4, 2024
'Pictures From Home' reveals backstory of a best-selling photo memoir

Sharr White's gripping drama at Florida Studio Theatre explores the fallout of a salesman's pursuit of the American dream.

  • Arts + Entertainment
  • Reviews
Samantha Duval plays Audrey, the crush of nerdy flower-shop assistant Seymour (Sam Seferian), who names his carnivorous plant Audrey II in her honor.
    By
  • Marty Fugate
  • December 2, 2023
Comedy, horror and cool tunes bloom at FST's 'Little Shop of Horrors'

A florist shop clerk meets a carnivorous plant from outer space in this 1980s musical farce.

  • Arts + Entertainment
  • Reviews
Sara Esty, Daniel Plimpton and the follies dancers in "Crazy For You."
    By
  • Marty Fugate
  • November 21, 2023
Asolo Rep's 'Crazy For You' sweeps the audience off its feet

Director Denis Jones takes a more-is-more approach to this madcap musical.

  • Arts + Entertainment
  • Reviews
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Latest in Arts + Entertainment

1
CEO Mike Bisaha says the new equipment will at least triple Big Top Brewing Co.'s beer production.
  • December 3, 2025
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2
Anne Vose and Jackie Donnelly peruse the works of artist Marie Therese Lacroix, center.
  • December 3, 2025
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3
Lijana Wallenda perches on a chair balanced on a shoulder bar carried by her brother Nik Wallenda and Paul Matthew Lopez in the "Wonderland: Believe" circus, which runs through Jan. 4 in a big top near the UTC Mall.
  • December 3, 2025
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4
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Sarasota Opera Artistic Director Victor DeRenzi and General Director Richard Russell.
  • December 2, 2025
Sarasota Opera artistic director will step down after 44 years

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