Beloved Sarasota actor and costume designer B.G. FitzGerald dies at 78

During a career that spanned more than 60 years on stage and off, B.G. FitzGerald did just about everything possible in the theater world. He starred in musicals, performed onstage with his wife, directed, worked with young artists and became a noted costume designer and craftsman.

Known to most as Barney, FitzGerald spent decades working onstage and off for the Golden Apple Dinner Theatre before stepping away from the stage to focus on costumes at the Sarasota Opera and the Chautauqua Opera. He died Sunday at his home in Bradenton at 78.

Over the years, he became a beloved figure in the Sarasota area arts community, known as much for his skill, talent, voice, dedication and friendliness as he was for his trademark purple shirts.

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“You couldn’t meet him and not love him. I don’t know anyone who didn’t like Barney,” said his brother-in-law Tom Davis of Englewood, echoing the sentiments of several friends and colleagues and dozens of tributes on Facebook.  “I’ve had him with my hunting buddies, rough type guys, and he just fit right in. And these guys would not fit into the arts at all, but they loved him.”

He served as assistant to resident costume designer Howard Tsvi Kaplan for most of the nearly 25 years he worked at the Sarasota Opera, where he also designed several Sarasota Youth Opera productions, including “The Little Sweep,” “The Second Hurricane” and “The Hobbit.” Each summer after the opera season ended in Sarasota, FitzGerald would meander his way north, stopping to visit friends (and even help other costume designers with their latest projects) on his way to the Chautauqua Institute, where he was the costume shop supervisor and costume designer for the summer Chautauqua Opera. Often, he’d stop on the way to help create costumes for the Ocala Civic Theatre. And he helped fellow costume shop workers at most area theaters when the need arose.

On stage, he played numerous roles in Gilbert & Sullivan musicals, became known for portraying Koko in “The Mikado” and specialized in the urbane banter of Noel Coward plays. Over several years, he played Coward opposite Ann Morrison’s Gertrude Lawrence in productions of “Noel & Gertie.”

“He had a marvelous baritone bass voice and a great sense of humor and sometimes he thought he was Noel Coward,” said Robert Turoff, who ran the Golden Apple Dinner Theatre for more than 40 years in downtown Sarasota. “He was a great performer and a singer and he could do double duty as the costume designer. He had great taste and skill. He could take a handkerchief and make it look like a wedding gown.”

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In other shows he danced across an oversized piano keyboard as a toy company executive in “Big: The Musical,” acted stern as the Kralahome in numerous productions of “The King and I” and appeared as an angel supervisor in “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

Born in Hopedale, Massachusetts to Lloyd and Ellen FitzGerald on Feb. 5, 1945, he moved to Dunedin with his mother after his father’s death. He graduated from Dunedin High School and earned a degree from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music in 1966.

He met his wife, Lyla, (who died in 2002) working on a production of the musical “Kismet,” where she was the musical director. They later created an act that they toured around the country. After taking over and then selling the Gulf Port Florist, they moved to Sarasota and began a decades-long association with Turoff and the Golden Apple, where she played the piano and later became an office manager, and he performed and created costumes.

SuSu Sparkman recalls being a dancer at age 8 in a production of “Kismet” with FitzGerald. “I was this chubby little kid that Barney took under his wing and we just stayed friends over the years. He was always a delight to work with. He was kind and helpful and just a lovely man.”

FitzGerald had no formal training in costume design but learned to sew from his mother and developed his skills, which expanded during the years he worked in a bridal shop.

“Whenever there was a show that needed a big wedding dress, he’d always say, ‘I’ll do it,’” said Ben Turoff, who grew up around his parent’s dinner theater. He said the FitzGeralds were like an aunt and uncle. “I hung out with them at the theater as a kid more than I did with my parents.”

Ruth Clark, a Sarasota Opera costume shop colleague and friend, said FitzGerald’s “eye and feel for design really came out of his experience, having been on stage in all those shows. He had a great work ethic, was very good-natured, a quick study and he was willing to do whatever it takes in a fitting to get it done.”

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He was a popular fixture on backstage tours of the Sarasota Opera House, said General Director Richard Russell, who described FitzGerald as a “kind soul and a steadying figure in the company. Artists felt reassured by Barney’s pressures. I think they felt treated with respect. And people loved when he’d demonstrate things on the tours.”

Kaplan said FitzGerald “had a great rapport with the performers. He could identify with them. He was gentle in fittings. He was also the shoe guy. He knew every pair of shoes we had, he was very organized and he had such a good sense of humor.”

An only child, he was predeceased by his wife and parents. Survivors include Tom Davis and his wife, Carole, and Davis’ twin sister, Ruth Baum, all of Englewood, as well as his niece, Alexia Jackson of Clermont and nephew, Joseph Davis, of St. Augustine.

A memorial or celebration of life will be scheduled later. Memorial donations may be made in support of the Sarasota Opera, 61 N. Pineapple Ave., Sarasota, FL 34236.

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This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Popular Sarasota actor and costume designer B.G. FitzGerald dies at 78