Venice Theatre plans extensive new season while rebuilding from Hurricane Ian damage

Jay Handelman, Sarasota Herald-Tribune
·5 min read

Even as it rebuilds from the devastating impact of Hurricane Ian last fall, Venice Theatre is moving forward with an ambitious lineup of more than a dozen plays and musicals on its two stages for the 2023-24 season.

All but three of the shows are new to Venice Theatre. Returning are the company’s original annual musical version of “A Christmas Carol, ” along with a new production of the satirical musical “Reefer Madness” last produced in 2009, and the return of “The Cemetery Club,” which was a sold-out hit earlier this year.

A video announcement of the new season is available on the theater’s YouTube page.

The theater will be the first community theater in the area to present “Jimmy Buffet’s Escape to Margaritaville,” and it also will stage the musicals “The Addams Family” and a new spinoff of “The Marvelous Wonderettes” called “Dream On,” featuring a quartet of female singers performing hits from the 1960s and 1970s at their 20-year high school reunion.

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Venice Theatre General Manager Kristofer Geddie, left, Producing Executive Director Murray Chase and Artistic Director Benny Sato Ambush.
Venice Theatre General Manager Kristofer Geddie, left, Producing Executive Director Murray Chase and Artistic Director Benny Sato Ambush.

Less than three months after the hurricane, the theater converted an office building that was scheduled to become an education center into the 132-seat Raymond Center, which is temporarily replacing the Jervey Theatre for mainstage productions until that venue can be rebuilt.

Artistic Director Benny Sato Ambush said after getting a read of the community and the times “I tried to come up with selections that align with what’s in the air. We also look at what our capacities are, the nature of the spaces we’ll be producing in, the needs of our acting pool and our volunteers who help us with everything. Hopefully, we’ve come up with a slate of offerings that will uplift and excite audiences and participating artists alike.”

Selections also are based on an awareness that “most of the people sitting in our seats are women. and we have a plethora of women in our acting pool. My theory is, by and large, women buy the tickets and they bring their significant others with them or they come with their girlfriends.”

In the Raymond Center, the season includes Carter Lewis’ humorous “Golf with Alan Shepard,” about some grumpy old men playing golf while talking about their fears and loves. The mainstage season also includes the musical “The Spitfire Grill,” a folksy musical about starting over and fixing problems. The musical was presented in 2009 by The Players Centre.

Cara Herman in a scene from Venice Theatre’s 2008 production of the satirical musical “Reefer Madness,” which will return in the 2023-24 season.
Cara Herman in a scene from Venice Theatre’s 2008 production of the satirical musical “Reefer Madness,” which will return in the 2023-24 season.

There are a lot of new entries in the 90-seat Pinkerton Theatre, beginning with the local premiere of actor Jeff Daniels’ 2022 play “Pickleball,” which is described as a screwball comedy about the nation’s fast-rising pastime.

The season also includes Tim Firth’s stage version of the popular 2003 film “Calendar Girls,” about a group of mature women who raise charity funds by posing provocatively for a calendar.

As books become more controversial, the theater will present “The Enchanted Bookshop,” where characters from famous books come alive to help save a bookstore owner from smugglers.

“It champions reading and literature,” Ambush said.

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Benny Sato Ambush, who has a long history as a director and artistic leader at some of the nation’s most prominent professional theaters, has been the artistic director of Venice Theatre since 2021.
Benny Sato Ambush, who has a long history as a director and artistic leader at some of the nation’s most prominent professional theaters, has been the artistic director of Venice Theatre since 2021.

“The Bank Job” is about comical and romantic complications that arise after two brothers rob a bank.

The Pinkerton also will be home for SoloFest, which will offer three one-person shows featuring area actors. Alan Kitty will portray Mark Twain in “They Told Me To Be Brief”; Jack Rabito will play Harry Truman in “Give ‘Em Hell Harry,” by Samuel Gallu; and Jan Wallace will play a working-class Liverpool housewife dreaming of a better life in “Shirley Valentine.”

The season also includes the 30th anniversary of the Silver Foxes Follies, featuring what the theater calls “the youngest cast in town” performing “Broadway by the Seas” and a new edition of Pinky’s Players, an outreach program featuring adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

When Ambush was hired as artistic director in 2021, following the death of longtime staff member Allan Kollar, it was initially for at least one year. Ambush is a veteran director and educator who has staged productions at some of the largest professional theaters in the country. Having been involved in the 2014 AACT WorldFest as an adjudicator, he wanted to help the community get through the COVID pandemic.

A scene from the January Venice Theatre production of Ivan Menchell’s “The Cemetery Club,” which will return in the 2023-24 season.
A scene from the January Venice Theatre production of Ivan Menchell’s “The Cemetery Club,” which will return in the 2023-24 season.

After nearly two years on the job, Ambush is in no hurry to move on. The pandemic may be officially over, but the theater is now in the process of recovering and rebuilding after Hurricane Ian.

“We left it open to see how it goes at first. It’s going well enough for us to continue. I’m wanting to continue,” said Ambush. “This theater, now that I’m inside it, really surprised me. We do an enormous amount of work, we serve broad segments of this community, we have extensive educational program tentacles throughout the county, we’re still doing WorldFest.”

He said it has a “full-time staff of professionals whose expertise with some of them are the equal of any I’ve worked with in the professional ranks. And the appreciation this community has for this theater is as strong as I’ve seen at any theater anywhere, and I’ve been widely traveled."

Venice Theatre 2023-24 season

140 W. Tampa Ave., Venice

Three subscription packages are available. 941-488-1115, venicetheatre.org. Single tickets go on sale for all shows June 1.

Raymond Center

“Golf With Alan Shepard,” Aug. 25-Sept. 10

“The Addams Family,” Oct. 13-Nov. 12

“A Christmas Carol,” Dec. 1-20

“Jimmy Buffet’s Escape to Margaritaville,” Jan. 19-Feb. 18

The Silver Foxes “Broadway by the Sea”, Feb. 27-March 3

“The Spitfire Grill,” March 22-April 21

Pinky’s Players, May 3-5

Pinkerton Theatre

“The Cemetery Club,” July 14-Aug. 13

“Reefer Madness,” Sept. 8-Oct. 8

“Pickleball,” Oct. 27-Nov. 19

“Solo Fest,” Dec. 8-17

“Calendar Girls,” Jan. 12-Feb. 11

“The Marvelous Wonderettes: Dream On.” Feb. 23-March 17

“The Enchanted Bookshop,” April 4-21

“Bank Job,” May 3-19

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This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Amid hurricane repairs, Venice Theatre plans ambitious lineup of shows