Things are definitely slowing down in the local arts scene. Our calendars have a fraction of the events and openings that filled them to overflowing just two months ago. But that doesn’t mean you have to sit at home doing nothing. Here are a few suggestions of new ways to fill your time in meaningful ways in the days ahead.
June 11
Pianist Robert Nissim / Photo provided by SAM
Each second Thursday of the month features a different style of live jazz at the Sarasota Art Museum, hosted by the Jazz Club of Sarasota. This week it’s the Robert Nissim Quintet, featuring Nissim on piano leading a Herbie Hancock retrospective, drawing from the musician’s early music from the 1960s. The concert begins at 5:30 p.m., but the galleries remain open until 7 p.m. so you can take in some great art too, and enjoy cocktails and small bites from the Bistro cafe.
Jazz Thursday at the Sarasota Art Museum, 1001 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. 5:30 p.m. Tickets $25 (free for museum members; limited free tickets for Jazz Club members).
sarasotaartmuseum.org/jazz-thursdays/
—Carrie Seidman
June 11-21
Lifeline Productions harnesses the transformative power of theater, storytelling and film to illuminate mental health challenges and dismantle the stigma of living with a mental health conditions. Its first one-man show, “Clowns Like Me,” chronicled Scott Ehrenpreis’s journey of living with Asperger’s, bi-polar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder and anxiety. Its second, “Entangled,” featured Will Luera exploring mental health, identity, and the lifelong process of self-acceptance.
Cristela Carrizales tells her personal story in “Begin Again Badge,” the latest from Lifeline Productions, which uses theater and storytelling to bring acceptance to mental health challenges. / Photo by Dennis Spielman
Now comes “Begin Again Badge,”a deeply personal solo performance written and performed by Cristela Carrizales. that traces her journey through trauma, infertility, alcoholism and eventual recovery with humor and poignancy. It’s equal parts confession, catharsis and cabaret.
Lifeline Productions’ “Begin Again Badge,” at the Cook Theater, FSU Center for the Performing Arts, 7777 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. Matinees at 2 p.m.; evening performances 7:30 p.m. $35 plus fees. https://lifelineproductions.ticketspice.com/begin-again-badge
— Carrie Seidman
June 12-Aug. 8
Mary Wolfe-Nielsen and Tyce Nielsen make Duo Transcend, performing roller skating and a trapeze act. They competed on “America’s Got Talent” in 2018. Photo by Trae Patton provided by NBC
One of my favorite summer events returns for another year. It’s the Summer Circus Spectacular, a roughly one-hour show that delights young audiences and reminds those a little older about Sarasota’s rich circus history. The show is a collaboration between The Ringling, which hosts the production in the Historic Asolo Theater, and the Circus Arts Conservatory, which puts together the acts. This year’s production features Duo Transcend, the married circus artists Mary Wolfe-Nielsen and Tyce Nielsen, who gained some fame on “America’s Got Talent” with their roller skating and trapeze act. It also includes a hand balancing act with Yelitza Vivas, an aerial act with Emma Grace Clarke (daughter of Circus CEO Jennifer Mitchell), juggler Noel Aguilar and the clown Davis Vassallo.
The Summer Circus Spectacular opens June 12 and continues, mostly at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Tuesday through Saturdays in the Historic Asolo Theater at The Ringling, 5401 Bay Shore Road. Tickets are $20, $15 for children 12 and younger ($75 for opening night, including a reception). Audience members can also tour the Ringling’s Circus Museum for $5. https://www.ringling.org/event/fy27-summer-circus/; 941-360-7399
— Jay Handelman
June 13-July 25
From left, Kevin Allen, Darryl Knapp, Christiana Allison and Ryan Dugan in the FST Improv troupe. Photo by Salvatore Piccolo provided by FST
Florida Studio Theatre is giving some audience members a chance to determine the outcome of the show with its FST Improv production of “Comedy Lottery.” Each Saturday night through July 25 (except July 4), 12 audience members are selected to choose the games and themes that the improvisers will undertake. That will send the performers through a series of games, scenes, sketches and songs.
“Comedy Lottery” is presented at 7:30 p.m. Saturdays through July 25 in Florida Studio Theatre’s Bowne’s Lab, 1265 First St., Sarasota. Tickets are $18. floridastudiotheatre.org; 941-366-9000
— Jay Handelman
Through Aug. 1
A painting of Victor Lundy’s design for the Blue Pagoda in Sarasota is featured in the Art Center Sarasota show “Designing the Cultural Coast.” Provided by Art Center Sarasota
Four new exhibits are on display at Art Center Sarasota, including “Designing the Cultural Coast,” which looks at the Sarasota area landscape created by architects who are also visual artists. The show is curated by Morris “Marty” Hylton III, the president of Architecture Sarasota. It feature work by Carl Abbott, Jerry Sparkman, Javier Suarez, Javi Suarez and Victor Lundy. Also on display is “Composed,” a solo exhibition of work by Sarasota based artist Anja Palombo; “Living by Water,” featuring work by Cat Tesla, and the juried exhibition “Medium Mutiny,” in which artists were asked to challenge their usual boundaries and experiment.
The four Art Center Sarasota shows are on display through Aug. 1 at 707 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. Admission is free. artsarasota.org; 941-365-2032
— Jay Handelman
