BLOG: A&E

• Mary Anne Servian, former city commissioner and vice mayor and mayor of Sarasota, has been hired as business director for the Sarasota Ballet.She will be part of the ballet's top-level management team, joining Iain Webb as artistic director and Michael Shelton as managing director.'As we enter the fourth season of Iain Webb's tenure, we must [...] Former Sarasota mayor joins Sarasota Ballet staff
• Sarah Sander fell into playwrighting for a job.After graduating from Middlebury College, where she studied Chinese and English, Sander got a job in Washington, D.C., working for a company that made interactive training videos for the government and businesses.'They needed someone to write some dialogue and my boss told me to do it. I liked [...] New playwright completes Sarasota residency
• August is turning into something of a drag, and other things, for the Golden Apple Dinner Theatre.The theater is adding to its Wednesday schedule of Drag Queen Bingo with more nights for comedy and prizes.The shows, hosted by Beneva Fruitville and Lindsay Carleton, have been a hit on Wednesdays this summer, and the theater is [...] Golden Apple expands summer events schedule
• American Stage keeps breaking records in its new home at the Raymond James Theatre in downtown St. Petersburg.The company's 31st season broke a subscription record with 3,138 subscriptions, only the second time that the theater has had more than 3,000 subscribers, officials said.'Over the past five seasons, we have nearly doubled the number of our [...] American Stage breaks subscription record
• Audiences are keeping the Straz Center for the Performing Arts Center high on the charts.The center's largest theater, the 2,610-seat Carol Morsani Hall, ranks No. 3 on Billboard magazine's list of Top 10 performance venues with fewer than 5,000 seats. The ranking is based on gross earnings from Nov. 28, 2009 to June 19, when [...] Tampa's center tops sales charts
• Deborah Ann Trimble, who boosted private and public support for the Asolo Repertory by more than $1 million during five years as development director, is leaving Sarasota next month for the development job at the La Jolla Playhouse, the theaters announced Friday.In Southern California, Trimble will be working with a staff of seven and a [...] Asolo Rep development director heads to La Jolla Playhouse
• The Players Theatre is giving audiences an extra month to buy single tickets to its upcoming Broadway series.The theater traditionally begins selling single tickets in September, but this year, sales will begin Aug. 2.'We're having people calling for single tickets and we've been telling them that they have to wait. That's ludicrous. We shouldn't be [...] Players Theatre gets a jump on single ticket sales
• During his run on “America's Got Talent,” 12-year-old Sarasota singer Chris Eisenberg was praised for his confidence and composure on stage, and he displayed it again Wednesday night when he was passed over for a chance to advance in the $1 million contest.Chris, billed as Lil Chris on the popular NBC series, lost out to [...] Lil Chris voted off 'America's Got Talent'
• With the summer run of “Drowsy Chaperone” performing just four nights a week, the Golden Apple Dinner Theatre is trying some different ideas to keep audiences coming to the downtown Sarasota theater.On Tuesday July 27, it will offer its first Tuesday Night Dance Party, which will feature Sarasota Gold with the Blues Brothers. Sarasota Gold [...] Golden Apple tries a dance party
• Audiences apparently like Carolyn Michel in one-woman shows. Florida Studio Theatre has added two weeks to the run of her performance in the comedy 'Family Secrets' through Aug. 8.In the play by Sherry Glaser and Gregory Howells, Michel plays five characters representing three generations of a Jewish family who reveal their troubles, worries and concerns [...] 'Family Secrets' extended at Florida Studio Theatre