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The Sarasota Opera
Sarasota Opera produces outstanding opera true to the vision of the composer to entertain, enrich, and educate our communities, as well as patrons from across the state and around the world. The Sarasota Opera is an internationally respected producer of the highest quality professional opera.
On April 10, 1926, the A.B. Edwards Theater was unveiled. The Sarasota Herald Tribune hailed Edwards for "having admitted Sarasota into a fairyland of costly decoration, rich furnishings and never to be forgotten artistry". The entrance facade of the theater was designed in the very popular Mediterranean Revival style of the era. Cream colored stucco embellished with ornamental plasterwork and imitation stone delighted the opening night audience.
The theater became a popular venue for a variety of entertainment's over the years. The top headliners of the time were to grace its stage: Will Rogers (1927), Sally Rand (1937), the Ziegfeld Follies (1928), and even (in 1956) the young Elvis Presley. On January 31, 1952, it became host to the world premiere blockbuster DeMille movie, "The Greatest Show on Earth," which had been filmed in Sarasota. Charlton Heston, Betty Hutton, and Dorothy Lamour brightened the town with stardom.
Meanwhile, a non-profit organization called the Asolo Opera Guild had been hard at work bringing opera to Sarasota. With modest beginnings, they presented chamber-size repertoire in the Asolo Theater, a small 320-seat playhouse located on the Ringling Museum grounds. By 1974, they began to produce their own operas. With public support rapidly growing, they clearly needed a home to call their own. In 1979, the Guild purchased the old Edwards Theater for $150,000. The Association became the 7th opera company in the United States to own its house. Extensive renovations were needed to restore the house to accommodate its new art form: opera. Renovation began in 1982. Finally renamed the Sarasota Opera House, it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
Now fully restored to its original beauty, the Sarasota Opera House has become the cornerstone of Sarasota's Theater Arts District. The Sarasota Opera has come to merit accolades from all over the world. Thanks in no small part to the generosity of the community of Sarasota, the Sarasota Opera House, once shabby and neglected, now stands like a proud beauty. The original chandelier from the movie "Gone With the Wind" hangs brilliantly in its lobby. Meticulously and lovingly renovated, FLORIDA HERITAGE Magazine, the official magazine of the Division of Historical Resources in Tallahassee, lauded it as "one of the most successful renovations of a historic building in Florida."
Today the Sarasota Opera House plays host to everything from opera, symphony and classical ballet to film festivals, popular music concerts, comedy shows and clowns. The Opera Complex features a new Pavilion with a spacious, multi-purpose banquet/performance facility; the Peterson Great Room, which can seat up to 390 people. Private meeting space, as well as private rehearsal rooms are part of the pavilion. The Opera House theater seats 1033, with 740 on the first floor and 293 in the balcony.
Sarasota Opera House
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61 North Pineapple Ave. Sarasota, FL 34236
www.sarasotaopera.org
(941) 366-8450
(888) OPERA-12
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