Sarasota Jewish Theatre expands programs for fourth season

Carole Kleinberg wasn’t sure what to expect when she relaunched the Sarasota Jewish Theatre in 2020 in the midst of the pandemic, but she knew there was a need for positive and uplifting stories amid a rise in anti-Semitic attacks around the country.

The positive response and attendance for the last three years is allowing the company to expand the number of performances and add new outreach programs as Kleinberg and her volunteer team prepare for the fourth season.

“Things are extraordinary, beyond my wildest imagination,” Kleinberg said. “The community response really is sunny and gratifying and humbling and I find it hard to believe.” She said it “was the right idea at the right time,” triggered by the march on Charlottesville in 2017 and other events.

Even with a large Jewish population in the Sarasota area, Kleinberg said the company is reaching a broader audience that “enjoys thinking and humor and stories.” The company’s motto is “you don’t have to be Jewish to love Jewish theater.”

SJT will return to the Players Centre venue at the Crossings at Siesta Key shopping center, where at least two of the shows will have longer runs than in past seasons.

“We are limited by how many dates they can allow us to rent,” Kleinberg said.

The season will feature two plays that may be familiar to longtime Sarasota theatergoers – Becky Mode’s “Fully Committed” and Mark Harelik’s “The Immigrant,” both of which were once produced at Asolo Rep – and a third that is new to the area, Larry Gelbart’s “Better Late.”

Actor Kraig Swartz, who starred in the Asolo Rep’s 2002 production of “Fully Committed,” returns to the hectic one-person play, in which he plays about 40 different characters who interact with a harried reservationist at a trendy restaurant that everyone wants to get into but can’t. He has performed the play in numerous theaters across the country. More recently, Swartz has been seen in several shows at Florida Studio Theatre including “Something Rotten” and “The Legend of Georgia McBride.”

Gus Kaikonen will direct.

“Better Late,” which had its premiere in 2008 at the Northlight Theatre in Skokie, is about two men who become reluctant roommates. Julian is forced to move in with his ex-wife after suffering a stroke and must share space with her current husband. John Mahoney and Mike Nussbaum starred in that premiere.

Gelbart, best known for transforming the novel and film of “M*A*S*H” into a hit TV series, died about a year after its premiere, and rights were not available until recently, Kleinberg said.

“It’s a really wonderful play, funny, warm and about doing the right thing for the family in this totally outrageous situation. It’s kind of an ‘Odd Couple’ sensibility but also Larry Gelbart’s own sense of humor.”

Kelinberg will direct “The Immigrant,” about the resourcefulness of immigrants trying to make a life in a new world where they don’t speak the language or have any money to get ahead.

Kleinberg said it relates directly to recent events where immigrants from South and Central America have been sent from border areas to other locations by Gov. Ron DeSantis, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and others, to shift the financial and social burdens to other governments.

The play is set in the early 20th century, when already successful Jews offered newer arrivals a little money and the promise of land if they would travel to places like Galveston, Texas. In the play, the main character, who speaks no English, discovers bananas, figures out how to sell them and starts building a life of prosperity.

There will also be a few bonus productions. “Charting the Lost Continent” is a theatrical presentation based on work by Sarasota poet Linda Albert “about the journey of aging,” Kleinberg said. “India Paul is directing and we have extracted the poems and are staging it with very, very proficient women actresses from 35 to 80 years old as a staged reading.”

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The play will be presented Oct. 25 and 26 and then be available for traveling to community organizations and facilities as part of the expanded outreach program.

Another outreach program is “The Rest of the Story,” a one-act comedy about an aging and resentful Eve being interviewed by a journalist about her life, and wondering why God gets all the credit when she actually did the work. Kleinberg will stage the piece.

There also will be a benefit return performance Nov. 8 of Lynne Bernfield’s “Bashert,” in which she shares songs and stories about things that just seem destined to have happened. She presented a sold-out performance last season.

For details on the season go to sarasotajewishtheatre.com.

Sarasota Jewish Theatre

2023-24 season

3510 S Tamiami Trail, Sarasota 941-365-2494: sarasotajewishtheatre.com

“Charting the Lost Continent,” Oct. 25-26 and touring

“Bashert Redux,” 7:30 p.m. Nov. 8

“Fully Committed,” Jan. 31-Feb. 4

“Better Late,” March 31-21

“The Immigrant,” May 1-12

“The Rest of the Story,” outreach presentation

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This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota Jewish Theatre grows with new works, projects