Venice Theatre to mark 75th anniversary while Hurricane Ian repairs continue

As it works to build its future by reconstructing the main performance space destroyed by Hurricane Ian in 2022, Venice Theatre is also looking back at its origins as it prepares for an historic milestone – its 75th anniversary season.

To mark the occasion, Artistic Director Benny Sato Ambush has put together a season that takes note of the theater’s long history by bringing back six plays and musicals done in the past, including the first play ever staged by what was initially called Venice Little Theatre in 1950.

That play is George Kelly’s “The Torch Bearers,” a 1922 comedy of manners about a housewife who gets involved with a theater production while her husband is away on business.

“This is Venice Theatre’s origin story,” said Ambush. “It’s about members of the community who decide to create a little theater, and that’s what the community of Venice did in 1950, and that effort by those community visionaries grew into a cultural staple. Seventy-five years later, Venice Theatre is the second largest community theater in America.”

The celebration comes as work progresses on rebuilding the Jervey Theatre, the company’s mainstage performance venue, which could be ready for the start of the 76th season, said Murray Chase, the theater’s restoration supervisor.

But Executive Director Kristofer Geddie said, “We hope it’s the beginning of the season and we have every hope that it will be but we don’t want to be forced into getting a show ready and not have the building ready.”

Chase said it will cost at least another $10 million to finish the project, on top of the $7 million to $8 million already spent on storm clean-up, refurbishing and restoring damaged interior areas of the building and dealing with electrical and other issues.

In the meantime, the company produces shows in the Raymond Center, which has become a temporary replacement for the mainstage productions in the Jervey, and in the more intimate Pinkerton Theatre. The Raymond Center will eventually become the theater's home for education programs.

Taking a look back

In addition to “The Torch Bearers,” the theater is bringing back past shows that include “My Way: A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra”; Agatha Christie’s “The Mousetrap” (first produced in 1952); John Pielmeier’s “Agnes of God”; “Lerner and Loewe’s My Fair Lady”; and “Alice in Wonderland.”

New this season are three musicals. “9 to 5: The Musical” is based on the film about secretaries getting revenge on their boss. “The Lightning Thief” is about Percy Jackson, a 12-year-old who discovers he has powers as the half-blood son of a Greek god. “Don’t Touch That Dial” is an interactive musical created by Roger Bean that uses classic television theme songs for an audience participation trivia contest.

Also new to the theater are Moliere’s “The Learned Ladies,” a comedy about a clash between a mother and father over the appropriate husband for their daughter, and Alan Knee’s “Syncopation,” about a meatpacker in 1911 New York who places a classified ad for a woman to meet to begin a ballroom dancing career.

After last fall’s SoloFest, Ambush has scheduled “Venice Laughs,” a series of performances that he said will feature the “superstars of comedy in Southwest Florida. There’s a well-organized community of stand-up comedians in this region and we’re connecting with them to provide some holiday season giggles through clean stand-up comedy for adults who love the funny side of life.”

There will also be a series of perennial productions beginning with the company’s original version of “A Christmas Carol,” which will have a new director for the first time in two decades. Also returning are “The Silver Foxes,” a variety show for some of the community’s more mature performers, and Pinky’s Players, the theater’s annual production that features adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

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Unlike past years, the theater is not selling separate subscriptions series for shows presented in the two theater spaces. It does offer a subscription package for five shows in the Raymond Center: “My Way,” “The Torch Bearers,” “9 to 5: The Musical,” “Lerner and Loewe’s My Fair Lady” and “Alice in Wonderland.” There is also a Venice Pride 5 for the same five shows on specific Wednesday nights geared for the LGTBTQ+ community and others. The Pride series began in 2022. Subscriptions for both packages are $168.

The theater’s anniversary coincides with the 2025 100th anniversary of the city of Venice. Ambush said the theater also is putting together a video oral history project of Venice Theatre “told by those who lived it. We started with the people who were around the earliest.”

Venice Theatre 2024-25 75th Season

140 W. Tampa Ave., Venice.

941-488-1115; venicetheatre.org

“My Way: A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra,” Raymond Center, Aug. 9-Sept. 1

“The Mousetrap,” Pinkerton Theatre, Aug. 23-Sept. 15

“The Torch Bearers,” Raymond Center, Sept. 20-Oct. 13

“Agnes of God,” Pinkerton, Sept. 27-Oct. 20

“9 to 5 The Musical,” Raymond, Oct. 25-Nov. 24

“Syncopation,” Pinkerton, Nov. 1-24

“A Christmas Carol,” Raymond, Dec. 6-22

“Venice Laughs,” Pinkerton, Dec. 6-15

“Don’t Touch That Dial,” Pinkerton, Jan. 17-Feb. 9

“Lerner and Loewe’s My Fair Lady,” Raymond, Jan. 31-March 2

“The Lightning Thief,” Pinkerton, Feb. 28-March 23

“The Silver Foxes,” Raymond, March 11-16

“Alice in Wonderland,” Raymond, April 4-27

“The Learned Ladies,” Pinkerton, April 11-May 4

“Pinky’s Players,” Raymond, May 8-11

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This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Venice Theatre to mark 75 years with new shows and past favorites