Excitement at the Sarasota Opera House
The renowned Sarasota Opera has recently completed its 48th season in March of 2007 after playing to critical and audience acclaim - with ticket sales at over 102% of capacity! Although the performers are on a break now, the Sarasota Opera House remains abuzz with activity and excitement.
Sure to dazzle Longboat Key Club and Resort’s Florida resort guests, the Sarasota Opera House is enjoying a spectacular $20 million renovation. The project is designed to restore the original glory of the 1920’s theater, while creating a state-of-the-art opera venue for the 21st century. The theatre will boast restored decorative details, new seating, an expanded orchestra pit (to allow for an expansion of the repertoire), updated backstage systems, and enlarged and enhanced public areas and amenities.
In 1958, the Sarasota Opera began presenting chamber-sized repertoire in the historic 320-seat Asolo Theater, located on the grounds of Sarasota’s Ringling Museum of Art. Recognizing the need for a theater more conducive to opera, the Sarasota Opera purchased the former A.B. Edwards Theater in downtown Sarasota in 1979. Original renovations began in 1982, and the 1,033-seat theater, now on the National Register of Historic Places, opened for local people and Florida resort guests in 1984 as the Sarasota Opera House.
Now undergoing renovations once again, the Sarasota Opera House is scheduled to reopen by March 2008 for the 2008 Opera Festival. To kick off this remarkable season, Verdi’s Rigoletto - the opera that started the Sarasota Opera’s acclaimed Verdi Cycle in 1989 and hasn’t been heard at the Sarasota Opera House for 19 years - will be performed. Often consisting of Florida resort guests and local opera enthusiasts, Sarasota Opera audiences have most frequently requested Rigoletto over the years. Thus, the company has decided to open the renovated theater with this ever-popular work.
In Giuseppe Verdi’s three-act Rigoletto, a hunchbacked jester tries to shield his daughter from the evils of the world. However, Florida resort guests behold tragedy when his daughter falls in love with the Jester’s master, the licentious Duke of Mantua. Eleven performances (March 1 - April 15, 2008) of Rigoletto will be lead by Sarasota Opera Artistic Director Victor DeRenzi, who recently celebrated his 25th year with the Opera.
The Sarasota Opera will also host three “Opera Lovers Weekends” during the 2008 Festival on March 28-30, April 4-6, and March 11-13. These popular weekends allow Florida resort visitors to Sarasota to see all four operas in the 2008 season over three days, from Friday night to Sunday afternoon.
For tickets and to behold the incredibly renewed Sarasota Opera House, we invite our Florida resort guests to visit www.sarasotaopera.org - the official website of the Sarasota Opera.
Unparalleled Golf Attracts Guests to Longboat Key Club
Set on the Gulf of Mexico, along the coast of the Sunshine State, Longboat Key Club and Resort is the Southeast’s premier golf destination with a total of 45 pristine Gulf- and Sarasota Bay-side holes. It’s no wonder locals, weekenders, and families and individuals from all over the world are drawn to our Florida resort.
Our tree-lined Harbourside course delights players throughout its three nine-hole layouts along Sarasota Bay, while Gulf breezes refresh on our invigorating 18-hole links-style Islandside course. And because golfers of all ages can experience these remarkable courses, they are always favored among families enjoying a Florida resort vacation.
Our Harbourside course’s challenging 27-hole layout is composed of three nine-hole circuits heralded by Florida resort guests and designed by famed golf course architect Willard Byrd. Hugging the sparkling waters of Sarasota Bay, the course plays through magnificent stands of oak, fiddleleaf palm, sabal palm, fig, palmetto, Washingtonian palm and southern pine.
The resort’s 6,792 yard Islandside course follows the Gulf of Mexico, with water challenges coming into play on all 18 holes. Florida resort guests are always amazed at the fine Tifdwarf grass, which blankets the greens to maintain smooth putting surfaces. They are also captivated by over 5,000 palm trees and pink and white blooming oleander, which line the course’s fairways and canals. These natural features unite to make the Islandside course unrivaled as one of Florida’s most beautiful courses.
Considering the inspiring features and locations of Longboat Key Club and Resort’s two courses, it is unsurprising that Florida resort guests return annually for lengthy golf escapes. A golfer’s paradise since the resort opened 40 years ago as a country club with 18 holes, Longboat Key Club and Resort continues to provide a golf experience so incredible, many Florida resort visitors can’t get enough.