Thank You!

More than anyone, all of you who come to the Opera and support our continued artistic excellence deserve a huge Thank You! The Sarasota Opera House is your opera house, and it is a tremendous legacy for all of us to pass on to future Sarasotans.

Grand Re-Opening Gala

Joan Wood celebrates with the crowed at the Opening Night Gala.

Joel Fedder, Building Committee Chair, with Architect Killis Almond

Victor Passero, Ed Watts, Robin Cote, Clark Wright, and David Otterness of Willis Smith Construction with Executive Director Susan Danis.

Per-Erik Lindqvist, Wolfgang Berz, Alexandra Berz, Sandra Lindqvist.

Dr. Angelo Fatta, Virginia Toulmin, Dory Vanderhoof, Joan Wood.

Renovation Team

Scott Merritt and Matthew Bower of the National City Private Client Group, welcome the audience to the newly renovated theater.

Marc Scorca, CEO of OPERA America, introduces the renovation team.

The Sarasota Opera Staff: Ken Kwiatkowski, Sarah Thomas, Ben Dick, Courtney Balok, Jeanne Smith, Jessica Plaut, Kyle Daniels, Melissa Lane, Rita Chamberlain, Patricia Horwell, Susan Ashcraft, Becky Taylor, Karl Hesser, and Richard Russell.

Subcontractor on the renovation.

Andy Dorr, George McGonagill, Jorge Rivera and Julius Davis of VoltAir Consulting Engineers, Greg Cahanin, Hank Lam, and Ken Garcia and Larry Fried of Abel Garcia Architects.

Chris Sprague and Todd Hensley of Schuler Shook Theater Planners and Carlos Rivera and Russ Cooper of Jaffe Holden Acoustics.

Dennis and Connie Towers of McKinley Griffen Design & Advertising (left) along with the decorative painting team from Dean Tippin Studios and Decorative Effects Inc. Lead by Martha Tippin and Susan Nilon (right)

Willis A. Smith Construction management team: Warren Simonds, Fred Cavaluzzi, John LaCivita, and David Sessions.

Willis A. Smith Construction field team: Victor Passero, Clark Wright, Ed Watts, Superintendant Robin Cote, and Project Manager David Otterness.

Project Architect: Killis Almond, FAIA of Killis Almond and Associates.

Sarasota Opera Executive Director, Susan T. Danis

Opening Night - March 1, 2008

Patrons in the theater for the first time.

Mr. and Mrs. Murphy

Victoria Leopold enjoys good company in the McCorkle Lounge.

Pat Hull, Alma Abshier, Dick Hull.

Opera House Ribbon Cutting

The Opera House is wrapped with a large gold ribbon. With a few snips from donors representing the 1500 supporters of the project, audiences were welcomed into the theater.

Betsy Bagby

Victoria and Harry Leopold

Bill and Casiana Schmidt

Alisa and Ernie Kretzmer

Maestro Victor DeRenzi and Susan Danis address the crowd. Jerry Waterman and Virginia Toulmin look on.

Audiences entering the Opera House for the first time.

Preparing for the Big Night

A few days ahead of March 1, 2008 a large tent is errected behind the Opera House. As the big night draws near, it is decked out for the post performance Gala.

Opera House - Ready to Go

The Opera House, in a final quiet moment before the Re-Opening performance.

Rigoletto Rehearsal

The orchestra rehearses with Maestro DeRenzi in the newly expanded pit. On stage is the set for Rigoletto.

First Notes

To celebrate the re-opening, Opera supporters were welcomed to the theater by Susan Danis and Maestro DeRenzi for a 'First Notes' dinner followed by a dress rehearsal of 'Rigoletto'.

Va Pensiero

Early in the rehearsal period for the 2008 season, all the singers gathered on stage. The singing of Verdi's 'Va Pensiero' has been a traditional event at the Opera House for many years. It was the closing piece performed at the final concert March 4, 2007 and it seemed only apropriate to re-christen the theater with it.