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.

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.

Naming the Theater

LMS Signs puts up lettering in the Marie L. Hoffberg Lobby.

Starting from a template, LMS Signs sorts and mounts the letters for the William E. Schmidt Opera Theatre on the wall.

Seat Install - Balcony

As carpet is put down, the seat installers follow right on their heels.

Seat Install - Video

The final sample seat produced by Irwin Seating.

The seat installation crew from Contract Solutions places all the arms for the seats first.

All the wood seat back are lined up in rows, ready for install.

Installers go up and down each row attaching seat backs.

As one crew works from the back of the theater, another moves from the front back.