Sarasota Opera House 莎市歌剧院
61 N Pineapple Ave.
Sarasota, FL 34236
… more pix on Google Maps
It situated near the Main Street, and cross street is their Selby public library. The house produced four operas in 2023 season.
The three floor opera house was opened in 1926. Architect was Roy A. Benjamin (1887-1963) who moved from Ocala to Jacksonville in 1902. Before, it was named Edwards Theatre for the first mayor of Sarasota – Arthur Britton Edwards, who envisioned it:
- 1874 Arthur Britton (A.B.) Edwards born in Sarasota
- 1903 Edwards opened 1st real estate office
- 1913 Edwards became the 1st mayor
- 1926.4.10 A.B. Edwards Theater
- 1927 Will Rogers
- … many performers over the years
- 1956 Elvis Presley
- 1973 closed
- 1979 Asolo Opera Guild bought it for $173,000
- 1984 the 1st production
- 1993 lobby & facade restored
- 2007 renovation of the original 1926 structure, $20m
- 2020 population 54,842 | Philly 1,603,797
The mediterranean revival style theater has 1,119 seats. Although it had a major renovations in 2007-8, but the air conditioning system doesn’t work well tho.
A few operas we saw here (the year it was premiered):
- Stiffelio by Verdi (1849)
- The Barber of Seville by Rossini (1816)
- The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart (1786)
- Cavalleria Rusticana, Pietro Mascagni (1890)
- Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo (1892)
- Carmen by Georges Bizet (1785)
- Lucia di Lammermoor, Gaetano Donizetti (1835)
- Madama Butterfly by Puccini (1904)
- Don Giovanni by Mozart (1787)
- Ernani by Verdi (1844)
Near by, St. Pete has its own opera house.
