This week in the Sarasota area arts scene will feature season premieres and Halloween fun, including on Oct. 31 itself.
Sarasota Opera will open its 68th season with a production of "Hansel and Gretel," while Urbanite Theatre will kick off its main stage season with a show based on the true history of the telephone's invention.
Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall will host a Halloween-appropriate circus at the start of the week, followed by a comedy show based on a Sunshine State-set sitcom on Oct. 31 itself. The latest Sarasota Orchestra concert, at Holley Hall nearby Van Wezel, will round out this week's lineup.
Looking for even more options? Other shows premiering this week will include the Sarasota Players' production of "Urinetown," the 2001 Tony
Award-winning comedy-musical, Oct. 28-Nov. 1, and Venice Theatre's production of "Freaky Friday," the musical based on the children's novel made into multiple Disney movies, Oct. 30-Nov. 22.
For more Halloween offerings, The Pops Orchestra of Bradenton and Sarasota will hold the family-friendly concert "Hocus Pocus Pops II" 7 p.m. Oct. 30 at Riverview Performing Arts Center. Manatee Performing Arts Center's production of "Carrie: The Musical," based on the debut novel by Casey Key resident Stephen King, will hold a special Halloween show 7:30 p.m. Oct. 31 with costumes encouraged, trick-or-treat goodie bags, and themed cocktails available.
1. 'Hansel and Gretel' at Sarasota Opera House
Sarasota Opera will open its 68th season with Engelbert Humperdinck’s "Hansel and Gretel," which premiered in 1893 with Richard Strauss conducting, telling the Brothers Grimm fairy tale of two siblings who in the forest find a witch who lives in a gingerbread house. The production will be the first mainstage collaboration between Sarasota Opera, Sarasota Youth Opera, Sarasota Ballet School’s Margaret Barbieri Conservatory and Sarasota Ballet Studio Company. Oct. 30-Nov. 14; Sarasota Opera House, 61 N. Pineapple Ave., Sarasota; $25.75-$164.80; 941-328-1300; sarasotaopera.org
2. 'Ahoy-hoy' at Urbanite Theatre
Urbanite Theatre will kick off its 2026-27 main stage season with Jenny Stafford's "Ahoy-hoy: A Play About That Relatable Feeling When Someone Else Invents the Telephone Three Hours Before You Do" that, as its title suggests, is based on the true story of the telephone's invention. "Ahoy-hoy" returns to Urbanite Theatre after appearing at last year's Modern Works Festival, where it won the Audience Favorite award. Oct. 29-Nov. 29 (Oct. 29 preview); Urbanite Theatre, 1487 Second St., Sarasota; $52, $42 preview, $32 under age 40, $5 students with ID; 941-321-1397; urbanitetheatre.com
3. The Vampire Circus at Van Wezel
Set in 19th-century Bohemia, Count Dracula uses a traveling circus as a disguise for his sinister plan in this show combining acrobatics, dance, comedy and illusion in a Tim Burton and Cirque du Soleil-inspired spectacle. To tie in with the show, The Sarasota Modern will turn their outdoor patio into a vampire lair with themed cocktails and bites Oct. 23-31, which is free to visit, with food and drinks for purchase. 6 p.m. Oct. 25; Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota; $41-$81; 941-263-6799; vanwezel.org
4. 'Golden Girls: The Laughs Continue' at Van Wezel
Van Wezel will also host this comedic show where is Sophia out on bail, after being busted by the DEA for running a drug ring at Shady Pines; Blanche and Rose have founded CreakN, a thriving sex app for seniors; and Dorothy is trying to hold it all together, with help from her much younger, sex-crazed love interest. The show is ages 18 and up and will have a 20-minute intermission. 1:30 and 7 p.m. Oct. 31; Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota; $34-$80; 941-263-6799; vanwezel.org
5. Sarasota Orchestra 'Adagio for Strings' at Holley Hall
This Sarasota Orchestra Chamber Soirées concert will feature Barber’s String Quartet, most known for the Adagio movement, used frequently on the soundtracks of movies and TV shows and performed often at funerals and other events. The program will also include Frank Bridge's "Phantasy" Piano Quartet, Maurice Ravel's "Le Tombeau de Couperin" and Leonard Bernstein's final work, Dance Suite for Brass Quintet. 5:30 p.m. Oct. 29; Holley Hall, 709 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota; $52 and up; 941-953-3434; sarasotaorchestra.org
Email entertainment reporter Jimmy Geurts at jimmy.geurts@heraldtribune.com. Support local journalism by subscribing.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota arts events this week include season premieres, Halloween fun
