Rebar reaches skyward atop 10 stout concrete columns while backhoes and front-end loaders scrape the ground that was previously the Gompertz Theatre parking lot. Construction is well underway on the eight-story arts complex named for Florida Studio Theatre benefactors Dennis and Graci McGillicuddy.
Managing Director Rebecca Hopkins says that $57 million project will be completed in stages.
“It's going to have three new theaters in it, three levels of parking, and then three levels of an artist hotel/residences,” Hopkins said. “Next August, that's the part that will open, the hotel, the year-round residences, and the parking garage. The following year, the two cabaret theaters will open, and then the final year, the last mainstage will open.”
While the additional parking is huge, the artist hotel and residences will be transformative. As a union theater, Sarasota's Florida Studio Theatre is obliged to provide visiting actors with housing and transportation.
“FST currently owns 18 residential properties spread throughout downtown, but they're old houses, old apartments,” Hopkins noted. “We need to consolidate.”
Having 100 plus actors living in the arts complex won’t just change Florida Studio Theatre. It will change downtown. But there’s an added benefit.
“We'll use about half of it on our artists and the other half will be rented out,” said Hopkins. “That means when our audience has friends coming into town, they can rent here and support FST.”
Florida Studio Theatre also plans to make rooms available at discounted rates to other arts organizations when they host out-of-town artists and guests.
In these ways, Florida Studio Theatre expects the McGillicuddy Plaza to serve as a symbol of how art connects community.
MORE INFORMATION:
This facility will supplement Florida Studio Theatre’s existing complement of five theaters in the heart of downtown Sarasota and allow it to serve more patrons, attract top artists, and deepen its commitment to accessible, world-class theater.
Founded in 1973, Florida Studio Theatre is the largest subscription theater in the state and among the largest in the country, serving more than 225,000 attendees each year.
The Plaza
The McGillicuddy Arts Plaza will be the most ambitious expansion in the theater’s 52-year history. The new plaza will serve as the centerpiece of FST’s campus, anchoring a bold vision that is designed to meet the growing needs of FST’s artists, audiences, and community.
Housing visiting actors is a key component of that vision.
“We love to hire local artists,” said Hopkins, “but there's not enough here to cast all of our shows and do the diversity of work we do.”
Florida Studio Theatre is a union house, meaning that FST must provide airfare, housing, local transportation and other benefits to actors based in other parts of the country. It currently meets those obligations by housing them in a number of old houses and apartments spread throughout Sarasota. Frequently, up to four actors share a house while they’re in town, which can range from three to six months depending on the production.
“In order to get the best quality of actor, we have to have nice housing,” said Hopkins. “They don't want to come down and live in a tent, and renting is impossible. It's so expensive down here. Once the hotel is completed, they’ll each get their own studio unit in. And when the unit’s not in use, we can rent it with the income helping support the building and the theater. They get upgraded housing. We have an income source. It all works together.”
While half the new units will be used to house visiting artists, the other half will be rented to the public, whether family and friends who are in town to visit FST ticket holders, seasonal residents or vacationers. They’ll all get to mingle with the actors they’ll see onstage as they amble down hallways, ride the elevators and dine in area restaurants.
“That’s very exciting,” Hopkins proclaimed. “And you know, it used to be that way before everybody got pushed out. So, this will bring that back, where the artists are living and working downtown.”
Mix-and-mingle opportunities will be further enhanced by FST’s plans to make rooms available to other arts organizations such as the Ringling Museum, Sarasota Opera and other Sarasota theaters at a reduced rate should they also need housing for out-of-towners.
“And then there's 18 two-bedroom, two-bath units in it that are for year-round artists or arts workers, local artists who are here for good,” said Hopkins. “People like me. Actually, I started out that way. When I first came to Sarasota, I lived in FST housing for about three years. This was 28 years ago. It made a huge difference because I was able to save up and then build my life here and eventually buy a condo and all that stuff. It's hard to recruit people to Sarasota, not just for the arts, but for anything because the cost of living is so high. So, these 18 units will allow us to support that, and that’s not FST-centric. That's all the arts.”
Cabarets and mainstage theater to better enable FST to expand and contract programming
Florida Studio Theatre provides programming all year round, but offerings are more limited during summer months than at the height of tourist season.
“With the five theaters we presently operate, it’s easier to shut one down and be cost effective versus one big house that costs a lot of money to run,” Hopkins observed. “We've become really good at expanding and contracting during the season.”
This flexibility will be enhanced even more as the new cabarets and mainstage theater become operational.
“We’ll be opening them one year apart so that we can work the kinks out of everything as we go along,” Hopkins noted. “We need to get the hotel stabilized before we add additional cabaret theaters, before we add another mainstage theater. It’s what we’ve done so far and it’s how we think the public's going to interact with [the new venues].”
The goal is having more seats available during season for winter residents and visitors.
“I love my year-round residents,” Hopkins said. “They're the anchor, the core of the organization. But my future year-round residents are my snowbirds. You know, there's the cycle of Florida residency. The tourist becomes the snowbird who later becomes a year-round resident. We need to have availability in peak season so we can introduce all those new people to what we’re doing, and if there's one problem we have right now, it's that we're very tight during season. I don't have as much availability. So having these additional theaters will allow us to run the shows in the heart of season and build that future audience.
The addition of two more cabarets addresses another problem – the ability to extend a popular show. Florida Studio Theatre does that now. For example, it extended the runs of “Three Pianos” and “Feeling Good.”
“Each winter cabaret show has its own theater, so it can be extended if there’s enough demand,” Hopkins explained. “This year it was ‘Feeling Good.’ Last year it was ‘Off the Charts.’”
Winter cabaret shows are designed for the Court Cabaret’s intimate environment. But if another show is scheduled to open in the Court Cabaret, the current show has to be moved to the Keating Theatre if it’s going to be extended.
“It was good in the Keating, but great in the Court Cabaret. It was built for that. Once the new cabarets come online, I won't have to do that anymore,” said Hopkins. “It can stay and then the next [scheduled] show will open in the other cabaret. That’s what I mean by expand and contract. I can leave a little space in the calendar and if a show is a hit, we can let it keep running for a little bit right where it is. Right now, our calendar is very tight, with shows backed up on top of each other. I close shows before they want to close because we've got to open the next show.”
New era
“Breaking ground on the McGillicuddy Arts Plaza marks a new chapter in Florida Studio Theatre’s 52-year story,” said Hopkins in an earlier interview. “This plaza is more than a physical space: it’s a symbol of how art connects community. With the addition of artist housing in the heart of downtown, we’re ensuring that the people who create the work we all love can live and thrive within the community they serve. It will be a home for artists, a gathering place for audiences, and a vibrant new cornerstone of our downtown campus. With three theatres, parking, and housing, this project positions FST to continue serving our growing community and audiences for the next 50 years.”
With the Sarasota Art Museum, John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Asolo Repertory Theatre, Urbanite Theatre and Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe just a short drive away, FST expects its downtown artist enclave to rival those found in cities like New York, Los Angeles and Chicago — except with year-round great weather.
At present, Florida Studio Theatre operates five theaters in the heart of downtown Sarasota, all within walking distance of Art Ovation Hotel. Each theatre is small in size and large in impact – providing intimate and engaging settings for high-quality, professional performances.
Florida Studio Theatre started with the Keating Theatre, which was built in 1914 as a residence and then repurposed years later to become Sarasota’s first live theater.
In addition to the Keating Theatre, FST now maintains the Goldstein Theatre, Gompertz Theatre, Court Cabaret and Bowne’s Lab.
Each theater provides patrons with a different experience.
Whether patrons choose comedy, a musical, cabaret or improv, FST’s goal is for them to enjoy an intimate theater experience.
Support for WGCU’s arts & culture reporting comes from the Estate of Myra Janco Daniels, the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation, and Naomi Bloom in loving memory of her husband, Ron Wallace.
