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Archive for July, 2008
Fashion Statement
What are you wearing? I’m not a wearer of white, but Sean at Sacino’s showed me a couple of options and we came up with the outfit. The blue shirt was an opening-night gift for one of my shows, and it was my way of making the outfit my own. Where do you shop? My [...]
Read More >>Mr. Chatterbox
Boy, that Recount movie on HBO sure brought back some memories. The 2000 election was one of the most traumatic experiences Sarasota has ever gone through. It polarized the town in a way that has continued to this day. And for us old-timers, I doubt any of us will ever forget that feeling, like a [...]
Read More >>Rain Check
Just Add Water A garden of whimsical blue and yellow flowers grows on White Wild Thing, a new pattern from Lilly Pulitzer that looks as great on Palm Beach capris as it does on this spiffy folding umbrella ($48). Lilly Pulitzer, 443A John Ringling Blvd., Sarasota (941) 388-3091. Purple Rain Prince and his band, Revolution, [...]
Read More >>Shopping
The transformation at Westfield Sarasota Squareis breathtaking—and there’s more to come. Stage I complete, the once dowdy mall has morphed into a haven for hip young shoppers, with trend-setting brands for teens, glamorous finds for fashionistas, a spiffy new food court and a state-of-the-art 12-theater movie house. Prowl every corridor like an after-school mall rat [...]
Read More >>Hot Seat
Florida’s top political scientist and election analyst, Dr. Susan McManus, has appeared on every major news network and will cover both political conventions this summer for WFLA-TV News Channel 8. Meanwhile, she’s teaching Florida politics to tomorrow’s leaders at USF in Tampa, where she is a distinguished professor. Why is Florida always in the eye [...]
Read More >>Street Smarts
Customer service is absolutely critical. And it’s the level of customer service that determines success. It separates organizations from their competitors. There are different types of service: You can go to a fancy restaurant in New York and get officious service—there’s no warmth with it. At another restaurant you can get pleasant, friendly service that’s [...]
Read More >>Devil’s Playground
When Jenny Beres, 25 moved to Sarasota from Cleveland three years ago she had worked as a journalist but had never tried to write a play. In the last year, inspired by Sarasota’s culture, she’s written three—the first of which, If the Devil Could Fall in Love, won the Players Theatre “The Play’s the Thing” [...]
Read More >>From The Editor
In May, Dan Denton announced he’s leaving this company to start a brand-new publishing venture. Today, Sarasota, which he started 29 years ago, is one of the country’s most successful city magazines, with hundreds of regional and national awards to its credit, and Dan is known throughout the industry as an innovative leader. I know [...]
Read More >>Year Of The Blockbuster
This year’s wrap-up of the Sarasota area theatrical season immediately brings up the elephant in the room. Which is, how can most local productions, however strong or satisfying, compete with a Broadway-caliber musical like the Asolo Rep’s world premiere of A Tale of Two Cities? Not surprisingly, that world-class production did dominate my awards [...]
Read More >>What Will The Next Five Years Look Like?
Sarasota and Manatee have enjoyed great economic prosperity in the last few decades, fueled by a steady stream of well-off newcomers and the construction and services they required. That growth may have been a double-edged sword, sometimes threatening our beauty and quality of life, but it also created new jobs, tax revenues and civic amenities. [...]
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