The cast of FST’s The World Goes ‘Round.

By Kay Kipling

Before heading to Florida Studio Theatre’s Gompertz Theatre to see The World Goes ‘Round, it’s possible to have two trains of thought. One: Is there really a reason to reprise this revue of songs by John Kander and Fred Ebb, which has been performed by FST before? Two: There’s always a good reason to hear again songs created by this longtime successful writing team.

Once the show begins, however, there’s only one way to feel about it: good. While it’s true the songs here are mostly familiar (granted, there are a few lesser-known ones for those who mainly know the duo from Cabaret and Chicago), they are performed with fresh new staging and contexts by a highly professional cast of five, under the inventive direction of Gabriel Barre.

The tone is set right from the beginning with a powerful rendition of the show’s title tune by Taprena Michelle Augustine that assures us that no matter what ups and downs there are in life, the world does in fact go ‘round for another season, and another. That attitude is echoed in other songs in the show, which are sometimes introduced by brief repetitions from the first number.

The mood or subject of those songs is likewise suggested by April Soroko’s straightforward set design: The mostly bare black stage is adorned with words like “memory,” “romance,” “friend,” etc. Carey Anderson’s performance of Colored Lights is one song dealing with memory; she’s touching as a woman longing to somehow recreate the magic she’s lost since her childhood.

Not all the songs here are melancholy, by any means. Zak Edwards is a lot of fun on the Sara Lee number (an anthem to baked goods) and also just right as the hapless Mr. Cellophane. He and Lauren Blackman also have a great duet in Act II, a blend of tap and tango (choreographed by DJ Gray) that aptly captures a lot of the excitement, doubt and hope of love. And Augustine and Anderson pair memorably on Class (decked out like a couple of Jersey girls complete with spike heels and animal print clothes as they chew gum and swig beer while lamenting the lack of manners today) and on the rather rueful The Grass is Always Greener.

While the choreography may occasionally be a little overdone (I’m thinking of Blackman’s gymnastics on Arthur in the Afternoon and All That Jazz), in general it’s lively and clever, as in the very enjoyable Act I closing number, The Rink, and another number, Pain, that actually sends up the choreographer’s art.

Actor Peter Gosik has some of the show’s less lively numbers, which perhaps makes his onstage persona feel different from his cast members’. But he delivers impassioned vocals on dramatic songs including I Don’t Remember You and Kiss of the Spider Woman. And the band, led by music director Frank Lindquist, switches gears and genres as easily as the cast.

The World Goes ‘Round continues through June 23; for tickets call 366-9000 or go to floridastudiotheatre.org.

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Noah Racey in the Asolo Rep’s Pulse. Photo by John Revisky

It’s always exciting to see a brand-new show, especially one with a pedigree like the Asolo Rep’s current world premiere, Noah Racey’s Pulse. In case you haven’t heard of him, Racey is an award-winning Broadway actor, singer and dancer with credits in shows like Follies and Thoroughly Modern Millie; he’s also an amazing choreographer with an ability to both salute and transform the sort of American song and dance (think tap on steroids) beloved by American audiences from the days of Astaire, Kelly and the Nicholas Brothers on. And the show is directed by fellow dance master Jeff Calhoun, who helmed the musical Bonnie & Clyde here at the Asolo Rep a couple of years ago and recently scored kudos for his Broadway production of Newsies.

Pulse is subtitled The Beat of Song and Dance, and it is indeed all about the rhythms Racey hears and feels and has communicated to his incredibly talented cast (backed by a seven-member orchestra that is just as attuned to that beat). The show uses not only the expected instruments of drums, guitar and keyboard, etc., but frequently the human body becomes an instrument as well, with all sorts of claps and stomps issuing from hands, feet and chest. (The audience is occasionally encouraged to participate in making sounds, too.)

Lauralyn McClelland, Danny Gardner, Noah Racey, Anthony J. Russo and Frances Bradley. Photo by John Revisky

Racey’s concept for the show follows those rhythms across a wide span of decades, genres and moods in the music. Composers whose works are included range from George M. Cohan and Cole Porter to Keb’ Mo’ and Regina Spektor, and the dancing from a graceful nod to Ray Bolger’s Once in Love with Amy steps (executed by Racey, who’s that rare performer who’s so engaging he can use even a mistake with a cane to make his audience like him more) to a sizzling adaptation of I’ve Got You Under My Skin that features the male dancers and the remarkable Frances Bradley both singing and tapping her heart out. There are also sweetly romantic numbers (Baby I’m a Fool, nicely executed by Racey and Lauralyn McClelland) and slicker ensemble ones, like the Wall Street-influenced Puttin’ on the Ritz, which segues briefly into Hall and Oates’ Rich Girl. (Note here: I attended a preview performance of the show, which officially opens tomorrow, May 23, and since Pulse is still a work in progress, some numbers may change from the ones I saw and heard).

Noah Racey, Jason Yudoff and Jon Berger. Photo by John Revisky

There is no storyline as such to Pulse, and while I often miss that in dance musicals, here there was so much to relate to in what the individual numbers were telling me that I didn’t care. I was especially touched by a rap toward the end of the show performed and written by Racey (who did in fact write the whole show) that felt deeply personal and triumphant.

Another word about the cast, which demonstrated such a high level of intensity and skill: Besides the performers already mentioned, Christopher Erk, Danny Gardner and Anthony J. Russo revealed some impressive moves and winning personalities. Also deserving special shout-outs: percussionist Jason Yudoff, set and costume designer Tobin Ost, lighting designer Michael Gilliam, music director Aaron Gandy and arranger Ross Patterson.

Pulse continues at Asolo Rep through June 16 and may continue to undergo transformation, as Racey and Calhoun refine it to achieve just the right mix of numbers for overall pacing and maximum effect. It also seems likely the show will head to Broadway. So local audiences should snatch the chance to see it now, and to enjoy the beat that truly comes from the heart of Noah Racey.

For tickets call 351-8000 or go to asolorep.org.

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Nearly 50 years after its debut on Broadway, Fiddler on the Roof is one of those rare shows that you can’t imagine not existing—and extremely rare, indeed, in its near-perfection. Considering how many things can go wrong in putting together a work of musical theater, creators Joseph Stein, Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick somehow managed to avoid all of them.

In the Manatee Players’ second big production at their new home on Third Avenue in Bradenton, the community theater manages to avoid any major pitfalls, too (aside from an occasional sound issue). From the opening strains of the oh, so familiar Tradition, the audience is ready to dwell for a couple of hours in the tiny village of Anatevka, circa 1905, with Tevye the milkman, his family and neighbors, and to hear their story once more.

Director Cheryl Carty and choreographer Kelly Burnette make good use of that new, bigger stage at the Manatee Performing Arts Center, moving a full complement of Anatevkans convincingly around on ensemble numbers like the opener and also on To Life, Matchmaker, and the wedding dance that follows Sunrise, Sunset. They’re helped by Michael J. Kent’s relatively easy to move set, which is simple but effective in its portrayal of Russian village life a century ago.

But, returning to the “what could go wrong” question, obviously you can go wrong here if you don’t have a strong Tevye. Fortunately, Michael Bajjaly is up to the task of bringing to life this beloved character. His performance is a little less “ethnic” than some I’ve seen, especially on If I Were a Rich Man, which some actors tend to play more over the top. But it’s still a performance full of zest; he’s especially good in doing aggravated, when yet another trouble descends on his shoulders courtesy of one of his daughters or his wife, Golde (Players newcomer Sharon Albert, who’s a good match for Bajjaly here).

One occasional flaw in community theater productions of Fiddler can be weak actors in the roles of the daughters’ suitors, Motel, the tailor, or Perchik, the rebel student. Not so here; Abe Johnson and Nick Drivas, respectively, are totally believable in their parts, with Drivas especially strong vocally on his duet with another newcomer, Katherine C. Herbert, as Hodel on Now I Have Everything (not to slight J.D. Carter as Fyedka, who’s fine but has less to do). Herbert soars again on the plaintive Far from the Home I Love number later in Act II.

The cast is, in fact, excellent overall, with Players stalwart Meg Newsome having a great time as Yente, the kvetching matchmaker, and Marina Wright and Emily Arthur, as daughters Tzeitel and Chava, also shining. Rik Robertson as butcher Lazar Wolf and Dawn Dougherty as the scary Fruma-Sarah deserve some praise, too, along with musical director Bobby Brader and his orchestra, who provide solid support for the score and the singers.

This Fiddler is a thoroughly enjoyable close to the Manatee Players season, running through May 19. For tickets, call 748-5875 or go to manateeplayers.com.

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Alana Opie and Danae DeShazer star in Side Show.

The story of Side Show, now onstage at the Players, probably isn’t for everyone. Taking off from (and fictionalizing) the true-life tale of conjoined twins Daisy and Violet Hilton, who performed in show business for most of their lives, Side Show navigates some dark corners, starting with the freak show the young sisters were initially a part of—complete with a bearded lady, the chicken-blood-drinking geek, the fat lady and other staples of the old midway days.

The first number of this Bill Russell/Henry Krieger show sets the tone; it’s Come Look at the Freaks, and as directed by Michael Newton-Brown and with the backing of a fuller than usual orchestra led by Joyce Valentine, it’s a dramatic beginning that already asks us to examine who the real freaks are—those on view or those who come to gawk. But don’t be put off; at the heart of the show is the relationship between the twins, played to near-perfection by Alana Opie (Daisy) and Danae DeShazer (Violet), and their search, not just for the spotlight, but for love.

Of course true love isn’t easy to find for any of us, and that makes it easy to relate to their wish to find someone Who Will Love Me As I Am, the show’s Act I closing anthem, which is rendered with emotion and skill by the lead actresses. Violet has fallen for Buddy (Jason Kimble), an earnest type who spots the twins in the show run by the harsh Boss (David Walker) and brings them to the attention of producer Terry (Tim Fitzgerald), who in turn becomes Daisy’s love interest. But while the men have real feelings for the women, the idea of being part of a permanent threesome (or foursome) is a difficult one to accept.

Daisy and Violet have their own issues, despite their love for each other, which the show’s songs carefully delineate, from Like Everyone Else to Leave Me Alone to Feelings You’ve Got to Hide. They’re almost as different as they are alike, but they know they can trust only each other—and perhaps Jake, the big-hearted, former “cannibal king” of the freak show, who loves Violet (played with fervor by Terry Rhodes—to have their best interests at heart.

The production, which Newton-Brown also designed (with costumes by Kathy Sutton), is interesting to watch as it moves from midway to vaudeville to the Follies and beyond, even though when the entire cast is onstage the movement and lyrics can sometimes get confusing. And while Fitzgerald and Kimble both deliver vocally (the former on the poignant Private Conversation and the latter on One Plus One Equals Three), you may not find their relationships with the girls totally convincing.

But there are enough strong songs and touching moments here—and those sterling performances by Opie and DeShazer—to power Side Show to a stirring conclusion. The production continues only through this Sunday, May 5; for tickets call 365-2494 or go to theplayers.org.

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The female cast members of Second Samuel.
Photo credit Renee McVety

Venice Theatre’s current mainstage production, Second Samuel, is set in a small Georgia town of that name in the 1950s, but if you’ve ever lived in a small town anywhere in the United States you can probably recognize some of its characters and its eccentricities. You may even recognize some people who could be very close to you.

Second Samuel is, in fact, the name of the town in Pamela Parker’s play, as we learn in the opening monologue by a young man nicknamed B Flat. (Nicknames and odd names in general are a staple of small towns, in case you didn’t know.) The first town of Samuel was burnt to the ground in the Civil War, during Sherman’s march, but the second version of the town is the kind of place where the women still congregate in the local beauty salon and the men still meet up in the combination bait shop/bar for drinks and gossip.

Cast members of Venice Theatre’s Second Samuel.
Photo by Renee McVety

Initially, their talk is all about the passing of the beloved Miss Gertrude, a piano teacher the mildly retarded B Flat (Hunter Cross, who can be both funny and touching as called for) was especially fond of, although just about everyone in town seemed to like her, too (except perhaps the cantankerous Mr. Mozel, played by Douglas Snure). In fact, people can’t say enough good things about Miss Gertrude—that is, until a certain secret about their late neighbor comes to light. It’s a surprise that provokes a divided reaction among the townsfolk, and one that eventually tests their tolerance.

Parker’s people may end up a tad preachy now and then, but in general she and director Murray Chase have kept things light, with some good comic moments well played by the ensemble cast. That cast includes bar owner Frisky (Mike Gilbert), his hairdresser wife (Lori Chase, who has a nice scene of incoherent hysterical crying), his lifelong friend, the African-American U.S. (Carroll Hunter), the snooty Miss Jimmy DeeAnne (Kim Kollar) and her fellow salon customer Marcela (Nancy Denton), who loves to tease her, and Marcela’s hard-drinking husband Mansel (Allan Kollar). Rounding out the roll of Second Samuel citizens are Arianna DeCecco as a timid salon employee, Jim Lovett as the town doc, and Neil Kasanofsky as the mortuary owner preparing Miss Gertrude for her funeral.

There was some trouble with sound issues on opening night, but overall Second Samuel tells its simple tale smoothly and pleasingly enough. It’s a cozy little play with its heart in the right place.

Second Samuel continues through May 19; for tickets call 488-1115 or go to venicestage.com.

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Whether you’re a longtime fan of the Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe or a newcomer, you’re bound to find the company’s current production, It Ain’t Nothin’ But the Blues, deeply satisfying.

It’s got everything going for it: the right mix of songs (in a revue created by Charles Bevel, Lita Gaithers, Randal Myler, Ron Taylor and Dan Wheetman) to take us on a journey of the genre all the way from African chants to down-and-dirty Chicago style, plus the sometimes exuberant, sometimes poignant choreography of director Harry Bryce, colorful costumes by Cristy Owen, a dynamite band led by J. Cash II, and a cast of eight that’s perfectly chosen to hit their marks both individually and in ensemble.

Some of those cast members may be familiar if you are a regular here, but they seem to reach new levels in this always on-the-move production. Tsadok Porter and Ariel Blue, WBTT stalwarts, are joined by newcomer Whitney Reed (who also dances eloquently) on the female side, and they are impressive together and in solos, delivering everything from the pain of slavery and heartbreak of loss to plenty of sass and sexuality when it comes to dealing with their menfolk. You may know some of those male cast members, too, from Earley Dean to Donald Frison to Horace Smith, who appeared here recently in Jitney.

But who would have known from that nonmusical performance what an amazing singing voice Smith has to match his physical presence? He’s a powerhouse on his own, but pair him with Blue on numbers laced with sexual innuendo (Come On in My Kitchen) or with guitarist Apostle J.L. Cash, who also sings from deep in the gut (The Thrill is Gone) and the mercury onstage just keeps rising.

In fact, an infusion of Cash is always welcome, as are the occasional forays into vocals by fellow guitarist Gregory “Gig” Burke, who demonstrates that white folks can get the blues, too, with some more country-tinged numbers (“T” for Texas and Mind Your Own Business).

The show offers plenty of fun, but doesn’t stint on the harsh realities that underlay the blues, including an Act II rendition of the Billie Holiday classic, Strange Fruit. Blue sings that with true sensitivity (accompanied by Frison’s enactment of the song’s story), before the show returns us to a good-time feeling with the closing numbers.

Kudos to Bryce and his cast for this production–a season closer that makes you wish it weren’t over just yet.

It Ain’t Nothin’ But the Blues continues through May 12; for tickets call 366-1505 or go to wbttsrq.org.

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Followers of playwright Martin McDonagh’s work (The Lieutenant of Inishmore, The Pillowman) know about the dark places he likes to go—albeit with that trademark, twisted McDonagh humor. So they won’t be too surprised to learn that the current McDonagh work at Venice Theatre’s Stage II, A Behanding in Spokane, contains “offensive language” or “adult situations.” Yeah, that’s pretty much a given.

This play is not set in McDonagh’s usual Ireland; it takes place in America, in an extremely seedy motel room (complete with filthy carpet, holes in the wall, and a bed you wouldn’t want to touch, in John Michael Andzulis’ set design), where a man named Carmichael (Steven O’Dea) has come on a quest. That quest is for the missing hand he lost in a gruesome incident (if he’s telling the truth) 27 years earlier. A pair of pretty clueless crooks, a white girl (Alison Prouty) and her black boyfriend (Kristofer Geddie), have promised to deliver it to him for $500.

But—no spoiler alert here—turns out their offering is not the right hand; it’s not even close. That upsets the gun-and-gasoline-can-wielding Carmichael no end. And they can’t count on help from the motel’s reception clerk (Jeremy Guerrero), who seems, in his own way, just as psychotic as Carmichael.

That’s the setup, and you can kind of guess, in general, where things are going to go from there. But it’s the details that make Behanding slyly entertaining, whether it’s a phone call from Carmichael’s mother, who’s got problems of her own, or the suitcase filled with—ahem—hands Carmichael has collected along the way. (Wait until you see the hand-flinging fest that takes place.) Since each of the characters here has his or her own demented logic, their interactions are bound to be highly frustrating for them, while provoking laughs for us.

Director Kelly Wynn Woodland has staged the action at a fast comic pace, with occasional pauses for emphasis or realizations. (The play lasts only 80 minutes, with no intermission). And her cast is well chosen, whether it’s O’Dea, properly single-minded and menacing in his long black coat; or Guerrero, full of manic energy as he delivers a monologue about his life’s disappointments; or Prouty, wearing many-hued hair and an air of innocence, and Geddie, who can spout obscene epithets at a rapid and impressive clip.

It all adds up to something less than McDonagh’s best work, but it’s still a fun ride. A Behanding in Spokane continues through April 28; for tickets call 488-1115 or go to venicestage.com.

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Peter Bogdanovich and David Edelstein.

Where do you begin to discuss the more than 40-year career of filmmaker and writer Peter Bogdanovich? That was the challenge faced by film critic–and Bogdanovich interviewer–David Edelstein, who’s associated both with New York magazine and NPR’s Fresh Air, on Sunday afternoon in the Court Cabaret Theatre.

Edelstein admitted after the first hour or so of the talk (the last in the Sarasota Film Festival’s Conversation Series) that he’d only gotten through the 1970s, but that was the decade many of Bogdanovich’s best-known movies (The Last Picture Show, What’s Up, Doc?, Paper Moon, etc). took shape. The actor-director-writer has continued to work steadily since, though, recognizable to a later generation from his appearances on television’s The Sopranos. He was here in conjunction with his latest role in the movie Pasadena, directed by Will Slocombe.

Edelstein and Bogdanovich took the journey from the latter’s childhood in New York state, where his artistic parents frequently encouraged him to recite poetry before guests, to teen years spent training with famed acting coach Stella Adler (who became a second mother to him), to early directing stints, both onstage and in film. And one of the treats of the afternoon was hearing Bogdanovich do flawless imitations of many of the performers and directors he’s worked with or met over the years–everyone from Jack Benny to Alfred Hitchcock to Orson Welles.

One of the earliest of his movies was Targets, which Bogdanovich directed for B-movie king Roger Corman. “He told me he had paid for two more days of work from Boris Karloff,” said Bogdanovich, ”and I needed to shoot him, include some scenes from an earlier Corman movie [The Terror], shoot some other new stuff and put it all together.” “You can shoot 20 minutes with Karloff in two days,” Corman told Bogdanovich, who had already been handed second-unit directing duties on another Corman film, The Wild Angels. “Hell, I’ve shot whole movies in two days.” And, with director Samuel Fuller’s help guiding the script, the fledgling director was able to finish the movie, which gained him praise.

Over the years, Bogdanovich met everyone, it seems, from John Ford and John Wayne to Jimmy Stewart (another uncanny impersonation there) and Jean Renoir, whom Bogdanovich called the greatest director ever. “I asked him once,” Bogdanovich recalled, “if he knew what a picture was going to look like before he started. And he said [French accent here], ‘If I knew what the picture will look like, I have no reason to make the picture.’”

Of course, Bogdanovich did have some idea of what The Last Picture Show would look like ahead of time; for one thing, he knew it would be shot in black and white, and for another, he knew that writer Larry McMurtry’s home town in Texas was the perfect location for it. During shooting, he fell in love with then-starlet Cybill Shepherd, a relationship that broke up his marriage. “We went down [to shoot that movie] as one bunch of people, and we came back another bunch of people,” he said. “Everything changed.”

A few more anecdotes from the plethora told:

Barbra Streisand told him she had never been directed before, not even by veteran filmmaker William Wyler on Funny Girl. So, during friendly arguments while shooting What’s Up, Doc?, when giving her unsolicited suggestions for line readings, he would always say, “That’s directing, Barbra.”

On Paper Moon, which earned the very young Tatum O’Neal an Oscar: “She was only eight or nine, and in one scene she had a very complicated set of business to perform in a moving car. We did 25 takes one day, and 15 another before we got it. But she did it.”

On the never-filmed Streets of Laredo (which later became the miniseries Lonesome Dove): “We were going to shoot it with John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart and Henry Fonda. Fonda and Stewart agreed, but Wayne wouldn’t do it, because he said it was an ‘end of the Western’ movie, and he wasn’t ready to hang up his spurs yet. I found out later John Ford told him not to do it.”

On the initially poor response to movie musical At Long Last Love: “I found out about a year ago that there’s a recut version out I’d never seen, streaming on Netflix. I didn’t do it, but it’s good! And it’s coming out on DVD in June.”

On his next movie: “It’s called Squirrels to the Nuts, and it’s a screwball comedy. I wrote it years ago with my dearest friend [and ex-wife] Louise Stratten. [Directors] Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach are going to produce it for me. They both call me ‘Pop.’”

Read all our Sarasota Film Festival 2013 coverage here.

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The Sarasota Film Festival wrapped up its final weekend with a whirlwind of activities, so many that it’s only possible to give a brief flavor of several here. (You can read more about the festival here.)

For me Friday evening started with a screening of Barbara Kopple’s Running From Crazy, a movie about the family of actress Mariel Hemingway that had been discussed earlier, in a Conversation Series event with the star. But actually viewing the film (in a packed Sarasota Opera House) was an emotional experience for everyone, even if you knew little about the family’s history going in. Interviews with Mariel Hemingway were interspersed with lots of footage (some from a documentary begun by her late sister, Margaux) to tell a painful story of the devastation mental illness can wreak.

While the ending brought a feeling of resolution for Hemingway, who wanted to make sure her daughters didn’t suffer from “the family curse,” for some in the audience it was probably something of a relief to escape the theater and head to the festival’s Cinema Tropicale party at the Sarasota Yacht Club. A waterfront breeze kept the evening from feeling too humid, and partygoers sipped, danced and whiled the night away.

I headed Saturday afternoon to another Conversation, this time with actor-director Griffin Dunne, at the Court Cabaret. Interviewed by Steve Dollar of the Wall Street Journal, Dunne, who broke into most filmgoers’ consciousness with An American Werewolf in London, talked about growing up in California with his father, producer-turned-writer Dominick Dunne, and other family members, including uncle John Gregory Dunne and his wife, Joan Didion.

One anecdote tells something about the scene the teenage Dunne experienced in the counterculture 1960s and ’70s: At one party, Janis Joplin was slated to make an appearance. Dunne, 13, wanted to be sure the rock star didn’t see him there with his mother in tow. She agreed to let him be on his own, but he was soon latched on to by a bald man with a German accent who was apparently having a bad acid trip and needed Griffin’s help. “I thought it was Colonel Klink,” Dunne said (from the TV series Hogan’s Heroes). Turns out it was actually film director Otto Preminger, who probably stayed away from LSD after that.

Dunne later moved to New York to become a theater actor, but turned to film producing with the movie Head Over Heels or Chilly Scenes of Winter, from a book by Ann Beattie. “I gave myself a small part that got big laughs,” Dunne recalled. Still, his next director, John Landis for American Werewolf, “didn’t know anything about me,” said Dunne. “We met, but I never saw the script. When I got home, he called me and asked if I wanted to read it, which I had to do with a guard standing outside my apartment door.” When he got the part, he ended up spending hours in the make-up chair with make-up artist Rick Baker to achieve the “monster” look needed for the film.

For many fans, though, it was a later movie, Martin Scorsese’s After Hours, that remains one of Dunne’s best. Shot in New York (and rated No. 3 among best New York City movies by Time Out), the movie placed Dunne’s character on an increasingly nightmarish descent into late-night New York–long before there were cell phones to extricate him from his lost and broke dilemma. (Full disclosure: Sarasota Magazine’s own Mr. Chatterbox, Bob Plunket, also appeared in the film and has remained friends with Dunne ever since. Their scene together, toward the movie’s end, was, Dunne said, “the funniest day I ever had on the set.”)

Dunne concentrated in the 1990s more on directing than acting, but returned to the screen most recently in the festival’s The Discoverers, by Justin Schwarz. He’s also currently working on a documentary about his aunt, writer Joan Didion.

There was barely time to leave Dunne’s Conversation to make it back to the opera house in time for the evening’s festival awards, hosted by an engagingly loose Cheryl Hines, who appears in the new movie Pasadena (for a full list of winners, both audience and jury, go to sarasotafilmfestival.com), and a screening of Noah Baumbach’s Frances Ha, starring Greta Gerwig as a 20-something dancer in New York trying to make a go of it–and eventually, to grow up and separate from her best friend (played by Mickey Sumner, who appeared onstage to present the film).

Shot in black and white and detailing Gerwig’s character’s journey from address to address in New York and elsewhere, Frances Ha took a little while to grow on me (perhaps that’s a generational thing). But eventually Gerwig’s appeal and the delicate blend of humor and poignancy in the movie won me over.

Next up: saving the best for last with writer-director-actor Peter Bogdanovich, in a Sunday Conversation.

Read more about Sarasota Film Festival 2013 right here. 

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Mickey Sumner, receiving the Breakthrough Performer Award for Frances Ha: “I hope I break through in all my movies and future projects. Thanks to the luminous Greta Gerwig [the film’s star] and to the genius of director Noah Baumbach.”

Griffin Dunne, returning to acting after focusing on direction, in the film The Discoverers, as he picked up his award: “I’m not going back carry-on.” Also: “It’s such a pleasure to go back to acting with such a wonderful part. I’m grateful to [director] Justin Schwarz for sending it my way.”

Barbara Kopple (Harlan County, USA; American Dream; Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing), accepting the Director Award (she also directed the festival’s Running from Crazy): “I always try to make my films as if the camera’s not there. I’m so happy that Sarasota is showing our film, and was so happy making it with Mariel [Hemingway]. I believe in documentaries, and that they can inspire people to talk, to act and to debate.”

Lili Taylor, receiving the Career Achievement Award: “I got another award recently at a Maine festival, and it was a moose. This will look very nice next to my moose.”

Mariel Hemingway, who teared up accepting the Impact Award (co-presented by the Gulf Coast Chapter of UN Women) and talking about her famous family: “Barbara [Kopple] pushed me into speaking about what I’d never said out loud. I hope that encourages other people to speak out about their own problems. I loved my family, and they were very crazy. They weren’t bad; there’s no one bad in this story. It’s just that human beings have such a hard time being good, and making the right choices. I did this so my daughters don’t have to feel what has been called ‘the Hemingway curse.’ This film has broken that curse.”

Read more Sarasota Film Festival 2013 coverage by clicking here.

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