Van Wezel Wraps 45th Season

In an exciting recent announcement from Visit Sarasota County, the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall was ranked the #1 tourist attraction in Sarasota County during the January-March quarter. This is the first time the hall has appeared at the top of the ranking, with 36% of tourists considering the hall a must-see destination during their stay in Sarasota. St. Armands Circle, which usually tops the ranking, was a close second. Additionally, the Van Wezel is ranked as the #1 Performing Arts Hall in North America, in the 2000-seat category in the June edition of Venues Today Magazine. Van Wezel Executive Director, Mary Bensel stated, "This has been the Van Wezel's most successful season since I arrived at the hall 9 years ago, both artistically and financially. I really believe that the depth of the diversity of our programming and our great partners such as the Sarasota Orchestra and Van Wezel Foundation are the main factors in these latest achievements. This great news is the perfect way to cap off our 45th Anniversary Season featuring some of the best shows I have ever seen including Ringo Starr, Sarah McLachlan, Harry Connick Jr., Audra McDonald, Chris Botti, Phillip Phillips, Jersey Boys and so many more. I want to thank the staffs of the Hall, the Van Wezel Foundation, our partners, the City of Sarasota, our sponsors and volunteers. Together we made this happen!"

The Van Wezel also received two capital improvement grants from the Harry Sudakoff Foundation, and the William G. and Marie Selby Foundation. The grants will be used for the construction and installation of a new orchestra shell, the project will be completed in time for the 2015-16 season! The new orchestra shell and its flexibility opens up the hall to the opportunity to bring even larger shows to its stage.

The 2014-2015 Van Wezel season saw nine packed-theater Schooltime Performances that would not be possible without the generous support of our donors and grants, including school-season supporters such as Publix Supermarket Charities, The Woman's Exchange and the Van Wezel Foundation. The Schooltime Performances served approximately 25,000 student and teachers this season, engaging students in the arts from Pre-K to twelfth grade, throughout four counties. Next year, the Education Department's Schooltime Performance season will expand even more, featuring Artworks for Schooltime learning modules, for which the Van Wezel has received a National Endowment for the Arts Grant. This Award is among 1,023 made nationally!

This successful season is sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture, as well as paid for in part by Sarasota County Tourist Tax Revenues.

"We are looking forward to our great new 2015-2016 Broadway, Orchestra, and Dance series, featuring the blockbuster The Book of Mormon, The Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Joffrey Ballet to name a few, and to announce our star studded Variety season in August!," said Bensel.