Sarasota – Hundreds of Sarasota LGBT supporters enjoyed a night of mingling and theater on Nov. 20 at South Pacific, the OUT@AsoloRep’s first event of the 2014-15 season.
During OUT@Asolo, the “premiere LGBT night in Sarasota,” attendees enjoy a discounted six-play series and pre-show reception at each event. Guests also learn about local participating LGBT organizations before the show and meet actors and other attendees after the performance.
As a bonus, Asolo’s producing artistic director Michael Donald Edwards shares insight and behind-the-scenes information about each performance.
The grass roots of OUT@Asolo began on Oct. 12, 2009, when Asolo was one of 150 theaters across the nation to participate in a live remote and simultaneous global staged reading of The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later. Asolo hosted a community expo, A Night of Non-Violence, in which local non-violent groups and LGBT organizations shared their missions and answered questions before the Laramie reading.
A live broadcast from the Lincoln Center followed immediately after the expo. Due to overwhelming response and positive feedback, local LGBT supporters, Asolo staff, and community members formed a committee to launch OUT@Asolo. The series has grown from about 15 attendees to over 100.
“We really wanted to be part of that national conversation in the second part of Laramie,” Edwards says. “I was new at the institution and we filled the theater. LGBT organizations came out of the woodwork.”
Kimberly Bleach, U.S. Trust representative and OUT@Asolo sponsor, said many other theaters in the nation hold single performances supporting the LGBT community, but Asolo is the only theater to feature an entire series.
“A lot of organizations are very protective of their donor base,” Bleach says. “For Asolo to invite all nonprofits in and have a few minutes to speak about their organization is kind of leaps and bounds ahead of others in forward thinking.”
A committee was born when Randell Johnson, OUT@Asolo organizing committee member, and his partner Bobby Jensen opened their home for brainstorming and exchanging ideas about OUT@Asolo over beer and wine. Jensen and Johnson still host beer and wine nights where committee members decide which organizations will be highlighted throughout the season.
OUT@Asolo provides an opportunity for attendees to openly identify and link together as LGBT. Edwards described the series as offering a “gay lens,” a way for guests to identify how each play relates to them from a LGBT perspective. He said gay people have become adept at identifying how stories might relate to them. Edwards’ goal is to create a LGBT experience that includes people from all walks of life.
“We think it’s a win-win-win-win,” Johnson says. “We’re introducing members of the community to Asolo who might otherwise have not come and they are becoming theatrically oriented. Then introducing members of the community to organizations they may or may not know about. Then bringing members of the organization and introducing them to the Asolo.”
Edwards said OUT@Asolo works so well because people in the community come together and present fresh ideas in an “organic partnership.”
OUT@Asolo also provides an intimate opportunity for networking. Edwards said as an older gay man, he remembers having many opportunities to meet people during his younger years when he first came out. He said the internet has opened a lot of networks, but makes spontaneous encounters more difficult.
“I think that’s why this [OUT@Asolo] is growing,” Edwards says. “It gives a chance for the older generation to feel nostalgic and also gives the younger generation a chance to see how it was for us. It’s an intergenerational linking.”
OUT@Asolo benefits nonprofits and community members alike. South Pacific showcased Our Sarasota Fund and CAN (Community AIDS Network). Ken Shelin, founder of Our Sarasota Fund, said OUT@Asolo is a great way for small nonprofits to get visibility they wouldn’t otherwise have.
“We all find common ground with one another,” Shelin says. “Our Sarasota Fund is a giving circle which gathers donors who are interested in nonprofit programs benefiting the LGBT community. The organization then decides which organizations and programs will receive grants.
CAN oversees eight HIV/AIDS clinics in the state with the goal of reaching an HIV/AIDS-free generation. Scott George, CAN director of development, said CAN was kept secret as a medical clinic for many years, but has recently expanded to include all LGBT causes.
“It’s quite an amazing organization because it started in a small town and became a gold standard,” George says.
South Pacific was the fourth OUT@Asolo performance in which CAN was a featured nonprofit.
Future 2014-15 season performances and associated nonprofits will include: The Matchmaker on Jan. 28, with GAIN and A League of Our Own; Good People on Feb. 20,, with Manatee Pride and Prism Youth Initiative; Both Your Houses on March 18, with Equality Florida and Trinity Charities; Our Betters on April 9, with Sarasota Pride and the Fabulous Independent Film Festival; and Luck be a Lady: The Iconic Music of Frank Loesser on May 7, with GREEN and ALSO Out Youth.
Guests can experience all of these performances by purchasing an “A” Seating subscription for $270 or “B” Seating for $216. Single performance tickets are available at a 20% discount off standard ticket prices. For tickets, visit ASOLOREP.org and use promo code OUT1415. Tickets are also available at 941-351-8000.
Let’s not forget the sponsors who help make OUT@Asolo a reality. 2014-15 sponsors include U.S. Trust, Visit Sarasota County, Morton’s Gourmet and Catering, Community Foundation of Sarasota Inc. from the Our Sarasota Fund and the McCauley-Brown Fund, and Watermark Media.
“As Harvey Milk said, ‘The best way for people to know and to like us is to get people to know us and to understand us,’” Johnson says. “This is a way for people to get to know us.”
More Info:
WHAT: Out at Asolo
WHERE: Asolo Repertory Theatre, Sarasota
TICKETS: AsoloRep.org or 941-351-8000
