Asolo Repertory Theatre closes out the fourth year of its five-year American Character project with a production of the Tony-nominated and Pulitzer Prize-winning Disgraced, opening this Friday. A dramatic but at times humorous conversational exploration of faith, humanity and dignity through the lens of the Muslim-American experience post-9/11, the play rose quickly from its 2014 premiere on Broadway to become the most produced play in the country this season. “It has landed as a cultural document because of what we’re going through,” said Asolo Producing Artistic Director Michael Donald Edwards, who will also direct. “Disgraced is going to reverberate in a really potent way.”

Written by Ayad Akhtar, Disgraced enters the world of Amir Kapoor, a Muslim-American Manhattan attorney who abandoned his faith after the 9/11 attacks, only to be called to defend a local imam with whom he disagrees. When the matter arises at Kapoor’s dinner party, he and his friends, each with their own religious and racial perspectives, must have a frank talk about their differing notions of faith, dignity and humanity. “It turns out,” said Edwards, “they have the conversation we’re all afraid to have.”

Though long in planning, the production feels “even more timely” now, according to Edwards, and serves as a possible counterpoint to the “toxic” rhetoric heard today from politicians and campaigns. “When you hear all this inflammatory rhetoric about Muslim communities, you’re talking about Americans,” said Edwards. “But [Disgraced] forces us to think about what’s going on in a way that’s not about the headlines—to provoke thought and stimulate profound feelings.” The conversation is “raw,” he said, but with enough humor to make repeat viewings a pleasure as the audience teases out what they may have missed the first time around, as the play offers no “easy answers.”

Though produced in great numbers this season across the country, Edwards promises something a little different with the Asolo production. Whereas previous productions have opted for realism in their sets, presenting a believable Upper West Side Manhattan apartment as the stage, he has opted for something a little more interpretive. “I’ve really focused on it as a play of ideas and a play profoundly informed by the idea of art,” he says, and through unconventional presentation hopes to “tease out the ideas about art and living” he sees as integral to the power of the story.

Starring Dorien Makhloghi as Kapoor and with Lee Stark returning to the role she originated as Kapoor’s wife, Emily, Disgraced opens Apr. 1 and runs through Apr. 24. Discussions with the artists and the audience will precede and follow each performance. 

Pictured: Lee Stark and Dorian Makhloghi star in "Disgraced." Photo by: John Revisky.

The rise in precision of geo-location features on smartphones and mobile devices can have enormous advantages for you as a consumer—as well as extremely dangerous consequences. So just how does your smartphone know where in the world you are? When location services are enabled on devices, the precise physical location of your phone (and you, assuming you are chained to it) can be pinpointed via latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates down to a matter of feet.

As a user, this can be great for you if you are dying for a Starbucks in the middle of Manhattan, lost in a new city trying to get to a job interview, or wondering why in the world your kid isn’t home at curfew. And as a business, you can take advantage of geo-location with geo-targeting—knowing your customers’ locations and serving them selected offers based on their proximity to your business.

However, there is a darker side. When GPS or geo-location is enabled on your devices, it may embed the exact location you were when you took photos with your smartphone or mobile device.

But do you realize that any time you take a picture with a mobile device that has GPS or geo-location enabled, your photo provides a roadmap to tell strangers where and when that photo was taken? And where you were not. There’s myriad software and websites available today that allow you to take a photo you have downloaded from the Internet and run it through a program to determine hidden details. 

Pedro Pérez is a founding partner of Nuevo Advertising Group and an adjunct professor of Global Brand Strategies at Ringling College of Art and Design. For over 17 years Pedro has offered clients his knowledge and expertise. Pedro has always demonstrated a keen analytical sense combined with a good dose of common sense in crafting digital and online marketing strategies as part of an integrated marketing plan. 

Read more at Perez' blog at Nuevo Advertising

Baldwin Krystyn Sherman Partners, one of the largest independent insurance brokerage firms in the U.S., announced the appointment of Shawn Hanlon as managing advisor in its Sarasota office. Hanlon joins BKS from Liazon, where he was responsible for building and driving Liazon's go-to-market and business development strategies for the state of Florida. He has served more than a decade as an executive sales professional in the benefits industry, leading strategy and sales for enterprises ranging from private, public and not-for-profit corporations. He served as vice president of the Benefits Consulting division for Brown & Brown of Sarasota and major accounts executive with BCBS. 

Baldwin Krystyn Sherman Partners

Sarasota-based Odato Marketing Group, along with Winter Haven’s Noble Tangerines, won the 2015 Marketer of the Year award for retail, presented by the American Marketing Association in Tampa Bay. The trophy was presented at the association’s inaugural awards ceremony last week, with more than 140 corporate, nonprofit and agency marketing professionals in attendance. 

Odato Marketing Group

Tom Wagner and Courtney DeFilippis announced the addition of Brittany Essig to their Realtor team in the Sarasota office of RE/MAX Alliance Group. Essig has 15 years of experience in leadership and service, previously working as executive Human Resources leader at Target, where she earned recognition from the Target Corporation as a “Top Performer” from 2013 to 2015. She is involved in the Englewood United Methodist Church and the Young Life organization, and has a master's degree in mental health counseling from Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. 

RE/MAX Alliance Group