When Walter Paisley accidentally kills a cat, he does what anyone would do—he hides it in a lump of clay. But when the Greenwich Village arts scene declares Paisley’s inadvertent artwork a masterpiece, the once-square busboy sees an opportunity to break into the beatnik art scene that always eluded him and has to question how far he will go to keep their adoration. Opening May 6 at Asolo Repertory Theatre, Beatsville takes the audience back to 1950s New York and the bohemian world of black turtlenecks and berets for a night of musical theater and scathing satire.

“It happens time and time again in American culture,” says Glenn Slater, the Grammy-winning and three-time Tony Award nominee who wrote the book for Beatsville as spoof of not only the 1950s beatniks but modern-day hipsters and everyone in between. From the beats and their imitation beatniks to the hangers-on at the Greenwich Village folk scene, the posers rising out of Seattle post-grunge and the tattooed lumberjack look currently making the rounds in everything from music to finance, the American drive for individualism dovetails with earnest conformity time and time again in an absurd dance. “They lose what’s essential about it,” says Slater of these perennial latecomers, “and they make the initial exciting idea seem ridiculous.” At the heart of the dilemma, both for Paisley and his extant counterparts, is the value of authenticity, when the shibboleth of lingo and fashion supersede artistic merit.

But what drew Slater to the project wasn’t the opportunity to shake his literary fist at hipsters, but rather to collaborate with composer and lyricist Wendy Wilf on her return to the world of musical theater. Leaving the theater to pursue a career in jazz, earning a master’s and eventually touring Europe, Wilf comes back to the stage with a new sound fusing jazz and traditional musical theater for an effect Slater says he’s never heard onstage before. This includes incorporating vocalese, where performers translate an instrumental jazz solo into a vocal part and introduce lyrics. “So it can have content and tell a story, yet still have that unpredictability and improvisational excitement of a great jazz solo,” says Slater. “It gives you the best of both worlds.”

Opening May 6 at Asolo Repertory Theatre, Beatsville runs through May 28. 

Pictured: The cast of "Beatsville." Photo by Cliff Roles.

Technically, pizza has existed in the land now called Italy since 987 BCE, and for hundreds of years the term was a catch-all for all sorts of flatbreads and focaccias topped with vegetables and meat. But most today wouldn’t recognize these ancestral pizzas, lacking a single crucial ingredient—a ripe red fruit from the New World called the tomato. It took European kitchens and customers quite a while to figure out the tomato wasn’t poisonous (as many members of the nightshade family are), but when they did, the response was overwhelming. By the 1700s, the modern pizza was born and purists in Naples declared it the pinnacle of pizza evolution, with no need for further toppings. Needless to say, these purists never had a prosciutto pizza at Oak & Stone. Starting with hand-stretched dough and fresh tomato sauce, the chefs at Oak & Stone immediately depart from the purist convention with a layer of garlic spinach, to be topped with shredded mozzarella. Adding slices of roasted red pepper, the pizza is wood-fired before adding a finishing layer of ripped prosciutto, Ricotta impastata and chopped parsley. Purists may howl, but everyone else has their mouth full. 

Photo courtesy of Oak & Stone.

Oak & Stone, 5405 University Pkwy. #101, Sarasota, 941-225-4590.

Heritage Golf Group has announced that Kevin Swan, head golf professional for TPC Prestancia, has been awarded the Bill Strausbaugh Award from The North Florida PGA- Southwest Chapter (NFPGA-SWC), and Mike McNamara, golf course superintendent at TPC Prestancia, has been named Golf Course Superintendent of the Year, from The North Florida PGA (NFPGA). The Bill Strausbaugh Award is designed to recognize PGA Professionals who, in their day-to-day efforts, have distinguished themselves by mentoring and improving the employment situation of their fellow PGA professionals as well as through service to the community. Swan has been the head golf professional at TPC Prestancia for over two years, during which time he has made a significant impact on TPC Prestancia members and the Sarasota community. The Superintendent of the Year Award is designed to recognize the superintendent whose contributions to the facility show exceptional commitment of passion, time and resources to provide the best playing conditions and conservation practices. A key component of this work is to preserve golf courses for future generations.McNamara has been golf course superintendent of TPC Prestancia for four years. TPC Prestancia, located in Sarasota, is part of the Southwest Chapter of the NFPGA and is one of four chapters that make up the organization. The Chapter Awards are voted on by the membership in each respective chapter. 

TPC Prestancia

Sarasota County Sheriff Tom Knight has announced the promotion of three Sarasota County Sheriff's Office members. Lieutenant Debra Kaspar is promoted to the rank of Captain assigned to the Courts and Corrections Division. Kaspar began her career at the sheriff's office in 1988 as a Public Service Aide, and in 1997 earned her law enforcement certification and became a patrol deputy. Throughout her career she worked in various areas including Community Policing, Youth Services, Criminal Investigations and the Pharmaceutical Diversion Unit. Kaspar has earned several awards and recognitions however, including distinction as the first female Captain in the history of the sheriff's office to complete the entire competitive promotional process at the ranks of sergeant, lieutenant and captain. Sergeant Chris Perz has been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant assigned to the Patrol Bureau. He currently serves on the board of directors for the Florida SWAT Association and has received recognition from several surrounding law enforcement agencies for his professionalism and hard work. Perz is also a founding member of the Sarasota K-9 Search and Rescue team. Deputy Derek Baker has been promoted to the rank of Sergeant assigned to the Patrol Bureau. In 2006, Baker was hired by the sheriff's office as a patrol deputy, and in 2010 became a field training officer and soon transferred to the Tactical Unit. In 2014, Baker was assigned to the Special Investigations Section where he worked on several high-profile drug cases. Throughout his career, Baker has been recognized with a Unit Citation Award, Combat Cross Award and commendation letters from surrounding agencies.  

Sarasota County Sheriff's Office

Florida Literacy Coalition, Inc. has invited Joan Dixon, GSAHEC’s Student Programs Coordinator, to present “Health Careers: You Can Make a Difference” at the 2017 Florida Literacy Conference scheduled May 10-12, in Captiva, FL. This presentation provides English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) adult learners interested in health careers with information on the wide variety of health careers available with less than two years of education/training. The presentation focuses on health career opportunities, and communicating the benefits of health careers by examining job descriptions, training requirements, and salary expectations of a variety of careers.

Across the United States there is a critical workforce shortage of minority health professionals. As the diversity of the population continues to increase, it is essential that health care providers reflect that diversity in order to better achieve health equity for all medically underserved populations. The GSAHEC REACH (Recruitment and Educational Assistance for Careers in Health) Program strives to utilize health careers presentations as a recruitment initiative to build the primary care workforce in an effort to drive access to quality healthcare and achieve health equity. These students are, quite literally, our future. 

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