Hermitage Beach program and campus. Provided photo.

There is a special place at the bottom of Sarasota County, on Manasota Key in Englewood. It is a place where the world’s leading creatives and artists have flocked to, like song birds migrating south for the winter, a safe haven to work on their ideas that later will be presented to the world. Last fall, the Hermitage Artist Retreat, like many other special places on the Gulf Coast, was thrown into disarray by the devastating impact of Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

“Manasota Key really took a tremendous beating,” says Hermitage Artistic Director and CEO Andy Sandberg. “We got hit with Helene, which I believe was the worst storm in Manasota Key history and 12 days later, we got hit with Milton which was even worse.” The storm wrecked havoc on the campus, with over eight feet of sand causing damage to buildings and the landscape. While the historic Hermitage House reopened in January, the organization has been unable to host its iconic public programs on the beach—until now.

On June 26, the Hermitage will present Key Change: A Return to the Beach, a public program featuring award-winning musical theater writers and Hermitage Fellows Mark Sonnenblick and the Lazour Brothers. Sonnenblick recently collaborated with Elton John on the West End production of The Devil Wears Prada and has written songs for films such as Spirited and Theater Camp. Daniel and Patrick Lazour also operate at the forefront of musical theater, having recently received numerous nominations in this year’s New York theater season for their musical We Live in Cairo.

“Mark and the Lazours are both alums of the Hermitage who we discovered were working collaboratively on a project. Now they’re returning as a team to work on a new musical that they’re developing together,” says Sandberg. “Artists grow very attached to the Hermitage, because it’s a great place of productivity for them—we were looking for the right event to kick off the return to the beach and thought what better than three guys who have such an affinity for this place?”

While what will be presented in the program is not set in stone, the artists are sure to present material that offers insight into their creative process. “Each of them, in their prior programs, debuted material that no one has heard for the first time,” says Sandberg.

Key Change: A Return to the Beach, June 26, 6:30-7:30pm, Hermitage Beach, 6660 Manasota Key Rd., Englewood, 34223

Hermitage Beach program and campus. Provided photo.

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