Thank You!

More than anyone, all of you who come to the Opera and support our continued artistic excellence deserve a huge Thank You! The Sarasota Opera House is your opera house, and it is a tremendous legacy for all of us to pass on to future Sarasotans.

Opening Night - March 1, 2008

Patrons in the theater for the first time.

Mr. and Mrs. Murphy

Victoria Leopold enjoys good company in the McCorkle Lounge.

Pat Hull, Alma Abshier, Dick Hull.

Opera House Ribbon Cutting

The Opera House is wrapped with a large gold ribbon. With a few snips from donors representing the 1500 supporters of the project, audiences were welcomed into the theater.

Virginia Toulmin

Betsy Bagby

Victoria and Harry Leopold

Bill and Casiana Schmidt

Alisa and Ernie Kretzmer

Maestro Victor DeRenzi and Susan Danis address the crowd. Jerry Waterman and Virginia Toulmin look on.

Audiences entering the Opera House for the first time.

Preparing for the Big Night

A few days ahead of March 1, 2008 a large tent is errected behind the Opera House. As the big night draws near, it is decked out for the post performance Gala.

Opera House - Ready to Go

The Opera House, in a final quiet moment before the Re-Opening performance.

Rigoletto Rehearsal

The orchestra rehearses with Maestro DeRenzi in the newly expanded pit. On stage is the set for Rigoletto.

First Notes

To celebrate the re-opening, Opera supporters were welcomed to the theater by Susan Danis and Maestro DeRenzi for a 'First Notes' dinner followed by a dress rehearsal of 'Rigoletto'.

Va Pensiero

Early in the rehearsal period for the 2008 season, all the singers gathered on stage. The singing of Verdi's 'Va Pensiero' has been a traditional event at the Opera House for many years. It was the closing piece performed at the final concert March 4, 2007 and it seemed only apropriate to re-christen the theater with it.

Naming the Theater

LMS Signs puts up lettering in the Marie L. Hoffberg Lobby.

Starting from a template, LMS Signs sorts and mounts the letters for the William E. Schmidt Opera Theatre on the wall.

Seat Install - Balcony

As carpet is put down, the seat installers follow right on their heels.

Seat Install - Video

The final sample seat produced by Irwin Seating.

The seat installation crew from Contract Solutions places all the arms for the seats first.

All the wood seat back are lined up in rows, ready for install.

Installers go up and down each row attaching seat backs.

As one crew works from the back of the theater, another moves from the front back.

Main Curtain and Surtitle Install

A team from IWeiss installs the top section of the main curtain.

A team from Figaro Systems gets the Surtitle screen up and running.

The completed main curtain and surtitle screen.

McCorkle Lounge and Steinwachs Lobby

The McCorkle Lounge and the Paul and Sharon Steinwachs Parterre Lobby ready for opening.

Carpet!

Workers take a break from unrolling huge bolts of new carpet in the loading dock.

The McCorkle Lounge with its new carpet.

Founders Lounge

Dark wood trim is installed around the coffers in the Founders Lounge on the third floor of the Opera House.

A dark wood floor is installed to match.

Dolphin Innovations works to install fabric walls in the Founders Lounge

Courtyard Lights

The concrete infront of the Donna wolf Steigerwaldt Courtyard is torn up to install some decorative lighting.

Tile Work

The crew from Sun Tile works across the Lobby floor.

As a final step, the tile is grouted and polished.

Victoria Leopold Grand Atrium

Final work progresses on the atrium.

The completed Victoria Leopold Grand Atrium in the early evening, days prior to the re-opening of the Opera House.

Guy-Nadel Foundation Lobby

Decorative painting begins on the ceiling in the Guy-Nadel Foundation Lobby. The Box Office kiosk on the right will open an hour before performances, while the rest of the time the box office will be in the Pavilion building next door to the Opera House.

See the full construction of the Guy-Nadel Foundation Lobby:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Top to Bottom

Decorative painters work on the ceilings throughout the theater, closely followed by SPC construction painting the floor.

Decorative Painters Transform the Theater

The organ lofts on the side of the theater with a coat of base paint awaiting the decorative painting team.

Work begins at creating the impression of travertine blocks on the theater wall.

Some base layers of color are put on the wall.

Two teams work across the wall darkening the faux stone.

Final details and touch ups on the columns under the organ loft openings.

The end result!

William G. Selby and Marie Selby Foundation Lobby

Trim work in the new William G. Selby and Marie Selby Foundation Lobby.

Electricians and decorative artists working side by side.

new carpet is rolled out.

The carpet is temporarily covered up to protect it, while speaker covers for the ceilings are laid out for painting.

The lobby just a few days before opening.

See Part 3, Part 2 and Part 1 of the Lobby construction.

Stage Finishing

The new wood floor is laid on the stage.

The stage floor is ready for painting, as are the columns on either side of the stage.

See the construction of the stage in Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4

Decorative Painting - Video

The team of decorative artists from Dean Tippin Studios and Decorative Effects work on hand painting every inch of the Opera House.

Proscenium Arch

Decorative columns are built on either side of the proscenium.

Over the course of a few weeks, the proscenium arch above the stage is built, including a slot in the center for the Surtitles screen.

Construction Tours

Gabe Schmergel, Stan and Alma Abshier, and Valerie Schmergel after completing a tour of the Opera House.

Jack and Isabel Wright heading out for a tour.

Ken Kwiatkowski takes a break on a tour.



Susan Danis gives a tour of the renovated theater to incoming singers from the Apprentice and Studio Artists Programs.

Orchestra Pit Lift Finishing

The steel structure for the Pit lift 'car' or platform is loaded into the pit, then assembled by the crew from Gala systems.

A wood deck is built on top of the lift car.

The pit lift at its lowest position, creating a full sized orchestra pit which extends under the stage.

The entire orchestra pit lift car, as seen from the lighting positions in the ceiling of the auditorium.

see some earlier photos of the pit lift construction.

Painting Beams

Four lifts work in the theater at once, while the decorative painters begin the process of painting the ceiling of the theater to look like wood beams.

One painter works on the last corner of beams to be painted.

Painting the Atrium

The decorative painting crew prepares to paint the atrium by protecting the 1926 wood columns.

Lead decorative artist Martha Tippin of Dean Tippin Studios works on pickling and staining the wood columns around the atrium.

One of the decorative painting crew works on blending small cracks in the columns which have been sealed and filled.