Managing director Jim Sorensen is generally responsible for keeping the theater running smoothly as a business by keeping track of actors' contracts, facilities, concessions, and the box office.įreeFall is setting the mood for its new space with a 50 foot by 50 foot black box theater, the first of its new theaters to open. The collaborative effort to turn this old church building into a new space for a budding company involves freeFall architect Tim Clemmons, who drew up plans for the theaters, and the company's technical director Thad Engle, who is assessing freeFall's sound and lighting needs during the renovation.Įmilie Kuperman, executive director, helps the theater carry out its mission (which, according to its website, is to "pursue art's greater purposes and the transformative power of theatre") on the business end, and organizes fund raising. Across freeFall's large parking lot is a third building, which the company wants to turn into a center for education and theater instruction. The second building, down sidewalk corridors and across a grassy area that Davis and Lane envision as the outdoor lobby, will house the company's 150-seat black box theatre.
Until it's ready for full-scale productions, Lane says the company will use the large room for events like indie film screenings. The largest, the former main church building, will be turned into freeFall's mainstage theater. The sprawling complex, which the company purchased for $1.5 million, is made up of three buildings. Petersburg, says he often passed the church building on his way down Central Avenue to his mother's home. "Very quickly, theater companies become like a family," Lane says.ĭavis and Lane closed on the old church property around Thanksgiving 2010, after a search that took them to warehouses and parking garages and downtown buildings. FreeFall hired actors for its first show a few years ago, and soon built a company from people in the community who sought involvement in the arts. Since then, the company's productions have been housed at other local theaters like and American Stage, both in downtown St. Petersburg theater scene with its debut show "The Wild Party,'' at St. Now, a lime green sign in front of the three-acre property lets passersby know this isn't a church anymore. Just months ago, the company didn't have a place to call its own.
Freefall theatre sarasota windows#
They point out windows that will house art displays, and an opening in one of the outside walls perfect for a potential concessions area. They walk through what used to be Second Church of Christ-Scientist, in and out of empty spaces that would become their dressing rooms, bathrooms and mainstage theater. Petersburg, freeFall Theatre founders Eric Davis, 36, and his partner Kevin Lane, 33, discuss creative choices and construction details.
And there's even snow.About two months before the debut of freeFall Theatre Company's "The Frogs,'' church pews and Sunday school signs fill the company's new space.Īt the three-building complex at 6099 Central Avenue in St. The lighting by Mike Wood is up to Freefall's engaging standards. Costumes by Mike and Kathy Buck Designs and Davis are luscious to look at, as is the set by Greg Bierce and Matt Davis.
Sarasota-based performer Panek, known for his Internet show How Bout Joey, gives Cratchit warmth, sweetness and a really big smile.ĭirector Eric Davis does his usual strong work filling the stage with creative interpretations. Mann, who played the Emcee in Freefall's Cabaret, lends a gruff bark to Scrooge, a meanness he subtly transforms. Freefall fans will spot Kelly Pekar and Taylor Simmons from the recently wrapped Into the Woods. This year's production welcomes new faces, including David Mann as Scrooge and Joey Panek as Bob Cratchit. The songs are traditional English carols and original numbers that bolster the narrative without distracting from it.įreefall has aimed to turn the show into a community tradition, while finding ways to keep it fresh. This is Freefall's fourth year doing the musical, with book and lyrics by Keith Ferguson and music by Bruce Greer. The cautionary tale from 1843 still resonates, performed every year in theaters around the world. Scrooge has to suffer through his dreary past, present and future with helpful hints before he decides to go nice. It's Christmas, and such petulance can't last. "Your sentimentality is sickening," he sneers at his cheerful nephew.
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