OVATION OCTOBER | NOVEMBER | DECEMBER | 2017 Digestive System Feeling out of Tune?
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OVATION OCTOBER | NOVEMBER | DECEMBER | 2017 Digestive system feeling out of tune? Come see North Florida’s leading digestive health experts. (904) 398-7205 borland-groover.com Leave a Legacy bg286486_BG_ProgramAd_5x3.875.indd 1 9/5/17 3:05 PM to the Florida Theatre The Florida Theatre has provided you with inspirational and memorable performances over the years. Now you can ensure that future genera- tions continue to enjoy the Theatre at the same level you have. With the help of Saunders & Company, one of Jacksonville’s most trusted financial advisory firms, we now have a unique program where you can include the Florida Theatre in your estate planning and leave a true Legacy for future generations to come. ON THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY Call Suzanne Hudson-Smith, Florida Theatre at 904-562-5973 Congratulations OFOF THE GO FLORIDAFOR THE GREENS THEATRE Proud Partner to arrange a private meeting. Healthier TOGETHER. Florida Blue is proud to partner with the Florida Theatre. With a long-term commitment to the people we serve, together we will reach out goal of helping people and communities achieve better health. 877-352-5830 | floridablue.com Adding Value Since 1973 Florida Blue is a trade name of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida Inc., Independent Licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. 90442 0817 128 East Forsyth Street ● Jacksonville, FL 32202 233 East Bay Street, Suite 630 ● Jacksonville, FL 32202 904.355.5661 ● floridatheatre.com (904) 358-3856 ● saunderscompany.net 90442 0817 FBLPNRTH Florida Theatre Ad-2.indd 1 9/7/17 11:46 AM Leave a Legacy to the Florida Theatre The Florida Theatre has provided you with inspirational and memorable performances over the years. Now you can ensure that future genera- tions continue to enjoy the Theatre at the same level you have. With the help of Saunders & Company, one of Jacksonville’s most trusted financial advisory firms, we now have a unique program where you can include the Florida Theatre in your estate planning and leave a true Legacy for future generations to come. Call Suzanne Hudson-Smith, Florida Theatre at 904-562-5973 to arrange a private meeting. Adding Value Since 1973 128 East Forsyth Street ● Jacksonville, FL 32202 233 East Bay Street, Suite 630 ● Jacksonville, FL 32202 904.355.5661 ● floridatheatre.com (904) 358-3856 ● saunderscompany.net WELCOME LETTER THE PRESIDENT Last week when I was first asked for the next Ovation letter, I had a very different set of thoughts in mind than I do now, just four days after Hurricane Irma. Fortunately, the theatre suffered mostly minor storm damage, and only one really expensive repair to an air conditioning switch. (You start out to run a theatre, and sooner or later, you’re an expert on all sorts of arcane topics, such as air conditioning electronics.) There was one high profile piece of damage, a plate glass window on the ground floor. News4Jax even tweeted a picture of it during the storm. (If you want to experience real frustration, sit home during a hurricane while every person you ever met forwards you a broken window photo!) Some of the theatre’s staff made it downtown to check on the building Monday after the storm exited the area. While we were here, one of our neighbors from down the street rolled up in his truck with two sheets of plywood and proceeded to board up the window. Paul Sifton of 927 Events is a friend of the theatre, and he took it upon himself to do the right thing just because it was the right thing to do. When we book an artist who has a social or political point of view, I can count on receiving customer mail from the public on the other side of the divide. The response is never, “I don’t agree, and I won’t be attending, but thanks for keeping public discourse alive.” The feedback is almost always a variation of, “How dare you.” Keeping an historic theatre alive as a communal gathering place for music, dance and theatre is a mostly profitless act of faith, at least financially. Spiritually however, it can be very rich. Paul’s act is but one example. In the scope of a weather event that negatively impacted millions of people, it was a small thing. But as an act of charity and community spirit, it was very rich. It stands in stark contrast to the increasing rancor in the rest of our society. He was just a guy in a pickup making a repair, but he was so much more than that, too. Thank you Paul, and thank you to all the other volunteers, donors and ticket buyers who have kept the Florida Theatre alive for over 90 years. Numa C. Saisselin President 4 | FLORIDATHEATRE.COM | BOX OFFICE: 904.355.2787 Famous brands you know at prices you’ll love Roosevelt | Mandarin | Lakewood Beaches | Harbour Village | Baymeadows SteinMart.com | 1-888-SteinMart HISTORY OF THE FLORIDA THEATRE When the Florida Theatre originally opened to the public on April 8, 1927, it was downtown Jacksonville’s fifteenth, and largest, theatre. Today, it is the last remaining historic theatre on the north bank of downtown, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the city’s last remaining example of 1920s fantasy architecture. The elaborate interior was designed by R.E. Hall of New York and Jacksonville architect Roy Benjamin. Their design displays many characteristics of the Mediterranean Revival, one of the most prominent architectural styles associated with Florida’s building boom of the 1920s. The architects envisioned a Moorish courtyard at night, resplendent with glittering stars, grand balconies, and fountains. The ornate proscenium arch that frames the stage reaches nearly six stories high, dominating the auditorium and contributing to the venue’s excellent acoustics. An open-air roof garden in the 1920s provided a venue for dancing under the stars, and a nursery was available for patrons’ young children. The building’s then-modern features included central heating, central air-conditioning and a central vacuuming system. Like many theatres of its day, the Florida Theatre was designed for both stage shows and motion pictures and a typical program included six elements: a news reel, a comedy short, a cartoon or travelogue, an overture by the band on a moveable orchestra pit (still in use today), a live stage presentation, and the feature film. Creative marketing through the decades included “Screeno,” a bingo game played on the movie screen; “Bank Night,” which gave ticket buyers a chance to win cash prizes; and, in the late 1960s, rocking chairs. Live performances have always been a hallmark of the Theatre’s schedule, and one of the most memorable occurred in 1956, when Elvis Presley came to the Florida Theatre. Presley, the City of Jacksonville, and the Florida Theatre found themselves subjects of a LIFE magazine feature when Juvenile Court Judge Marion Gooding sat through the performance to ensure that Presley’s body movements would not become too suggestive. By the late 1970s, however, the Theatre was only marginally profitable. By May 8, 1980, when the building closed, martial arts movies were the bulk of the schedule. In 1981, with financial support from the State of Florida, the City of Jacksonville, and the private sector, the Arts Assembly of Jacksonville (now the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville) acquired the Theatre to preserve it for cultural uses. A $4.1 million capital campaign resulted in the building’s restoration and renovation. The 1,900-seat Theatre reopened on October 1, 1983, with a Gala Variety Show featuring Some Like It Cole, a Cole Porter review; the Symphony String Quartet; and Grammy Award winning fiddle player Vassar Clements, who closed the evening with “Orange Blossom Special.” On October 1, 1987, the City of Jacksonville acquired the building. The Florida Theatre Performing Arts Center, Inc. was founded as a nonprofit corporation to manage, program, and preserve the building. Thousands of performances and millions of audience members later, the Florida Theatre is still, “One of the unique assets that makes Jacksonville, Jacksonville.” 6 | FLORIDATHEATRE.COM | BOX OFFICE: 904.355.2787 Present this ad to your server and enjoy: ONE FREE CRAFT COCKTAIL Audio Visual Logistics Buy one cocktail & get a second From corporate to concert, one of equal or lesser value. making events spectacular. 3500 Beachwood Ct Ste 104 OR Jacksonville, FL 32224 Office: (904) 551-1315 Email: [email protected] ONE FREE DESSERT Visit Us At: Follow Us On: Buy one dessert & get a second avlproductions.com one of equal or lesser value. 398.3005 TAVERNA.RESTAURANT OV2017 EVENT CALENDAR TICKETS + INFORMATION: 904.355.ARTS & FLORIDATHEATRE.COM OCTOBER 10/3 Jesse Cook 10/19 Theatreworks Dragons Love 10/4 Art Walk (Theatre open for tours) Tacos and Other Stories 10/5 Seu Jorge presents 10/20 The Temptations and The Four Tops Sponsored By The Life Aquatic: A Tribute To Florida Blue David Bowie 10/21 Inspire Jacksonville presents 10/8 Shopkins Live! Shop It Up! Hawk Nelson and Blanca 10/10 Chris Isaak 10/22 The Wizard Of Oz Sensory 10/11 Russian Grand Ballet Swan Lake Friendly Screening 10/14 TEDx Jacksonville 2017: 10/24 An Acoustic Evening with Lyle We, The People Lovett and John Hiatt 10/17 An Evening with Neil DeGrasse 10/28 Rocky Horror Picture Show • Tyson “An Astrophysicist Reads 10/29 The Magpie Salute the Newspaper” Sponsored By A1A Solar • NOVEMBER 11/1 Art Walk (Theatre open for tours) 11/17 Mike Epps 11/3 Theatreworks Junie B. Jones 11/18 Celtic Thunder Symphony Tour 11/3 Gary Owen 11/22 Rodrigo y Gabriela 11/4 Monty Python and The Holy Grail 11/24 John McLaughlin & Jimmy with John