The Sarasota Opera House turns 100 this year, and the story of how it got here reads like a Gulf Coast epic. A.B. Edwards, Sarasota’s first mayor and the man known as “Mr. Sarasota,” built the theater in 1926 to attract winter visitors from New York and Chicago who expected first-rate shows. He lost the building during the Great Depression, and it continued on as the Florida Theater, where Elvis Presley performed four shows in 1956.
The theater closed by 1973 and nearly fell to demolition. The Sarasota Opera Company bought it in 1979, renovated it in the 1980s, and completed a $20 million restoration in 2008. Historian Jeff LaHurd credits the opera with helping revive downtown Sarasota, and the company is now one of only seven U.S. opera companies that own their own theater.
The fall season opens October 30 with Humperdinck’s “Hansel and Gretel.” Whether you’re a longtime season ticket holder or have never stepped inside, this centennial year is a good excuse to visit a building that holds a full century of Suncoast memories. What’s your favorite memory of the Florida Theater or the Opera House?
