Keeping the Arts Alive

It’s no surprise that a theater community like ours drew the interest of the multiple Tony-winning team of Bob and Beverly Bartner. Together, they’ve produced or invested in more than two dozen Broadway shows in the past fifteen years, including Betrayal (with Daniel Craig), A View From the Bridge (with Scarlett Johansson and Liev Schreiber), Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (with Whoopi Goldberg), and The Book of Mormon.

The couple moved here in 2010 because a friend of theirs had moved to Sarasota in 2008 and loved it. The Bartners wanted warm winter weather, quality local medical facilities, convenient travel to New York and London, and a robust theater scene. Small wonder that Sarasota fit the bill and has been their home since then. “We love it here!” Beverly says more than once during our conversation.

“We got involved with Asolo Rep during our first year here,” explains Bob, detailing how Margaret Wise threw a dinner party where they met Asolo Repertory Theatre Producing Artistic Director Michael Donald Edwards. “At some point, they made me president of Asolo Rep’s board, and I served in that role for two years,” he adds in his characteristically humble but straight-shooting style of speaking.

“Neither of us believes in retirement,” admits Bob. In the understatement of all understatements, he adds, “we stay pretty active.” He’s a Trustee of Ringling College of Art + Design. They both serve on the Asolo Rep’s Board of Directors. They’re active with Sarasota Memorial Healthcare Foundation. Beverly’s co-chairing the Healthcare Foundation’s Women in Medicine luncheon and a fundraising event for the Friendship Centers. She’s also on the board of the Child Protection Center.

They’re both still active with numerous New York organizations and groups, too. And as any serious theater backer does, they travel like their frequent flier miles are about to expire. Bob points out that they’re heading to London on Saturday to prepare for the opening of a new production of Dream Girls, a show that — he carefully explains — originated here in the 1980s, was made into a movie twice, but has never been in London. The Bartners are producing a lot of shows in London these days, simply because it costs far less to produce shows there than elsewhere.

Not long after they relocated to Sarasota, the Bartners partnered with Gulf Coast Community Foundation because Gulf Coast is a major sponsor of Asolo Rep. Bob notes that it’s not just financial support either — it’s offering the kind of wisdom, advice, and council any not-for-profit needs, such as the best way to structure and organize things. Bob says, “While Teri Hansen was in charge when we first started working with Gulf Coast Community Foundation, it’s great that Mark [Pritchett] and Veronica [Brady] have provided continuing quality leadership. They continue to keep Gulf Coast a major player in developing the important things we need here in Sarasota and Venice.” One of those things that the Bartners want to see happen is the development of a new generation of arts and culture fans. “Look at Sarasota,” Bob explains. “In order for all of these wonderful arts organizations to survive, we need to get young people to try it all out. The arts are part of what we all need to lead productive lives.”

One of the ways that happens is by making the arts family-friendly. Last May, the Bartners discovered a very family-friendly play in London, Hetty Feather, about a young girl who escapes the Foundling Hospital and has adventures with such people as Matron “Stinking” Bottomly and places such as a squirrel house and Tanglefields Travelling Circus. They enhanced the production and brought the entire cast to Asolo Rep to perform it. Asolo Rep was so pleased with their first family-oriented production that they have now committed to doing a family production every year. This season’s performance — a June/July production billed as “recommended for everyone ages 8+” — is Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, which is based on the 1870 book of the same name by French author Jules Verne.

Bob and Beverly have a wonderful banter between them. While they don’t fully agree on the specific dates of events or how everything exactly happened, they do have a mutual love for the theater, an appreciation for the art world, a love for Sarasota, and a genuine desire to help make our community a better place (including, as Bob put it, his desire to control the amount of concrete going up and increase the number of trees that we have).

“It’s absolutely critical that we get kids into theater, ballet, and music,” says Bob. Bev adds that just the other day, she saw maybe 50 school buses at the Van Wezel. That’s the sort of thing that the Bartners — and Gulf Coast Community Foundation — get excited about. Positive experiences with the arts have a huge impact on the lives of kids and help build those future audiences that the arts of tomorrow require.