Big Arts On Sanibel Big Draw in Winter

One of the things that differentiates Sanibel from most tropical, vacation resorts in Florida is the incredible number of cultural events a tourist can find on our Island.

And the core of these activities is Big Arts, a cultural series and symposium that covers everything from classical music to health and science lectures.  The events begin at the end of October,  and carry through until the end of March.

Here is just a small sampling:

• Film: Women on the 6th Floor (France), Monday, October 29, 7 PM

Set in Paris in the early 1960s, this film tells the story of a serious but uptight stockbroker leading a consistently uninteresting life. Matters suddenly change when he is led by Maria, a beautiful new maid in his luxury building, to the servants' quarter, where he learns to open up to an altogether different world. Film critic Roger Ebert describes the movie as a "pleasant, even-tempered romantic fantasy."

• Theatre:  November 13 - 20, 2012  

Theatre Conspiracy's production of Becky's New Car drives over the Causeway from Fort Myers onto Sanibel for an encore run at BIG ARTS Herb Strauss Theater. Becky's New Car is the story of a frustrated, middle-aged mother and wife who a wealthy widower mistakenly assumes is a widow herself. When she repeatedly neglects to correct his mistake, Becky finds herself swept up in a double life and charade speeding dangerously off track.Laced with adult humor, playwright Steven Dietz spins a touching tale about the detours we make on the road to happiness. Performances are 8 p.m. November 13 – 20, and a 4 p.m. matinée November 18. Opening Night Reception, 7 p.m. Thursday, November 13.

• Classical Music:  December 2, 3:30 PM

Jinjoo Cho is the First Prize and Orchestra Award winner of the 2010 Buenos Aires International Violin Competition and the People's Choice Award winner of the 2006 Montreal International Musical Competition. She has appeared as a soloist with The Cleveland Orchestra, the Seoul Philharmonic, Louisville Orchestra and the Aspen Concert Orchestra. A native of Seoul, South Korea, Jinjoo Cho is a graduate of Yewon Art School and the Korean National University of Arts. She moved to the U.S. in 2002 to study at the Cleveland Institute of Music. A Cleveland Plain Dealer review describes Cho as a "young artist of extravagant gifts ... a forceful, expressive musician."
Hyun Soo Kim completed his Master's degree in Collaborative Piano at the Cleveland Institute of Music in 2011, where he received the Rosa Lobe award in Collaborative Piano. He has performed as soloist with the University of Delaware Symphony Orchestra and the Newark Symphony Orchestra.
Their program will include
John Corigliano: Sonata for Violin & Piano
Beethoven: Sonata for Violin & Piano Op.12, No.1 in D Major
Strauss: Violin & Piano in E-flat major, Op. 18
Paganini: "La Campanella"
Franz Waxman: Carmen Fantasy

• Dance: Gulfshore Ballet's The Nutcracker Suites

4 PM Saturday, December 22, 2012

at BIG ARTS Schein Performance Hall

Southwest Florida's classical ballet school, Gulfshore Ballet, presents their performance of selections from The Nutcracker

•  Lecture: Richard Norton Smith

Topic: America Divided:
The Polarized Presidency

7:30 PM Sunday, January 13, 2013

Richard Norton Smith is a presidential historian and former head of six presidential libraries. He has published numerous books, including, Thomas E. Dewey and His Times, a finalist for the 1983 Pulitzer Prize. Smith has served as director of the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum; the Dwight D. Eisenhower Center; the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, and the Reagan Center for Public Affairs; the Gerald R. Ford Museum and Library; and Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics at the University of Kansas. He is a nationally recognized expert on the American presidency and appears regularly on C-SPAN and "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" as part of the roundtable of historians. Smith is currently scholar-in-Residence of History and Public Policy at George Mason University.


There is so much going on this winter, we may have to do a second post!