A season guide to the stages within 25 miles of Venice, Florida
Grab your season tickets and clear your calendar. The 2026-2027 theatre season is starting up across the Venice and Sarasota area, and there is enough comedy, drama, and music within a short drive to fill nearly every weekend between now and next June. Whether you want a seat in the audience or a spot on the stage, here is what is opening near you, theatre by theatre.
Venice Theatre, Venice
Right here in Venice, Venice Theatre opens its 77th season with eight mainstage shows split across two subscription series. The Raymond 4 brings Four Old Broads, Freaky Friday, Catfish Moon, and Tuck Everlasting to the Raymond Center stage. Stage 2 runs Blood Relations, August: Osage County, Blood of the Lamb, and The Taming of the Shrew. Kinky Boots and Come From Away go on sale later in the season.
If you want to be part of the cast instead of the crowd, auditions are already underway. The Silver Foxes hold auditions September 8 and the Teenyboppers teen improv troupe auditions September 12. Catfish Moon and Blood of the Lamb cast October 17 and 18, The Taming of the Shrew casts November 7 and 8, Kinky Boots casts November 14 and 15, Tuck Everlasting casts December 13 and 14, and Come From Away casts January 9 and 10. Call the box office at 941-488-1115 or visit venicetheatre.org for exact times.
Lemon Bay Playhouse, Englewood
About ten miles down the road in Englewood, Lemon Bay Playhouse opens its 39th season on September 2 with Theatre People or The Angel Next Door, followed by Bell, Book, and Candle in October and the holiday comedy Saving Grace in December. Brooklyn Laundry opens in January, Barefoot in the Park runs in March, and Stella and Lou takes the stage in April. The season closes with Any Wednesday in June.
Auditions at Lemon Bay run Sunday and Monday nights at 7 PM. Saving Grace holds auditions August 23 and 24. Brooklyn Laundry and Barefoot in the Park cast together November 15 and 16, and Stella and Lou and Any Wednesday cast together February 21 and 22. Call 941-475-6756 or visit lemonbayplayhouse.com for scripts and sides.
Charlotte Players, Port Charlotte
Over in Port Charlotte, Charlotte Players open a new season at the Langdon Playhouse with seven shows on the docket: Remember Me, Four Old Broads Christmas Extravaganza, Sin, Sex and the CIA, The Dinner Party, Sandy Toes & Salty Kisses, A Bad Year for Tomatoes, and Southern Comforts. Exact performance and audition dates were still being finalized at the time of this post, so call the box office at 941-255-1022 or check charlotteplayers.org for the current schedule.
The Sarasota Players, Sarasota
Sarasota’s own community theatre marks its 97th season with Bat Boy: The Musical opening August 27, followed by As You Like It in September and Dracula in October at the Players Studio Black Box. The season moves to Payne Park Auditorium for The Producers in January, The Importance of Being Earnest in February, and a new murder mystery board game play in April. Call the box office at 941-365-2494 or visit theplayers.org.
Sarasota Jewish Theatre, Sarasota
Sharing that same Crossings at Siesta Key stage, Sarasota Jewish Theatre presents four productions this season: Kaddish for the Barrio in October, We Had A World in February, Moonlight and Magnolias in March, and Kindertransport in May. Tickets run through the same box office at 941-365-2494.
Florida Studio Theatre, Sarasota
Florida Studio Theatre in downtown Sarasota keeps its stages busy nearly year round. Highlights include the Tony winning musical Kimberly Akimbo running November through January, the one man show The Bully Pulpit through the winter, and the comedy Upgrade in February and March, alongside cabaret revues like Legacy: Motown & More! and Sailing: Yacht Rock and Beyond. FST casts mainly through Actors’ Equity and direct submission, so working actors should reach out to casting@floridastudiotheatre.org for current openings.
Urbanite Theatre, Sarasota
For something a little different, Urbanite Theatre on 2nd Street produces new and contemporary work in an intimate space. This season includes the Modern Works Festival in September, Ahoy-Hoy in the fall, The Garbologists in the new year, 1999 in spring, and the solo show Black Bastard closing out the season in June.
Asolo Repertory Theatre, Sarasota
For the full regional theatre experience, Asolo Repertory Theatre sits near the edge of the 25 mile line on Sarasota’s north end. The 2026-2027 lineup includes Singin’ in the Rain, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The Royal Family, and Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery on the Mertz main stage, with It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, Provenance, and Bootleg: America Sings 1927 on the Cook second stage.
That is eight theatres, dozens of shows, and more open audition nights than you can shake a playbill at, all within a short drive of home. Grab a season ticket, mark your calendar for an audition night, or just show up opening weekend. Either way, hold on to your hats. Theatre is in the air, and the plays are about to begin.