Call it a holiday miracle, or maybe just smart business. But either way, The Golden Apple Dinner Theatre will once again provide live stage entertainment when it reopens in late December.
Robert Turoff, who founded the theater in 1971, was evicted from the historic downtown building in the late summer months. Back then he was trying to figure out how to remove his belongings from the building before it was leased to a new tenant. Now he’s back inside planning for an upcoming show titled Viagara Falls.
According to a story in the Sarasota Herald Tribune, Turoff has partnered with the two producers of the comedy and a third partner is making sure his lease agreement is guaranteed and providing the financial backing he needs to get the theater back up and running.
Turoff said he expects the production will feature two veteran stars of 1970s and 80s TV shows – Bernie Kopell, best known as Dr. Adam Bricker on The Love Boat, and Teresa Ganzel, who was a fixture on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and numerous game shows.
When the new backers stepped in, they formed a new company called the Golden Apple Celebrity Theatre to help launch the resurrected theater. That took a huge financial burden off the backs of Turoff and his wife, Roberta MacDonald, who had a lot of emotional support from the local community, but not much financial help.
Even before The Golden Apple was shuttered in September, Turoff was in talks with producers of Viagara Falls to bring the comedy to Sarasota. In 2011, the show did well during its run at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall.
“We really think this could do well in Sarasota,” John Finocchio, one of the new investors and a producer of the play told the Tribune.
The show will open on New Year’s Eve, and while details on how long it will run are not yet finalized, fans of the theater can expect the renewed energy of the theater to bring other productions back through its doors.
PLATO, a non-profit organization designed to save the theater, will continue to raise funds with its Waist Watchers: The Musical, at the Ramada Waterfront Hotel. The plan is, eventually, to bring full time productions back to the landmark.
