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Manatee Players outlines growth: 23,000 tickets sold, partnerships with Pops Orchestra and Disney pilots
Summary
Janine Anick, producing artistic director of the Manatee Players / Manatee Performing Arts Center, briefed the TDC on audience recovery, program expansion, partnerships with the Pops Orchestra, Disney pilot productions, a planned fourth-floor rehearsal room, and education and outreach programs.
Janine Anick, producing artistic director for Manatee Players and the Manatee Performing Arts Center, gave the Tourist Development Council an annual update on the theater conservatory's programs, audience numbers and facility plans.
Anick said the organization dates to 1947 and that the performing arts center now hosts about 190 ticketed events in a typical July-to-June year. She reported more than 23,000 individual tickets sold at the facility this past year and over 49,000 total visits when free and private events are included, putting attendance back at pre-COVID levels from 2019.
Anick described "action through acting," a program that pairs productions with nonprofit partners to highlight social issues, and recounted past partnerships with the Humane Society of Manatee County, Manatee County School Systems and Ross Kemp Institute to support public education on issues including animal welfare, youth homelessness and dementia support. She said those programs generate community referrals and follow-up services from partner agencies.
On facilities and partnerships, Anick said the conservatory is planning a fourth-floor orchestra rehearsal room and music library; the Manatee Pops Orchestra has provided a letter of intent to occupy the space, and the room would also host a planned youth orchestra and provide storage and rehearsal capacity for regional ensembles. Anick said a Sarah Studios site plan had been resubmitted to the City of Bradenton and that the organization hopes to break ground by August at the latest.
Anick also described pilot collaborations: a Disney-authorized senior production of High School Musical, a youth production of Mary Poppins supported by a live youth orchestra, and a filmed January concert that was submitted to a film festival in Italy and won. She said the center is pursuing residency and programming relationships with regional organizations including the Sarasota Ballet and Sarasota Opera for rehearsals and youth camps.
Council members praised the center's outreach and volunteer training, noting volunteers receive training in active shooter response, stop-the-bleed, AED use and basic emergency preparedness. Anick said the center had about 125 volunteers supporting the year's events and that volunteers receive safety training before serving.
There was no formal TDC action associated with the update; the presentation was informational and TDC members indicated interest in supporting the center going forward.
