Donor Legacy: Behind the Scenes at Florida Studio Theatre

Most people will never know what it feels like to step onto a stage, but generous Community Foundation guests came close at a recent behind-the-scenes tour at Florida Studio Theatre (FST). What’s more, they had the chance to observe legacy in action as they paced through the FST campus, learning about the theater’s operations, touring its scene shops and backstage spaces, and stepping back through its storied history as a pillar of the Sarasota arts scene.

Florida Studio Theatre was established in 1973 as a theatre for the people, abiding by the tenet that theatre must be accessible to a wide range of audiences, keeping ticket prices low and offering a broad spectrum of programming. Throughout the years, FST has flourished under the guiding philosophy that “theatre is like a good library: filled with different minds, different thought, and reflective of our world.”

Founded on Love

Sisters Muriel O’Neil and Gertrude Hight first fell in love with FST years ago, when the pair moved to Sarasota upon retiring. Their story is legendary: born in Chicago, they both started off as writers in New York City. Muriel enjoyed a distinguished publishing career, working at American Heritage, The New York Times, and a spattering of magazines. Gertrude returned to school late in life to study psychology and finished her career as Dr. Hight, psychologist.

Childless, when the sisters retired, they purchased separate condos in the same building overlooking Sarasota Bay and spent their golden years as fixtures of the local arts and culture scene. Florida Studio Theatre was a favorite of theirs, along with other arts organizations. They attended shows, of course, but their passion for the theatre ran deeper; they volunteered, became donors, and befriended staff.

Muriel would eat lunch with staff members on the back patio and became known throughout the FST team for her fun-loving and warm spirit, recalled FST Managing Director Rebecca Hopkins.

Muriel passed first, leaving her estate to Gertrude. Not needing the money, Gertrude decided instead to open a fund in her sister’s name: The Muriel O’Neil Fund for the Performing Arts at the Community Foundation of Sarasota County.

Notable support for FST

A $500,000 gift to Florida Studio Theatre in 2018 from the O’Neil Fund has helped sustain programming and expand the theatre’s spaces. Later, $200,000 of the gift addressed much needed capital needs, and the endowed fund helps to underwrite FST’s Winter Mainstage Series in perpetuity.

The funds for capital needs supported renovations on the campus, including expanding the administrative offices in the Sudakoff Wing and constructing a new costume studio in the Montminy Wing. The projects enhanced FST’s capacity for both the steady growth of programming FST offers each year as well as the creative endeavor of building and altering costumes, a key aspect of theatrical productions.

A Legacy’s Purpose

As the small groups wended through the cabaret spaces and mainstage of FST’s sprawling property, they could see some physical evidence of the Muriel O’Neil Fund: the Muriel O’Neil Costume Studio, expanded and updated administrative offices.

Even more important are the gifts they couldn’t see but feel instead: the enthusiasm of the tour guides as they shared stories, the excitement of craftspeople bustling about, creating new ephemera for the next shows, and the warmth of these now empty spaces that by night produce, as if by magic, the spark of inspiration that only exceptional theatre can generate.

Above all these gifts, the love of two sisters whose bond with one another and with the community around them will live on forever.