Venice Theatre is thrilled to announce its return to live performances in its Pinkerton Theatre beginning Friday, Jan. 20, 2023 with its scheduled performances of The Cemetery Club. Catastrophic damage from Hurricane Ian caused Venice Theatre’s entire main building to be deemed uninhabitable and unsafe for public use. Now, just three months and 23 days after the hurricane destroyed the back wall of the stucture and lifted the roof off the main stage house, the theatre has been granted a certificate of occupancy to use the 90-seat black box Pinkerton Theatre. The Pinkerton Theatre is located on the west side of the main building of the Tampa Avenue campus.

Producing/Executive Director Murray Chase says, “Only with the entire community working together, could this be accomplished. City of Venice officials made the process as efficient as possible. Magnum Builders and its subcontractors have been working tirelessly. Sweet Sparkman Architecture quickly provided the legal specifications for temporary use. Our staff has been moving forward with great energy. And, of course, the emotional and financial support of foundations, donors, patrons, and volunteers have kept us afloat. I am excited about this milestone in our recovery.”

The work that had to be completed before portions of the building could reopen included full water mitigation including replacing 90 percent of the drywall and carpet, a full rerun of electric lines through the building, replacement of air conditioning, new fire alarm equipment and sprinkler monitoring, a new Life Safety Plan, roof repair and more. Work on the building will continue for more than a year. At 10:30 Wednesday morning the theatre passed its final inspection from the fire Marshall and building inspectors, readying the way to the reopening.

The Cemetery Club is the first show audiences will enjoy in the main building since The Revolutionists was forced to close early due to Ian. At the time of this writing, The Cemetery Club has no tickets available. Ticket buyers should be aware that most Venice Theatre events this season have limited availability due to space constraints. The theatre urges patrons to buy early at www.venicetheatre.org or by calling 941.488.1115. The box office is not open for walk-up business.

Subscribers and ticket holders with seats they are unable to use are encouraged to contact the box office at 941.488.1115 or info@venicetheatre.net to make exchanges. Released tickets will be made available to others interested in seeing the show.

Venice Theatre’s full schedule of events through May 2023 may be found at www.venicetheatre.org and appears below.