Buzz Worthy | Banyan Theater filled a void in Bradenton-area arts

Theater insiders in the Bradenton-Sarasota area are saddened by the sudden death on March 21 of Jerry Finn, the founder and guiding force of Banyan Theater. I am too. I did not know Jerry well, but I liked him and always enjoyed talking to him. I've seldom encountered anyone who was more passionate about theater.

One time I had an idea for a column, about the spelling of "theater" verses "theatre." It was a fluffy idea for a column but when I called Jerry he launched into a well-thought-out, highly entertaining tirade against the -re spelling. He was even passionate about that most trivial of theater topics.

I could always count on him for intriguing and provocative comments. I'll miss our occasional chats.

But I'll miss Banyan Theater much more. Even a few days before Jerry died, when he was in a coma and under hospice care, the Banyan board decided to disband the company. There was no way to carry on without him. Jerry Finn was Banyan. The company could not exist even for one season without him.

When Banyan started 15 years ago, there was virtually no theater at all in the summer months in the Bradenton-Sarasota area. Finn, along with some other local theater stalwarts who were part of Banyan at the beginning, recognized that there were still a whole lot of people here in the off-season. Finn and friends decided to put something on stage for us.

It's hard to imagine now, but a lot of people considered summer theater a bold and even foolish move at the time.

But summer theater makes sense. Theater companies in Florida are at a disadvantage because they have to compete almost all year with outdoor activities (in addition to competing with movies, TV and other more passive entertainment). It's in the summer that Floridians are eager for things to do indoors.

And other companies have followed Banyan's lead. Sarasota's Urbanite Theatre offered its first productions this past summer (and now plans year-round productions). They've been selling out consistently. Another new-ish Sarasota company, Two Chairs Theatre, has staged one classic play a year in the summer. More es

tablished companies around the area have started adding summer shows to their season.

That's all part of the legacy of Jerry Finn and Banyan Theater. There are other factors involved in the proliferation of summer theater, but Banyan was undeniably the trailblazer.

And because there's so much summer theater now, Banyan may not be missed in quite the same way it would have been 10 or even five years ago.

But Banyan's appeal wasn't just that it was a summer company. Banyan had its own style of theater -- no doubt largely a reflection of Finn's personal tastes -- and the company's absence will leave a void in local theater.

Banyan didn't do shows that no one else was doing. "Art," "Heroes" and "Painting Churches" which Banyan has staged in recent years, have all been done by other theaters in central Florida. They were shows that theater lovers love, substantial and emotional and full of observations about the human condition. It didn't matter if people had seen them before, because they were worth seeing multiple times.

And even if a play wasn't to your liking (I'm not a fan of "Art," a play that a lot of people rave about, for example), you always knew a Banyan production would feature great acting and directing and gorgeous sets and costumes, and that the play itself would be though-provoking, at minimum.

Virtually every time I saw a play at Banyan that I had seen before elsewhere, the Banyan production was superior.

The passing of Banyan will have repercussions. Banyan employed actors, directors, designers and technicians from the Bradenton-Sarasota area, or from St. Petersburg and Tampa, almost exclusively. Some of the other Equity theaters in this area do not.

So the great actors and designers who call this area home have just lost a significant amount of work. It's especially bad news for some of the actors who had been cast in shows for the 2016 summer season, which has now been canceled.

They were counting on that work, and now it's too late to audition for other shows.

Banyan had a great 14-year run. A lot of very good theater companies don't last nearly that long. But the start of Banyan's 15th season would have been just weeks away and a lot of people were eager for it. The company's absence will be felt.

Marty Clear, features writer/columnist, can be reached at 941-708-7919. Please follow twitter.com/martinclear.

This story was originally published March 25, 2016 at 5:46 PM with the headline "Buzz Worthy | Banyan Theater filled a void in Bradenton-area arts ."