April 30: Semifinals
Front-Runners: Davidson (10-2; 5-0), UMass (11-2; 6-0), Richmond (8-1; 4-0)
The conference split into North and South divisions for 2021 due to COVID-19 scheduling. Davidson is leading the South in wins and UMass is leading the North, both sitting perfect in conference play. Davidson has put together an impressive 2021 campaign with wins over Virginia Tech and High Point, but the real test will come when they have to face Richmond for the first time to maintain their status in the South. The Spiders sit No. 18 in the Media Poll currently.
In the North, UMass handled the next best team easily in a 21-12 victory over Saint Joe’s. If this score is any indication, they’ll likely win their second matchup against them, as well, to maintain the No. 1 seed.
Arts events for Sarasota Manatee: Jan. 28-Feb. 3
Our weekly guide to the performing and visual arts in the Sarasota-Manatee area.
Key Chorale goes for Baroque
Like other organizations that have been experimenting with digital performances and testing how many artists they can safely bring together in one space, Key Chorale is expanding its group of musicians for its “Bach Together Again” concert that makes its digital debut Friday. Artistic Director Joseph Caulkins said he chose the Baroque program, which features Vivaldi’s “Gloria” and Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Magnificat,” because of the joyful and uplifting qualities in the music. It features the Key Chorale Chamber singers, orchestra musicians and soloists. It will be available on the group’s website through Feb. 21. keychorale.org
T. Michele Walker, Correspondent
Before the pandemic, it was a safe bet that on almost any evening, a production of the musical “Nunsense” was playing on a stage somewhere in the world. Clearly, there’s nothing wackier than a nun in a habit doing something unexpected or unusual, from Sally Field in “The Flying Nun” to the nuns in “The Sound of Music” or Whoopi Goldberg in “Sister Act.” Producers know that nuns on stage help fill their seats.
Dan Goggin’s “Nunsense” is a beloved warhorse for a reason. It’s pure, lighthearted merriment with tried and true laughs built around “nun” liners, “nun” puns and “nun” sequiturs in a story about a group of nuns who reveal that they crave the entertainment spotlight.
Even though staging shows during a pandemic is “twice as hard” as usual, Rick Kerby says he feels fortunate that the Manatee Players is able to keep producing while so many other theaters have shut down.
“It does make me appreciate the fact that we’re able to do anything,” said Kerby, the producing artistic director of the Manatee Performing Arts Center, home to the Manatee Players community theater. “So many of my friends who run theaters across the country are shutting their doors or waiting it out. It makes us feel good about us as a company, promoting our actors and working to keeping a product going.”