Is it too much to hope to see a lot of the present Savannah entertainment transferred to the Sharon and still maintain reasonable ticket prices? How great it would be to sit comfortably and enjoy our local talent.

I would say yes.

I have no interest in the opera or the ballet.

And I have no interest in tribute bands, Broadway that was old when I was young or performers long beyond their prime. However, I do love that The Sharon will have a bit of something for everyone, I just wish that something was of a better quality for all of us.

And I don't see wanting things to be as good as they could be to be whining and think you owe both Doc and me an apology since I haven't seen where either of us whine all that much.

So I wonder why they named it the Sharon Morse Performance Arts Center and also why since they did, that they didn't rename the parking lot at Spanish Spring the Sharon Morse Performance Art Center Parking Lot but why complain when such an altruistic gift is provided solely for the benefits of residents . The only other comparison I can think of, of this magnitude, is the gratitude I get for Comcast beaming their programming, internet and telephone services to me. Thank God for good corporate citizens.

And oh by the way the Center is open to the public so the public can feel the developers love too:D

P.S. Its what business people do for more profit so please stop making it about you.. None of this is done for you . Business is an impersonal activity because its about money transactions and money looks exactly alike to business people.

Personal Best Regards:

Would love to watch Off Broadway shows if they can come our way. Probably Opera will be out of the question noticing only about a half filled at Savanah. Probably Ballet would be the same. Perhaps Orchestra with named violinists or pianists could be a possibility? Hope so.

Please do not get me started on Comcast, an unregulated MONOPOLY. Their internet signal is so weak I can barely listen to Pandora, ;yes I am hard wired and the signal still stinks. Bill

well said red!!!

I agree about the pricing for the type of entertainment. We're living in a fixed income and just can't justify spending that kind of money on mediocrity. Guess The Sharon will be where all the well-to-do people will be spending their evenings.

For parking, maybe they could consider running the TV Trolley Busses and maybe a couple of charter busses from Villages Transportation, shuttling people from (for example) parking lots at Savannah, Lake Miona, Colony Rec Centers, and from TV Regional Hospital parking lots.

The people already ruling out The Sharon as a dumb idea sound like the people in distant states who've never been here and still opine that The Villages is a "trailer park" "in Florida swamps" that they heard of in the late 1970s. :ohdear: They couldn't be farther off-base.

The developers know what they're doing, and they'll get it right.

How has it been determined there is a parking problem? That needs a solution.

Is it open to the public? Won't you need a Village ID or guest pass?

Some observations from an infrequent poster .
1.....1000 seats is way too small to attract any significant performers.
2......Parking will be a huge problem
3......"a gift from the Morse family " ???

Remember PALMS ? That was a dream to have a surrounding area performing arts center? Never in the realm of possibility. What we have in The Sharon is reality. And it's done extremely well and an asset to The Villages.

I guess the movie theater, bowling alley and all the other businesses that use those spaces will be closed when there is an event at the Sharon. Maybe there won;t be any live entertainment in the square either.

Have you ever been up there on St Patrick's Day or any of the other special events? Cars are parked all the way up to Winn Dixie and golf carts are parked on the grass all the way to the golf cart bridge. All that parking on the map is not enough for some events now.

Yes, I've been around the squares during special events, and often have to drive in the back way to go to MVP and plenty of available parking in the HUGE lot behind the hotel and the second lot behind the bowling alley. It seems as if folks forget the lots exist sometimes.

A Few more observations, As this facility can only seat 1000, the Ticket prices are way to expensive. ( Lived in a major Metropolitan area 20,000 seat venue, Lots of parking as well as excellent public transportation) top shelf entertainment was EXPENSIVE there as well. The comments are that there is inadequate parking oops that would require more parking. The facility is to small. I have gone to the Savanna Center performances and I believe that this will be an improvement over what we had. If people want Top level entertainment Orlando has a lot. I will not criticize nor complain until I have been there done that and have been disappointed.
disappointed

I agree! Let's give it a chance before we complain..please'

Savannah shows transferring to The Sharon
 

The news release states that the Villages based entertainment will remain at Savannah and The Sharon will be used for professional acts. I am involved with a number of the "local" groups performing at Savannah, and knowing the high cost of producing a show there, I can only imagine how much more it would be to produce a show at The Sharon. We would have to charge ticket prices significantly more than we do at Savannah. But we won't worry about it, because the opportunity to perform at The Sharon appears to not be in the cards, at least not in the foreseeable future. The good news for these groups is that it may open up more time to rehearse our shows at Savannah, which historically has been very limited.

Parking problem? I don't think so.
1000 people, maybe 500 vehicles with close to fifty percent being golf carts. 250 or 300 spaces.
When the Sharon was The Church on the square it held at least 400 so there might be a need for 100-150 parking spots. I have never seen the lots in back of the buildings full.

99% Mentioned
 

Doc... your choice of entertainment I would not walk across the street to
see or hear.. You mentioned "Washed Up Entertainers" are you kidding
me some of those you mentioned, many have never heard of... how about
some "Culture" Doc... So far from your posts NONE mentioned.

You mentioned 'Tear it down" Why ?? have you heard it is about to open?

I know you are not serious and really you sound like you have a serious
problem with the Developer in disguise .

As usual, all The Village "experts" postulating before anything actually happens or opens. And by the way, they will also tell us how to run everything.:doh:

Very well said - my feelings to a T after reading thru the thread. Seems as if one can open up the most simple thread and -bam- out comes the 'easy from the keyboard' experts. Not sayin' it's bad, simply a given here. And for the novice thread-openers that get slammed along the way -- grin and bear it.

I hope you're right. I just bought a home nearby a couple of weeks ago.

From the "other" site. More information there.


Villagers won’t have to wait until April 30’s opening night to attend a production at the new Sharon L. Morse Performing Arts Center.

The Villages High School is putting on performances of “The King and I” at The Sharon on April 16-18.

Tickets are already on sale at the Villages Lifelong Learning College and the cost is $15. The first night (Thursday) of the high school production is considered a dress rehearsal and the second (Friday) is for understudies. The final night (Saturday) will be a full production.

The show will start at 7 p.m.

I'm sorry. I thought that this was supposed to be a forum where we could come on and have discussions and give our opinions about different issues.

I'm usually very positive and a supporter of the developer. In this case I think that they made a mistake. I think that a venue like this should have been larger and in a different location.

Do we want a forum where everyone says only positive things and we all agree on everything? I know that The Villages is a bit of a fantasy land for many of us, but I, for one, wouldn't want it to be a total fantasy.

If there are things that we are concerned about we should be able to express our concern. I don't claim to be an expert or am telling anyone how to run things. I'm simply expressing my opinion. No one complains when people express positive opinions but when someone disagrees with something they are accused of trying to run things.

Maybe I'll be proven wrong in this case. I hope I am, but I doubt it.

I was there on St Patrick's Day this year and all of those lots you mentioned were full. I had to park down near Ace Hardware.

To be fair, most of the lot behind the bowling alley was roped off for performers.

We all have different tastes in entertainment. I'd be surprised if anyone had not heard of some of the people that I had mentioned. My point is that with a 1,000 seat venue we're not going to be able to book acts that are filling 10,000 seat venues.
Not that they would go over here, but we'd never get people at the level of Blake Shelton, Kelly Clarkson, John Legend or Taylor Swift. And I'm not suggesting them specifically, I'm just talking about people at that level in entertainment. How about Michael Buble or Adele. Do you think they're going to play a 1,000 seat venue.

Some of the people I mentioned are still filling huge venues even though they've been around for a long time.

As far as culture, I guess to some people that only means classical music and ballet. Do you think that we're going to get the American Ballet Company, or The Bolshoi to perform for 1,000 people? If we did tickets would be $1,000 each. How about the London Symphony Orchestra or the Berlin Philharmonic? We have no chance of getting the top of the classical world with a 1,000 seat venue. The Chamber Orchestra of Europe or the European Youth Orchestra?

And I do believe that I mentioned Andrea Bocelli. Do you think that he's going to play a 1,000 seat venue? Again, maybe if ticket prices are at $1,000 per seat.

How about some Cirque du Soleil shows? I doubt it.

I'd love to see The Trans Siberian Orchestra or Manheim Steamroller at Christmastime.

As someone mentioned, Orlando is an hour away and if we want to see these types of A-list artists, we'll have to keep driving an hour.

And of course I wasn't serious when I said "tear it down". It's here. They built it and we're stuck with it. In my humble opinion they should have built a much larger venue in an area where the infrastructure would be able to handle it.

Opinion's yes. Over and over stating the same thing.....what's the point?

To the posters who think The Sharon is a bad idea.

Please post your resume and a list of you accomplishments so I can fairly compare your opinion to that of the developer.

And by the way, a building permit would not have issued unless it was shown sufficient parking was available.

This is a fantastic opportunity for the high-school students to learn theater production skills too, in a state-of-the-art facility.

I agree, and for The Sharon to do a pre-opening test run!

Piano Bar at Sharon Morse! Hope it happens.
 

It would be truly wonderful if they have a piano bar with stools around the grand piano and some tables around for intimate evenings. Perhaps a trio can play jazz once in a while or a singalong. Kennedy Center in Washington made a set up like that and believe it was or perhaps still is popular.

A wonderful idea!!!

WOW - I don't agree with some of the posters on this thread, in that it hasn't opened yet, and the criticism is rampant.

How about the option of valet parking included with the price of a ticket for those who can't/won't walk to the performance.

Let's see how it is working for a month or so to see if all the problems posed are real or imagined.

I for one don't want to travel to Orlando, unless an event is a must see for me!!! Maybe Tony Bennett with Lady Gaga. :smiley:

A ridiculous argument. That's like saying that I'm not allowed to have an opinion on the Red Sox third baseman because I can't play any better. Or that I not allowed like a particular piece of music because I couldn't write any better.

We're all entitled to our opinions. We don't have to be qualified in a particular field to offer opinions. How about we ask all the people who think that this is a great idea to send in their resumes to back their opinions.

That's a great idea, but I don't know if the Sharon is the place for it. I believe that the one in the Kennedy Center is in the lobby. I don't anything about the lobby of the Sharon. Are they going to have a liquor license?

It might be better in one of the restaurants or bars around the various squares.

Valet parking is a great idea Joe.

Are Tony Bennet and Gaga touring together. I saw Tony Bennet in a very small venue a few years back and he is absolutely awesome. IMHO the finest popular singer in history. By a very small venue I am talking about 2,300 seats. It's wonderful to see performers in these kind of intimate settings, but it's difficult to book them because they demand so much money and ticket prices tend to skyrocket.

And yes, it hasn't opened yet which means that everything that everyone, including me, is saying is speculation and opinion.

I haven't been stating the same thing over and over. If you look at my posts, you'll see that they mostly in response to people questioning what I have stated in a previous post.

I say something, someone questions it or disagrees, I respond explaining my position, someone else might respond with a different point of view, I respond to that and so on and so on. It's called having a conversation.

[QUOTE=Dr Winston O Boogie jr;1037240]Valet parking is a great idea Joe.

Are Tony Bennet and Gaga touring together. I saw Tony Bennet in a very small venue a few years back and he is absolutely awesome. IMHO the finest popular singer in history. By a very small venue I am talking about 2,300 seats. It's wonderful to see performers in these kind of intimate settings, but it's difficult to book them because they demand so much money and ticket prices tend to skyrocket.

And yes, it hasn't opened yet which means that everything that everyone, including me, is saying is speculation and opinion.[/QUOT


And the light bulb comes on!

Forum's are for sharing of opinions but this thread has turned into pontificating, slamming others because they believe they have a better sense of culture and what is right for the rest of us. An opinion on what might be is one thing, but statements that are presented as absolutes on forward looking events yet to be determined are just whinny. I know Doc and others hate that term but this thread has brought out that side of people more than others I have seen. The Sharon costs you nothing more than what you pay now to live here. The same entertainment will continue at other venues. The Developer has no obligation to provide anything other than what they decide to provide and we have the power to either support or not support it. If The Sharon had never been built then life would have quietly gone on. Now that it is built it's open season and this thread has demonstrated a willingness to shoot the unknown future. For those that don't like the entertainment, or the venue then stay home. It isn't a hard decision, it's a personal one....it's not a public decision, it's a personal one. In six months, after the shows go through, after we know what the parking is, after we know the quality of shows, after we know the impact then maybe we can have an informed discussion but so far, this is thread is pretty much a waste.