SARASOTA, Fla. — The Ringling Museum recently put out an open call to up-and-coming performers and musicians living in their own back yard, meaning Sarasota and Manatee Counties. The idea was to give these artists a real live performance space to spotlight their craft.
Alex Judd, of Sarasota, is one of five local artists getting the opportunity to show off their talents for the first time in front of a live audience, and it’s all happening in the Historic Asolo Theater.
Judd has been playing, singing, and writing music for more than a decade, waiting for his big break, and this Saturday could be it.
“Sometimes it’s hard, especially because I don’t have a bunch of people setting up shows for me, setting up tour dates, no publicist, so it’s hard to get that first step and I think this really helps you,” said Judd.
The Ringing Museum wanted to provide local artists, like Alex, a semi-formal way to experiment with new ideas in front of a live audience, almost like a work in progress, thus the name MicroWIP.
“There’s a lot of amazing creative people in this community and I think it’s so important that we acknowledge that and give them space to create new work,” said Sydney Lemelin, with the Ringling Museum.
It will most likely be the nicest stage these artists ever step on.
“This theater came from Asolo Italy, our first museum director actually bought this theater, boxed it up and brought it over here,” said Lemelin.
“I think this is a wonderful opportunity for sure because you can perform all day in the mirror but until you get in front of a live audience,” said Judd.
Alex, who plays several instruments during the performance, is looking forward to receiving feedback from complete strangers and then using it to continue building upon his act.
“I know a lot of times I get asked what genre do you play, and that’s been a difficult question for me for a long time because I have so many influences, so I’ve landed on hard-hitting folk rock,” said Judd.
The Ringling hopes this becomes an annual tradition. The show is Saturday, Jan. 21, at 7:30 p.m. For more information, clickhere.
