The top concerts, stand-up comedy shows and celebrity talks visiting Van Wezel during the Sarasota venue’s 2025-26 season.
Pink in Sarasota, surprises restaurant diners with performance
Grammy-winning pop star Pink gave diners at Amore Restaurant in Sarasota a night to remember with a surprise live performance.
Sarasota’s Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall has announced its 2025-26 season, with acts ranging from a 32-year-old comedian and social media sensation, to bands that have been together for more than half a century.
The season kicks off in October with the Van Wezel debut of Trevor Wallace, the aforementioned comedian and social media star, and concludes in May with another stand-up comic — arguably the most famous of all time — as Jerry Seinfeld returns to the venue.
In between, there’ll be musical acts spanning ’60s pop and Motown, ’90s alternative and modern-day blues-rock. And while the Ringling College of Art and Design Town Hall speaker series is technically separate from Van Wezel’s season, all the events take place at the venue, so we’re including talks by one of the most celebrated documentarians of all time and an Emmy-winning actor-turned-acclaimed director as well.
Here are the 10 concerts, comedians and celebrities we’re most excited about visiting Van Wezel in 2025 and 2026, presented in chronological order. Event details are subject to change. Tickets for most shows go on sale to the public Sept. 6 at 10 a.m., with earlier presales for subscribers and e-club members, and can be purchased in person at the Van Wezel box office at 777 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, by phone at 941-263-6799 or online at vanwezel.org. Note: this list doesn’t include stage productions such as “The Book of Mormon” and “Some Like It Hot” also visiting Van Wezel.
Trevor Wallace (Oct. 14)
Like many young comedians today, Trevor Wallace rose to fame through viral videos and social media, with more than 11 million TikTok viewers and nearly six million YouTube subscribers. Yet he also does traditional stand-up comedy, as seen in his 2023 debut hour-long special “Pterodactyl” on Prime Video. Wallace kicks off Van Wezel’s 2025-26 season with a show while on his “The Alpha Beta Male” tour.
Ezra Ray Hart ’90s Hits and Xmas Riffs (Nov. 29)
While 1999 might be 26 years ago now — did you just hear your bones creak too? — it’s still relatively rare to see acts that rose to fame during the ’90s play Van Wezel, and this show features frontmen of not one but three bands from that decade. Ezra Ray Hart comprises Kevin Griffin of Better Than Ezra (“Good”), Mark McGrath of Sugar Ray (“Fly”) and Emerson Hart of Tonic (“If You Could Only See.”) Expect “a nonstop celebration of ’90s and 2000s favorites, signature tracks from each band, and a few festive surprises to get you in the holiday spirit” at this Christmastime show.
Joe Bonamassa (Dec. 3)
The blues-rocker will return to Van Wezel after earlier this year releasing his latest Billboard blues album chart-topping release “Breakthrough” and receiving his fourth Grammy nomination, in the Best Contemporary Blues Album category for 2023’s “Blues Deluxe Vol. 2.” He’ll return to Florida in April to headline and host the Sound Wave Beach Weekend at Miramar Beach, with a lineup that also includes Gov’t Mule, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and JJ Grey & Mofro.
Ken Burns (Jan. 12)
One of the best documentarians of all time, Ken Burns has earned accolades including five Emmys (as well as induction into the Television Academy’s Hall of Fame) and two Grammys for his series primarily covering American history such as “The Civil War,” “Baseball,” “Jazz” and “The Vietnam War.” Burns will visit Van Wezel for the Ringling College Town Hall speaker series just a few months after the release of his latest PBS series, “The American Revolution.”
David Foster/Katharine McPhee (Feb. 19)
The musical husband-and-wife duo return to Van Wezel for another show. The 16-time Grammy-winning David Foster wrote or produced such hits such as Celine Dion’s “Because You Loved Me” and Whitney Houston’s rendition of “I Will Always Love You,” and recently composed music for the Tony-nominated “Boop! The Musical.” Katharine McPhee came in second place during “American Idol” season five, which led to a musical career as well as acting roles in shows such as “Smash” and “Scorpion” and films such as “Shark Night.”
Al Jardine & the Pet Sounds Band — A Tribute to Brian Wilson (March 3)
When Beach Boys mastermind Brian Wilson previously visited Van Wezel to play full album shows for “Pet Sounds” and “The Beach Boys’ Christmas Album”, he was accompanied by musicians including his former Beach Boys bandmate Al Jardine. Now Jardine and the Pet Sounds Band will return to the venue to pay musical tribute to Wilson, who died earlier this year at age 82, performing “the classic hits, rarities and deep cuts.”
Rob Reiner (March 9)
Rising to fame with his Emmy-winning role as Meathead on the sitcom “All in the Family,” Rob Reiner then became an acclaimed director starting with “This is Spinal Tap” and continuing with films such as “Stand By Me,” “When Harry Met Sally…” and “A Few Good Men.” He should have plenty to talk about at his Ringling College Town Hall event: Not only has Reiner become a prominent political commentator in recent years, he also directed and appears in the upcoming sequel “Spinal Tap II: The End Continues.”
Temptations and Four Tops (March 23)
The two R&B groups inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and named among the greatest artists of all time by Rolling Stone will return to Van Wezel. Several of the best Motown recordings come from the two groups, including the Temptations’ “My Girl” and “Papa was a Rollin’ Stone” and the Four Tops’ “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)” and “Reach Out I’ll Be There,” all of which were No. 1 hits and inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Though the Four Tops no longer features any founding members following Abdul “Duke” Fakir’s retirement and subsequent death last year, the Temptations still features original member Otis Williams.
Mandy Patinkin (March 29)
A celebrated actor and singer both on screen and on stage, Mandy Patinkin has appeared in films such as “The Princess Bride” and “Yentl,” in television shows such as “Chicago Hope” and “Homeland” (winning an Emmy for the former and earning multiple nominations for the latter), and theatrical productions including his Tony-winning role as Che in “Evita.” Patinkin will return to Van Wezel in “Jukebox,” where he’ll perform a “hand-picked collection of classic musical numbers” accompanied by Adam Ben-David on piano.
Jerry Seinfeld (May 2)
First rising to fame in the ’80s as a stand-up comic, Jerry Seinfeld attained superstardom in the ’90s with his sitcom “Seinfeld,” which is still widely considered one of the best television shows of all time. He’s stayed busy since with stand-up shows, as well as last year appearing in the final season of “Seinfeld” co-creator Larry David’s other series “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and in the Netflix movie “Unfrosted,” which Seinfeld also directed and co-wrote.
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