Oct. 28

Mary Chapin Carpenter at the Van Wezel

Five-time Grammy-winning Mary Chapin Carpenter brings her brand of country and soft rock to the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall Friday night, delivering both hits from her past 14 albums and new songs from her recent The Things That We Are Made Of. vanwezel.org

 Oct. 30

Giving Hunger the Blues

The popular music festival has moved from Southside Village to its new home, the beautiful bayfront lawn of the Van Wezel. Twenty bands, including Twinkle, Jah Movement and the Gumbo Limbo Band, will provide the music on three stages all day long and into the night. It’s all to benefit the Mayor’s Feed the Hungry Campaign and Women’s Resource Center of Sarasota and Manatee. givinghungertheblues.org 

Nov. 1

The Capitol Steps

Perfect timing: The Washington, D.C.-based political satire troupe The Capitol Steps returns to the Van Wezel one week before the election to “put the ‘mock’ back in democracy.” Equal-opportunity skewering is a guarantee. vanwezel.org

Oct. 28-30

Sarasota Ballet Season Opener

Back home from demonstrating their talents at New York’s Joyce Theatre, Sarasota Ballet dancers open their new season with productions of Dominic Walsh’s Wolfgang for Webb, Antony Tudor’s Continuo (a Sarasota premiere), and Joe Layton’s Grand Tour. Five performances at the FSU Center for the Performing Arts. sarasotaballet.org

Oct. 28, 30 and Nov. 2, 7, 10, 13

Don Pasquale

The Sarasota Opera launches a “season of firsts”—productions not seen before on the Opera House stage—with Donizetti’s comic opera about a young man in love, his clever inamorata, and the foolish old uncle trying to keep them apart—while finding a wife for himself. (Hey, it’s opera, after all.)  sarasotaopera.org

Nov. 1-20

FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training presents Book of Days

Book of Days, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lanford Wilson’s drama about a small town, a looming storm and a shocking death, opens the FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training’s season. Tuesday night is “Pay What You Can Tuesday.” At the Cook Theatre. asolorep.org