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 In 1925, a surgeon bought thirty miles of Florida coastline to build a medical paradise. What happened next nearly erased his name from the city he founded — until now.
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 Building Paradise is a new full-length historical drama by playwright Tom Erb, telling the true, twisting story of how Venice, Florida, was built — and nearly lost — a century ago. It's the story of Dr. Fred Albee, the surgeon who dreamed the city into existence; John Nolen, the planner whose 1926 design still shapes Venice's streets today; Bertha Honoré Palmer, the Chicago heiress whose land became its foundation; and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, whose financial collapse nearly buried the whole project in the Florida land bust.
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 2026 marks Venice's Centennial year — the hundredth anniversary of the plan that built the city we live in. <strong>We're mounting a Fall 2026 workshop production to mark it, and we need your help to get it on its feet.</strong>
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 Your gift funds:
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 <strong>Venue rental for rehearsals and performances</strong>
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 <strong>Professional stipends for our cast of 8–10 actors</strong>
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 <strong>Costumes, set pieces, and design elements that bring 1920s Venice to life</strong>
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 <strong>Production of White City on the Gulf, a companion behind-the-scenes docuseries documenting the making of the play</strong>
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 Our goal is $51,600. Every dollar goes directly toward putting real actors on a real stage, telling a true story about the ground under your feet.
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 We're currently casting the full company privately — actors, stage managers, stagehands, directors, and lighting designers — through the SW Florida Actors Registry, and you can follow who's confirmed on our Meet the Cast page as the roster fills in.
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 This isn't a Broadway budget. It's a homegrown, community-rooted production about the town that raised it — and it can't happen without people like you.
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 Give what you can. Every tier is named and thanked publicly — see below for the details. Thank you for helping us build this.
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 — Tom Erb, Playwright
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Enter your donation forHelp Bring Venice's History to Life On Stage