The Straz Center’s Broadway investments return Tony Award®-winning shows to our stages and keep new shows in the works. The Straz Center isn’t just a tour stop for big Broadway show-stoppers. Most of the time, we’ve been on the ground floor as a producer, investing in the show and banking on its success. Every year,... Continue Reading →
One Patel Conservatory theater instructor’s journey to the big time in the big top and how realizing his dream helps students reach theirs. Just a few years back, Patel Conservatory theater faculty member Matthew Belopavlovich stood stranded atop a 25-foot tower while a handful of clowns, dressed as knights, circled beneath, trying to figure out... Continue Reading →
With performing art centers, such as The Straz, temporarily shuttered due to the COVID-19 pandemic, cable networks and streaming services are tapping into a large bank of available documentaries centered on the performing arts so we can satisfy our appetite for theater, dance, opera and more. And though documentaries generally don’t bring in Marvel box... Continue Reading →
Editor’s Note: Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, its Straz run rescheduled due to the COVID-19 crisis from May 5-10, 2020 to July 13-18, 2021, was to be featured in the Straz Center’s publications this month. The article features Tampa DJ Ann Kelly of WDUV-105 FM, who accompanied The Straz team last year to preview the... Continue Reading →
Theater is about telling stories, and it’s hard to tell a story that doesn’t have a mother involved in some way. After all, they’re how we come into this world and can often greatly affect the outcome of our lives, directly or indirectly, which is why they make such great characters in musicals. Broadway has... Continue Reading →
The French codified ballet under King Louis XIV by defining the five basic positions of the feet and setting a catalog of positions related to the “turn-out” of the legs in the hip sockets (i.e., the legs rotate out of the hips instead of facing forward). Placement, a.k.a. alignment, and lift, a.k.a. pull-up, became fundamentals... Continue Reading →
Before COVID-19 disrupted the world, The Florida Orchestra’s table at The Straz in May was set with "Beethoven’s Fifth," Superhero Soundtracks and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4. https://youtu.be/t7XBpHFpmuw When announcing the cancellation of the remainder of the orchestra season, TFO noted its instinct was to provide hope, comfort and healing with the power of music.... Continue Reading →
We are all Zooming so much these days that we’re practically movie stars. The Patel Conservatory Theater Department has turned one of their favorite improv activities into a Zoom theater game to play with family or friends. What You’ll Need: 2 or more players Writing utensil Something to write on Electronic devices with Wi-Fi Roles:... Continue Reading →
Polyrhythms, sound healing and the significance of vibration This blog was originally published as part of a series called Art as a Survival Tool, blogs we published in the summer of 2015 that examined the crucial role art plays in the fulfillment of the human experience. We figured now was a great time to revisit the... Continue Reading →
We put together this list of resources for artist assistance. Part of The Straz’s mission is to support local artistic talent, and usually we’re able to do that by offering stages, gigs like Live & Local or Arts Legacy REMIX and unique opportunities to collaborate. But when audiences must stay home, our best effort to... Continue Reading →
By guest blogger Alex Stewart, Straz Center media relations manager We’re back with more feel-good movie recommendations from the Straz Center staff. Since you can’t get out of the house to see a show, we’re bringing the shows to you and your couch. We curated another list of our staff’s favorite performing arts flicks, this... Continue Reading →
Faster than a speeding pirouette, the dance world turned around a traditionally studio-based, person-to-person practice into an online smorgasbord of virtual classes, tutorials and programs for anyone, anywhere, anytime. Ever wanted to train with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater? Principal dancers from American Ballet Theatre or New York City Ballet? Now you can. Even... Continue Reading →
The music chair at the Patel Conservatory, Dr. Lauren Murray, shows you fun, simple instructions for how to make your own instruments using household objects. Today we’re offering up an activity of note where you can conduct an experiment of symphonic proportions. We invited Lauren Murray, chamber musician extraordinaire and the music chair of the... Continue Reading →
By guest blogger Alex Stewart, Straz Center media relations manager A lot of us are looking for ways to feel good right now, and nothing lifts the spirits quite like a bit of song and dance - and maybe a good-looking performer or two. I asked the Straz Center staff to share their favorite performing... Continue Reading →
The Straz Center’s senior writer gives you fun, simple instructions on how to write a script you can produce, direct, perform and film at home. Hello, everybody! Marlowe Moore here, the Straz Center senior writer, with a step-by-step guide for writing a script with kids from middle school to high school. You can easily adapt... Continue Reading →
This April Fool’s Day, let’s celebrate the archetype of laughs. They’re not laughing at you; they’re laughing with you. Never has a platitude been so wrong as when we’re talking about one of storytelling’s great archetypes—the fool. The whole purpose of this type of character is to bring levity to a heavy plot, a serious... Continue Reading →
The 2019 Acoustic Guitarist of the Year happens to be a Tampa native. One of the things we love about being this area’s performing arts center is that we get to host so many incredible Tampa Bay-area talents early in their careers. One such—guitarist Christie Lenee—appeared in the Jaeb Theater in 2018, already crowned 2017’s... Continue Reading →
The Patel Conservatory theater department presents a great idea for an easy, fun, at-home performing arts game you can do as a fam. If you’ve got random household objects plus a restless young'un or two running around, then you’ve got just about everything you need for this quick-to-arrange, easy-to-cleanup theater game from our pros in... Continue Reading →
Last Monday, March 9, the Straz Center said goodbye to Opera Tampa’s founding artistic director and one of the most colorful characters to grace our halls and stages. Here, we recount some of our favorite things about Maestro Anton Coppola. On March 21, 1917, Anton Coppola arrived to Italian-American parents in a country that was... Continue Reading →
Yas, queen. We’re talking about the history of drag. So much more than just a man in a dress or a suspiciously large woman, drag has reached stiletto-heights of popularity since RuPaul’s Drag Race packaged it as a reality competition show and gave Anytown, America a scintillating look into what it really takes to be... Continue Reading →
