Fanshen Cox: One Drop of Love The performing arts have the ability to entertain, but more significantly, they provide a creative medium to challenge barriers and create a voice of civilized resistance to ideas and social systems. The performing arts question, explore, excite new ideas and, in many artists’ hopes, inspire more meaningful... Continue Reading →
People have asked us why, in theater, we leave a single cage light center stage when everyone goes home for the night. The answer is obvious: to appease the ghosts, of course. We all know there’s no business like show business, and the old joke goes that actors don’t retire; they die. However, even... Continue Reading →
Kissy Simmons’ early career began on stages around the Tampa Bay region, one of which was our Jaeb Theater. She left for New York City the week of Sept. 11, 2001, to audition for Aida, a Disney production. Her audition led to an interest in her for The Lion King, and she and her husband... Continue Reading →
The ultra-sexy revamped sheer black palette of the Chicago revival. The yellow dress in Contact. The frogs in Frogs. Sally Bowles’ maximum-leg-power mini-dress in Cabaret. The feather-trimmed muu-muu in Hairspray. And here, at The Straz, the mind-blowing, magical wardrobe changes in Rodgers+Hammerstien’s Cinderella. There is one mastermind behind these historic works of theater couture, and... Continue Reading →
Big, blockbuster Broadway musicals come with singers, dancers, fabulous costumes ... and many trucks. How do those whopping set pieces end up on Carol Morsani stage? The answer is lots of (literal) manpower. We took some after-hours and behind-the-scenes photographs of the “load-in,” which is the usually very quick turn-around time between when the show... Continue Reading →
This week “Caught in the Act” was commandeered by the saucy, red-headed Tupperware wonder Dixie Longate whose show, Dixie’s Tupperware Party, opens in the Jaeb Theater October 15. I was looking at the Straz Center's site to see my pretty picture rotate on the screen between other amazing shows and I saw there was a... Continue Reading →
By guest blogger, Marlowe Fairbanks Over the summer I traveled to Cuba for 16 days to study popular and folkloric dance. It was an extraordinary opportunity as an American artist, but especially as a dancer living in Tampa, given the status of dance in Cuba and the deep roots that bind Tampa and the island.... Continue Reading →