Adults around the world offer inspiration to LGBTQ youth through the It Gets Better Project. In 2010, a series of teen suicides shocked the news cycle, shoving the real-life consequences of tormenting classmates into the national spotlight. Tyler Clementi, an 18-year-old violinist and freshman at Rutgers University, leapt to his death from the George Washington... Continue Reading →
Maestro Anton Coppola celebrates his 100th birthday. We are throwing one heck of a party. 1917 was a big year. The first woman was elected to Congress and the U.S. Navy appointed its first female petty officer that year as well. President Wilson declared war on Germany and Congress agreed, thus entering the United States... Continue Reading →
An intimate interview with Opera Tampa artistic director and conductor Daniel Lipton We are hot and heavy in the thick of opera season at The Straz, with Romeo & Juliet and Cinderella (La Cenerentola) behind us and the grand dame Tosca in rehearsals for April performances. We are fortunate to be able to boast that... Continue Reading →
Folk and fairy tale scholars estimate there may be 1500 different versions of the Cinderella tale, the earliest originating in Greece and China. In Greece, the story is called Rhodopis, in which an eagle snatched Rhodopis' shoe and transports it to the lap of the king of Egypt. In China, it is the story of... Continue Reading →
Dr. Nizar Ibrahim’s fabled adventure to find Spinosaurus is a grand tale—which he reveals at The Straz for his talk on Feb. 21. Here, we get behind-the-scenes info in an exclusive interview. Dr. Nizar Ibrahim, a young paleontologist who lives in Chicago, joined the ranks of the National Geographic Society as an Emerging Explorer after... Continue Reading →