Manhattan’s Theater District keeps summoning that troublemaking ghost in the shabby suit. The musical, based on director Tim Burton’s 1988 film, Beetlejuice, made its Broadway debut April 25, 2019. Some initial reviews were less than enthusiastic, but the show built a healthy following through word of mouth and social media. The COVID pandemic shut down... Continue Reading →
When hip-hop began crashing pop culture’s party in the 1980s, Broadway didn’t seem like one of its potential destinations. Hip-hop’s South Bronx birthplace was 11 miles and a cultural world away from the theater district. https://youtu.be/10C-Q3NIlzU?si=_qkxFl8rrFT9cffY However, as hip-hop began infiltrating the mainstream, and eventually becoming the mainstream, it was perhaps inevitable that beats and rhymes would reach the Broadway stage. By the time Hamilton blew... Continue Reading →
The musical The Notebook, like the novel and film that preceded it, is renowned for its unabashed romanticism, its ability to warm hearts and jerk tears unmatched in contemporary theater. The Notebook. Bank of America Broadway at Straz Center. Underneath the drama, though, is a condition that affects the daily lives of an estimated 19... Continue Reading →
An Exclusive from INSIDE Magazine Do you know the first-time rock ’n’ roll was on Broadway? Easy. Mott the Hoople played six shows in the Uris (now The Gershwin) Theatre May 7-11, 1974. Queen opened. The first time rock ’n’ roll was on Broadway? As a musical style considered wholly legit by theater audiences and professionals?... Continue Reading →
According to researchers, John Gay’s 1728 work The Beggar’s Opera can lay claim to being the first jukebox musical. https://youtu.be/Lq7g_NRKHU0?si=zwCJdljRyI-9qC8w The opera contained musical and lyrical references to songs with which its audience would be familiar – songs from other operas, folk songs, popular numbers, all treated with greater or lesser degrees of derision. The... Continue Reading →
The name Blue Man Group tells you who you’ll see – three men with skin painted blue – but doesn’t tell you what you’ll see, which would require a much longer name. Art, music, comedy and non-verbal communication are among the tools the cerulean trio use in a performance that celebrates connections with people and... Continue Reading →
In 1967, a 16-year-old from Tulsa, OK., quietly shifted the landscape of American literature. Susan Eloise Hinton, known more publicly as S.E. Hinton wrote The Outsiders from her bedroom while still in high-school. What began as a response to the fractures she observed among her peers—the invisible line between those with privilege and those without—became... Continue Reading →
"The Outsiders" isn’t the first (or second or third) title that usually comes to mind when the subject of films directed by Francis Ford Coppola is mentioned. Everything Coppola has made that isn’t “The Godfather,” “The Godfather Part II” or “Apocalypse Now“ will find little space left in a limelight shared with those giants. “The... Continue Reading →
Did Ralphie Parker grow up to be Lester the Nightfly? Yes. Sort of. We’ll explain. Ralphie Parker is the 9-year-old protagonist of A Christmas Story, The Musical, coming to Morsani Hall Nov. 28-30. https://youtu.be/sX0qbCmZX2E The musical is based on the 1983 holiday movie perennial A Christmas Story, which is based on stories from Jean Shepherd’s... Continue Reading →
Even after 50 years as an actor, Ann Morrison still gets the jitters. “Every night, I stand behind the curtain before it’s raised and think, ‘Why am I doing this?’” Ann said. “Oh, yeah, I remember now. It's the audience,” Ann said. “I'm doing it for them, and they're going to have a good time... Continue Reading →
An Exclusive from INSIDE Magazine Fences weren’t part of the original design of Straz Center, and they’re certainly not part of the renovation. Fences don’t play much of a role in our past and future but, boy, are they ever-present in our present. Straz is undergoing a major multimillion-dollar renovation that includes expanding education spaces for... Continue Reading →
Gibsonton, a community roughly 11 miles southeast of Tampa, became a winter haven for circus performers in the 1930s. Many of those Gibsonton snowbirds became full-time residents when they retired from the road. In 2021, another group of circus retirees began settling into their own community a couple hundred miles north of “Gibtown.” There they... Continue Reading →
Few once-common names have become so identified with fictional characters that there’s practically no other use for them. Mention “Dorothy” and the majority of Western Civilization will picture sparkly red shoes, a yapping terrier and Judy Garland in farm-girl drag. Parents considering naming a child Dorothy should stop and reconsider. https://youtu.be/jknhvVk1Fs0?si=o80rQ-5tPPO-gsas Just as the name... Continue Reading →
Dracula is revered as one of the founding fathers of modern horror, along with his buddies Frankenstein and the werewolf. The cape-wearing, fang-bearing bloodsucker has sunk his chompers into every medium of entertainment, even transcending the horror genre. This blog aims to briefly discuss the legacy of Dracula, from novel to film to stage. Bram... Continue Reading →
When a novel is adapted for film, there is one almost-certainty: Someone saying, “The book was better.” While the phrase can be used sincerely, it’s most often uttered by someone trying to impress a date by pointing out that they, unlike the common rabble, read books. And that this makes them more attractive as a... Continue Reading →
This is a column about Anne Hathaway. It’s also a column about Anne Hathaway. Anne the former was born and lived in the Elizabethan era. Aside from being married to the playwright William Shakespeare, little is known about her. Anne the latter lives in whatever era we’re in right now. Because she is a present-day... Continue Reading →
Future stars shone on Broadway Monday night as the Jimmy Awards saluted some of the most promising young thespians from across the U.S. Jimmy Awards showcasing young thespians across the US. Photo by Angela of York. Zayda Martin and Jayden Vega, this year’s winners of Straz Center’s Broadway Star of the Future Awards, were among... Continue Reading →
June 6 is National Day of Sweden, which commemorates two historical events that took place on this date: the 1523 election of Gustav Vasa as Sweden’s king, which established Sweden as an independent nation; and the adoption of Sweden’s constitution in 1809. Gustav Vasa legally created the hereditary monarchy and organized the Swedish unitary state.... Continue Reading →
Shucked, the hit musical with all the corn jokes and a sneaky little message about inclusion, has drawn raves from audiences. The musical’s upcoming run in Morsani Hall could be extra special because, well, Tampa’s in the show. Not all of us, like everybody in Tampa, is in the show. But our city, our home,... Continue Reading →
Some are born to puppeteer. Some have puppeteering thrust upon them. Spencer Meyers falls into the latter category. Spencer Meyers, group sales manager at Straz Center. After Spencer successfully manipulated not one but two puppets – including the lead – in 2002’s Straz production of Avenue Q, Jobsite Theater’s Producing Artistic Director David Jenkins tapped... Continue Reading →