The Audrey II puppet and Kevin Ryan Cole as Seymour in TheatreWorks Florida's production of Little Shop of Horrors. Scott Cook owes his career to a man-eating plant. OK, let’s back up a bit. Scott Cook owes his career to a play about a man-eating plant. Let Scott explain it: “It was the very first... Continue Reading →
Complexions Contemporary Ballet’s Tampa appearance also will serve as a homecoming for one of the company’s dancers, Tatiana Melendez. Melendez is a genuine sensation in the dance world. She was racking up dance competition awards for both contemporary and ballet before she entered her teens. She’s in her third season with the company, and its... Continue Reading →
Idina Menzel is Broadway’s contemporary Queen of the Showstoppers. With "Take Me or Leave Me" from RENT, and then with “Defying Gravity” from Wicked, Menzel turned songs into events, thrilling theater audiences and even more listeners via original cast recordings. Her most celebrated hit, though, originated in the Disney animated film Frozen. That song, “Let... Continue Reading →
Alan Cumming, Tony Award®-winner for Cabaret, comes to The Straz April 3 for an evening of song and chit-chat about a topic we all have in common, but try to avoid – AGING. Here are five fun facts about Alan Cumming: He made a successful transition from a Scottish sitcom to film in small but... Continue Reading →
College basketball enthusiasts are in a lather because it is that time of year – MARCH MADNESS. Many of your friends – or maybe even YOU – will be on pins and needles to see if this Gonzaga’s year or how far Duke’s Coach K will get in the tournament before he dribbles into retirement.... Continue Reading →
Photo: Brian Thomas Desmond Richardson is co-founder and co-artistic director of Complexions Contemporary Ballet. Called “one of the greatest dancers of his time” by The New York Times, Richardson danced with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater as a principal dancer from 1987 to 1994 and, in 1997, joined American Ballet Theatre where he was... Continue Reading →
Jobsite Theater is returning to the Shimberg Playhouse after nearly two years and Producing Artistic Director David Jenkins sounds like a man finally heading home. “The last performance Jobsite did in the Shimberg was March 12, 2020, our preview for ‘Doubt,’” Jenkins remembers. “We were supposed to open the next night. And we got notified... Continue Reading →
If famed choreographer Bob Fosse had an “it” girl before Gwen Verdon, it was actress Carol Haney. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26PiPUn4AWg After leaving an uncredited dance assistant job with Gene Kelly, Haney landed at MGM as a specialty dancer and partner to Fosse, who was playing Hortensio in the film Kiss Me Kate. The pair’s dance to “From... Continue Reading →
Prom season is in full swing here at The Straz. And Caught in the Act asked our colleagues to troll through their high school photos to find Insta-worthy poses from the big night so that we could splash them all over the inter webs. We promised not to mock them … too much. Claire Florio,... Continue Reading →
In the Broadway hit The Prom, which opens at The Straz Feb. 15, a student faces hostility for wanting to bring her girlfriend to the big high school dance. That part of the plot is based on a real event, and while we admire those who stand up for equality and inclusiveness, we wonder why... Continue Reading →
Crowns, a celebratory musical about church hats, kicks off a series of Straz-produced shows Photo: Joseph Brown Apostle Paul was adamant about this point. When a man prays or prophesizes, his head must not be covered. Women, on the other hand … "But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her... Continue Reading →
Although known as a composer of operettas – he wrote nearly 100 of them – Jacques Offenbach’s best known work is a full-scale opera, The Tales of Hoffmann. Built around the writings of German author E.T.A. Hoffmann, the opera has become one of opera’s premiere works. Composer Jacques Offenbach photographed by Nadar in the 1860s... Continue Reading →
When Chuck Berry sang “Roll over Beethoven and tell Tchaikovsky the news,” the line appeared to be drawn. On one side was classical music: staid, stodgy, the stuff your music appreciation class forced you to hear. On the other side, popular music, in this case the then-relatively new genre of rock ‘n’ roll: wild, fun,... Continue Reading →
During disco’s late ‘70s popularity peak, Donna Summer reigned supreme. She landed 14 singles in the Top 10 of Billboard’s Hot 100, four of which reached No. 1. She had three consecutive No. 1 albums on The Billboard 200 album chart. Summer’s music and legacy are celebrated in Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, which played... Continue Reading →
Broadway was about the only place Donna Summer’s music didn’t dominate during her late ‘70s hit-making heyday. The jukebox musical Summer: The Donna Summer Musical finally brought the Queen of Disco’s catalog to the Great White Way. It would be difficult to overstate Summer’s popularity from the mid-‘70s through the early ‘80s. She had 11... Continue Reading →
New year’s resolutions – made to be broken. What makes us think the end of one year and the beginning of the next will imbue us with discipline and determination we’ve never had before and enable us to effortlessly stop smoking, start exercising, eat healthier, etc. etc., et-freaking-cetera? It’s the myth of the clean slate.... Continue Reading →
In the air there’s a feeling of Christmas. Actually, it’s not so much a feeling as a sound. And that sound is currently dominated by Christmas music. Or maybe we should say holiday music, or winter music, since a bunch of these “Christmas” songs don’t mention Christmas: “Frosty the Snowman,” “Winter Wonderland,” etc. Call it... Continue Reading →
Nutcracker Facts To Chew On Everyone has their touchstone that truly marks the holiday season. It could be Black Friday shopping, or when the first tree lot opens, making grandmother’s latkes or gathering around the television for Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer or A Charlie Brown Christmas. In this writer’s home, it was when dad spotted... Continue Reading →
It’s the time of year when the holidays are coming at us fast and furious. We just got through with Thanksgiving and now it’s time for Christmas and all the decorating and cooking and gift buying and gosh! I’m tired just thinking about it. And then we have to make New Year’s Eve plans. It... Continue Reading →
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UKtrhLRD_k CATS returns to the Straz Center Dec. 7. As a crowd-pleasing theatrical spectacle, CATS’ success is undeniable. As a tutorial for first-time cat owners, it leaves something to be desired. Potential first-time cat owners should note that cats rarely if ever perform choreographed dance moves. Nor do they break into song. Their speech is... Continue Reading →