Hallelujah Hattitude

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 →

Say You Wanna Resolution?

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 →

Welcome Home to the Magic of Live Theater

The crowd filling Broadway’s Gershwin Theater sounded pleasantly surprised when the announcer introduced Kristin Chenoweth. The occasion was the Sept. 14 reopening of Wicked, for which Chenoweth originated the role of Glinda. The actress’ appearance sent the already electric atmosphere crackling even more intensely, palpable even on the cellphone video posted to YouTube. “Hello, New... Continue Reading →

Presidents on Broadway

As if the job they have didn’t draw enough attention, presidents of the United States have been in the spotlight on Broadway in both plays and musicals. And yes, more than a few of the actors-in-chief have broken into song or tripped the light fantastic on Broadway boards. There have been a few fictional presidents... Continue Reading →

We Need A LOT of Christmas, Right Now!

Somewhere between Mariah Carey and Wham! on your holiday playlist are likely a few tunes that have their roots in Broadway.   Whether it’s shows devoted to celebrating the season, such as A Christmas Story, or others where Christmas is just part of the story as in Meet Me in St. Louis, we’ve got a rundown of some of the shows that featured favorite holiday... Continue Reading →

Skin in the Game

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 →

Straz Recommends: Performing Arts Documentaries

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 →

Despite Postponement, SUMMER Remains Hot Stuff

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 →

Together, Wherever We Go

The Straz Arts Education’s Broadway Buddies program unites kids from different learning backgrounds. A little bit exchange program, a little bit Big Brother/Big Sister, a little bit theater boot camp and a lot of laughs – that describes the remarkable new program launched by Acting Director of Community Engagement and Education Programs Alice Santana and... Continue Reading →

Wink, Wink; Nudge, Nudge

Broadway offers a passel of snortingly good times with its unending parade of parodies. The latest on our roster of roastables is Spamilton: An American Parody, which opened last week and runs until May 12. Behind every iconic work of entertainment lurks a laughing matter waiting to be born. Whether those matters manifest as films... Continue Reading →

I Wanna Baptize You

And other Valentine’s Day sentiments from Broadway songbooks Broadway boasts a canon of funny romantic songs, some thinly veiled innuendos (see title of this blog, a lyric from “Baptize Me” in The Book of Mormon) and others outrageously explicit (“You Can Be as Loud as the Hell You Want” from Avenue Q). Here are just... Continue Reading →

Living to Write their Stories

By now, Hamilton’s meteoric rise from Broadway musical to cultural phenomenon fills many-a-page from magazine articles to blog posts to Instagram accounts. Its singular effect was solidified last year as the Kennedy Center decided to award the musical an unheard-of special Honors for being such a groundbreaking work of art. What remains unfathomable – even... Continue Reading →

You Know This Wise Guy

Chazz Palminteri took a moment of his childhood and parlayed it into the cultural phenomenon known as A Bronx Tale. We’ve seen him in The Usual Suspects, Bullets Over Broadway, Analyze This and as a cop, mobster or some form of tough guy in a ton of other film and TV roles. We caught up... Continue Reading →

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