Lane Hosmer is “in what I call my discovery phase” at Straz Center. Hosmer, Straz’s chief development officer, began here in July. Lane Hosmer, Straz's chief development officer. “I’m taking the time to understand operations and donor relationships — to get to know the people and the processes,” Hosmer said. “I have been so impressed... Continue Reading →
They were called the Not Ready for Prime-Time Players, and boy, were they ever. The original cast of Saturday Night Live featured seven young and mostly unknown performers in skits referencing sex, drugs and occasionally rock & roll, mocking political figures and celebrities, and getting away with jokes that would have had prime-time censors reaching... Continue Reading →
Everybody dance now! It’s the law! OK, it’s not the law but it is official. National Dance Day, Saturday, Sept. 19, was established in 2010 in a resolution introduced by Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), saluting dance as a form of both exercise and artistic expression. https://youtu.be/3jJFaaxDNao?si=5wYaIv1vFZ8xZ5RN National Dance Day originally was held in July but was changed to the third Saturday in September in 2019. This was good news, especially for dancers... Continue Reading →
A couple of years ago, Jobsite added a one-woman show to its upcoming roster. It had a great run at Joe’s Pub in New York City, and David Jenkins, Jobsite’s producing artistic director, knew just who he wanted for the show’s only role. That play, Penelope: An Epic New Musical, with Jobsite Artistic Associate Colleen... Continue Reading →
A line of cars snakes along West Fortune Street across from the Barrymore Hotel and in front of Patel Conservatory as classes dismiss in the late afternoon. Performing arts parents wait behind their steering wheels for their actors or dancers or musicians to appear. A few parents, mostly dads, are free of their automobiles for... Continue Reading →
The Brass Mug was more crowded than anyone could remember. The USF-area Tampa bar usually presented local alternative, metal or punk acts. On this evening in early 1993, the Mug featured some out-of-towners — a spiky punk trio from the other Bay area that was building a buzz for its short, fast and hook-filled tunes.... Continue Reading →
Just as Straz Center’s outreach programs bring the arts to underserved communities, Guest Services reaches out to make sure our guests’ experiences are the best, regardless of their abilities. Guest Services is adding new equipment and new features to enhance the theater-going experience for our guests with limited vision and hearing. Among these are captioning... Continue Reading →
Gene Simmons of Kiss is known for two physical attributes: an extremely long tongue and an extremely big mouth. One of his favorite subjects to run his mouth about is the induction of hip-hop performers to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He’s against it. https://youtu.be/Du4pJZNWbaQ?si=-o_Qlr_DtjFr5Ecp If rock ‘n’ roll means three or four... Continue Reading →
On June 25, Anthony Bourdain would have celebrated his 70th birthday. Nearly a decade after his passing, his influence continues to reach far beyond restaurant kitchens and television screens. He changed the way people think about food, travel, culture and most importantly, one another. Bourdain had little interest in presenting food as something precious or... Continue Reading →
Douglas Love-Ramos joined Patel Conservatory as its chief arts education officer on April 1. He has been at the forefront of performing arts and education for more than 20 years. Douglas Love-Ramos, Patel Conservatory's chief arts education officer. Photo by Daniel Reichert He brings with him a wealth of experience covering multiple disciplines, media and... 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 →
There’s an old saying about acting: Drama is easy, comedy is hard. If that’s true, it must be doubly hard if the comedy is a ballet. Comedy is hard for dancers as well as actors, concedes Gabriella Yudenich, principal faculty for Next Generation Ballet®. However, she adds, “It’s fun because we don’t have too many... Continue Reading →
Congratulations, millennials. Your past has become nostalgia. Case in point: High School Musical turns 20 this year. Those fictional East High students now are in their mid-30s with careers, mortgages and kids of their own, as are many of the Disney Channel movie’s real-life fans. Case in point: Natasha Herrera Brown, Straz’s media relations manager,... Continue Reading →
There is something inherently beautiful about human beings making music together. Differences and divisions dissolve in the warm glow of musical camaraderie. It follows then that gathering 15 grown-ups to play an instrument most people haven’t touched since elementary school is a noble effort. Further, getting that group to play the beloved traditional folk number,... Continue Reading →
An Exclusive from INSIDE magazine Listening to jazz vocalist Samara Joy sing, it’s a struggle to equate her voice and her age. Samara, who turned 26 in November, sings with the authority of someone twice her age – and with twice her experience. Her voice has a depth and richness of tone that ordinarily comes... 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 →
It would be easy to assume that every dance ensemble in the Western Hemisphere is presenting The Nutcracker this time of year. For quite a while, one of the few that didn’t was St. Louis’ Center of Creative Arts, to the annual dismay of then-head of its dance department, Antonio Douthit-Boyd. Next Generation Ballet’s Nutcracker... Continue Reading →
The origins of some of these National Whatever Days/Weeks/Months are a bit hard to trace. September was deemed National Piano Month, though, by the National Piano Foundation in 1991. So there. Sure, it seems as if you just finished or got through putting up your decorations from World Piano Day, March 29 (or March 28... Continue Reading →
Next Generation Ballet’s Summer Intensive is a perennial event for Gabriella Yudenich. Since 2018, the former soloist with the Pennsylvania (now Philadelphia) Ballet has shared her talent and experience with the young dancers in Next Generation Ballet’s Summer Intensive. Gabriella Yudenich performing Myrta in Giselle. The culmination of the Summer Intensive is its showcase, Friday,... Continue Reading →
July is National Anti-Boredom Month. We don’t know who chose July, but their reasoning seems sound. It’s the middle of summer and going outside means being blinded by the sun and swamped by heat and humidity. Better to stay inside where it’s air-conditioned. Soon, though, staring at screens (or the walls) loses its luster. You... Continue Reading →