Countless venues, parties and events scheduled for the evening of Dec. 31 will insist that theirs is “the place to be” this New Year’s Eve. It’s all wishful thinking, no matter how much elaborate planning has gone into them. Way too many variables when humans are involved. Besides, one person’s THE place to be is... Continue Reading →
The Straz Riverwalk Stage rises to provide a safe experience for theater-goers When The Straz, along with the world, went on its pandemic pause in March 2020, the staff went to work finding ways to continue to engage and entertain audiences. Initially, with people avoiding places where people gather, the electronic hearths of televisions, computers... Continue Reading →
A small but mighty coterie of Straz staffers gathers the selections that make each year’s season announcement a much-anticipated event. At the start of every year, as sure as the Florida gardenias blossom, The Straz announces a new season. Every year that season blends old and new, funny and serious, musical and non-musical, spectacular and... Continue Reading →
Tampa has a long history tied to Latin cultures, dating back to 1539 and the arrival of Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto to the Tampa Bay region. That historical tie continues more than 470 years later when the Straz Center for the Performing Arts participates in National Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs from Sept. 15... Continue Reading →
Currently the Artistic/Managing Director and Chorus Master for Opera Tampa, Robin Andrew Stamper continues a versatile career as a coach-accompanist, chorus master and opera conductor. Credits include director of music for the Kentucky Opera where he made his conducting debut for The Mikado. Subsequently, he became Artistic Director for the Nevada Opera where he conducted... Continue Reading →
One of the greatest partnerships in musical theater was gravely wounded by a fight about carpet. What a shaggy predicament. Sir William Schwenck Gilbert and Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan. The duo of librettist W.S. Gilbert and composer Sir Arthur Sullivan was a collaboration that lasted a quarter century, creating a body of work, according to... Continue Reading →
Jobsite’s Theater’s first performance of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised] on our Riverwalk Stage. (Fotoset by James Luedde) While emphasizing health and safety and mandating socially distanced seating configurations and the wearing of masks, on Friday, Oct. 2, the Straz Center cautiously and thoughtfully began a slate of live, in-person performances -- the first performances... Continue Reading →
Over the loud lightning strikes from our seemingly daily thunderstorms we’ve heard your cries: “Break’s OVER.” The Straz Center and its resident theater company, Jobsite Theater, have worked during our COVID-19 intermission, with intermittent pauses to lounge on our chaises of course, to bring performances back to our stages with appropriate social distancing and cleaning... Continue Reading →