Tag: Tampa Bay

TALKING WITH … Alice Santana, Interim Director of Education and Community Engagement

Recently appointed to the position of interim director of education and community engagement, Straz staffer Alice Santana has a lifelong love of the arts and deep-rooted passion to make an impact in her community.  Her journey with the Straz Center began in January 2016 when she was hired to work in the Patel Conservatory as the student affairs and community relations coordinator. As she flourished... Continue Reading →

TTRL’s Top Moments

For the past five months, theaters across the globe have gone dark due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Find out how you can help “Save Our Stages” here.) Many artists and arts workers have had their livelihoods thrown into chaos as they try to navigate the unknown - and while our stages are silent, the need... 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 →

Arts Legacy REMIX

What started as a conversation about celebrating the Tampa area's rich artistic heritage turned into a free concert series drawing unexpectedly large crowds. The Straz Center's Arts Legacy REMIX was a long time in the making and looks like it's here to stay. After a brutal warrior’s stint in Vietnam that gave him an ultimatum... Continue Reading →

Tampa Bay Theatre Festival 2019

The annual festival, founded by Tampa actor, writer and director Rory Lawrence, takes place at The Straz and other locations Aug. 30-Sept. 1. In 2013, Rory Lawrence stood on the eve of the inaugural Tampa Bay Theatre Festival. After attending similar theater festivals in Atlanta and D.C., Rory thought Tampa needed one. He had no... Continue Reading →

The Man Behind the Mission

Governor and former Tampa mayor Bob Martinez on growing up Tampanian, the creation of The Straz and what it meant for the growth of Tampa. With Caribbean blue eyes, an easy smile and a rambling drawl that flows through stories of Tampa history like the Hillsborough River ambles through this vast county, Robert “Bob” Martinez... Continue Reading →

Local Profiles: Sculpting Out a Future

Jim and Joan Jennewein helped shape the Straz Center in more ways than one. In the spring of 1981, a young visionary architect named Jim Jennewein walked across a scraggly five-acre parking lot alongside the Hillsborough River. In his mind, he built a future performing arts center for the people of Tampa Bay. The plans,... Continue Reading →

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