This April Fool’s Day, let’s celebrate the archetype of laughs. They’re not laughing at you; they’re laughing with you. Never has a platitude been so wrong as when we’re talking about one of storytelling’s great archetypes—the fool. The whole purpose of this type of character is to bring levity to a heavy plot, a serious... Continue Reading →
The Patel Conservatory theater department presents a great idea for an easy, fun, at-home performing arts game you can do as a fam. If you’ve got random household objects plus a restless young'un or two running around, then you’ve got just about everything you need for this quick-to-arrange, easy-to-cleanup theater game from our pros in... Continue Reading →
A Straz Center exclusive interview with National Geographic LIVE! wildlife photographer Shannon Wild. On Jan. 21, our popular National Geographic LIVE! speaker series kicks-off with Australian-born photographer Shannon Wild. Caught in the Act writer Marlowe Moore caught up with Shannon via phone at her home in Africa, where Shannon is currently working on a documentary... Continue Reading →
Fiddler on the Roof is arguably one of the most important musicals ever staged. Let’s talk a little about this show, and then we have some Fiddler fun facts we’d love to share. The show opens here on Nov. 5. “You want us to put up how much money for a show about a Jewish... Continue Reading →
This Q&A from the cast of Hysteria sheds a little light on the renowned British troupe and will hopefully get you even more excited to see this exclusive United States debut at The Straz. How would you describe Spymonkey to a stranger? Aitor Basauri (joint artistic director, performer): Spymonkey is a unique and original form... Continue Reading →
And other helpful tips concerning theater etiquette We’re always finding things our guests leave behind (like shoes … how do you leave only one shoe under your seat, people? Is it when you get home that you look down and say ‘oh, I’m only wearing one shoe! Well, I don’t feel like driving back.’?). A... Continue Reading →
Jobsite Theater’s current offering in their record-breaking season is a work by one of the Royal Society of Literature’s designees for their “40 Under 40” initiative—and one of the most exciting young playwrights out of the box in a long time. Before she even graduated from University of Edinburgh, Lucy Kirkwood had caught the attention... Continue Reading →
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 →
Let’s say one morning you hustle into your favorite coffee shop, order your regular, and as you’re dawdling by the pick-up counter, you happen to make eye contact with someone at the high-top in the corner who happened to look up the same time you did. An exchange occurs in that moment: you capture each... Continue Reading →
Caught in the Act catches up with Jobsite Theater during rehearsals of their next exciting production, Edgar and Emily. Edgar as in Allan Poe. Emily as in Dickinson. Yes, the granddaddy of Southern Gothic literature winds up in the bedroom of the emdash enthusiastic belle of Amherst, Emily Dickinson. Confined to this space, made all... Continue Reading →
Our new Broadway season opens in two weeks with the side-splitting comedy The Play That Goes Wrong. To celebrate, we found this collection of Broadway and musical theater blooper reels. Crying. We were crying by the time we picked out this video mash-up of Broadway mishaps for your viewing pleasure for the Straz Center blog... Continue Reading →
The true story of the accused but acquitted Chicago beauties who inspired musical legends Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly The Bob Fosse masterpiece we know and love today as Chicago the musical actually started with two real women and two real murdered men. In Chicago. In the Roaring 20s. 1924 to be exact. In March... Continue Reading →
Jobsite Theater opens its 2018-2019 season with a return of Spencer Meyers in the lead role of Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Spencer, who by day plays our unflappable group sales associate at The Straz, debuted as Hedwig in Jobsite’s 2013 production. Says Jobsite Artistic Director David Jenkins, “I always knew the prodigious talent inside... Continue Reading →
The performing arts are big business. In this industry, we have a lot of super important jobs for people who love the theater but who may have no interest in performing professionally. This week, we sat down with Gerard Siegler, Straz Center director of production services, who plays a huge part in making sure the... Continue Reading →
The performing arts are big business. In this industry, we have a lot of super important jobs for people who love the theater but who may have no interest in performing. This week, we sat down with Straz Center costumer Camille McClellan, who costumes dance and musical theater productions for the Patel Conservatory, to find... Continue Reading →
We’ve realized Straz fans love knowing what goes on outside of the spotlights, so we’re running a short series called Tools of the Trade, listing some cool and maybe-unheard-of tools for life in the performing arts. This week’s spotlight is on theater. Orange Stick Nope, not for fingernails—for eyelashes. False ones, that is. False eyelashes... Continue Reading →
Gabbing about the importance of facing the awkward, the awful, the upending and the just plain weird in the theater with special guest Paul Potenza, artistic associate with Jobsite Theater. This week Caught in the Act caught up with Paul Potenza, 30-plus-year stage veteran in the Tampa Bay area and artistic associate with our resident... Continue Reading →
Musicians and actors who make the leap to Broadway Kill Bill super-assassin Uma Thurman skillfully executed a Broadway debut in The Parisian Woman in November 2017, as did rock ‘n’ roll superstar Bruce Springsteen in September, when he broke box office records and added Boss of Broadway to his long list of artistic credentials with... Continue Reading →
Author Alison Bechdel reveals what it was like to see her very personal graphic memoir Fun Home transformed into a Tony®-winning Broadway musical. An exclusive from the Straz Center’s INSIDE magazine. In 2015, an innovative, poignant and bold little musical swept the Tony Awards®, netting Best Musical, Best Score, Best Book and Best Direction. Something... Continue Reading →
The unbelievable true crime story behind the swinging jazz standard “Mack the Knife.” Once upon a time, there was a five-foot-four London folk hero who inspired John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera, which inspired Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill’s The Threepenny Opera, which contained the song “Mack the Knife,” which became a snappy lounge tune for... Continue Reading →