Reimagined Crowns Will Still Pack a Punch

Crowns was one of the highlights of the Straz Center’s 2021-2022 season. Playwright Regina Taylor’s musical celebration of the proud and faithful women of the African-American church was such a hit with Straz audiences that it’s returning to the Jaeb in a new, intimate presentation. Tampa playwright-poet-stand-up comic-etc. R.M. Lawrence, better known as “ranney,” will direct... Continue Reading →

Set in Stone (and Bronze)

This week we unveil the new collection of sculptures in Morsani Hall. For quite some time, we’ve had the privilege of collaborating with the National Sculpture Society (NSS) in New York City thanks to a very special couple who has been with The Straz from the beginning. Well, even before the beginning since Jim Jennewein—The... 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 →

A Million Little Peaces

The performing arts and conflict resolution If the folks at (TITLE) for Dummies® or the Idiot’s Guide™ to (THIS THING) ever wrote a how-to guide on building a better world, certainly there’d be a chapter or two on the performing arts. Much has been said on the value of elevating culture and artistic achievement as... Continue Reading →

Bravo Company

How the Arts Change the Lives of America’s Wounded Warriors On any given day in America, between one and 20 veterans commit suicide. However, arts experiences help military personnel and their families amid the psychological and physical consequences of time at war. This grim statistic from research by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs... Continue Reading →

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