Decade of solid advances in performing arts in Tampa Bay area

By John Fleming, Times Performing Arts Critic
In Print: Sunday, December 27, 2009

What? A sappy Hallmark card of a play by a sportswriter was the best the performing arts could come up with in the years bridged by the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and a devastating recession?

No, no, not the play, which just happened to be on the schedule when the move could be made. The space itself — Raymond James Theatre, to use its proper name — instantly raised the bar for the quality of the performing arts in the bay area. As fondly remembered as the company’s quirky old space was, any nostalgia was completely banished by the experience of enjoying theater in a top-flight facility, which was shrewdly designed to retain the intimacy audiences were used to.

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HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

CHECK BACK THE WEEKEND OF JANUARY 8 FOR NEW UPDATES!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

CHECK BACK THE WEEKEND OF JANUARY 8 FOR NEW UPDATES!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

CHECK BACK THE WEEKEND OF JANUARY 8 FOR NEW UPDATES!!!

“There’s brilliance in effectively messing with tradition…a ‘Wonderful’ spin on a holiday favorite… charming and quite moving…[a] touching one-man tribute, directed by Todd Olson and starring the highly watchable Christopher Swan [who] sprang deftly from one character to the next [and] brought dimension to both stable and fleeting characters using malleable voices, facial expressions and personas…Between Swan’s everyman appeal and Murray’s loving script, it became harder and harder to blow off the notions of life being a gift, believing in yourself, generosity of spirit and … yada yada yada…Murray brought out the best parts of the film.”

            -Tampa Tribune

“Together, American Stage, Swan and the ghost of Capra tap into the holiday spirit with this wonderful adaptation…It’s easy to forget that this is a one-man show at times, as the familiar scenes play out across the restrained set which is dominated by clever lighting and dusted by occasional snowfall…The allure of “This Wonderful Life” is seeing this gifted actor depict such a wide range of diverse characters, male and female, in rapid succession. [Chris] Swan captures each individual, rendering them through changes in tone or pitch or accent, and through a variety of physical manifestations which he has truly mastered…Once hooked, of course, audience members fall victim to the overriding charm of the Capra classic.”

        -Seminole Beacon

American Stage Theatre Company presents St. Petersburg Opera’s, 

A CHRISTMAS CABARET, as part of its “After Hours” Cabaret Series

 Opens: Dec.  18            Closes: Dec. 20

ST. PETERSBURG, FL – American Stage Theatre Company continues its “After Hours” Cabaret Series in Susan R. Hough cabaret space with the St. Petersburg Opera’s A CHRISTMAS CABARET, running Dec. 18 thru Dec. 20. Ticket prices to all performances are “Pay-What-You-Can”.

St. Petersburg Opera vocal artists Phoenix Gayles, Michelle Rego, Stephen Mollica and Rim Karnavicius, along with pianist Allan Armstrong and SPO Artistic Director Mark Sforzini present A CHRISTMAS CABARET. The program includes some sizzling quartet arrangements of “Mister Santa”, “Carol of the Bells” and “Do You Hear What I Hear” as well as more classical solo selections such as “Ave Maria”, “O Holy Night”, “Jesu Babbino” and arias from Handel’s “Messiah”. Traditional holiday songs and carols will also be presented.                                                                                                                                           

“The St. Petersburg Opera has always been a favorite local arts organization of American Stage’s, so we are very excited to hosting A CHRISTMAS CABARET,” said Todd Olson, American Stage’s producing artistic director. “And, as our gift to our patrons, every performance is Pay-What-You-Can.”

 Performances and ticket prices are as follows:

Fridays and Saturday at 10 p.m.
Sunday matinee at 5 p.m.

Tickets prices are always “Pay What You Can” 

Please call the American Stage Box Office at (727) 823-PLAY (7529)

or go to www.americanstage.org for more information and to purchase tickets.

American Stage Theatre Company is located at the Raymond James Theatre, 163 3^rd Street North in the heart of downtown St. Petersburg, Florida.

American Stage Theatre Company is a not-for-profit professional theatre founded in 1977. The company’s mission is to create the most satisfying live theatre in the Tampa Bay area, accessible to all members of the community. Their vision is to preserve the greatest human stories from our past, while creating the most defining stories and storytelling of our time. American Stage presents its six play Mainstage Series in its brand new, 182-seat Raymond James Theatre each year. The very popular American Stage in the Park celebrates its 25th Anniversary year. The theatre’s other programming includes: “After Hours” Series, School Tour, and camps and classes for children. The Hough Family Foundation is the Season Sponsor, Raymond James is the Mainstage Sponsor, Bank of America is the Education Partner and WUSF 89.7 is the Radio Sponsor of American Stage. The After Hours and After Hours Cabaret series are sponsored by ABC Bicycles.

FIRST SUNDAY IMPROV

Sunday, January 3 at 8

Featuring THE DUMB SHOW by Gavin Hawke and Ricky Wayne. A hilarious, irreverent take on the world, starting with a simple audience suggestion, after which Hawk and Wayne create a series of characters and scenes that showcase the best and worst of humanity, and will have you laughing and shaking your head in wonder at the same time.

Gavin Hawk is an actor, director and improviser. He is a member of AEA and has acted in many theatrical roles Off-Broadway and in Regional Theatre. He recently appeared on NBC in the television special T.H.E.M., and trained in sketch comedy and improv at The Second City and The Annoyance Theatre in Chicago. Ricky Wayne trained with the famed Groundlings in sketch, improv and comedy writing for 4 years, and has performed stand up locally at the Tampa Improv and Sidesplitters Comedy Club. He is a member of SAG, AFTRA and AEA and most recently finished shooting a film in a starring role in Lousiana for the SyFy Channel called “House of Bones” and a film with Val Kilmer called “The Chaos Experiment”.

HOT OFF THE PRESS: Monday, January 4 at 7pm

ROADHOUSE THAT COULD

By T. Scott Wooten

Slashed budgets & mass layoffs – there’s trouble at the City’s Performing Arts Center.  Artistic Leadership is deposed & the CEO takes over, planning a massive remodeling project.  The resident art-house theatre company faces eviction.  But… if the Artists leave, will the Art survive?  An unexpected homecoming of a wayward, prodigal son could change everything – but first, he has to find some motivation….T. Scott Wooten is an Artistic Associate at American Stage and has written REFEER MADNESS: THE PLAY!!!, MR. WOOTEN’S BIG NIGHT!, AN ALMOST UNFORTUNATE OCCURANCE, ADVENTURES OF ERNIE TRIPE, PRIVATE DETECTIVE, LITTER DIVISION, and a new adaptation of Aristophanes’ LYSISTRATA.

 All HOT OFF THE PRESS readings are free to the public, will be followed by a talk back with the authors, and all in attendance will be given the opportunity to fill out evaluation forms

 ”Love and the Moon” featuring Lynn Locher

January 8 & 9 at 7:00 and 9:00

Bella Luna in song, ranging from classical to standards, Broadway, folk and pop.

 Hangin’ With Steve:

The AS Youth Ensemble presents a Sondheim Cabaret!

7:00, January 11, 12, and 14

 Jazz on Third: Classical Jazz for a New Era                                                  

Featuring the Vocal Stylings of Emilia Sargent

Featuring James Crumbly (Piano), Todd Jefferis (Bass), and Thomas Ziegelhofer (Trumpet)

January 15 – 17, 2010 7:00 and 9:00

 Funny, sexy, and poignant, Jazz On Third entertains with a spectrum of beloved standards from the Great American Songbook, Broadway hits, and original music by James Crumbly. Songs include favorites such as You Hit the Spot, ‘Deed I Do, Peel Me a Grape , If I Were a Bell, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, Bewitched, You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To, More Than You Know, Get Happy, The Frim Fram Sauce, and many others.

 BIG BANG returns

January 29-February 21

Fridays and Saturdays at 11:00, Sundays and Mondays at 7:30

‘Big Bang!’ Explodes With Belly Laughs: The return of the entertaining production “The Big Bang!” to American Stage feels like a holiday bonus…The lyrics and premise of this show are brilliantly funny; Jed Feuer and Boyd Graham created one of the finest musical-comedies with the cleverest use of props, bar none…But it takes two brave, shameless actors to elevate the production to a level of genius. These guys did it…The entire 90-minute performance was inspired…some moments were downright sidesplitting…”The Big Bang!” should become an annual, or at least biennial, holiday event for the Tampa Bay area. It kindles the kind of laughter that burns calories and clears the way for a happy new year.”

-Tampa Tribune

BALANCING A SENSIBLE WAY FORWARD:

Weighing the Steps Theatres Can Take vs.

the Steps Theatres Must Take

Imagine my surprise when, upon researching reviews of our latest production, I ran into a June blog from Mike Daisy wondering why I had dropped out of our recent conversation about “how theatre failed America”…or, as I prefer to think of it, “how performance artists shouldn’t pretend to have all the answers when it comes to the challenges of running the theatres that hire them”. On June 7 Daisy wagged:

“I have heard nothing from Mr. Olson. I do not know if his offer was made in bad faith, but it would have been civil of him to at least send a simple email explaining why he has decided to drop the ball so entirely. I’ve taken him entirely seriously; it would have been polite for him to show a similar courtesy. Having given Mr. Olson over 30 days, I am going to assume he’s forfeiting his “challenge” and this exchange will draw to a close. Hopefully the next time Mr. Olson offers the financial data on his institution to someone he has little respect for it will go more successfully for him.”

Silly me, I should have known that a blog posted at 3:25am on Daisy’s website and never forwarded to me constituted direct communication; what was I thinking? Evidently after conversations in the halls of the TCG Conference Mike concluded, “I also don’t think people appreciated how you were speaking about artists”…to which I would simply say if artists read what I wrote they would know my devotion to them, their craft, and that I count myself in their number.

I bet the TCG folks loved Daisy’s past mock, “better to revive another August Wilson play and claim to be speaking about race right now.” But I digress. Continue Reading

From: Oct. 30         Thru: Nov. 28

 American Stage Theatre Company’s “After Hours” Cabaret series continues with five new productions running in October and November. All performances are “Pay-What-You-Can” at the door and $10 in advance.

MANIFESTING SOUL

A Cabaret featuring Poet-singer Erica C. Sutherlin

Friday, October 30 at 9 p.m.

Saturday, October 31 at 9 p.m.

Sunday, November 1 at 5 p.m.

 American Stage audiences will remember Erica from her arresting performance in last summer’s hit play Doubt. Erica now presents a cabaret that will take you through a soul-grabbing journey with ear-caressing melodies and contemplative lyrics searching for love, truth, empowerment and goodness in this world of chaos and confusion. Accompanying Erica are drummer Ryan Copeland, keyboardists Geoffrey Rogers and Josh Neri and singers Trinity Anderson, Jessica Sweet and Cranstan Cumberbatch. Come for an hour of soulful sounds that will set the pace for an electrifying evening of emotional entertainment. Produced by FemWork Productions & Amazncran’s Creative Works production.

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