In a month, another year will have passed and we’ll be well on our way to making and breaking New Year’s resolutions and shaking ourselves free of the funk of 2022.
Until then, there are plenty of theatre productions - holiday-themed and not - to gift yourself before it’s on to the next!
If you only leave the house just once this December (barring your Uber Eats deliveries and work, of course.) you have got to make it to opening night of Wonderful Life at Coastal Creative. Yes, I realize that American Stage people may be a tiny bit partial to American Stage happenings, but this opening night is going to be quite the start to a Pinellas holiday tour.
We’re inviting all of our Tampa Bay drag performers to come in costume for a free ticket and a chance to be amongst friends and artists, our staff, our beloved press friends, and community members. Aside from the fun of watching Matt McGee play every character from the film, “It’s a Wonderful Life”, this show is a celebration of our arts community.
We hope to see you there.
This list is written and compiled by Abby Baker, and if you don’t see your theater on here, feel free to shoot me an email to get on January’s list. abaker@americanstage.org
#1 American Stage
Wonderful Life Tour (Dec. 15-24)
Dec 15, Coastal Creative
Dec 16, Studio @620
Dec 17, 18 James Museum
Dec 22, 23, 24 Catherine Hickman Theatre
Wonderful Life was added to the American Stage season in November, just a few weeks before it’s set to open at Coastal Creative. It was a last-minute touch for the holidays, and I’m sure my theatre people know that sometimes last minute makes for the best, most chaotically warm-and-fuzzy moments. The show stars just one actor, Matt McGee, who will play every character from the film, “It’s a Wonderful Life”. As someone who grew up watching this film, I appreciate the chance to pick apart this staple story. Not to mention, opening night at Coastal Creative will double as a drag night, and American Stage is inviting all drag performers far and wide to show up in full war paint to celebrate the occasion.
#2 Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe
Langston Hughes' Black Nativity (Through Dec. 23)
1012 N. Orange Ave., Sarasota
I’d like to think that everyone gets the holiday blues at one point in December. Being drenched in gospel and bluesy tunes while watching Langston Hughes' Black Nativity - an adoration of the classic nativity story starring an all Black cast - sounds like an emotional experience you could get lost in. I want high energy choreography, I want people of color retaking the stage despite whitewashing in religious art, I want to secretly shed a tear in the theatre - and this show can deliver all of that.
#3 Straz Center for the Performing Arts
Hadestown (Through Dec. 4)
1010 . W C MacInnes Pl., Tampa
Was anyone else weirdly obsessed with Greek mythology growing up? Hadestown at the Straz will tell the story of Orpheus and Eurydice, King Hades and his wife Persephone, and all of the poor unfortunate souls stuck in the dark bits of the afterlife. The show will basically weave a story about love, hope, and haunting while singing about literal hell. The receipts: Hadestown is the winner of eight Tony Awards including Best Musical and the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.
#4 West Coast Players
How To Survive Your Family At Christmas (Dec. 2-11)
21905 US-19, Clearwater
There’s absolutely nothing contradicting about loving your family whole-heartedly, and dreading the spike in seeing them come the holidays. How To Survive Your Family At Christmas, a fairly new play by William Missouri Downs is the theatre equivalent to a good Hallmark movie. It’s fun, it’s digestible, and you can watch it once a year with your family - chosen or otherwise. The story follows a young college student bringing her artsy aloof boyfriend home to her uptight parents. I think we can all learn something from a story circling around forgiveness, and this is it.
#5 Straz Center for the Performing Arts
Plaid Tidings (Through Dec. 24)
1010 . W C MacInnes Pl., Tampa
Plid Tidings will put you front in center in front of a group of bowtied plaid clad men as they celebrate the holidays with a musical performance that combines music from the ‘50s era with current classics. You don’t have to wear a bow tie - but you’ll be a crowd-pleaser if you do.
Studio Grand Central
Ha-Ha-Holiday Comedy & Cabernet (Dec. 3)
The Year of Extraordinary Travel (Dec. 8-18)
2260 1st Ave S, St. Petersburg
studiograndcentral.com
freeFall Theatre
The Night Before ( Through Dec. 25)
Deejay Young: Home For the Holidays (Dec. 16)
6099 Central Ave., St. Petersburg
Asolo Repertory Theatre
Cabaret (Through Dec. 31)
5555 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota
Straz Center for the Performing Arts
Patel Conservatory Presents Santa's Zombie Apocalypse (Dec. 1-3)
Hamilton (Dec. 28 - Jan. 22, 2023)
1010 . W C MacInnes Pl., Tampa
Florida Studio Theatre (FTS)
What the Constitution Means to Me (Dec. 7 - Feb. 26)
Something Rotten (Through Jan. 8 )
1241 North Palm Ave., Sarasota
floridastudiotheatre.org/plays
Urbanite Theatre
The Burdens (Through Dec. 4)
1487 2nd St., Sarasota
Studio @ 620
A Christmas Carol? By Charles Dickens (kind of) (Dec. 2-4)
620 1st Ave S., St. Petersburg
thestudioat620.org
Stage West Playhouse
Christmas Variety Show (Dec. 3)
The Birth - Dance Performance (Dec. 10)
8390 Forest Oaks Blvd., Spring Hill
Francis Wilson Playhouse
Once Upon a Mattress (Dec. 1- 18)
302 Seminole St., Clearwater
https://franciswilsonplayhouse.org
Carrollwood Community Players
A Christmas Carol (Dec. 2 - 18)
4333 Gunn Hwy, Tampa
Early Bird Dinner Theatre
Miracle on South Division Street (Through Dec. 18)
13355, 49th St, N, Clearwater
Nancy and David Bilheimer Capitol Theatre
Rockapella Christmas (Dec. 16)
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy Holiday (Dec. 14)
Celtic Angels Christmas (Dec. 22)
405 Cleveland St., Clearwater
Duke Energy Center for the Arts - Mahaffey Theater
Holiday Pops (Dec. 10)
Classical Christmas Carols (Dec. 17)
A Day To Remember (Dec. 18)
Cirque Dreams Holidaze (Dec. 27)
Kolo (Dec. 27)
400 1st St. S., St. Petersburg
themahaffey.com/shows-and-events
Suncoast Broadway Dinner Theatre
White Christmas (Through Dec. 24)
16128 US-19, Hudson
Stageworks Theatre
Christmas Contigo (Dec. 2- 18)
1120 E Kennedy Blvd suite #151, Tampa
Stageworkstheatre.org
PowerStories Theatre
Raising Twelve on a Nickel and a Prayer (Dec.1 - 18)
2105 W Kennedy Blvd, Tampa
powerstories.com
Theatre eXceptional
Sugar Plum Showcase (Dec. 10)
1698 South Belcher Road Clearwater
bluebutterflyproductions.org/theatre-exceptional