Greater Tampa Bay is not one to shy from the arts.
Performers have plenty to work with in the coming season. Between musicals, plays and dance spectaculars, the starving artist may be a good deal rarer than usual.
Check out some of the most exciting features on their way to GTB stages and the production groups behind them.
Straz Center
The Straz Center is a major player on the Tampa performing arts scene. It is the home of popular local theater companies Patel Conservatory and Jobsite Theater. Dance shows, plays, opera and music theater — Straz plays to a wide audience.
- “Three Little Pigs:” The enduring story of Homer Hog strives to instruct children in health and wellness concepts. This modern retelling of the old fable ought to keep kids rapt and parents amused for the duration.
- “Hamlet:” Shakespeare’s magnum opus follows the troubled young prince of Denmark as he reels in the aftermath of his father’s murder — by the latter’s own brother.
- “Wicked:” Is the Wicked Witch of the West really so bad? Wicked thinks not, though just wait for its depiction of self-absorbed goody two-shoes Glenda the Good Witch. This Broadway classic re-spins “The Wizard of Oz” with an eye toward satire.
- “Hamilton:” This Broadway giant is the proud owner of a Tony Award, a Grammy, an Olivier Award and a Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Hamilton explores the life and times of founding father Alexander Hamilton, who died in a gentlemanly duel.
Tampa Bay Performing Arts Academy
The Tampa Bay Performing Arts Academy is a student operation, introducing teens to the world of theatrical production.
This production company has focused for years on placing young aspiring performers front and center, showing off all the hard work they have put into rehearsals. There is no denying the high production quality of these performances.
- “Matilda:” As a child, Roald Dahl was rudely dismissed by his idol, author Beatrix Potter, who told the little boy to “buzz off.” This may explain why all the adults in “Matilda” are such rotten peanuts. Including the hammer-hucking sadist Agatha Trunchbull and Matilda’s own father, a conniving, unlettered greaseball, this musical is rife with nasty people. Good thing the writing is so sweet.
- “Mary Poppins:” A magical nanny with a serious love of syllables spirits children off to bizarre adventures with her adult chimney-sweeping friend. Ms. Poppins probably did not include this habit on her resume.
- “High School Musical:” Before he got jacked, Zac Efron was the original floppy-haired star of this sugary depiction of high school life. This musical features young adults with an insatiable hunger for extracurricular activities and a disorder that causes them to frequently break out in song.
Stageworks
This production company pledges to ignite the human spirit. A self-declared enemy of intolerance, Stageworks wields the power of performing arts in the fight against narrow-mindedness. Their award list will testify to the progress of this ongoing battle.
- “The Great American Trailer Park Musical:” This is exactly what it sounds like. Pippi the stripper faces trials and tribulations when she moves to a new trailer park, Armadillo Acres. Do not pretend not to be curious.
- “The Smell of the Kill:” Three lethal lasses plot against their wretched husbands. Far from emitting an odor of death, this production has not failed to incite applause from audiences in need of a good’ dark comedy.
By Drew Mortier.
