Daily Loaf

Eckerd College’s new exhibit, The Jim Crow Effect: Drinking From the Fountain, includes artifacts from that tension-fraught era in American history. Today, Dr. Cody L. Clark, an artist, musician and collector of Jim Crow memorabilia and Professor Randolph Lightfoot, President of the African American History Museum Board, discuss the importance of the images for understanding the past. (Pictured: memorabilia on display in The Jim Crow Effect) Weds., Oct 14, 3 p.m., on display Oct. 9-16, Eckerd College, 4200 54th Avenue S., St. Petersburg, eckerd.edu/events.

Under the steady baton of conductor Jack Heller, the Tampa Bay Symphony performs selections from the German masters, including Mendelssohn’s “The Beautiful Melusine Overture,” Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 “Eroica,” and French Horn soloist Kurt Klotz offers Strauss’ Horn Concerto No. 1. The symphony visits several locations this week, including: Sun., Oct. 11, 4 p.m., Ferguson Hall, Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, 1010 N. MacInnes Place, Tampa; Weds., Oct. 14, 8 p.m., Ruth Eckerd Hall, 1111 McMullen-Booth Rd., Clearwater; and Fri., Oct. 16, 8 p.m., Mahaffey Theater, 400 Firs St. S., St. Petersburg; $20, tampabaysymphony.com. Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome to On the Radar, where we preview up-and-coming arts events to mark your calendar for. This weekend marks the return of American Stage’s August Wilson series, the third in a ten-year commitment to producing each of the acclaimed African-American playwright’s major works. (Check out what CL theater critic Mark Leib thought of the first two shows in the series, King Hedley II and Gem of the Ocean.)

August Wilson’s best play, Fences, is about Troy Maxson, an African-American rubbish collector whose bitterness and sense of lost opportunities make him a problematic husband and father. Set in Pittsburgh in 1957, it’s also about a time when new opportunities for black citizens were slowly becoming real, but the indignities of the past were too raw to be forgotten. As in all Wilson’s plays, the language is poetic, the characters are indelible, and the metaphors — including, in this case, the trumpet carried by Troy’s brain-damaged brother Gabriel — are brilliant. What happens to a dream deferred? Wilson’s answer is riveting. (Pictured: Evander Duck, Jr., Travus Leroux and Jayne Trinette in Fences) Sept. 25-Oct. 11, 7:30 p.m. Tues.-Thurs., 8 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 3 p.m. matinee Sat.-Sun; Previews Sept. 19-20 and 23-24, 3 and 8 p.m. Sat., 3 p.m. Sun., 7:30 p.m. Weds.-Thurs., American Stage, 163 Third St. N., St. Petersburg, $26-$45, $10 student rush tickets 30 minutes prior to curtain; Sun., Sept. 20 and Tues., Sept. 29 are “pay what you can” admission, americanstage.org. – Mark Leib

Julie Rowe is one of the Bay area’s most talented (and acclaimed) actors, and now she has a new gig: She’s going to be director of education at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre, an Equity house (known once upon a time as the Burt Reynolds Dinner Theatre) in Jupiter, FL.

The news was cause for some alarm in local theater circles. No more performances by Julie like her most recent tour de force? But, as she tells CL theater critic Mark Leib in her interview for an ArtsSpeak podcast, she’s not “leaving” exactly — she’s just “expanding.” Podcast after the break. Read the rest of this entry »

Talia

Editor’s Note: Actor/director/teacher/playwright Ami Sallee Corley (right) continues her series of posts about the challenges of being a freelance artist in Tampa Bay. Today’s topic: Self-esteem (or lack thereof)

So I have had the incredible honor of being one of the cast of Pericles, Jobsite’s newest Joe Popp rock musical.  I get to play the love interest, a post-graduate hippie chick rebelling against her Cape Cod “old money” roots.  I’m in jeans and braids and half the time I am barefoot and tote around a nice chip on my shoulder for Daddy’s attempts to assimilate me into “society.” Daddy: “I thought you were going to see that Kennedy boy?”  Talia: “No.  That was your idea, and I told you I don’t want to end up at the bottom of a lake.”

So, in a very favorable review, CL’s Mark Leib refers to me as Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome to the latest edition of our new blog, Radar, a rundown of upcoming events worthy of marking your calendar for. Today we’re previewing a dark comedy from freefall Theatre:

The newest installment in American Stage’s After Hours Series is Circumference of a Squirrel — a production that got a rave review from Mark Leib when it ran at Studio@620 in December — and the perfect solution for theater lovers on a budget (not to mention anyone who finds themselves stuck at work during normal playtime hours). Previous After Hours projects include cult favorites like Thom Paine (based on nothing) and Reefer Madness — and Circumference promises to continue the slightly off-kilter, really kooky, totally entertaining trend. As the title implies, this dark comedy spins circles of meaning orbiting a one-man performance about Chester, a tortured, obsessive young man preoccupied with everything but the task at hand. A self-diagnosed “rodentophobe,” he frets ceaselessly about his parents, his ex-wife and the constant threat of rabies. Chester shares details about his father’s irrational fear of squirrels and disease, a childhood burden that in turn infected Chester’s own life. Mark Leib said, “Gavin Hawk gives a manic, hilarious and heartbreaking performance,” and that if “you like your comedy dark and exceedingly disturbing, you
won’t want to miss this.” (Pictured: Gavin Hawk as Chester, courtesy actorscraft.com) Aug. 4-22, 7:30 p.m. Tues., 10 p.m. Fri.-Sat., American Stage Theatre, 163 Third St. N., St. Petersburg, all performances are “pay what you can” admission, 727-823-7529, americanstage.org. – Franki Weddington

Actors from the Represented Theater Company, one of the groups competing for the award.

Intriguing story from the Philadelphia Inquirer: A small theater company called Hotel Obligado decided it was time to close down, but found itself with a $5,000 surplus. As a non-profit, Obligado was, um, obligated to give the money away, and they came up with a smart idea (with the help of the Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia): Use it to begin funding an award, at $1,000 a year, for other small theaters.

It’s an idea that could work in Tampa Bay (preferably without the small-theater-having-to-close part). Note also the connection made by the reporter (Inky vet Howard Shapiro) between Philly’s support of new work and the thriving state of the city’s theater scene. It reminded me of recent posts by CL’s theater critic Mark Leib on the support of new plays (or lack thereof) in the Tampa area.

We’ve got a long way to go, but as a former Philadelphian I know how far that city’s theater community has come, and one key factor was the amount of collaboration fostered by organizations like the Theatre Alliance and open-hearted troupes like Hotel Obligado.

Tampa Bay Theater Alliance, anyone?