Children’s dreams fulfilled, a walk for LOVE in Tampa, virtual Pride events all over and online experiences you won’t forget…. all reasons for hope in difficult times.

Rays Off the Runway for the Children’s Dream Fund. It’s always fun to see the Rays players off the field and on the runway in this annual event benefiting the Children’s Dream Fund, which fulfills dreams for children in West Central Florida ages 3-21 who have been diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. They’ll be off the runway this year, however, offering one-of-a-kind auction items ranging from outfielding lessons with Kevin Kiermaier to golfing with Ozzie Timmons. You can bid on all of the items through the end of the live event tonight, during which you’ll also hear about some of the children’s dreams from the children themselves. (Thursday, June 25, 6:30-7:30 p.m. Pre-party at 6 p.m. Register here.)

Nate Najar, Daniela Soledade and Chad Mize on Beauty & the Burg Live! Around the World. Following her success with a multi-artist live-streamed variety show last month, Cindy Stovall returns to a format more similar to her in-person interview shows in this chat with guitarist Nate Najar and vocalist Daniela Soledade, featuring photos from their lives and careers plus a concert featuring their exquisite interpretations of South American music. Plus, Chad Mize will create a work of art in real time in a 50/50 auction for charity. Creative Pinellas is once again the producing partner. (Thursday, June 25, 7-8:30 p.m.)

“From St. Pete to Saint Petersburg” at TIGLFF. St. Pete Pride may not be happening this year, but it’ll live on in a documentary that begins screening this weekend in the Tampa International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival’s online fest. The Countdown is a short documentary produced by the St. Petersburg City Council that chronicles the preparations for last year’s Pride Week Parade and Festival, which marked the 50th anniversary of Stonewall. It’s paired with a feature-length doc that shows the dire straits of the LGBTQ+ community in Russia: A Worm in the Heart was filmed in six cities along the Trans-Siberian Railway starting in St. Petersburg, where the annual pride parade led to violence and arrests, and continuing further into the heart of Russia where the resilient queer community must operate in secret. (Thurs., June 25, at 7 p.m. and remaining online for a limited time after that.)

Falsettos Sing-Along. Broadway HD kicks off a month-long celebration of Pride with a free sing-along watch party of Live from Lincoln Center’s broadcast of Falsettos, William Finn’s hilarious (and heart-breaking) Tony-winning musical about a gay man, his wife, his lover, his soon-to-be-bar-mitzvahed son, their psychiatrist and the lesbians next door. Thurs. June 25, 8 p.m. and on the BroadwayHD site for 48 hours.

Can’t Cancel Pride: Helping LGBTQ+ People In Need. Adam Lambert, Ben Platt, Big Freedia, Melissa Etheridge, Ricky Martin, Katy Perry and Sia are among the headliners on this Pride concert presented by iHeartRadio and Procter & Gamble. It will stream on iHeartRadio’s Facebook and Instagram pages, iHeartRadio’s PrideRadio.com and broadcast on iHeartMedia stations nationwide and on the iHeartRadio app. The show will be co-hosted by Elvis Duran and Laverne Cox. (Thursday, June 25, 9 p.m.)

Love Walk. Philanthropist Thaddeus Bullard (aka WWE wrestler Titus O’Neil) is using his considerable clout to bring people together in a time of strife with a walk across Tampa’s Fortune Taylor Bridge — named after the woman, a former enslaved person, who once owned a large swath of land on the eastern bank of the Hillsborough River. The walk will conclude at Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park with the unveiling of a “Love Wall” created by local artist Bianca Burrows. “It’s about walking a new path, not based on color or power or political affiliation but truly walking love,” Bullard told duPont Registry Tampa Bay Publisher Tom duPont during a recent Tampa Bay Talks segment, “an opportunity for everyone who participates to say I want to make our world a better place and I want to start right here in Tampa.” (Walk begins Sat. June 27 at 10 a.m. in Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park in Tampa. Event will conclude at noon. Organizers request that participants wear masks.)

Global Pride. A 24-hour virtual event featuring a mind-boggling array of participants from all over the world (Sweden, South Africa, Australia and even Iran, to name a few) with performances and shout-outs by the likes of Adam Lambert, Bebe Rexha and Kesha, and content from organizations, activists, civil society groups, politicians and world leaders including Justin Trudeau, Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden. The fun starts very early — 1 a.m., EDT, to be exact — but continues all day and into the night on Saturday and into the wee hours of Sunday. Get the full schedule of events at globalpride2020.org.

Gulfport Brewery + Eatery opening. It takes guts and optimism to open a restaurant in the current climate, so let’s celebrate the folks who are opening the long-awaited Gulfport Brewery. “We are beyond excited to finally serve up some good times,” say the proprietors on their Facebook page. 3007 Beach Blvd. S., Gulfport, 813-928-1570, gulfport-brewing.com.

Twelfth Night: American Stage’s final “Shakespeare Lite.” The American Stage “Shakespeare Lite” series has been a consistent delight — and a surprising one, considering that the action all takes place on Zoom. But the company has worked wonders in these abridged adaptations of the Bard; for instance, last week’s Othello (still viewable on YouTube) brilliantly updated Shakespeare’s tragedy of race and hubris to the present moment. So I’m excited to see what they’ll do with Twelfth Night but sad, too, since this will be the last of the series. But that’s not the last of the company’s virtual forays; coming up later in the summer are readings of new plays and scenes from favorite American Stage productions. (Sunday, June 28, 2 p.m.) 

“To Be or Not to Be”/“Being Alive.” Thanks to the New York Times for sharing these extraordinary  performances by Zoom ensembles of African-American actors and singers. Hamlet’s question of whether “’tis nobler to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous misfortune/Or to take arms against a sea of troubles” sounds newly and painfully relevant in this rendition (presented by NYC’s Public Theater), as do Sondheim lyrics like “Somebody crowd me with love” and “I’ll always be there/As frightened as you/To help us survive.”