Wow! The level of entertainment this week is off the charts! See a show, go on a baseball history tour, go to a concert, or immerse yourself in culture during a celebration of the Year of the Snake. Visit vintage bungalows, cheer to the roar of monster trucks, and follow nature trails that lead to performing ‘animals’. Registry Tampa Bay finds the best for you each weekend! Enjoy
New Theater Thursday
One Night Only: The Addams Family
Ruth Eckerd Hall
The Addams Family is the magnificently macabre hit musical featuring everyone’s favorite creepy, kooky characters. Wednesday Addams, the ultimate princess of darkness, has grown up and fallen in love with a sweet, smart young man from a respectable family. A man her parents have never met. And if that weren’t upsetting enough, she confides in her father and begs him not to tell her mother. Now, Gomez Addams must do something he’s never done before – keep a secret from his beloved wife, Morticia. Everything will change for the whole family on the fateful night they host a dinner for Wednesday’s “normal” boyfriend and his parents.
Thursday, January 30th @7pm
Find tickets and more information HERE.
Limited Run: Mama Mia!
Straz Center, Morsani Hall, Tampa
Who’s your Daddy? The answer to that question is at the heart of this popular musical featuring the ABBA soundtrack we all know so well. The answer is being kept from a young bride by her free-spirited Mother living life in beautiful Greece. When 3 potential Dads show up for the wedding, hilarity, and a lot of great music, ensues. Mama Mia! hasn’t been around 25 years for nothing. You owe it to yourself to see it at least once! Opa!
Thursday, January 30th @7:30pm & Friday, January 31st @8pm
Find tickets and more information HERE.
Tales By Twilight: Don’t Feed the Animals by Anthony Gervais – Presented by American Stage
Boyd Hill Nature Preserve, St. Pete
Photo Credit: Chad Z Photography
The Tales by Twilight series, a lovely collaboration between American Stage and Boyd Hill Nature Preserve, brings us a brand-new story. Unlike traditional theater, the park itself provides the ‘stage,’ and comes alive during the evening as performance goers follow the action through the trails, flora, and fauna. A cast of entertaining ‘beasts’ tell us a story that diverges along the way into two separate stories. YOU decide which path to follow.
It’s fun for the whole family and a great way to introduce theater to kids and the theater-curious. Lucky for us, the play run coincides with Raptor Fest, (Saturday, February 1st @10am – 4pm for Raptor Fest), so it’s double the fun! Don’t miss it!
Opens Thursday, January 30th through Sunday, February 23rd – These are evening performances
Find tickets, performance times, and more information HERE.
Two Across by Jerry Mayer
The Off Central, St. Pete
They say opposites attract – in life and in love – but crosswords?? well, metaphorically, yes! It’s a train commuter meet-cute between a driven overachieving woman and an easily discouraged, yet engaging man. Both are otherwise committed, but it is, after all, hard to stop a speeding train….
The Off Central is small but mighty, producing a number of highly entertaining productions. Yones and Gregory are seasoned, highly talented performers, that you will surely fall in love with as you take this ride with them.
Thursday, January 30th through Sunday, February 9th
Find tickets, performance times, and more information HERE.
**Mini Review**
This Girl Laughs, This Girl Cries, This Girl Does Nothing by Finegan Kruckemeyer
American Stage, DTSP
Opening night for a mainstage production at American Stage is always an event. The house is usually full – with theatergoers milling about the lobby pre and post-show, enjoying treats, cake, and champagne – the buzz of excited conversations and the meetings of old friends. The air of celebration was especially sweet this past Friday for the opening of This Girl Laughs, This Girl Cries, This Girl Does Nothing.
Written by Finegan Krukemeyer, the story was new to me, but I’m happy to report, I was delighted by it.
It was presented with a lilting quality – as a story – as a poem – as a fairy tale, all rolled into one. It was the narration of the adventures of three sisters, separated by difficult life events. Two go off on great adventures, and one stays put in the woods, all seeking their missing father and attempting to rebuild their broken lives. What unfolds is the stuff of every child’s (or inner child’s), imagination.
Sarah Beth Saho, as Narrator, Father, and a host of supporting roles is for me, the glue that pulls a lovely thread through the whole story. Blurring gender roles to the point of non-existence (as it should be), Saho delivers in every way, with spot-on dialects, razor sharp timing, and heartwarming appeal. The sisters, Albienne, Beatrix, and Carmen, played by Noa Friedman, Fahnlohnee Reeves, and Kayland Jordan respectively, seamlessly weave the evolution of their lives and ages, together and apart, with great heart, determination, and hilarity. The comic timing is far and away some of the best I’ve seen. And you laugh, because it’s true! The brave sisters equally blur the societal perceptions of what acceptable pursuits are for men or women but never need to point it out. It’s perfect.
The set design by Kristen Morgan is genius – every bit filling multiple purposes. You’re in the woods, under the sea, on top of a dune – all with only a few elements. It’s amazing. The costumes by Johnna Presby also join practicality and ease, with color, function, and a total vibe that ‘fits’ each scenario perfectly. Kudos to the entire creative team for conjuring a lovely world to get lost in. Director and Producing Artistic Director, Helen R. Murray tells this story in a way that’s so warm and entertaining, that the time will fly by – and it does, as this is a 90-minute production with no intermission
(My favorite since COVID times). It’s another wonderful way to introduce young people to theater, so bring the family, have a girl’s (or guy’s) night. There’s no wrong way to enjoy This Girl Laughs, This Girl Cries, This Girl Does Nothing, at American Stage until February 9th.
Runs through February 9th
Find tickets, performance time, and more information HERE.
Friday
**Registry Spotlight Event**
Tampa Rep is doing consistently ‘brilliant’ things for Tampa Bay theatergoers and Ned Averill-Snell is just a gift to all of us who love and support local theater. The #RegistrySpotlight shines on Every Brilliant Thing this week and all involved. Break legs!
Every Brilliant Thing by Duncan Macmillan
Tampa Repertory Theatre at USF Theatre Centre, Tampa
Tampa Rep brings back the brilliant Ned Averill-Snell in this one-man (plus audience members) piece depicting- in a loving, even funny way, how a boy, turned man, lists all the thing that make life worth living in an effort to deal with his mother’s ongoing depression. This was a long time, award winning, Off-Broadway hit originally starring the author, Duncan Macmillan. Our own Ned Averill- Snell reprises the role he played in the first Tampa Rep incarnation introduced during COVID.
“Toward the end of the pandemic, TampaRep began inviting audiences to Come Back Together, beginning with this amazing story. But not enough people had the chance to experience Ned Averill-Snell and the joy that is EVERY BRILLIANT THING. I couldn’t be happier to bring this piece back to the stage.” –Producing Artistic Director and Director of this production.
It’s a special show that, in my opinion, everyone should see.
Friday, January 31st through Sunday, February 9th
Find tickets, performance times, and more information HERE.
Saturday
Historic Baseball Trolley Tour
St. Petersburg Museum of History, DTSP
What better way to prepare for Spring Training than with a tour of St. Pete focusing on its truly rich Baseball lore? Curated by the Society for American Baseball Researchers (SABR), the tour will travel through the history of America’s pastime in St. Pete. Explore the training fields and facilities from 1914 to 1960, and learn about the teams, players, owners and unique history of the original Spring Training destination!
Saturday, January 31st @9am – 11am
Find tickets and more information HERE.
Monster Jam
Raymond Jame Stadium
It really isn’t the new year until the massive monster trucks come to town. It’s among the most action-packed motorsports event on four wheels. At the event, you will witness world-class driver athletes, and the most recognizable trucks tear up the dirt and compete in intense competitions of speed and skill. There are multiple types of free wheelin’ entertainment and competitions – racing, skills, donut and freestyle. It’s fun for the whole family, but don’t forget the ear plugs – especially for the little ones.
Saturday & Sunday, February 1st & 2nd
Find tickets, schedules, and more information HERE.
26th Annual Historic Kenwood Bungalow Tour
Begins @St. Pete High, St. Pete
This exciting exploration of architectural diversity helps generate funds to support neighborhood initiatives including: community care, support for the arts, neighborhood maintenance, beautification projects, neighborhood gatherings, and much more.Attending this event helps support these initiatives and allows you to explore Historic Kenwood’s architectural diversity. This year’s tour showcases homes and multiple Additional Dwelling Units (ADUs) that emphasize our urban revival and the growing trend of living large in small spaces. The 26th Annual BungalowFest will highlight Craftsman Bungalows, Frame Vernacular, Prairie, Mid-Century, Modern homes, and more with a special glimpse into spaces beyond the bungalow.
Saturday, January 31st @10am – 4pm
Find tickets and more information HERE.
2025 SACA Chinese New Year Celebration
I just love cultural events and the chance to learn new things about foreign places. The Suncoast Association of Chinese Americans (SACA) hosts Chinese New Year 2025 – celebrating the Year of the Snake with a vibrant day of authentic cuisine, traditional music, and captivating cultural performances. The melodies of cultural instruments will fill the air, creating a festive and harmonious atmosphere. Highlights of the celebration include the iconic lion and dragon dances, representing strength, prosperity, and blessings for the year ahead. Guests will savor a feast of classic dishes, each rich with symbolic meaning, as we gather to honor cherished traditions, share joy, and welcome the Lunar New Year with hope, unity, and celebration. There will be cultural exhibits, children’s playground, craft area, food vendors and much more! Free admission and everyone is welcome.
Saturday, February 1st @11:30am – 4pm
Find more information HERE.
**Concert Corner**
Riverdance 30th Anniversary Tour
The Mahaffey, DTSP
Now through Sunday, February 2nd
Find tickets, performance times and more information HERE.
Dirty Dancing in Concert
Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater
Friday, January 31st @8pm
Find tickets and more information HERE.
Candide by Leonard Bernstein (Full Opera)
Straz Center – Ferguson Hall, Tampa
Friday, January 31st @8pm
Find tickets and more information HERE.
Kansas – 50 Anniversary Tour
Seminole Hard Rock, Tampa
Sunday, February 2nd @8pm
Find tickets and more information HERE.
Have a Great Top 10 Weekend, Everyone!
Cindy
Don’t forget to send your events to: cstovall5@gmail.com
