Arts Coast Magazine – Performing

By Andrea Assaf. At Water’s Edge / Al filo del agua is a bilingual, interactive, theatre and dance performance, with storytelling and live music, created by three women from different generations and different geographic locations—one in the United States, the other in Mexico, and the third at the edge of the two. Stories, legends and acts of resistance intertwine as their lives intersect…. Read More

By Jake-ann Jones. Erica Sutherlin, who is making herstory as the first Black woman director at American Stage, has brought together a panel to discuss Amiri Baraka, the man behind the upcoming play Dutchman. The evening’s presentation, “Through the Lens: Amiri Baraka, the man behind the words,” is the first in a three-evening series of talks in the free “Beneath the Surface” conversations on the play. The next discussion, “The Forbidden Fruit: exploring the themes in Dutchman” will be held Tuesday, June 14 at … Read More

By Carlene Cobb. The 9th Annual Champions for ACT Breakfast at St. Petersburg Pier was an inspired success. Performances by Arts Conservatory for Teens students and alumni rocked the appreciative audience with music, singing, dancing, acting, spoken word and inspired energy…. Read More

By Sheila Cowley. At our second Sparks Collaborative Ensemble rehearsal for Billow, Creative Clay’s artists were flying. The performance is part of Creative Clay’s Spring for the Arts fundraiser on May 20. Billow is a short play dozens of Creative Clay’s member artists have a hand in – from painting strikingly beautiful billowing flags to moving and dancing and shouting out lines with actor Jan Neuberger, dancer Helen Hansen French and choreographer Paula Kramer.
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Words by David Warner, Photos by Tom Kramer. Collaboration is a key word for BEACON, the annual concert of contemporary dance at The Palladium. The 2022 edition on April 29 was no exception, with partnerships not just among dancers and choreographers but with a jazz pianist, a composer of electronic music, two laptops, two visual artists and even the audience. I know I will hold all of these dances in my heart for a very long time…. Read More

By Laura Kepner. This Saturday, the City of Tarpon Springs’ Tarpon Arts, a division of the Cultural and Civic Services Department, is hosting The Art of Health at Craig Park, 5 Beekman Lane in Tarpon Springs, a free all-ages event from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., which will focus on the ways art uplifts and improves lives through music, painting, dance and more…. Read More

By Kurt Loft. It’s not often we hear music from a composer who lived more than 900 years ago, about the time of the Second Crusade and building the Cathedral of Notre Dame. But the poems and sounds of Hildegard von Bingen still linger after all this time – a German nun whose music, writing, scientific musings and mysticism shaped ideas in a world dominated by male thought and action. This weekend, The Florida Orchestra and Master Chorale of Tampa Bay offer a piece by Hildegard to kick off a serene night of music that ends with Mozart’s Requiem…. Read More

By Kurt Loft. The all-volunteer orchestra includes 70 musicians ages 18 to 80 and serves as a platform for people who want to play part-time, but still tackle challenging works. “The beauty of our group lies in the members,” says double bass player Paul Kurtz. “It’s a beautiful blend of young, old, Black, white, brown, yellow, straight, gay – basically, come as you are. And to me that is a true reflection of community.”… Read More

By Kurt Loft. What keeps a marriage between two musicians in tune? A little Mozart, a morsel of Mendelssohn, a bit of Beethoven. It works for cellist Edward Arron and pianist Jeewon Park, a husband-and-wife duo who close out the Palladium Chamber Players season May 4. “I consider myself the luckiest cellist in the world to be married to such a marvelous pianist,” Arron says. “After 21 years of making music together, we have total trust in one another onstage.”… Read More

After a prolonged Covid-related hiatus, One City Chorus is back to rehearsing in person – and performing a benefit concert. Admission is free and donations will be accepted to benefit the people of Ukraine. The titles of some of the songs One City Chorus will be singing on May 1 suggest what the concert will be about – “You Gotta Put One Foot in Front of the Other,” “I Still Believe,” “Hope Lingers On”… Read More

By Sheila Cowley. “Billow” is a short script I wrote thinking of Creative Clay – a celebration of being spectacular and being seen. “It speaks to the whole fight of not being visible,” says CEO Kim Dohrman. The first rehearsal was this week and the performance is part of their Spring for the Arts fundraiser on May 20. The ensemble features actor Jan Neuberger, dancer Helen Hansen French, choreographer Paula Kramer and every Creative Clay artist who wants to join in…. Read More

By Carol Mickett. Robert Stackhouse and I enthusiastically agreed to work with choreographer Paula Kramer, premier dancer Helen Hansen French, musician and composer John O’Leary III and photographer Tom Kramer on a collaboration for BEACON 2022, the yearly contemporary dance celebration produced by Helen French and Lauren Slone at the Palladium Theater in St. Petersburg…. Read More

By GJ Thompson. St Petersburg Shakespeare Festival in association with Off-Central Players is hosting The Inaugural William Shakespeare’s Birthday Bash, a day-long street festival of the arts celebrating the birth, life and works of William Shakespeare – with performances, visual art, music, street performers, activities for kids, food and drink…. Read More

By Jake-ann Jones. freeFall Theatre has brought Ebony Repertory Theatre’s L.A. production of Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill, a play with music by Lanie Robertson, to town. Starring the luminous Karole Foreman, the play takes place in 1959, so we’re meeting the iconic songstress at the door of death (Holiday died in July of that year). The evening feels intimate – it’s just us and Foreman/Holiday, and her lone accompanist, Jimmy Powers. Played by pianist Damon Carter, who fills the theater with his deft and dexterous piano skills … Read More

By Susan Giles-Wantuck. For more than 10 years, oboist Amy Collins and painter Christopher Still have wanted a piece of music to go along with the murals he painted for the state house chamber, as Artist-in-Residence of the Florida Legislature. And this Sunday, composer Alyssa Morris’s Florida Miniatures will have its world premiere at USF. The work is based on some of the ten murals Still painted in the Florida House Chamber…. Read More