Deborah Bostock-Kelley - Page 13

Alongside his socially-distanced masked band, Christopher Jackson will be performing Broadway show tunes, pop hits, original songs, and sharing personal stories about his involvement in many popular musicals including IN THE HEIGHTS and HAMILTON.

Nerve-racking. That's the word that comes to mind when reviewing Innovocative Theatre's virtual production of Lauren Gunderson's Natural Shocks. Artfully directed by Staci Sabarsky, it is a powerful one-woman performance with the talent of Marie-Claude Tremblay as Angela, a woman hiding in the basement, unable to escape the destructive path of an oncoming tornado.

Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. In response to the civil uprising, a reaction to the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless others before them, Jobsite Theater and Stageworks Theatre have teamed up with Rory Lawrence Productions. They will join a national presentation of the Juneteenth Justice Theatre Project, a nationwide movement by American theater companies striving to 'change the world, one play at a time.'

The Tampa Film Institute, Inc. will host the 6th Annual Tampa Bay High School Film Competition as a part of the 2020 Suncoast Credit Union Gasparilla International Film Festival ('GIFF'), held virtually on Sunday, June 14th (1pm-3pm) on Twitch.

'At Powerstories we have always celebrated women on stage through our plays, musicals, and SheVolution festivals,' said founder Fran Powers. 'Today, there are no lights, sound action at the theatre, but we are still shedding light on women through our Mother's Day Edition of PositivelyPowerstories.'

Powerstories Theatre is going back to its roots to ask everyone a?' young and old a?' a?oeduring this unprecedented time in our history, what brings you joy? What is your story?a?? Participants can share their true stories that bring them joy, create a short maximum 3 minute YouTube or Vimeo video hashtag #positivelypowerstories and post the link, or email an MP4. Storytellers can also make an audio file MP3, or email their personal artwork, their photograph, their sketch, their painting, etc. and email as JPG, GIF, or PNG. During everyone's time sequestered, Powerstories is trying to put the social back in isolation safely.

Featuring beloved hits like a?oeSherry,a?? a?oeBig Girls Don't Cry,a?? a?oeWalk Like A Man,a?? a?oeCan't Take My Eyes Off Youa?? and a?oeDecember 1963 (Oh What A Night),a?? Jersey Boys tells the story of the trials and tribulations of the quartet. The audience will learn how they went from being The Four Seasons to being a solo artist of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons.

Opening on March 13 and running through April 5 at American Stage, the world premiere of The People Downstairs tells the story of Mabel, a lonely, middle-aged shut-in, a visually-impaired woman who lives with her funeral home custodian father, Miles in Buffalo, NY. When a court-appointed guardian threatens to put them in a nursing home, Miles sets out to find true love for his daughter.

Melina: A Steampunk Musical is a dash of Shakespeare, a dollop of Jules Verne, a pinch of Sherlock Holmes, a smidgen of Phantom of the Opera, and a splash of Greek tragedy mixed with an utterly original pop opera. It is something that you'll definitely want to support to get to future theatre festivals, and way beyond staged readings to a real set and props, lighting and sound, to fully realize this incredible Steampunk/Steampop vision inside of Gretchen's head.

a?oePowerful. Raw. Real.a?? Producer, director, and actress Samantha Stevens described the upcoming production of Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues tonight. In celebration of VDAY St. Pete 2020, for one night only, on March 3, at the event space NOVA 535, a dozen talented women will be talking, laughing, shouting, and sobbing about something frequently whispered in hushed tones.

Featuring the professional talents of Scott Daniel, Dan Franke, Georgia Mallory Guy, Colleen Cherry, Kara Sotakoun, Ryan Bernier, Kristin Carbone, Michael St. John and Young Artists Ensemble members Caroline Howard, Jamesyn Horton, Emily Stephens, Kate Shamblin, Jake Perez, Nikala Hale, Blase Roque, Collage also showcases over 20 students of HB Plant High School Theatre Company.

Returning August 17 is Shout! The Mod Musical at Straz Center's Jaeb Theatre. Shout! The Mod Musical is a nostalgic and fun jukebox musical revue into the subculture of 60s London that helped define a decade, showcasing many of the iconic songs that captivated the UK and the US.

With stage direction and an ensemble that was nothing short of perfection, a live band that complimented and didn't overpower the vocals, costumes, choreography, sound and lighting and a set that, despite being in a small area, felt huge, this was a spectacular start to the professional theatre's 20th year of providing true stories to their audiences. Based on the book by Studs Terkel, Working A Musical wasn't your typical musical. There was no actual plot, no rising action, no twist, no denouement. It was organized in a way that one scene made an easy transition into the next, being directly related to what the earlier character had said. It was a wonderful series of vignettes and songs that gave us a behind-the-scenes close-up look at the person behind the job.

a?oeRumorsa?? offers palpable, infectious energy of its ensemble cast. Never a dull moment, the fast-paced, witty dialogue paired with the constant movement of the cast is executed flawlessly. The speed and flow of the conversations didn't give us, the audience, even a moment to recover before another insane zinger flew. You don't have time to laugh at one before they spout out a dozen more.

Farce of Nature tells the tale of a single crazy day in the life of an Arkansas family, the Wilburns. While trying to find the source of a putrid smell, chaos ensues. The cast features three married couples.

Directed by Jamie Lynn Gilliam, on February 13-16, The Straz Center's Patel Conservatory will present The Jungle Book, Kids! in the TECO Theatre. Featuring 33 children, from second to fifth grade, the thirty-minute musical performance is geared to the younger set, though everyone can enjoy the story of Mowgli, Bagheera, Baloo, and the ferocious Shere Khan and all their jungle friends. Even the forest comes alive in this Disney tale.

To commemorate their 20th year in the Tampa Bay community bringing new, authentic and often original stories based in truth, Powerstories Theatre is switching it up in 2020 with its first Broadway musical opening February 20. In a series of monologues and songs, Working A Musical tells the relatable story of working-class men and women and compels the audience to look at the person behind the job. Based on Studs Terkel's best-selling book of interviews with American workers, Working A Musical is a vibrant depiction of the workers often taken for granted. The homemaker, the schoolteacher, the waitress, the millworker, the mason, the trucker are just a few of the voices represented.

The title of his one-man show, The Spouse Whisperer, was a playful jab at the reality TV shows with whisperer in the title. a?oeIf they can go around and tell how to make dogs and horses better than I'm going to be the spouse whisperer. Everybody gets the title.a?? Mark said that The Spouse Whisperer was all humor-driven with some scientific information thrown in, so it had some basis in fact. It's also interactive. From 18 to senior citizens, everyone can find something to relate to. The audience is given cards upon entering the show and asked to write questions and comments that he will respond to in the second half of the performance. He noted that no matter the corner of the country, the concerns about relationships were surprisingly universal.

Under the production of owner Faith Clark and co-direction of Jake Indano and Dulcie Mishkin, on January 25 & 26, Florida Drama Kids will bring to stage 56 students, ages 6-17 in Disney's Frozen Jr. at Hillsborough Community College, Brandon campus.

A traveling professional theatre company, Vivid Theatre Productions founder Drew Eberhard is excited to debut his second musical cabaret, a show called Fragmentation: Moving from Captivity to Liberation, a fundraiser for his first season. One night only, Sunday, January 26 at Villagio Cinemas, it features some of the best voices in Tampa Bay.