Wonderland essay contest - Winners to receive Patel Conservatory class, tickets to Wonderland and dinner at Maestro’s !

Students in grades five, six, seven and eight throughout Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties are invited to participate in the “Find your Wonderland: what makes your family wonderful?” essay contest, held by the Patel Conservatory at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center.

One winner in each grade level will receive four tickets to the Broadway Family Night performance of Wonderland: Alice’s New Musical Adventure on Wednesday, Dec. 2, complimentary valet parking, dinner for four at Maestro’s Restaurant, tuition to a Patel Conservatory class (restrictions apply) and a Wonderland prize pack. Additionally, award-winning students each will pick one teacher to receive two tickets to Wonderland.

To enter, students must submit a written essay answering the question “What makes your family wonderful?” in 500 words or less to the Patel Conservatory between Monday, Oct. 5 and Friday, Nov. 6. An impartial panel of judges will select the winners.

“The topic of our contest, ‘What makes your family wonderful,’ explores the tendency for each of us to drift in our own wonderland—unaware of those around us. We need to take the time to appreciate the wonderful people and joyful experiences in our lives, and share them with others,” said Wendy Leigh, TBPAC’s vice-president of education.

Performances of Wonderland will begin Nov. 24 in TBPAC’s Ferguson Hall and run through Jan. 3, 2010. “Wonderland will be a tremendous Broadway-quality show and for these contest winners to study the performing arts right here at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, where Wonderland will premiere, will be an incredible and unprecedented opportunity,” Leigh said.

The story of Wonderland, set in modern Manhattan, tells the story of author Alice Cornwinkle, a descendent of Lewis Carroll’s muse Alice Liddell, who is struggling with her career, her husband and her daughter. Audiences will journey with Alice to Wonderland and the Looking-Glass World, strange-yet-familiar places where she must reclaim her daughter, defeat the Queen and learn to follow her own heart.

Essays must be typed or printed clearly on 8 ½ x 11 inch paper and include contestant’s name, age, school, grade level, name of parent/guardian, mailing address and phone number. Essays must be mailed to Patel Conservatory, Attn: Essay Contest, P.O. Box 518, Tampa, Fl 33601-0518 or delivered to Patel Conservatory, 1010 North W.C. MacInnes Pl., Tampa, FL 33602-3720.

As part of the non-profit Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, the Patel Conservatory offers classes for children and adults of all experience levels in all kinds of dance, music and theater. More information is available by calling 813.222.1002, and by visiting www.patelconservatory.org.

The Broadway Season Begins! (And a public service announcement).

Last night we celebrated the beginning of the Bank of America America Best of Broadway Tampa Bay series and the premiere of the touring company of In the Heights.

Lin-Manuel Miranda, who conceived In the Heights and wrote the music and lyrics, said a few words before a packed house in Carol Morsani Hall.

I googled "In The Heights Tampa" today to see if any of the papers wrote about opening night.

I found what I was looking for, but I also found several ticket brokers selling In The Heights tickets. As we begin the Broadway season, we cannot be more clear about this: Purchasing tickets from a third party vendor not only ensures that you will pay too much for your ticket, but also puts you at risk for a bogus ticket.

Under Florida Statutes 817.36 Resale of Tickets, which took effect July 1, 2009, it is illegal for any person or entity to offer or resell a ticket to any performance at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center for more than $1 over this nonprofit institution’s originally assigned price. Substantial penalties are in place for violators. All TBPAC tickets are covered by the statute and contain a notice that they cannot be resold for more than their originally assigned face value. To keep our tickets affordable and accessible, violators will be prosecuted.

Call 813.229.STAR to purchase safe, affordable and accessible tickets from TBPAC, or visit our website 24/7 at www.tbpac.org to purchase tickets online, or stop by and see our new ticket office and meet our friendly staff and maybe even take a tour of the facility.

Keep reading Culture Shock and following us on twitter and friend us on facebook and myspace. We promise to always keep you informed and give you plenty of notice when tickets go on sale, so you'll never be left out and you'll always pay a fair price.

Congratulations to In The Heights! Don't miss this great show! Ticket brokers - knock it off!

- Kari G.

Janet Dacal on WMNF tomorrow!

The lovely and talented Janet Dacal will be on WMNF's Latino 54 at 9 a.m. tomorrow morning! Don't miss her talking about her career and the upcoming Wonderland!

Student Rush for IN THE HEIGHTS

Students can save 50% off tickets to In the Heights, Oct. 27 (tonight) through Nov. 1. Simply come to the TBPAC Ticket Office no sooner than 90 minutes to the scheduled curtain time with a valid student ID. This discount is valid for all remaining seats for that scheduled performance. One discounted ticket per ID.

Not applicable to prior sales. Cannot be combined with any other offer. Subject to availability. Service charge applies.

Please note: Photo shown is the Original Broadway Cast and not the performers in the National Tour.

R. Kelly coming to TBPAC

On November 29th R. Kelly will be performing at TBPAC with his Ladies Make Some Noise Tour.

The New York Times recently reviewed his concert.

Just a little background:
R. Kelly, the three-time Grammy winning king of R&B, makes music of epic proportions. After 18 years of stardom, the multi-instrumentalist, producer and vocalist continues to forge an artistic path that caters to fantasy and captures the hearts of adoring fans, which is in essence, how an artist sells more than 34 million records, and wears the crown of a king.From the tantalizing eight-times platinum R., to the Grammy-award winning anthem “I Believe I Can Fly,” to his recent hit single “I’m a Flirt” with Bow Wow that garnered a 2008 ASCAP Rhythm and Soul Music Award, R. Kelly is the essence of true R&B. As a skilled collaborator, he pairs vocals with countless artists – Snoop Dogg, T.I. and Usher among them. With Usher, he performed “Same Girl,” which was a Rolling Stone Best Song of the Year in 2007.It is this uncanny ability to compose classics and deliver electrifying live performances that define everything that is essential R. Kelly. It’s why he is the recipient of multiple Billboard, BMI and American Music Awards. A prolific artist, he churns out albums on a yearly basis from his Chocolate Factory studios in the heart of Chicago, drawing from the spirit of his musical forefathers Curtis Mayfield and Donnie Hathaway. While, R. Kelly proudly hails from the so-called Second City, with his boundless talent, he is second to none.

For more information on R. Kelly
For Tickets

-AP

Intern AP got to go on a cool vacation!

I just got back from vacation in New York and while I was there I loaded up on all the Broadway and Off Broadway shows my mom and I wanted to see. Think I’m joking? 8 days, 7 shows! It was heaven.

Among the big titles were Next to Normal; Jersey Boys; Hair; Bye, Bye Birdie and South Pacific.

Coincidentally - South Pacific is coming right here to TBPAC! If you have not seen the show or have and just love the music, you have to come see this! Not only is the Broadway tour coming, the movie is being featured as one of the free movies on the lawn - Nov. 13!

Synopsis for those who don’t know: South Pacific concerns the lives of U.S. military men, nurses and the residents of the Polynesian island they occupy during World War II. Nurse Nellie Forbush is "In Love With a Wonderful Guy," a French planter with small children. Clean-cut Lt. Cable has fallen hard for Bloody Mary's daughter Liat. And the seabees, sailors and marines will tell you that there is "Nothing Like a Dame."

The show's gorgeous score also includes "Cockeyed Optimist," "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Out of My Hair," "Some Enchanted Evening," "Younger Than Springtime," "Honey Bun" and "This Nearly Was Mine."
This Rodgers and Hammerstein classic also won Best Musical Revival at the Tony Awards a couple years back.

You will have the best time watching this moving story.

For more information and tickets go .

- AP

So much to do at TBPAC tonight!

We love it when the fall season starts rolling, there is always so much to do! Here's a recap of a fun (and mostly free or greatly reduced!) Friday night at TBPAC!

6:30 - Come and be a part of the social media movement! TBPAC will host St. Pete Tweet and Tampabloggers.com in a TWEET UP! You have to RSVP for the event so sign up here or here! If you're signed up - you can take the haunted tour of TBPAC through our tunnel and under our stages!

8 p.m. - Okay here's where it gets really good! Take your pick!

Jobsite Theater's And Baby Makes 7 in their final weekend! You don't want to miss this awesome show and tickets are 50% off with the promo code CECIL! You can't beat that!

Florida Orchestra's Rhythms on Fire opening night! Caliente! And you can get $20 tickets with the promo code MYTFO. Woah!

(Service charges aren't included).

Still can't drop any dough this weekend? We feel ya! So how about a FREE movie on the lawn? We'll open up the Riverwalk tonight for a screening of Coraline!

See you tonight!

In The Heights: Chasing Broadway Dreams

If you missed it a few months ago, the PBS special “In the Heights: Chasing Broadway Dreams” will re-air tonight on WEDU-PBS at 9 p.m. This is a great opportunity to learn more about the show and how this amazing musical found its way to Broadway and will soon be launching it’s first National Tour right here at the TBPAC. If you saw it the first time, watch it again. It will continue to inspire!

-Angela L.

Coraline Fun!

Get in the spirit of tomorrow night's FREE movie Coraline! Button your eyes! We'll see you tomorrow night at 8 p.m. and we have four big cans of OFF! Active (sweat resistant) to ward off any unwanted guests! Also if you're interested in being a part of the St. Pete Tweets and TampaBloggers.com Tweet up - don't forget to RSVP. You can take a "haunted tour" of TBPAC starting at 6:30 and meet some groovy social media gurus in our area.

-Kari G.

Movies on the Lawn are BACK!

Last year we launched our free movie series in Sept. with The Wizard of Oz. We knew we had a great event on our hands. We also knew that a movie in Sept. in Tampa was a little too humid for our tastes.

This year we waited until Oct. to start our series. We're kicking it off with Coraline. All of our movies reflect some aspect of our Broadway season. Coraline is a lot like our new musical Wonderland. Both involve girls finding their way back home from a strange universe.

Movies on the Lawn always occur on the second Fri. of the month and begin at 8 p.m. You can bring lawn chairs, blankets, bug spray and even come in costume! Sorry, you can't bring coolers. If you have any questions you can always email me and I'll be happy to help you out.

This is one of my favorite events all year, we'll have such a good time. Will I see you there?

-Kari G.

Tweet up! Both sides of the Bay!

As you know, TBPAC loves social media! We've been on board since the beginning. Social media is the fastest growing segment of our marketing strategies and our fans/friends/followers are the best around!

We've partnered with St. Pete Tweets and the TampaBloggers to do a very special networking event this Friday! Beginning at 6:30 on October 9, we will be doing "haunted tours" of the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. This is the underground stuff you never get to see - evacuation tunnels, views under the stages, and some stories that you won't believe!

Then our bloggers and tweeters have a couple of options at 8 p.m. You can either see the always red-hot Florida Orchestra's Rhythms on Fire, Jobsite Theater's hilarious comedy And Baby Makes 7 (and get 1/2 off your ticket price with the promo code CECIL), or you can save your pennies and see the free movie on the lawn Coraline.

If you're staying for the movie, lawn chairs and blankets are wonderful, coolers and dogs that like to bark at the move are not wonderful. Bug spray is recommended for this first movie of the season and of course extra points if you come in your Halloween costume.

RSVP for the Tweet Up and we'll see you on Friday!

-Kari G.

Show your love for the dinosaur!

Love dinosaurs? We have two great ways for you to experience these prehistoric creatures! You can register to win a family 4-pack of tickets to see Walking with Dinosaurs: The Arena Spectacular at the St. Pete Times Forum, Oct 14-18 when you email Dinosaur World at dinosaurworld@scrtc.com. Make sure your email has a subject line of “register to win” and be sure to include your name, phone number, email and address. Contest ends Oct. 11 with the winner being drawn Oct. 12

And, just for reading Culture Shock, Dinosaur World is giving you $2 off admission when you print this blog entry and present it at Dinosaur World. The offer is good for up to 6 people and up to a $12 discount (reg. admission is $12.75 for adults and $9.75 for ages 3-12). This offer is not valid with other offers. For more info visit http://www.dinoworld.net/.

Photo is from Walking with Dinosaurs: The Arena Spectacular.