Arts Council of Hillsborough County Grants Program

Help us save the Arts Council of Hillsborough County Grants program!

The Arts Council of Hillsborough County’s grant program provides essential annual support to local cultural organizations that add $292 million to the local economy and employ more than 8,000 people.

The Hillsborough County Administration has proposed to eliminate funding for this critical grant program for the coming year.

You can help us save this valuable grant program by participating in this petition. It will be presented to the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners in July to urge their continued support for the Arts Council Grants Program.

If you’d like to help, simply click here http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/saveartscouncil2010funding/and add your signature to the petition. In the "comments" box, please type your zip code i.e. Hillsborough 33601.

Also, the site randomly asks for donations to "IPetitions." This is not necessary since it counts your signature if you simply "X" out of the site from the donation window. We need as many signatures as possible from Hillsborough County by JULY 14, 2010.

To learn more about the importance of supporting this petition, please read on…A strong cultural community is a vital economic engine in Hillsborough County.More than 4.2 million residents and visitors attend arts and cultural events year-round in Hillsborough County.

Thousands upon thousands of Hillsborough County school children benefit from arts education programs provided at little or no charge by local arts and cultural organizations.The arts are an important policy asset and prosperity generator for local government. In addition to their inherent value to society, our local cultural organizations are:

• ECONOMIC DRIVERS: The arts create jobs and produce tax revenue. The arts sector stimulates business activity, attracts tourism revenue, retains a high quality work force and stabilizes property values. The arts have been shown to be a successful and sustainable strategy for revitalizing rural areas, inner cities and populations struggling with poverty.
  
• EDUCATIONAL ASSETS: The arts foster young imaginations and facilitate children’s success in school. They provide the critical thinking, communications and innovation skills essential to a productive 21st‐century work force.
  
• CIVIC CATALYSTS: The arts create a welcoming sense of place and a desirable quality of life. The arts also support a strong democracy, engaging citizens in civic discourse, dramatizing important issues and encouraging collective problem solving.
  
• CULTURAL LEGACIES: The arts preserve unique culture and heritage, passing precious cultural character and traditions along to future generations.
  

Hard times require public officials to make the most of every asset and to adopt policies that maximize recovery potential. The arts are a proven part of that mix. The arts are a recovery asset that supports jobs, stimulates commerce, stabilizes property values and provides many other economic benefits.

In addition to their many economic advantages, the arts offer timely assistance with educational and civic challenges that tend to escalate during tough times. The arts are also central to community resiliency. Whether facing economic distress, natural disasters or other adversity, the arts are a powerful force for recovery and healing, a benefit that few other industries offer.

We hope you will join us by supporting the arts in Hillsborough County by participating in this petition.

Tony Wrap Up

Well the spinning disks have been distributed, the jewels have been returned to Harry Winston and the marketing groups are furiously tagging ads with "Winner of ____ Tonys."

What did you think?

Or did you watch the Celtics romp the Lakers?

Or did you watch True Blood?

Be honest.

If you need a Tony wrap up, you can check out the run down from the NYT. Congrats to Red and Memphis for their big wins. Lots of Hollywood stars took home Tonys including Scarlett Johansson, Denzel Washington and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

We posted frequently on www.twitter.com/strazcenter and www.twitter.com/whobroadway so we hope you followed along.

What were your favorite (or least favorite moments)? How did Sean do as host? What shows do you want to see come to the Straz Center? Share your thoughts and let us know what you thought.

- Kari G.

Wonderland Meets SYTYCD! TONIGHT!

Get your DVRs ready for tonight's SYTYCD on Fox! You may see someone you know - from down the rabbit hole...

Two of our talented Wonderland cast members will be on So You Think You Can Dance TONIGHT!

Ashley Galvan, one of the Fembot dancers and Melinda Sullivan who was a versatile and talented swing. Melinda went on for almost all the roles she covered and did a phenomenal job!

Please cheer them on and support them with your votes!

-Kari G.

Miss Abigail's World Premiere!

Gather your girlfriends, your boyfriends, your best friends or even your frenemies (especially if they are known for dating your exes!) and come down to the hilarious world premier of Miss Abigail's Guide to Dating, Mating and Marriage!

Miss Abigail will teach you how to find and keep your perfect mate and gives you classic romance advice from yesteryear!

It’s like Late Nite Catechism, but about love!

Let Miss Abigail take you back to a simpler time ... when the divorce rate wasn’t 50% and when fidelity was more than an investment firm! During this 90-minute comedy, Miss A will teach you how to have the perfect kiss, what you should (and should not) talk about on a date, and how to let a man think he wears the pants.And who knows? Maybe during the show, Miss Abigail will learn a thing or two about love herself from her sexy, young assistant, Paco.

You can get 50% off the June 9-13 performances with the promo code SOCIAL.* Don't miss this great event!

-Kari G.

*Limit 4 tickets. Not applicable to prior sales. Cannot be combined with any other offer. Subject to availability.

MAMMA MIA! to Become First Major Western Musical to Recieve Chinese Production

MAMMA MIA! will be come the first major western musical to be produced in Chinese for a run in China. The website reports: "[China Arts and Entertainment Group] CAEG, which promotes Chinese-language productions of musical theatre masterpieces, signed the licensing agreement [with European music company Littlestar] at a ceremony in Beijing on Wednesday (June 2, 2010), and is now set to produce "Mamma Mia!" 13th foreign-language version, following its original English...Zhang Yu, president of CAEG, said "Mamma Mia!" will be the first worldwide musical masterpiece to be produced in Chinese..."

Can't wait to see Mamma Mia in Chinese (which according to Google Translate is Māmā mī ya)? Well get a healthy dose of ABBA when Bjorn Again The ABBA Experience comes to the Straz on June 26!

-Kari G.