"Alice" anniversary today

On this date in 1862, Lewis Carroll first told the "Wonderland" story to his neighbor's daughter Alice and her friends. Three years later, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" was published in book form.

For a modern-day take on the tale, check out "Wonderland: Alice's New Musical Adventures" in its world premiere in Tampa at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center.

Part of the Bank of America Best of Broadway Tampa Bay series, the new musical opens on Nov. 24 and runs through Jan. 3.

Season tickets to the Broadway series are on sale now. "Wonderland" tickets in conjunction with either "Wicked" or "Mary Poppins" also are on sale. Tickets to "Wonderland" alone go on sale to the public in mid-August.

The music is by Frank Wildhorn, with book and lyrics by Jack Murphy. It will be directed by Gregory Boyd.

For more information on this production, check out www.wonderlandthemusical.org. -- MichaelK

Sweet deals on select Spamalot performances!

Funnier than the plague!

More musical than a wandering band of merry minstrels!

MONTY PYTHON'S SPAMALOT

MARCH 3-8

STARRING RICHARD CHAMBERLAIN AS KING ARTHUR

SPECIAL WEEKDAY OFFER!

$25 tickets are available for all remaining seats for the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evening performances. Hurry! Offer ends Monday, March 2.

Promo code: RABBIT

AND

Come early and dine with us at Maestro’s Restaurant or Café for only

$19.95 (plus tax).

MARCH MIDDAY MADNESS

Take a break from the madness and join SPAMALOT, Thursday, March 5, at 2 p.m.!

All seats are just $20!

(plus applicable fees)

All discounts are subject to availability. Not applicable to prior sales. Cannot be combined with any other offer.

Limit 6 discounted tickets per order.

Open & close: Magic of the theater

In the annual rite of January closings, more than a dozen Broadway plays and musicals are either dark or getting dimmer this month in NYC.

Rather than mourn their passing (for there are others on the horizon to fill their stages and their seats), let The New York Times celebrate not that they are leaving, but that they were alive in the first place.

"Live theater has a built-in bittersweetness born of its ephemeral nature. The magic is here and now, it's gone forever ... or at least until its next revival. ... That's why being present when a work of achieved art passes into history (or even earlier during its run -- MK) can be inordinately moving, a reminder that beauty itself is mostly an evanescent thing in life."

Here at TBPAC, we just waved good-bye to the last of the energetic cast of "Spring Awakening," who jump-started our 2009. Now we look ahead to "Riverdance," "Spamalot" and "Rent" over the next months, along with a host of smaller, more intimate, productions in our other four theaters.

If your new year's resolution is to have more memories than regrets, consider starting here. -- MichaelK

Tomorrow: Test Drive Your Seats

Do you need to see it and feel it to believe it?

Come visit us on Sat., Aug. 23 from 10 – 11:30 a.m.

All seats still available for season tickets will be marked with checkered flags ready for you to take for a spin. You can take one – or 21! – for a test drive and then decide which seat will give you the perfect view to experience the best of Broadway next season. The 2008-2009 Bank of America Best of Broadway Tampa Bay series includes The Wizard of Oz, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Spring Awakening, A Chorus Line, Frost/Nixon, The Rat Pack – Live at the Sands, Fiddler on the Roof and Waist Watchers, The Calorie-Free Musical.

Mario Lopez makes his Broadway debut

It looks like the next celebrity to take to the Broadway stage is Mario Lopez. Depending how old you are, you'll remember that name from "Saved by the Bell" or more recently from "Dancing with the Stars." Lopez will be making his Broadway debut as "Zach" in A Chorus Line starting April 15.

And though it won't have Lopez, A Chorus Line is coming to Tampa in 0809 as part of our Broadway season.

New iTunes mix for the 0809 Broadway season!

If you read the Times or the Trib yesterday, you likely saw our 0809 Broadway season announcement. (Didn't see them? Follow the links!)

My boss, Michael Kilgore, has taken to creating some pretty spiffy iTunes iMixes for various series, and I got word of this one this morning. Check it out!