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You can now follow the Straz Center – all social media includes calendar listings, upcoming events, up-to-the-minute on-sale information, occasional ticket discounts, behind-the-scenes tidbits and more!

See all the information about the types of shows that interest you!

facebook.com/StrazCenter

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PRISCILLA on “AMERICA’S GOT TALENT”

TONY AWARD-WINNING HIT PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT THE MUSICAL WILL PERFORM ON NBC’s “AMERICA’S GOT TALENT” PREMIERE RESULTS SHOW WEDNESDAY, JULY 13

Priscilla Queen Of The Desert, presented on Broadway by “The Divine Miss M,” producer Bette Midler, will perform on the first live premiere results show of season 6 of NBC’s hit summer talent competition series “America’s Got Talent.” Tony-nominee Will Swenson will lead the cast in a diva-tastic medley of some of Priscilla’s most popular songs - “Finally,” “Shake Your Groove Thing,” and “MacArthur Park” – featuring the show’s trademark 2011 Tony-winning costumes designed by Oscar and Tony-winning designers Tim Chappel and Lizzy Gardiner.

Following hit productions in Australia, London and Toronto, Priscilla Queen Of The Desert The MUSICAL opened to critical acclaim on March 20 at the Palace Theatre (1564 Broadway).

Priscilla Queen Of The Desert was awarded a 2011 Tony Award® for Best Costume Design for Academy Award® winners Tim Chappel and Lizzy Gardiner’s designs. The new hit musical was also honored with three Best Musical award nominations from the Drama Desk, Drama League and Outer Critics Circle Award organizations. Olivier Award nominee Tony Sheldon received a Tony Award® nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in addition to Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Drama League nominations, and was awarded the Theatre World Award for outstanding Broadway debut. Tim Chappel and Lizzy Gardiner were also honored with 2011 Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk Awards for Outstanding Costume Design this season.

Now in its sixth season, “America's Got Talent,” airs Tuesdays (9-11 p.m. ET) and Wednesdays (9-10 p.m. ET) on NBC. Howie Mandel, Piers Morgan and Sharon Osbourne star as the celebrity panel of judges, and Nick Cannon serves as host. The series is a true celebration of the American spirit, featuring a colorful array of aspiring stars, including singers, dancers, comedians, contortionists, impressionists, jugglers, magicians and ventriloquists, all vying for their chance to strut and perform on stage hoping to win America's hearts – and the $1 million prize. Check local listings.

Priscilla Queen Of The Desert The MusicaL stars Tony Award® nominee Will Swenson, Olivier Award and Tony Award® nominee Tony Sheldon and Nick Adams as the trio of friends on a heart-warming, uplifting road trip of a lifetime who hop aboard a battered old bus searching for love and friendship in the middle of the Australian outback and end up finding more than they could ever have dreamed.

Featuring a score of over 20 dance-floor classics, a company of 27, and with a dazzling array of more than 500 outrageous costumes, the spectacular new stage musical is a sensational journey to the heart of fabulous!

Adapted from the Academy Award® winning film The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert, PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT THE MUSICAL is written by Stephan Elliott and Allan Scott. Direction is by Simon Phillips, choreography by Ross Coleman, musical supervision and arrangements by Stephen ‘Spud’ Murphy and set design by Brian Thomson and costumes by Tim Chappel and Lizzy Gardiner. Production supervised by Jerry Mitchell. Lighting is designed by Nick Schlieper, sound design is by Jonathan Deans and Peter Fitzgerald and make up design is by Cassie Hanlon.

PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT THE MUSICAL is produced by Bette Midler; James L. Nederlander; Garry McQuinn, Liz Koops; Michael Hamlyn; Allan Scott; Roy Furman/ Richard Willis; Terry Allen Kramer; Terri and Timothy Childs, Ken Greiner, Ruth Hendel; Chugg Entertainment; Michael Buckley; Stewart Lane/ Bonnie Comley; Bruce Davey; Thierry Suc/TS3; Bartner/ Jenkins; Broadway Across America/H. Koenigsberg; M. Lerner/ D. Bisno/ K. Seidel/ R. Gold; Paul Boskind and Martian Entertainment / Spirtas-Mauro Productions / MAS Music Arts & Show; and David Mirvish.

For Tickets, Schedule and more information, visit: www.priscillaonbroadway.com

Follow PRISCILLA on Twitter or on Facebook.

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We now have several ways to Follow Us!

Are you following us on social media? If you aren't now is a great time to do so! We post all information on upcoming events and shows, fun facts, discounts and much more! Be the first to know!

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Jersey Boys ticket give-a-way

Want to win a pair of Jersey Boys tickets for opening night, March 23rd?

You could be already eligible! One winner will be picked from all the David A. Straz, Jr. Center for the Performing Arts friends (on Facebook) - and if you aren’t a friend yet, you have until February 28th to become one!

The contest begins now and you must be a Straz Center Facebook friend by February 28th at 4:30 p.m. The winner will be randomly selected from all the friends/'likes' we have. Tickets for the opening night performance on March 23rd will be held for the winner at Will Call and will be notified of their winning via FB. Please make sure we are available and able to contact you via FB message, etc.

Prize to be redeemed at the David A. Straz, Jr. Center for the Performing Arts located at 1010 N. W.C. MacInnes Place, Tampa, FL 33602. No purchase necessary. Participants and winner(s) must be legal U.S. residents and residents of Florida. Employees of the David A. Straz, Jr. Center for the Performing Arts, their subsidiaries and affiliated companies, participating sponsors and their advertising agencies and members of their immediate family are not eligible to participate. Not valid where prohibited by law. Contest begins on or around February 3, 2011, at noon. The last contest deadline ends on February 28, 2011 at 4:30 p.m. One winner will be randomly selected from all eligible entries received. Only one entry per e-mail address. Anybody’s who currently “liking” us now is eligible, as is anybody who adds us before deadline. Prizes will be awarded on or around March 23, 2011. The winners will be notified by social media outlets, on or around March 2, 2011. Odds of winning vary greatly depending on number of entrants from this state. The David A. Straz, Jr. Center for the Performing Arts assumes no liability or responsibility for any prize once it is awarded, or any damage, loss or liability arising from the award, acceptance or use of the prize, and Contest winner agrees to release and hold harmless the Released Parties against any and all claims of liability arising directly or indirectly from the Contest or the prizes and the use of such Contest winner's name, voice and photo. The Released Parties assume no liability for lost, illegible, incomplete, misdirected or late entries or prize claims, or for typographical or other errors in the offer or administration of this Contest including, without limitation, errors in the printing of the offer and official rules, selection, notification and announcement of the winner, or distribution of prizes. The Contest is subject to applicable federal, state and local laws, rules and regulations, and is void where prohibited or otherwise restricted. The prizes offered in this contest have no cash value and may not be returned for cash. Tickets may not be exchanged for another date, time and/or performance.

If you care, SHARE!

We have a feature on our website and our eCenter newsletters - no matter what the information - announcements, shows, discounts, classes, dining opportunities, you name it - there is always an icon nearby that looks like the one above.

That's the ShareThis option. Click on it and you can share our information with your friends on MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, FriendFeed, Blogspot, Technorati and more!

Be a Performing Arts Social Media Maven! When you see a show, event, class, or blog post you like - let everyone know. You'll be rewarded with new fans flocking to your Social Media Mecca. If nothing else, you'll look tres sophisticated and well versed in the arts scene in Tampa Bay. We all win!

-Kari G.

Test Drive Your Social Networking

Today was Test Drive Your Seats - a great opportunity for the community to run around Morsani Hall and see the available seats for the Broadway Season.  It was a bit of an early morning for most of us on the marketing staff.  We all had the "best intentions" to go to bed early last night - but I think the average bedtime was between 1:30 and 2 a.m.  

Bleary eyed but eager, we opened the doors to scores of waiting patrons at 9:30. We answered questions, talked of sight lines (Is stage left better than stage right?), levels (is the Mezzanine better than the Orchestra?) and season ticket options (Silver package v. Platinum package?).  Our Development team assisted patrons who saw the benefits of becoming members and ensuring the best seats in the Broadway Circle.

There are still great seats available for all performances in the season.  If you missed Test Drive today, don't worry, your perfect seats might still be waiting for you!

As the event wore down - we realized that in our quiet time, we were all posting Tweets.  This is what happens when an account has multiple users and too many marketers with iPhones.  Ah technology!

TBPAC's social networking contributors is expanding.  It's only going to get more interesting.  In the coming weeks TBPAC will be giving you, our readers and fans, a multi-dimensional look at all aspects of the world of a Performing Arts Center.  Staff from all areas of TBPAC will share their world with you.

Social Networking channels for TBPAC will still be one of the first places to gain information on discounts, show announcements and reminders of public on-sales, but we want to add to that knowledge a glimpse into the experiences we have at TBPAC.

Follow us on Twitter @TBPAC and get the news as it happens, from all corners of our organization.  Friend us on Facebook and MySpace for photos and contests that will be exclusive to our Friends.  Subscribe to Culture Shock and find out what we're up to and comment back with your thoughts and questions.

There is a Native American proverb that "It takes a thousand voices to tell one story." We're adding more voices and we need your voice as well - come to the discussion.

Have a great weekend - and if you haven't seen RENT yet, you still have 4 performances left.  If you're going to the Tampa Bay Rays game tonight - Anthony Rapp is singing the National Anthem - then rushing back to do the evening performance.  How cool is that?

-Kari G.  

Find us easier on Facebook!

We've taken advantage of the new purl service offered by Facebook:

http://facebook.com/tbpac

Follow that link to become a Fan of TBPAC on Facebook (you have to chose "Become a Fan" under our user picture after the jump) and you can get updates in your live feed on new shows, tidbits, discounts and more!

Follow In The Heights!

If you love In The Heights, the show is now on Facebook and Twitter. Become a fan of the show on Facebook and/or follow them on Twitter... http://twitter.com/ninarosario

And for all the Rent Heads, or wanna be Rent Heads, you can also follow the new Rent Broadway Tour (coming to the TBPAC in July) on Twitter... http://twitter.com/rentthebwaytour

Following any other Broadway shows?

Are you a WAISTWATCHER? Can you give us a hand?

One of the core components of good show marketing is knowing who your audience is and planning smart to reach them. You can buy all the TV, radio and print you like and still miss people though (as was evidenced this weekend when overheard at the Watchmen was "they should have an intermission in three-hour movies, you know, like back in the day when they had plays"). Some shows come with built-in niches. For a show like Motherload we'll obviously reach out to mom groups and play-date services. For HATS! we located all of the Red Hat chapters in a 100-mile radius.

For WAISTWATCHERS: The Calorie-Free Musical we've been reaching out to health and fitness organizations: Weightwatchers, Anytime Fitness, Shapes and the like. Still, it would be a virtual impossibility for us to hit up every single gym, weight loss center and health food store in the whole DMA.

And this is where you might come in ...

Grass-roots level marketing is important. It costs nothing in dollars usually, but is often the most labor-intesive and elusive. Our patrons operate on a grass-root level when they see a show then tell their friends who would like it to make a plan. They help us by posting links in their blogs or on their social networks. They can also help us out by taking a poster or some flyers to a relevant business they frequent - in this case like those gyms, weight loss centers or health food stores I mentioned previously.

Can you give us a hand?

If you've seen the show already, you know what folks are in for. Maybe you'd like to come back again and bring a friend? That might be possible for us to work out. You scratch our back and maybe we can scratch yours. Maybe you haven't seen it and you'd like to. Pitch in and we can probably take care of you, too.

So let me know if you can lend a hand. Any and all help is appreciated and we're always working on a show like this that's here for such a long time to help make sure that the show stays top of mind with folks.

Help like this isn't valid just for WAISTWATCHERS (though, admittedly, it's my most immediate need), but you can always help any show at TBPAC by doing any of the following:

• Request a poster or flyers to put at a relevant business, your work or church
• Follow us (tbpac) on Twitter, friend us on MySpace or join the group/become a fan of us (tbpac) on Facebook
• Use the forward to a friend feature on an eCenter newsletter that you think someone else might be interested in
  
• Post tinyurl links to your Twitter status
• Post links to our blog or our videos or photos to your Facebook or MySpace profile.
• Post how excited you are to see a show or what you thought of a show to your blog or social network

TBPAC is here for the community, and the community can also help us continue to bring the best of touring shows and regional productions by pitching in to get the word out!

Some good news in the opera world

Since things in the opera world have been a little sad lately and LA Opera’s less-than-stellar Ring Cycle review doesn’t add to that good news, I went on a quest today for something happy to report in the opera world!

Thank you Renee Fleming! I didn’t have to look very long before I found this wonderful story. Ms. Fleming performed to a sell out crowd and helped raise over 2.4 million for Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music.

It doesn’t hurt that her younger brother, Geordie Alexander, is a first-year master’s student in the school’s opera program.

I found Geordie on Facebook. I wonder if he’ll get a lot of friend requests today.

-Kari G.

Join TBPAC on Facebook!

Become a Facebook fan of TBPAC!

You can also join the TBPAC group!

On MySpace? Facebook? We are too!

If you have a profile set up on MySpace, why not friend us? Check us out here!

What about Facebook? We have a group set up over there which you can also join!

Aaaand ... we'll be launching a new texting SMS system in the next few weeks. I'm trying to learn the system right now to get it going on or around 11/1.

We try to stay on top of new technology over here at TBPAC. If there's any other great ways to stay in touch with you - let us know by leaving a comment!