MACY’S AT WIREGRASS COMMONS PRESENTS A SPECIAL EVENT WITH A PERFORMANCE FROM MARY POPPINS

Macy’s shoppers invited to a free performance from the Tony Award-winning Broadway show during the local engagement

WHAT: Macy’s at Wiregrass Commons is hosting an event for the whole family, with a special performance by cast members from Mary Poppins, playing at the Straz Center for the Performing Arts May 20 – June 6. Cast members will perform a medley of Mary Poppins favorites including “Jolly Holiday,” “Chim Chim Cher-ee,” and “Feed the Birds,” plus a song specially written for the stage production, “Practically Perfect.” Additionally, customers will have the opportunity to receive two tickets to the Wednesday, June 2 performance at the Straz Center with a $100 purchase store-wide at Macy’s during the event.*

Additionally, Macy’s, the Tony Awards and CBS will be giving customers the opportunity to win a chance to go to the Tony Awards on June 13th. The Macy’s Ticket to the Tony’s nationwide contest will give two lucky fans the opportunity to walk the red carpet, attend and be featured on live television at the Tony Awards. Visit www.CBS.com/tonys for more details. The Tony Awards will air on CBS on June 13th.

* Only valid on purchase made at Macy’s at Wiregrass Commons on May 29, 2010. While supplies last. Gift with purchase. No refunds on qualifying purchase, exchanges only.

WHEN/
WHERE: Performance by the cast of Mary Poppins
Saturday, May 29, 2010 at 12:00 PM
Macy’s at Wiregrass Commons – Women’s Dress Department
28233 Paseo Drive
Wesley Chapel, FL 33543

MORE: The Macy’s Ticket to the Tony’s contest is available at www.CBS.com/tonys. Contestants, ages 13 and over, can upload video content of themselves singing one of the following Broadway tunes:

· 96,000, In the Heights
· Gimme, Gimme, Thoroughly Modern Millie
· Good Morning, Baltimore, Hairspray
· I’m Gonna Wash that Man Right Outa my Hair, South Pacific
· The Lonely Goatherd, The Sound of Music
· Maybe, Annie
· One, A Chorus Line
· Stars, Les Misérables
· Ya Got Trouble, The Music Man

Entries can be uploaded on www.cbs.com/tonys starting on April 27 at 3:00 PM, ET and ending on May 27 at 3:00 PM, ET, at which point public voting for selection of the five finalists commences, closing on June 1 at 12:00 AM, ET. On June 3, the five semi-finalists will be announced. The five finalists will be flown to New York City to participate in a live sing-off in Macy’s Herald Square on Friday, June 11 – where a panel of Broadway stars and experts, along with the online votes, will choose two finalists who will win the opportunity to walk the red carpet at THE 64TH ANNUAL TONY AWARDS at Radio City Music Hall on Sunday, June 13. The two finalists will be red carpet ready with a $1,000.00 gift card from Macy’s.

Finalists will be featured on The 64th Annual Tony Awards, Sunday, June 13 (8:00-11:00 PM, live ET) on the CBS Television Network. Semi-finalists will win the opportunity to attend the full Tony Awards Dress Rehearsal.

No purchase necessary to enter or win. For complete rules, go to www.cbs.com/tonys.

We Love Our Interns!

Every summer we take on an intern (or two) and enjoy watching them learn the ropes here at the Straz Center. They are usually conflicted by two profound emotions - How AWESOME it can be to work here and how BORING it can be to work here. Let's face it, we have Mary Poppins loading in even as we type this, yet that doesn't mean that those Club Jaeb flyers are going to go down to the photocopy machine and create themselves! We try to give them an honest view of both sides of our industry.

For a short period of time we have Intern L. She rocks a whole bunch and currently she is rocking a social media project that is going to put the Straz Center in a very good place in a very short period of time. So we like that lots. We asked Intern L. if she wouldn't mind sharing with you what it is like to be an intern here - this is what she submitted (and she was not paid to say how cool Kari G. is - we promise!).


As many of you may know, a senior’s last three weeks of high school tend to turn into something of a joke: Classes are winding down, AP exams are done, and you don’t even care because you already got into college! To rid their halls of teenagers affected with the potent “Senioritis”, and to give us a taste of what the real world is like, my school’s administrators came up with a creative, effective way of keeping us prep-school rabble-rousers out of trouble: Internships. So, every year when May comes around, the seniors of the school are rounded up and shipped off to prey upon businesses and offices all around Tampa Bay until graduation.

A lot of us are stuck working in the offices of mortgage brokers, or babysitting at our old schools, but some kids are lucky enough to land spots at places like Radio Disney, NBC, and, of course, the Straz Center. As you could probably tell by where you’re reading this blog, I was one of the lucky ones.

I’m proud to be my high schools’ resident “theater geek”. I’ve been in all of the school plays, and was even the Production Manager this year! (a.k.a. I got the director coffee and took notes). My iPod is full of Broadway musicals, and if you ask me about anything you think a normal teenager would know, like, “What is My Morning Jacket?” my answer will probably be, “A jacket your wear in the morning.” (If you’re like me and don’t know, it’s actually an American rock band known for their eclectic mix of music genres. See you just learned something new!). I’m also eager to learn about advertising and running a business (living the American Dream and all that good stuff), so the Straz Center’s marketing department was pretty much the perfect place for me to work for three weeks.

Now, you’re probably thinking “What on earth could anyone get done in just three weeks?” I’ll admit I was wondering that too, until Kari G. introduced me to this crazy thing called Social Media, which is all of the social networking sites (like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter etc.) that many companies use as marketing tools. However, there is no one place where someone can go and see what all the other major theaters in the country are doing with social media—until now.

Kari G. bequeathed upon me what we have come to call “The Mother of All Social Media Projects” and for the last week I have been compiling a data base for her and all the other fine folks at the Straz Center that has links the Facebook-esque pages and blogs of American theaters. Pretty cool, right?

However, the end of this internship is rapidly approaching, and before I’ll know it I will be off to the University of Central Florida in the fall (Go Knights!). Thanks to Kari I was fortunate enough to meet a successful UCF grad, Courtney M., the other day. As an aspiring performer, I’m ready to learn all I can about succeeding in theater. Kari and Courtney gave me valuable insights and tips that will definitely be of use to me in the next few years.

As a recap: I’m a crazy theater fanatic doing an awesome internship with the lovely Kari G. at the fantastic Straz Center, and then I’m going to college, and then who knows what?

Wish me luck!

Tourism Tampa Bay

May 11 - 14 is National Tourism Week. This may not be as exciting for (insert the name of a town in an undesirable location known only for The World's Fattest Cat) but here in the Tampa Bay region, we take our tourism pretty seriously. We have a lot to celebrate and show off in our area and nobody puts us in the spotlight like Tampa Bay & Co.!

Today was their Tourism Luncheon - an event that everybody looks forward to every year. From the spectacle of performance to the exciting upcoming events and conventions coming to our area (We'll find out tomorrow if the GOP has sand in their shoes for the 2010 Convention!) everybody has a great time! In fact, even our President, Judy Lisi found herself in the show today. The picture is a little grainy - but she's the shorter one!

Congrats to all the hard working folks at Tampa Bay & Co. for another great luncheon. And we hope that everyone enjoyed the Mary Poppins presence - after all the show is less than a week away here at the Straz Center! Just part of the fun when you visit Tampa Bay!

-Kari G.

A Spoonful of Sugar!

From London to New York to Los Angeles, more than 5 million people around the world have experienced the supercalifragilistic hit Broadway musical that the New York Daily News calls "A roof-raising, toe-tapping, high-flying extravaganza!" - and now you're invited to experience this perfectly magical musical for yourself. Mary Poppins flies into the Straz Center May 20 - June 6 and you can take advantage of this special online offer! Be one of the first to see Mary Poppins in Tampa during its opening weekend, and save $20 on select seats at select performances.

$20 off select seats at select performances with promo code: SOCIAL
Thursday, Friday and Sunday evening, May 20-23, 2010, price levels A, B and C. Offer also includes the Thursday, May 20, 2 p.m. performance in price levels A and B. ALL SALES FINAL. No exchanges or refunds. Tickets subject to applicable service charges. Performance prices, dates, times and cast are subject to change without notice. Single-ticket purchases limited to 8 tickets per person and limited to 4 tickets per person for the discount. Not applicable to prior sales. Cannot be combined with any other offer. Subject to availability. Other restrictions may apply. Offer may be revoked without notice.

And close your mouth Michael, we are not a codfish!

It's a Jolly Holiday with Dick Van Dyke!!!!

Dick Van Dyke delighted theatergoers when he made a surprise cameo in the Los Angeles engagement of the MARY POPPINS North American Tour.

Van Dyke, 84, reprised his smaller film role, that of the crotchety bank president Mr. Dawes, in front of an ecstatic, sold out house at the Ahmanson Theater. Van Dyke volunteered to return to the smash hit Disney-Cameron Mackintosh stage musical after attending the opening night back in November. The role of Dawes from the iconic 1964 Disney film was not included in the stage production, but was written into a pivotal Act 2 scene for Van Dyke.

“Entertainment Tonight” will be airing coverage of this during their Tuesday broadcast.

Tune in Tampa viewers to WFLA at 7 p.m. for this awesome story and don't forget that Wicked isn't the only thing to fly into Tampa - MARY POPPINS will be coming in on a stiff headwind May 20 - June 6!

- Kari G.

Mary Poppins pre-sale

Tampa's premiere engagement of Disney & Cameron Mackintosh's Mary Poppins is coming to the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, May 20-June 6, 2010. Starting today Culture Shock readers have priority access to some of the best seats before they go on sale to the public! And if you order by Nov. 5 you can save more than $15 on select performances and locations. Use promo code SHOCK when ordering. For discount details and to purchase tickets, click here http://bit.ly/ZxGH4

*Not applicable to prior sales. Cannot be combined with any other offer. Subject to availability. Other restrictions may apply.

Broadway on Turkey-day

Some people look forward to Thanksgiving football. I, on the other hand, grab a cup of coffee and turn on the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. It seriously doesn't feel like Thanksgiving until I've listened to Matt Lauer describe a giant balloon or two. (Is it wrong that I secretly find it thrilling to watch what happens when a gust of wind comes by? ... but I digress.)

Now to the good stuff... Broadway performances during the parade. Depending on what network you watch, there will be different shows highlighted. CBS will feature performances by the cast of Mary Poppins (who will be flying in for the 2009-2010 Tampa season), Grease and Clay Aiken in Monty Python's Spamalot (coming to Tampa in March 09). NBC will show performances by The Little Mermaid, South Pacific, In the Heights and Irving Berlin's White Christmas.

If you happen to miss any of these special performances, keep an eye out for the floats. There will be performances by the cast of the new revival of Hair as well as a songs from Broadway favorites Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel.

From all the bloggers of Culture Shock and the TBPAC... Happy Thanksgiving!

52nd Annual Drama Desk nominations announced!

As Michael mentioned in some earlier postings, Broadway has plenty of great shows to pick from. Recently the nominations for the 52nd Annual Drama Desk awards were announced. Topping the list were 12 nominations for "LoveMusik" (the most of any show this year). Closely behind at 10 nominations are "Curtains", "Spring Awakening," "Legally Blonde" and "Coast of Utopia." Nine nominations went to the Off Broadway musical "In the Heights" and "Mary Poppins" received six nominations.

The awards ceremony will be held on May 20 and hosted by Kristin Chenoweth.

So you're probably asking, "Why should I care?" Straight from the Drama Desk website, here's what the organization is all about … "The Drama Desk was founded in 1949 to explore key issues in the theater and to bring critics and writers together in an organization to support the ongoing development of theater in New York. The organization began presenting its awards in 1955, and is the only critics’ organization to honor achievement in the theater with competition between Broadway, Off Broadway and Off-Off Broadway productions."

-Angela L.

Scary Mary

Check out this really demented Mary Poppins "trailer" ...

We do hear that the London show is pretty frightening as well.

Have fun watching ...

-dj