A Christmas Story Movie on the Lawn - CANCELLED

I have since heard of people under extreme duress speaking in strange tongues. I became conscious that a steady torrent of obscenities and swearing of all kinds was pouring out of me as I screamed.
-Ralphie (as an adult)

Sadly, the weather has us under "extreme duress." Conflicting weather reports all predict that at some point either prior to or during the time we had scheduled to screen A Christmas Story it is going to be raining.

We feel a bit like Raphie having to cancel the movie tonight. But this is a family blog, so we'll spare you the obscenities.

Movies on the Riverwalk when the weather is chilly are a magical thing. Movies on the Riverwalk when the weather is chilly and wet are a Swine Flu thing.

We chose to cancel the movie tonight to be on the safe side.

Stay warm and dry Tampa. We'll make it up to you with an additional movie in the Spring - something exciting, something cool, something that might give you a peek into next season's Broadway season.

And a special Happy Holidays to all our faithful families who bring the blankets and the kids and the fur kids to the movies on the lawn. We'll miss spending some time with you and Ralphie this year, but you can count on us screening A Christmas Story next year.

-Kari G.

Forever Plaid to the Silver Screen

Check out this story on Playbill.com on the film version of Forever Plaid, coming soon to a theater near you. The live show was filmed on a CBS soundstage and features the "celestial" voice of David Hyde Pierce.

You can also see it live if you hurry, the show closes in the Jaeb Theater on Sunday.

FREE RENT!

From Ashley the Intern:

In honor of the amazing original cast members, Adam Pascal (Roger Davis) and Anthony Rapp (Mark Cohen) reprising their roles in Broadway’s production of RENT through October, we are going to be hosting the film adaptation as our movie-on-the-lawn! The movie is FREE and you can bring your own blanket and chairs (no coolers though, sorry!) and enjoy the movie that starred these two prolific original stars!

Even better, we will be offering special ticket discounts to the Opera La Boheme which, by the way, is what RENT is based on. Since La Boheme is coming to the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center in November what better way to celebrate Adam and Anthony’s return than to see them in RENT the movie and then watch the award-winning musical’s inspiration on stage?

Anyway, here’s a character comparison between RENT and La Boheme so you can see the similarities in both productions!

See you at the movie!

Character in La Boheme	Character in RENT
Mimi, a seamstress with tuberculosis	Mimi Marquez, an exotic dancer with HIV
Rodolfo, a poet	Roger Davis, a musician with HIV
Marcello, a painter	Mark Cohen, a filmmaker
Musetta, a singer	Maureen Johnson, a bisexual performance artist
Schaunard, a musician	Angel Dumott Schunard, a gay cross-dressing drummer with AIDS
Colline, a philosopher	Tom Collins, a gay philosophy professor and Anarchist philosopher with AIDS
Alcindoro, a state councillor	Joanne Jefferson, a lesbian lawyer
Benoit, a landlord	Benjamin 'Benny' Coffin III, also a landlord