And Baby Makes 7

The best thing about the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center is that our five theaters allow for live performance in all shapes and sizes. Whether you are getting excited for the spectacle that is Wicked in the 2600 seat Carol Morsani Hall (tickets go on sale Sept. 19th!), or you can’t wait for Spanish Lyric Theater's Anything Goes in the Ferguson Hall (Oct. 10) or the kick off of Club Jaeb with Anne McCue on Sept. 28 - you'll find there is something for everyone! It’s like Goldilocks and the Three Bears – some theaters might be too big for you, some might be too small, but I guarantee you’ll find one that is juuuuuuust right.

I’m biased, as a board member, performer and director of the Jobsite Theater, my favorite space is the Shimberg Playhouse. This black box space is the smallest at TBPAC with around 100 seats. In my mind, it’s the biggest stage in town. So much happens on the Shimberg Stage and so many local actors have once-in-a-lifetime opportunities in the space. In addition to the Jobsite Theater, Stageworks has been a regular company that has performed in the space. Of course, Stageworks is getting ready for their big move to their brand spanking new theater in the Channel District, but I bet if you asked Anna Brennan, she’d have some fond stories of the Shimberg. (If you want to see Stageworks in action – don’t miss the acclaimed My Children! My Africa! in its closing performances this weekend).

The Shimberg is a busy little space. With not a week off in between productions, Jobsite Theater will mount And Baby Makes 7 on Sept. 24. Anna, Ruth and Peter await the arrival of their newborn child, but first they must rid the crowded apartment of their three imaginary children. Hilariously startling and brilliantly funny, Paula Vogel (The Mineola Twins, How I Learned to Drive) redefines the meaning of family and completely blurs the lines between illusion and reality, power and subjection, friendship and love, female and male.

Come out and try the little theater with the big heart and support local theater!

-Kari G.

The Running of the Bulls - RENT style

I was at the Shimberg Playhouse for the preview performance of Stagework's The Little Dog Laughed last night. As I was standing outside to congratulate local actors Julie Rowe, Matthew Lunsford, Nick Horan, and Mary Jordan, I felt a great rush of adrenaline, angst and adoration as the Running of the RENTheads went past me in a blur.

They wore sundresses with heels, jeans with Chuck Taylors, a mix of emotion and confusion and unbridled joy. They smelled of androgynous cologne and summer sweat. They giggled and shrieked as the clacking of their shoes echoed down the corridor.

There was 500 ft. between them and the Stage Door. They were quickly gaining ground towards the Stage Door. The velvet ropes were in sight. We were in their way.

We moved. Quickly.

And so the Running of RENTheads flew by us, desperately jockeying for their place in line. Hoping for the best angle to see Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp.

So if you're coming to TBPAC this weekend to see RESPECT, Little Dog Laughed or you happen to be sitting close to the ends of the aisles for RENT - be warned - the Running of the RENTheads is real and they will not be stopped by mere mortals like you.

-Kari G.

Best of the Bay at TBPAC!

There was a lot at TBPAC that ended up being chosen as Best of the Bay by Creative Loafing. Take a look!

Best Artistic Director: Judith Lisi

Best Theater Company: Jobsite Theater (TBPAC's resident theater company, Shimberg Playhouse. Also a finalist for the Reader's Poll award, the winner of which will be announced at the awards ceremony on 9/24. Jobsite has now been named Best Theater Company in '04, '06 and '07.)
Best Actor: Steve Garland (The Pillowman, Jobsite Theater)
Best Actress: Ami Sallee Corley (Woman in Mind, Jobsite Theater)
Best Costume Designer: Katrina Stevenson (Jobsite Theater)

Best Play: Frozen (Stageworks in the Shimberg Playhouse)
Best Director: Anna Brennen, Stageworks (The Sisters Rosensweig and Frozen in the Shimberg Playhouse)
Best Set Designer: R. T. Williams, Stageworks (The Sisters Rosensweig, The Mystery of Irma Vep in the Shimberg Playhouse)

Between the body of work contributed by both Jobsite Theater and Stageworks, our very own Shimberg Playhouse had the work of seven Best of the Bay Award winners!

Other Reader's Poll finalists include Ryan McCarthy, Larry Buzzeo and Richard Coppinger for Best Actor; Ami Sallee Corley and Eileen Koteles for Best Actress and Patel Conservatory Instructor and Jobsite Theater performer "ranney" as Best Local Comedian

CONGRATS TO ALL!

(Disclosure: I am also the producing artistic director of Jobsite Theater, but am genuinely exceedingly proud of all that TBPAC has to offer, expecially the most mightiest of mites in the building in our own beloved Shimberg Playhouse.)

TBPAC's Shimberg Playhouse tops in Tampa says CreLo!

Creative Loafing publishes an annual list of Top 10 area theater productions, which is reserved for local productions from professional theater companies (as opposed to the many touring Broadway shows that also come to town).

TBPAC is typically well-represented in this annual list, and this year we're proud to report that all of the top 3 plays came straight from our own Shimberg Playhouse:

1. The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?

Edward Albee's scandalous play is about a world-famous architect who falls in love with a goat, has sex with her and then faces the rage and bafflement of his wife and son. As brilliantly acted by Steven Clark Pachosa in a Jobsite Theater production, protagonist Martin Gray was truly in love; and as he challenged all our assumptions about what is permissible, he made playwright Albee's real theme -- the question, is there an infallible source of our moral law? -- painfully clear. Monica Merryman was terrific as Martin's wife, and Eric Burgess as his gay son was desperately in need of a father he could respect. Director Karla Hartley treated this uniquely passionate and philosophical play with all possible seriousness, and the result was stunning.

2. Frozen

The deliberate murder of a child is among the most horrific of all crimes. But author Bryony Lavery, in her riveting play Frozen, asks us whether a man who himself has been abused and damaged since early childhood can be forgiven for such an atrocity. Lavery shows us the twisted, hateful perpetrator -- played brilliantly by Richard Coppinger -- and also the dead child's stricken mother -- played with heart-rending realism by Monica Merryman. Then she asks us to judge. As directed by Stageworks' Anna Brennen, Frozen was chilling and sad and relentlessly original.

3. The Pillowman

A writer, Katurian, is hauled into a police station in an unnamed totalitarian state. As two cops alternately manhandle and interrogate him, he learns that someone has been carrying out the details of his most violent tales. Is it he himself, or perhaps his mentally challenged brother? Is Katurian culpable for imagining such violence, and is there anything in the world besides story, story and story? Jobsite Theater brought us Martin McDonagh's amazing play in a formidable production, with splendid acting by Steve Garland as Katurian and Paul Potenza as his pitiful, unpredictable brother. The experience was fascinating -- and harrowing.

Another round of applause for these great shows - and also for those who took the time to come and support them, helping ensure that theater stays alive and well in Tampa and at TBPAC. Jobsite Theater, the resident theater company in the Shimberg (and yes, my baby) is gearing up for their production of All the Great Books (abridged), which opens Jan. 12.

It's no secret that the Shimberg is my favorite room on the TBPAC campus. An intimate space that seats up to 130, this black box space ensures you're close enough to see every facial expression and always be engaged by the action. We're hearing more and more from subscribers from our more popular Broadway and Opera series that they absolutely love the variety and quality of the productions. If you haven't seen a show in there before - or if you haven't visited us in a few years - we'd love for you to give us a look.

-dj