Vote for the Straz Center - WEDU's Be More Awards!

Will you help spread the word?

We've been nominated for the WEDU Be More Humble People's Choice Poll.

Like the People's Choice Awards for celebrities, only for non-profits and without all the vapid idiot movie stars.

It takes less than a minute -Take the WEDU Be More Humble People’s Choice Poll and cast your vote for the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center.

Click here and scroll down to "Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center" – check the box and help us celebrate!

You can vote for us once each day between now and the 18th of December!

Need some reasons why you should vote for us?

Did you know…
The Straz Center (formerly known as the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center) serves arts education outreach programs at no cost to more than 40 Title I schools and community partner organizations each year!

More than 60,000 children were served by our arts education programs last year; more than 70% of these are children in need!

Since our Patel Conservatory opened five years ago, we have provided more than $250,000 in scholarship opportunities to under served and overlooked children!

We are recognized as one of the best and most accessible performing arts centers in the world!

Our economic impact on Tampa Bay is more than $100 million each year!

Our Wonderland Broadway Genesis Project brought over 700 full- and part-time jobs to our community in a difficult economic times!

Go! Vote!

-Kari G.

In The Heights: Chasing Broadway Dreams

If you missed it a few months ago, the PBS special “In the Heights: Chasing Broadway Dreams” will re-air tonight on WEDU-PBS at 9 p.m. This is a great opportunity to learn more about the show and how this amazing musical found its way to Broadway and will soon be launching it’s first National Tour right here at the TBPAC. If you saw it the first time, watch it again. It will continue to inspire!

-Angela L.

DVR alert... In the Heights: Chasing Broadway Dreams

The TBPAC is delighted to launch the first National Tour of the four-time Tony Award-winning musical In the Heights, Oct. 27 - Nov. 1, as part of the 2009-2010 Bank of America Best of Broadway Tampa Bay series. As we prepare to welcome the show to Tampa, we invite you to watch In the Heights: Chasing Broadway Dreams that airs on WEDU tomorrow, May 27, at 8 p.m. as part of their Great Performances series.

In the Heights: Chasing Broadway Dreams chronicles the personal stories of composer/lyricist Lin-Manuel Miranda and the cast of In the Heights in the months leading up to opening night. This is a wonderful opportunity to learn how this young, diverse group of relatively unknown artists and performers dreamed of making it on Broadway and after eight years found success beyond their wildest expectations!

View the trailer of the PBS special here.

After you watch the program, circle around and leave a comment. We'd love to hear what you think!

This Sunday – Opera Tampa’s La Boheme on WEDU

Set your DVR or take advantage of another Tampa gem (not the Buccaneers) when WEDU airs La Boheme at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday. This Curtain Call performance is from the 2007 production that performed in Carol Morsani Hall on Nov. 18th.

La Vie Boheme!

-Kari G.

Opera set designer featured on PBS tomorrow!

This was passed on to me by my pal Michael Murphy:

Just wanted to let you know that American Masters is focusing on David Hockney and his stage designs for opera. Should be pretty interesting. It's airing Wednesday, July 18th at 10:00 PM on WEDU, Channel 3. It runs 60 minutes and will repeat overnight at 2:00 and 5:00 AM.

Check it out!

-dj