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Looking forward: The month of December in the arts
What to see and hear – and not just holiday shows – this month in the bay area.
Comedian, actor, former Saturday Night Live writer and host of Netflix’s Everybody’s Live John Mulaney returns to the Tampa Bay area in December, for three shows, at two different venues.
Let’s clarify. Mulaney’s Dec. 6 show, at the Straz Center in Tampa, is sold out. The next day, on the 7th, he travels to Hollywood (Florida), where plenty of tickets remain for his show at the Hard Rock Live.
Then he’s back in our neck, for two performances at the Mahaffey Theater in St. Petersburg. Dec. 8 and 9. Both are at 7:30 p.m.
So there you have it.
Stevie Nicks is at Benchmark Arena Dec. 7; it’s the makeup date for a postponed Aug. 30 concert (at what was then called Amalie Arena) due to a shoulder injury.
Country’s Trisha Yearwood, who hasn’t been onstage in the bay area for a few years, makes a welcome return (to Ruth Eckerd Hall) Dec. 11. She’s got a new Christmas album out, and she’s on the road with Christmastime with Trisha Yearwood: 12 Days of Christmas Tour.
The official national touring company of Les Miserables returns to the Straz Center’s Morsani Hall Dec. 10-13, part of the Straz Broadway series. New York singer/actor Nick Cartell is back as the luckless Jean Valjean – if you saw the Les Miz tour in 2024, you saw him.
Dec. 18 brings hip hop’s Method Man & Redman to the Seminole Hard Rock Event Center. Redman told bet.com this year that although he and the Wu-Tang Clan member are lifelong friends, they don’t hang out together: “We do shows and we come back home. I don’t hang out with a lot of rappers at all … Once we’re off the road, we’re like, ‘Alright. You got family to deal with, I got s— I gotta do.’ My circle is very small. So we all have different lives.”
Due at Ruth Eckerd Hall Dec. 22 and 23, Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol is a musical play, an adaptation of Dickens’ redemption tale. Parton’s songs are interwoven with the story of the Ebenezer Scrooge of a small Appalachian mining town.
Conducted by Chelsea Gallo, The Florida Orchestra’s Holiday Pops concert takes place Dec. 19 (8 p.m.) in Ferguson Hall, Straz Center; Dec. 20 (2 and 8 p.m.) at the Mahaffey Theater; and Dec. 21 (2 p.m.) at Ruth Eckerd Hall.
Nate Najar’s Jazz Holiday (Dec. 11 at the Palladium Theater) brings together many of the area’s finest players (including guitarist Najar) for a program of swinging holiday tunes and jazz standards. This will be the 19th annual Jazz Holiday.
Comedian John Leguizamo wrote Latin History For Morons, a one-man show he performed himself on Broadway in 2016. Nestor Melendez will fill the role when Stageworks Theatre produces the play Dec. 5-21.
Former teen heartthrob Shaun Cassidy, is on his first extended tour in four decades. In the cabaret-style show he’s bringing to the Capitol Theatre Dec. 12, Cassidy, 67, will discuss his late ‘70s/early ‘80s music career, sing a few hits, talk about his stint on TV’s Hardy Boys, and discuss with music) his parents, Jack Cassidy and Shirley Jones.
Revel in pianist/composer Vince Guaraldi’s music for the 1960s Peanuts TV specials with the Dec. 14 performance, in the Palladium Theater Side Door Cabaret, by jazz pianist Zachary Bartholomew and his trio. To the point: The concert is called The Music of Vince Guaraldi: A Charlie Brown Christmas.
Coming to Ruth Eckerd Hall Dec. 22 and 23: The national tour of “Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol.” Publicity photo.
What else is new?
Dec. 4-21 The Magi at American Stage (theater).
Dec. 4-23. Tampa Repertory Theatre’s A Christmas Carol: A Live Radio Play at the Straz Center.
Dec. 5 Comedian Chelcie Lynn at the Capitol Theatre.
Dec 6 Lady A (country music) at Ruth Eckerd Hall.
Dec. 6 The Florida Orchestra Holiday Brass at Clearwater Church of the Ascension.
Dec. 7 Three Dog Night at Ruth Eckerd Hall.
Dec. 7 The Florida Orchestra Holiday Brass at USF St. Pete Student Center Ballroom.
Dec. 10 Vienna Light Orchestra (holiday music) at the Mahaffey Theater.
Dec 10 Chamber Series (classical music) at the Palladium Theater.
Dec 11 Peter White Christmas with Mindi Abair (jazz) at the Capitol Theatre.
Dec. 11-21 Who’s Holiday at the Off Central (theater).
Dec. 11, 12 and 13 Dirty John Holidaze (comedy) at The Studio @620.
Dec. 12-24 A Christmas Carol in Concert at freeFall Theatre.
Dec. 12 Sarah Brightman: A Winter Symphony at Ruth Eckerd Hall.
Dec. 13 Michael W. Smith: Every Christmas (Christian music) at Ruth Eckerd Hall.
Dec. 13 Bruce Hornsby at the Capitol Theatre.
Dec. 15 Motowners Christmas at the Palladium Theater.
Singer Jamal Roberts, winner of “American Idol” Season 23, performs Dec. 16 at the Palladium Theater. Photo: ABC.
Dec. 16 Jamal Roberts (American Idol winner) at the Palladium Theater.
Dec. 18 and 19 Comedian Fortune Feimster at the Mahaffey Theater.
Dec. 19, 20 & 21: St. Pete Opera Holiday Sparkle at the Palladium Theater.
Dec. 19 Jon Pardi (country music) at Seminole Hard Rock Event Center.
Dec. 19 Cirque Musica Holiday Wonderland at Ruth Eckerd Hall.
Dec. 19 Comedian Pete Correale at the Capitol Theatre.
Dec. 20 Rockapella Christmas (a cappella music) at the Capitol Theatre.
Dec. 21 Celtic Angels Christmas (Irish-styled holiday music) at Ruth Eckerd Hall.
Dec. 21 A Very Broadway Christmas at the Mahaffey Theater.
Dec. 22 A Drag Queen Christmas at the Mahaffey Theater.
Dec. 26 Comedian Gary Owen at the Mahaffey Theater.
Dec. 28 Terry Fator (comedian and puppeteer) at Ruth Eckerd Hall.
Dec. 28 Nutcracker Magic Christmas Ballet at the Mahaffey Theater.
Dec. 30 Straight No Chaser (a cappella music) at Ruth Eckerd Hall.
Dec. 31 Salute to Vienna (the music of Johann Strauss) at Ruth Eckerd Hall.
Dec. 31 Donna the Buffalo (rock, Americana) at the Capitol Theatre.
Websites
Palladium Theater/Side Door Cabaret
Seminole Hard Rock Event Center
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