The month of February in the arts

February is, of course, Black History Month, and it’s also St. Petersburg Celebration of the Arts month, wherein previously-scheduled events, concerts, lectures and more from all corners are brought together under a single, easy-to-navigate umbrella.

Ardent arts patrons and philanthropists Dr. Gordon Gilbert and his wife, Michele Kidwell-Gilbert, created the non-profit Celebration of the Arts in 2019. Their extensive calendar “highlights the creative ambience of this city, renowned for its numerous splendid cultural organizations.”

As February also happens to include Valentine’s Day, the Gilberts’ theme for the 2022 Celebration is Love.

Here’s the link to the full Celebration of the Arts calendar.

In the meantime, here at the Catalyst, every day is a celebration of the arts. Let’s look at a full-spectrum February, on both sides of the bay.

Concerts

Gladys Knight – Feb 6, Ruth Eckerd Hall. Publicity photo.

Bear in mind that these dates could change at the last minute, depending on what havoc the pandemic is wreaking. A phone call to the venue, or a check of the website, is advised.

Amalie Arena: Tool (Feb. 9); Rick Ross and Jeezy (Feb. 11); Ben Platt (Feb. 26); the Eagles (Feb. 28).

Central Park Performing Arts Center: Jose Feliciano (Feb. 18).

The Mahaffey Theater: Comedian Theo Von (Feb. 3); Deep Purple (Feb. 12); Il Divo (Feb. 25).

Straz Center: Comedian Jim Jeffries (Feb. 12); Marisela and Alvaro Torres (Feb. 27).

The Palladium Theater: Nicki Parrott, Rossano Sportiello and Ed Metz (Feb. 18); St. Petersburg Jazz Festival (Feb. 23-27).

Ruth Eckerd Hall: Jay Leno (Feb. 3); Gladys Knight (Feb. 6); Alice Cooper (Feb. 7); Paul Anka (Feb. 17); Joe Bonamassa (Feb. 18 and 19); Daughtry (Feb. 24); Celtic Thunder Ireland (Feb. 25); Bret Michaels (Feb. 26); Engelbert Humperdinck (Feb. 27).

Capitol Theatre: Billy Prine plays the Songs of John Prine (Feb. 3); Jim Brickman (Feb. 5); Acoustic Hot Tuna (Feb. 6); Los Lobos with Edwin McCain (Feb. 10); Comedian Tom Papa (Feb. 12); Tower of Power (Feb. 17); Don McLean (Feb. 19); Pat Metheny (Feb. 20); Gino Vannelli (Feb. 25); 10,000 Maniacs (Feb. 26); Keb’ Mo’ (Feb. 28).

Feb. 25-27 means the 2022 Gasparilla Music Festival at Cutis Hixon Park in Tampa, with Black Pumas, the Revivalists, Band of Horses, Margo Price and plenty more.

The classics

St. Petersburg Opera Company is back at full strength Feb. 4, 6 and 8 with Handel’s English-language comic opera Semele, featuring stratospheric soprano Holly Flack, a longtime SPO favorite, in the title role. The opera company (with orchestra) will perform at the Palladium.

And Opera Tampa joins with The Florida Orchestra, for the first time in a long time, to tell The Tales of Hoffman, Feb. 11 and 13 at the Straz Center’s Ferguson Hall.

A few tickets remain for the 2022 Florida Orchestra concert gala with Josh Groban (it’s Feb. 4, this Friday, at the Mahaffey). The TFO schedule for the month also includes a smaller concert putting the spotlight on Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos Feb. 10 (Tampa Theatre) and Feb. 12 (Palladium Theater); Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1, paired with Stravinsky’s The Firebird, is the program Feb. 19 at the Mahaffey, and Feb. 20 at Ruth Eckerd; the really big shew for TFO in February is The Music of Star Wars, Feb. 25 at the Straz Center Morsani Hall, Feb. 26 at the Mahaffey (matinee and evening performances) and Feb. 27 at Ruth Eckerd.

The estimable Tampa Bay Symphony’s February offering is a direct tie-in with the Celebration of the Arts theme: “Love and More” will be presented Feb. 22 at the Palladium Theater, and again Feb. 27 at Morsani Hall, in the Straz Center.

The thea-tuh

The upcoming weekend will see the debuts of a number of shows at theaters on both sides of Tampa Bay. Look for Erica Sutherlin’s direction of Pass Over to open Feb. 3 at thestudio@620; The Diary of Anne Frank (Stageworks, opening Feb. 4 at Stageworks); All the Great Books (abridged) from ThinkTank Theatre for Young Audiences (starting Feb. 4 at the Shimberg Playhouse, Straz Center); Tampa Repertory Theatre’s King Lear opens Feb. 4 at University of South Florida Theatre 2.

The one-man show Mayday: Captain Lerro and the Skyway Bridge, based on Tampa Bay history, returns Feb. 10-27 at Studio Grand Central.

January arrivals that continue into this month are Jobsite’s Romeo and Juliet; American Stage’s School Girls, or, the African Mean Girls Play and freeFall’s I Love to Eat.

Touring shows: Blink and you might miss Beautiful – The Carole King Musical today and Tuesday at Ruth Eckerd Hall; Dear Evan Hanson is at the Straz Center (Morsini Hall) Feb. through 6.

Visual arts

Tuesday (Feb. 1) brings the opening reception for an intriguing new collaboration, Look, Touch, Move, at the Creative Pinellas gallery. It combines large-scale sculptural pieces created by Sharon McCaman (“Reiteration”) with a choreographed piece (“Reprise”) by Helen Hanson French. These dates have been shuffled a bit, but here’s where things stand now: While the reception is still scheduled for Feb. 1, the actual premiere of French’s interpretive piece will take place March 10.

Just one new exhibit opening in February: Bernini and the Roman Baroque at the Museum of Fine Arts St. Petersburg (Feb. 12).

Dates to remember: The Gulfport First Friday Art Walk takes places this Friday (Feb. 4); the large-scale Gulfport Festival of the Arts is Feb, 12 and 13. The Petersburg Arts Alliance’s Second Saturday ArtWalk happens Feb. 12.

Please add us to your mailing list – send all press releases and event info to bill@stpetecatalyst.com.

You can also submit your events to the Catalyst calendar, by clicking here.