The month of May in the Arts

And so we wait … and wait … and wait …

May 10 is the TV arrival date of Life’s Rewards, the Amazon Prime comedy series produced in part by Visit St. Pete/Clearwater, and shot on location at the Don CeSar and thereabouts.

If you’ve got nothing else to do tonight (Saturday, May 1), Life’s Rewards has its premiere screening at 7:10 p.m. at the Sundial AMC Theaters, part of the 2021 Sunscreen Film Festival.

Look for more on Life’s Rewards Monday in the Catalyst.

Stage Uncaged

After a lengthy time away from the actual stage, during which time they produced several exemplary examples of pay-per-view virtual theater, the creatives at American Stage are dipping a collective toe back into live performance with Uncaged: A Night of Song and Laughter … Together, outside on the lawn at The Factory St. Pete. The May 14-16 event – “songs, scenes and sketch comedy” – features lots of familiar and welcome faces, including Patrick A. Jackson, Julia Rifino, Bonnie Agan, John Perez and Donovan Whitney. A streaming element is also in the works, for those who choose to sit this one out.

The Florida Orchestra

Becca McCoy

Singer and actress Becca McCoy returns to St. Pete May 16 to perform as part of The Florida Orchestra Family Concert, at 2 p.m. (it’s a Sunday), at the Mahaffey Theater. Daniel Black will conduct a 30-piece combination of musicians on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, from an adaptation by children’s book author Roald Dahl, with music by Eleanor Alberga. Cook is lead narrator on this U.S. premiere.

The orchestra will also perform Mozart’s Overture to The Marriage of Figaro, set to a video of the creation of the mural project Community Woven by St. Petersburg artist Ya La’Ford.

Rhapsody in Blue forms the centerpiece of the May 22 and 23 concerts  at the Mahaffey, with conductor Stuart Malina also handling the piano (it’s an all-Gershwin program).

On May 29, dazzling pianist Natasha Paremski returns to play with TFO on Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto. Artistic director Michael Francis conducts.

And now, this

Sheila E.

Coming to Tampa’s Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park May 8 and 9, the Tampa Bay Black Heritage Festival Music Fest features drummer and percussionist Sheila E., along with Joyce Irby & Klymaxx, Jonathan McReynolds and Guitar G Force.

Lab Theatre Project is opening The Wendy House, a new drama from Tampa playwright Hector Melendez-Figueroa, May 6 at its socially-distanced Ybor City space. It will also be available to stream.

Preserve the ‘Burg’s Movies in the Park took a year off and is back with screenings May 6 (with My Cousin Vinny) and 20 (Two Weeks Notice) in North Straub Park. Socially-distancing the park means this year, for the first time, the events aren’t free. Tickets are here.

At the Dali Museum May 20, Roxanne Fay will appear in The Letters of Vincent Van Gogh: A Dramatic Reading, written by Linda Pugliese. Time is running out, by the way, on the immersive Van Gogh Alive experience at the Dali. In case you haven’t seen it yet, it’ll be gone after June 13.

Australia’s Tommy Emmanuel, one of the most revered acoustic guitar players in the world, has a concert date May 14 at Jannus Live. Seems like an odd venue for this particular show, doesn’t it? But tickets are indeed on sale.

The Mike Love-fronted touring version of the Beach Boys is booked into Ruth Eckerd Hall May 16.