Weekend arts forecast: The alternate side of ‘Hamlet’

In its opening weekend at Jobsite, the resident theater company of the Straz Center for the Performing Arts, is Tom Stoppard’s absurdist “tragicomedy” Rosencranz and Guildenstern Are Dead. These two relatively minor characters from Hamlet get their own storyline, improbably set in the wings of Shakespeare’s play.

Indeed, characters from Hamlet come and go, played by the same actors who portrayed them earlier in the season, in Jobsite’s full production of the set-in-Denmark tragedy. R and C are played in this production by Katherine Yacko and Nicole Jeannine Smith, respectively. More info and tickets here.

Dylan Barlowe is onstage at the Off-Central (St. Petersburg) in the closing weekend of Every Brilliant Thing, the acclaimed one-character production about a young man dealing with tragedy in his family. There are performances tonight through Sunday afternoon. Tickets.

At LAB Theater Project (Ybor City), it’s the world premiere of Drift, Patrick Gabridge’s drama of a farming family coming to terms with the result of pesticide drifting onto their crops and into their lives, and with the family itself drifting apart. The plays runs through Sept. 24. Tickets.

From Ukraine

Based in Ukraine, the Kyiv Symphony Orchestra and Chorus is touring the United States as an all-woman ensemble, since men are forbidden from leaving the country. Sunday’s 4 p.m. concert at First Presbyterian Church St. Petersburg, 701 Beach Drive NE, will consist of Christian music, classical and Ukrainian folk tunes. Donations will be accepted.

Concerts

Friday at the Mahaffey Theater: Stuntman, comedian, and co-star of TV’s Jackass, Steve-O. Tickets.

Friday at Amalie Arena: Hip hop performers Lil Baby, Gorilla, Rilo Rodriguez, Gloss Up and Hunxho. Tickets.

Friday at Mid-Florida Credit Union Amphitheatre: 3 Doors Down and Candlebox. We spoke with Candlebox founder and frontman Kevin Martin this week about his decision to quit rock ‘n’ roll at the end of this tour. Find that story here.

Saturday at Mid-Florida: Avenged Sevenfold with Falling in Reverse. Tickets.

The Florida Orchestra goes back to work Saturday, with a Mahaffey Theater concert featuring music by singer/songwriters James Taylor, Neil Diamond, Paul Simon, Billy Joel and others. Vocalist is Michael Abernathy, who sang Joel’s songs on Broadway in the Tony-winning show Movin’ Out. We spoke with Cavanaugh this week. Read that interview here.

Farewell, Mr. Loggins

Yacht Rock legend Kenny Loggins plays The Sound amphitheater in Clearwater Saturday, with ‘70s two-hit wonder Pablo Cruise (“What You Gonna Do,” “Love Will Find a Way”) supporting.

According to Loggins, this is his final concert tour. “I don’t see this as the end of my professional career, but certainly a halt to the grind of major touring,” he writes on his website. “After spending a lifetime on the road, I want to have more time at home.”

Tickets for Saturday’s show are here.

Back to the ‘90s

Boy band-o-rama: NSYNC’s Joey Fatone and Backstreet Boy AJ McLean perform (with “friends to be announced”) Friday at the Tampa Theatre; it’s sold out.

Both of these guys are in the bay area to participate in the ‘90s Con Friday through Sunday at the Tampa Convention Center.

Yes, cast members from Boy Meets World, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Beverly Hills 90210, Family Matters, Saved By the Bell, The Wonder Years and others will participate in photo “ops” and sign autographs, for a fee above the admission price. There are singers (like Fatone and McLean) and singing voices from animated Disney classics, too.

Everything you could want to know about ‘90s Con is in this story; it’s advised you check the event website for any last-minute changes or additions.

Jeremy Carter. Photo provided.

At the Palladium

Tampa sax man Jeremy Carter and his group have a date at the Palladium Theater Side Door Saturday night (tickets); Sunday in Hough Hall upstairs (at 6 p.m.) is a band called the Blues Beatles – not a tribute act, the band plays blues-infused interpretations of Fab Four tunes (tickets).

The Weekend Arts Forecast appears every Thursday in the Catalyst. 

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