Weekend forecast: Horan, Hauser and operatic Pride
Irish singer and songwriter Niall Horan, once a member of One Direction and once a coach on TV’s The Voice, arrives Friday at the Mid-Florida Credit Union Amphitheater. He’s on the road behind The Show, his most recent (2023) album, which reached No. 2 in the States, and topped the charts in other countries (including Ireland) around the world. Tickets.
Hauser, the Croatia-born cellist who combines classical, rock and pop music with theatricality, performs Saturday at Ruth Eckerd Hall. The former member of 2Cellos is touring on the heels of the new Classic II album. “You can’t go wrong giving a beautiful, singing tune to the cello,” Hauser says of the record. “There is always a good chance that it will sound even better than the original!” And who are we to argue with him? Tickets are here.
Loud and proud
Opera Tampa’s musical salute to Pride Month is called Outloud, Saturday at the Jaeb Theatre, in the Straz Center for the Performing Arts complex. The 8 p.m. performance combines music from opera, Broadway and the pop universe in a gay-themed cornucopia of celebration.
There’s always something high-energy and fun about opera singers – some of the bay area’s finest vocal artists – letting their proverbial hair down and having fun with different music. So while you’ll get excerpts from Carmen, Lakme and even Don Giovanni, you’ll also experience songs from Hair, Cabaret, Avenue Q and even The Producers (“Keep it Gay,” of course).
Tickets for Outloud can be found here.
Country music’s Kane Brown: Back-to-back Amalie Arena concerts. Publicity photo.
Together again
Sunday brings the 2024 iteration of the Happy Together Tour to Ruth Eckerd Hall. It’s a nostalgic soup of ‘60s pop performers playing the hits – in this case, the Turtles (with Mark Volman but no lead singer Howard Kaylan, who’s retired), the Association (including “Along Comes Mary” singer Jerry Yester), Jay & the Americans (“Jay” died in 2014), the Vogues (no original members), the Cowsills (Susan, Bob and Paul) and, from the early ‘70s, Badfinger (aka guitarist Joey Molland, the only surviving member of the British/Welch power pop band’s hitmaking era).
These shows, of course, are meant to be celebrations of the music that moved a generation (and, as with all magical art, continues to move new generations). From “Never My Love” to “Five O’ Clock World” to “The Rain, the Park & Other Things” to “Day After the Day,” at the end of the day it’s the music that matters.
Find Happy Together Tour tickets here.
More concerts
Amalie Arena welcomes Georgia-born country singer Kane Brown Friday and Saturday nights. Brown’s biggest radio singles include “What Ifs,” “Lose it,” “Good as You,” “One Thing Right” (with Marshmello), “Famous Friends” (with Chris Young) and “Bury Me in Georgia.” The 30-year was a social media sensation before signing his first record deal. Find tickets here.
Sunday delivers Wayne Newton, aka Mr. Las Vegas, back for another appearance at the Seminole Hard Rock Event Center. Tickets are here.
On theater stages
Still a week left in the run for the Jobsite Theater production of The Smuggler: A Thriller in Verse, the intense one-man show from actor Giles Davies (in the Straz Center’s Shimberg Playhouse. Find tickets and details here.
Clue, the comedic play based on the old Hasbro board game about Col. Mustard and the other maybe-murderers – and the 1985 movie – is the latest show in the Straz Center’s ongoing Broadway-tour season. Find info and tickets here.
American Stage’s electrifying production of the rock musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch is on the mainstage for another weekend. It’ll be there through June 9, then move to Jannus Live for four days starting on the 13th. All tickets here.
Opening Friday on the USF Tampa campus is the Tampa Repertory Theatre’s production of the Pulitzer- and Tony-winning musical Next to Normal. Read all about the show, and find tickets, here.
Feeling festive
Saturday Shoppes, the weekly marketplace at Tropicana Field Parking Lot 1 (16th Street at 1st Avenue S.) will be rocking and boiling from 4 to 8 p.m. Saturday. It’s the admission-free Blue Crab & R&B Festival, with – well, the name says it all – fresh seafood for sale and live R&B (aka soul) music. The official address is 1 Tropicana Drive.
Your weekend arts forecast appears every Thursday in the Catalyst.
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