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Weekend spotlight: Kratts and Blippi for the kids
The youngest of young people will find several familiar faces and friends on bay area stages Friday. Brothers Chris and Martin Kratt, whose adventures in the eco- and animal worlds form the nucleus of the long-running PBS Kids series Wild Kratts, return to the Mahaffey Theater with their annual Wild Kratts Live! show.
Just as each episode of the animated series spotlights (with a blend of science, humor and action) the specialized abilities of individual animals, Wild Kratts Live! takes the (real-life) brothers on a series of educational, laugh-packed adventures.
Friday’s shows are at 3:30 and 6:30 p.m.; find more info (and tickets) at this link.
The character Blippi, known to kids ages 2 to 7 as the wacky singer of educational-but-fun songs from YouTube, Netflix and Sirius XM’s Moonbug Radio, is onstage with a live band Friday (6 p.m.) at Ruth Eckerd Hall. It’s called the “Join the Band” tour: Along with Meekah and their singing and dancing buddies, Blippi will “explore what makes music, including sounds, rhythms and instruments.”
Find more info (and tickets) at this link.
Concert calendar
Today (Thursday, Feb. 20)
Ella Borges
Tonight at the Palladium Side Door, it’s Brazilian jazz with Ella and the Bossa Beat – vocalist and pianist Ella Borges and her father, drummer Magrus Borges. Tickets.
Veteran blues guitarist Robert Cray and his band are at the Capitol Theatre tonight. Find tickets at this link.
Tonight’s Scotty McCreery show at Ruth Eckerd Hall has been canceled.
More country: The band Midland performs tonight at the Seminole Hard Rock Event Center. Find tickets at this link.
Rapper Lil Wayne is at Amalie Arena Friday. Publicity photo.
Friday (Feb. 21)
Fresh off his performance on the Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary special, rapper Lil Wayne brings his show to Amalie Arena Friday. The 8 p.m. concert (with Hot Boys, Birdman and others) is called Lil Weezyana, Wayne being from New Orleans and all. The show comes as a controversy continues to hang in the air, as fans were not pleased that the “Lollipop” rapper was not invited to play the Feb. 9 Super Bowl halftime show in his hometown. Tickets for the Amalie Arena show can be found here.
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, among the founding fathers of Americana music, are at the Capitol Theatre Friday on the “Farewell Tour,” with Brit Taylor opening. Find tickets here.
Colorado’s Tyler Coombs is the producer behind the experimental bass music known credited to Of the Trees. He is part of Saturday’s EDM festival at the BayCare Sound. Publicity photo.
Saturday (Feb. 22)
Country/pop singer Kelsea Ballerini, the latest addition to the judging panel on TV’s The Voice, performs Saturday at Amalie Arena. Ashe and MaRynn Taylor open. Tickets are here.
There’s a big EDM (Electronic Dance Music) show at the BayCare Sound amphitheater Saturday, with all the attendant lights, video screens, effects and other bells and whistles. The artists are Of the Trees, LDetox Unit, Saka b2b FLY and Freddy Todd. Tickets for the 6 p.m. event are at this link.
Saturday at the Capitol Theatre: Singer/songwriter A.J. Croce, son of the late acoustic music legend Jim Croce. Find tickets here.
Sunday (Feb. 23)
Comedian Jess Hilarious is onstage Sunday at the Seminole Hard Rock Event Center. Tickets are here.
British guitar great Robin Trower and his band take the stage at Jannus Live Sunday, with Tampa blues artist Damon Fowler opening. Find tickets here.
The Palladium Theater’s annual visit from the Listening Room Festival is Sunday (3 p.m., Hough Hall). The 2025 edition features acoustic singer/songwriters Ben Gage, Goldpine and Julian Taylor, with San Francisco’s five-piece Dirty Cello band (yes, with a cellist!). Tickets are available at this link.
The California rock trio the Wallows headlines Sunday at the BayCare Sound, with Deb Never. Tickets are here.
“The People Downstairs,” with Don Walker, left, and Gavin Hawk, closes Sunday at Stageworks Theatre. Image: Stage Photography of Tampa.
On theater stages
A touring production of the Broadway musical Come From Away will be onstage Saturday and Sunday at Ruth Eckerd Hall. It’s the story of the small town of Gander, Newfoundland on Sept. 11, 2001. Sixty-eight international planes were diverted to the Gander Airport, and the townspeople welcomed and cared for some 7,000 stranded strangers. Tickets for the performances (8 p.m. Saturday, 7 p.m. Sunday) are at this link.
It’s the final weekend (last shows are Sunday) for two local professional productions: Natalie Symons’ The People Downstairs at Stageworks Theatre (showtimes and tickets here) and American Stage’s Don’t Feed the Animals at Boyd Hill Nature Preserve (showtimes and tickets here).
By all accounts, freeFall Theatre had a rollicking good opening weekend with the Stephen Sondheim musical Road Show. It’s onstage Thursdays-Sundays, through March 16 (showtimes and tickets here).
Radio Theatre Project is back at The Studio@620 Monday (7 p.m.) for its February “live radio comedy” show. Find tickets here.
Where’s the orchestra?
Olga Kern
Soloist Olga Kern joins The Florida Orchestra for two performances of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1, at the Mahaffey Theater (8 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday). On the same program: TFO and the Master Chorale of Tampa Bay joins forces for William Walton’s epic cantata Belshazzar’s Feast.
And let’s not forget musical director and conductor Michael Francis’ “mystery piece.” Tickets and additional information are at this link.
Food and music fest
Sarasota-based Paragon Festivals is back in Vinoy Park Friday through Sunday with the annual St. Petersburg Seafood & Music Festival. Local restaurants will have food to sell, and the stage will be rocking all weekend with the likes of Greg Billings & the Stay Up Lates, the Black Honkeys, Stormbringer, the Damon Fowler Band, Mixed Signals and other bay area bands. There’ll be an art and crafts marketplace to peruse. Admission is $7. Hours are 4-10 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday, and 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday. Click on this link for the full schedule and other pertinent info.
Your Weekend Spotlight appears every Thursday in the Catalyst’s CREATE section.
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