Create
Weekend spotlight: TFO, the sea and the Percussion Collective
The Florida Orchestra’s Resident Conductor Chelsea Gallo takes the reins for one of those “Inside the Music” events tonight (7:30 p.m.) at the Mahaffey Theater. These casual, pre-concert dialogues are generally done by music director Michael Francis; it’s testament to Gallo’s status as a rising star at TFO that the (literal) baton has been passed to her this time around.
Tonight’s free event goes like this: From the podium, Gallo will explain (“with humor and insight”) the origins of French composer Claude Debussy’s symphonic work La mer (The Sea), written and first performed in the early years of the 20th century, and illustrate her points with sections of the score.
This will be followed by a full TFO performance of the piece.
La mer is the centerpiece of the orchestra’s weekend concert, performed Friday (8 p.m.) in the Straz Center’s Ferguson Hall, and Saturday (8 p.m.) at the Mahaffey. Gallo is the conductor for these dates.
On the program, alongside the Debussy, is Seaborne, a 30-minute concerto for six percussionists, orchestra and specially-created film by contemporary composer Garth Neustadter (the music), and cinematographer Kjell Van Syce (the movie).
Watch this video for a sample of how the music and the visuals work together:
For Seaborne, TFO will be joined the Percussion Collective, frequent Neustadter collaborators. The New Jersey-based group uses a marimbas, vibraphones, drums and other “struck” instruments.
The final selections on this all-oceanic program is The Oceanides, by Sibelius, and a short “mystery piece” chosen by Maestro Francis. Bobby Darin’s “Beyond the Sea” perhaps?
Find tickets to TFO events here.
Creative Fellowships
The Palladium Theater’s annual Creative Fellowship Festival is tonight through Saturday. This is an initiative by executive director Paul Wilborn and his board to foster and develop new creative projects (they give artists a stipend and a date/time to share their work).
Dancer, teacher and choreographer Sadie Lehmker and her company are on the Hough Hall marquee at 7:30 tonight, with a dance program called The Forget-Me-Knots. From the Palladium description: “Drawing from personal and familial experiences with Alzheimer’s and dementia diagnoses, this dance work portrays how memory is lost and found. How do we remember and what changes in the re-remembering?” The performance will open with Helen Hansen Franch (movement) and John O’Leary (piano) performing “Imperfect Joys.” Find tickets here.
Friday at the Side Door (downstairs), Jazz vocalist Bryan J. Hughes and the Crew (with some of the city’s finest players) are performing The Great American Songbook at 8 p.m. Find tickets here.
Sculptor Jason Hackenworth has the Hough Hall stage Saturday at 8 for Sparrow’s Dream, a dance performance utilizing the artist’s stock-in-trade, biodegradable latex ballons, as dreamlike costumes (the show is subtitled A Journey of Transcendence) to recorded operatic arias. Find tickets here.
Mary J. Blige: Friday at Amalie Arena.
Concerts
Jazz legend Arturo Sandoval is at Ferguson Hall, in the Straz Center, tonight. The Cuban-born trumpeter and his band take the stage at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are at this link.
Friday’s Ruth Eckerd Hall concert by rock legend Burton Cummings is technically sold out (they suggest calling the box office to see if any tickets magically re-appeared at the last minute).
Read the Catalyst interview with Arturo Sandoval here.
Read the Catalyst interview with Burton Cummings here.
Bluegrass titan Ricky Skaggs is back in town with his mighty, mighty Kentucky Thunder Band. They’ll play for you tonight at the Capitol Theatre. Find tickets here.
Mary J. Blige performs at Amalie Arena Friday, with Ne-Yo and Mario. This is the lady’s “For My Fans” tour. Tickets are at this link.
The other famous rock ‘n’ roll band from Athens, Georgia, Patterson Hood and Drive-By Truckers, make one of their periodic Tampa Bay stops Friday at the Tampa Theatre. This time, they’re playing the Southern Rock Opera album in its entirety. Find tickets here.
The St. Petersburg Sax Quartet provides the music Friday (5-8 p.m.) at the Imagine Museum. Info and tickets are here.
Who’s that onstage Saturday at the Baycare Sound? Why, none other than Alice Cooper. Find tickets for the 7:30 p.m. show at this link.
Chances are, if you head over to Ruth Eckerd Hall Saturday, you can catch the ageless Johnny Mathis in concert. Tickets.
Roots music stalwarts the Wood Brothers have a Saturday gig at the Capitol Theatre, with an opening set from the cleverly-named Bandits on the Run. Tickets are here.
Sunday: A St. Pete Baroque Ensemble concert at Peace Memorial Presbyterian Church, 110 S. Ft. Harrison Ave., Clearwater. Donations will be gratefully accepted at the 3 p.m. performance, which will feature the ensemble and guest artist Sarah Biber on cello and viola da gamba. Music is sonatas and cantatas by Telemann, Schütz and Buxtehude. Find more information at this link.
Monday at the St. Petersburg College Music Center, on the Gibbs campus: A 7:30 p.m. performance by the bay area’s 18-piece Helios Jazz Orchestra. Free, but donations accepted. The venue is a 300-seat concert hall at 6605 5th Avenue N. in St. Pete.
“This Girl Laughs, This Girl Cries, This Girl Does Nothing” closes this weekend at American Stage. Photo provided.
On theater stages
It’s the final weekend for Jobsite Theater’s powerful production of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, in the Straz Center. This is the last Jobsite production for company veteran Giles Davies. Showtimes and tickets can be found here.
Yet another final curtain scenario: The two-person comedy Two Across at the Off-Central (St. Petersburg). There are shows tonight through Sunday. Find showtimes and tickets here.
Also saying goodbye Sunday is the Tampa Repertory Theatre’s one-man show Every Brilliant Thing, at the USF Theatre Center. Showtimes and tickets can be found here.
And one more: Sunday is also the final day for the American Stage (St. Pete) production of the dramatic fairy tale This Girl Laughs, This Girl Cries, This Girl Does Nothing on the mainstage. American Stage’s audience-moving comedy Don’t Feed the Animals continues on the trail at Boyd Hill Nature Preserve (read about that one in this story). All showtimes and tickets are at this link.
The People Downstairs, written by St. Pete playwright Natalie Symons, opens Friday at Stageworks Theatre in Tampa. We spoke this week with Symons, who’s also co-starring in this production of the comic drama. Showtimes and tickets can be found here.
Your Weekend Spotlight appears every Thursday in the Catalyst’s CREATE section.
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