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Your weekend arts forecast: Holiday Pops
The Florida Orchestra, to be sure, attracts big audiences for its entire October-to-May season. Still, the most well-attended concert every year is Holiday Pops. It’s such a big deal that there are five performances of the Christmas-and-more program for 2022.
Podium guest for this weekend’s show is Bob Bernhardt, Principal Pops Conductor for the Louisville Symphony, the Grand Rapids Symphony and the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera. Bernhardt has also guested with (among others) the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Dallas Symphony, the Seattle Symphony … and The Florida Orchestra.
Shows are Friday at 8 p.m. in the Straz Center’s Morsini Hall (Tampa), Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m. at St. Petersburg’s Mahaffey Theater, and Sunday at 2 and 7:30 p.m. at Ruth Eckerd Hall (Clearwater).
Guests include vocalist Denzal Sinclaire and the Tampa Oratorio Singers.
For additional details, and tickets, visit the TFO website.
Concerts
Taylor Dayne, whose string of big dance-club singles began with “Tell it to My Heart” in 1987, takes the stage at the Palladium Theater Sunday at 8 p.m. The New York native has sold in the neighborhood of 75 million records worldwide, including the hits “Prove Your Love,” “I’ll Always Love You” and “Love Will Lead You Back.” Tickets.
St. Petersburg guitar great Nate Najar and company are back at the Palladium for their 15th annual Jazz Holiday show, combining swingin’ tunes with seasonal favorites. Appearing with Najar at tonight’s performance (7:30 p.m.) are Daniela Soledade (vocals), Adrian Cunningham (clarinet/tenor saxophone/flute/ vocals), Dmitry Baevsky (alto sax), Patrick Bettison (keyboard), Joe Porter (bass) and Jean Bolduc (drums). Tickets.
With co-founding singer and songwriter Henry Paul still out front, the Outlaws – formed in Tampa back in the very early ‘70s – return to the Capitol Theatre stage Friday and Saturday for what’s become an annual holiday-season residency. You know the tunes – “Hurry Sundown,” “Green Grass and High Tides,” “There Goes Another Love Song.” Find tickets for the “Yuletide Jam” here.
Here’s a 2019 Catalyst interview with Henry Paul about his and the band’s bay area roots.
Kev Marcus and Wil B., who under the name Black Violin blend hip hop and classical music, return for another Straz Center concert Sunday, at 7 p.m. in Morsani Hall. Tickets.
Here’s someone else who’s sold a lot of records: England’s Gerry Dorsey, who’s been known for more than five decades as Engelbert Humperdinck. He’ll croon Monday at 7 p.m. at Ruth Eckerd Hall. Tickets.
Theater
There are four professional shows onstage this weekend: Two Christmas musicals, The Night Before at freeFall Theatre and Plaid Tidings at the Straz Center’s Jaeb Theater; Becca McCoy’s one-woman play The Year of Extraordinary Travel at Studio Grand Central and at Stageworks, the family comedy Christmas Contigo.
And Friday and Saturday find the sketch comedy show Dirty John’s Mistlestoned at thestudio@620. Tickets.
Your weekend arts forecast appears every Thursday in the Catalyst.
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