TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Broadway Hits Fill Center's Eclectic Season

ADVERTISEMENT

By SARAH HOYE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 17, 2008

TAMPA - The Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center unveils its 2008-09 lineup, stacked with Broadway hits and contemporary artists, ensuring something for everyone.

The previously announced Broadway season highlights include "The Wizard of Oz," "The Phantom of the Opera," "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang," "Riverdance," "A Chorus Line," "Frost/Nixon," Monty Python's "Spamalot," "The Rat Pack - Live at the Sands," "Fiddler on the Roof," "Annie," "STOMP" and "Rent."

Highlights from the rest of the season include comedians Margaret Cho and David Sedaris, the Afro-Cuban All-Stars, Ballet Hispanico, "The Rocky Horror Show" and Opera Tampa productions of "The Barber of Seville" and "Faust."

"It's one of our most eclectic seasons, from cutting edge to family centric to star driven. If you want a taste of the Broadway, this is it," says center president Judith Lisi. "We try to match our many different audiences in our community. Everybody should have a place to sit at the table; this is their community's theater."

The center's five theaters, $35 million annual budget and attendance - some 800,000 people attended last year's events - make it Florida's largest cultural organization.

Community support is integral to the survival to the center, Lisi said.

"We're here to enhance their experience," she said. "I'm like the mother, I like it all."

Opera Tampa and Broadway series season tickets are now on sale. Single tickets for the Broadway series will go on sale six to eight weeks before the performance.

Tickets for most of the center's season will be on sale at the box office and online at TBPAC.org on Monday.

For ticket information and performance locations, call the box office at (813) 229-7827. The center is at 1010 N. Mac- Innes Place, Tampa.

Reporter Sarah Hoye can be reached at (813) 259-7832 or shoye@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT