Six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald performs Saturday with The Florida Orchestra, at 8 p.m. in Morsani Hall. That’s the largest of the theaters in Tampa’s Straz Center complex.

This concert is TFO’s annual fundraising gala.

A classical soprano, McDonald studied at the Juilliard School, and still performs with opera companies when her theater and concert schedule allows. She starred in the Los Angeles Opera production of Weill’s Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny; the cast album won two Grammy Awards in 2008.

McDonald holds the record for the most Tony wins for an actor. In chronological order, these were Carousel (1994), Master Class (1996), Ragtime (1998), A Raisin in the Sun (2004), Porgy and Bess (2012) and Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill (2014).

She received her 11th Tony nomination for her turn as Mama Rose in the 2024 revival of Gypsy. The cast album was nominated for a Grammy.

Michael Francis conducts the orchestra. For tickets, visit this link.

Francis has a busy weekend. Friday (8 p.m.) and Sunday (2 p.m.) he’s conducting the orchestra for the Opera Tampa production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute in the Straz Center’s Ferguson Hall. Tickets for the opera are here.

 

Bania!

“That’s gold, Jerry.” The immortal words of hack comic Kenny Bania on Seinfeld continue to reverberate through the ages, like so many catchphrases from that groundbreaking series. Steve Hytner, who portrayed Jerry’s obnoxious almost-pal, is onstage at 7:30 tonight in the Jaeb Theatre, also in the Straz Center complex. Hytner’s show (titled Soup’s Not a Meal, another reference to his turn on the series) consists of standup comedy, Seinfeld trivia and an audience Q&A. Find tickets at this link. See you at Mendy’s!

 

Blues festival in Clearwater

Clearwater’s Coachman Park is ground zero for the 2026 Sea-Blues Festival, Saturday and Sunday. Music starts (with the exemplary Florida-based musician Ben Prestage) each day at 2 p.m., and the headliners (Robert Jon & the Wreck on Saturday, North Mississippi All-Stars Sunday) start their evening-ending sets at 7:30 p.m. Admission is free, there’ll be food and beverages for sale, and this link will tell you all you need to know.

 

Outdoor art in Tampa

More than 250 artists will be set up Saturday and Sunday at Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park in Tampa, for the annual Gasparilla Festival of the Arts. It’s a juried art show – that’s a tacit guarantee of quality stuff – and the estimated attendance is 30,000 (admission is free) Get all the necessaries at the festival website.

 

On theater stages

American Stage’s “Tales By Twilight” show Fairyland: A Midwinter Night’s Dream continues through March 8 at Boyd Hill Nature Preserve. It’s a “promenade play,” meaning the actors and the audience move – in this case, along the wooded trails of Boyd Hill, after sunset. For info and tickets, click here.

Himself and Nora, the freeFall Theatre musical about Irish novelist James Joyce and his beloved and long-suffering wife, is onstage through March 15. Find showtimes, tickets and other details here.

Robert Teasdale plays novelist James Joyce in the freeFall Theatre musical “Himself and Nora.” Photo provided.

Concert calendar

Alabama’s smoking hot St. Paul & the Broken Bones are onstage tonight at Jannus Live. Here’s our interview with vocalist Paul Janeway from earlier this week (it includes a ticket link).

Tonight brings former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett to Ruth Eckerd Hall. This year’s show is called Best of Genesis & Solo Gems. Here’s a Catalyst interview with the British prog legend, from 2024. Tickets for tonight’s concert are here.

Cedric The Entertainer, one of the “Original Kings of Comedy,” is onstage tonight at the Seminole Hard Rock Event Center. Tickets for the 8 p.m. show are at this link.

Classic Albums Live is back at the Capitol Theatre tonight, blasting through Led Zeppelin II in all its guitar-hero glory. In this story, find everything you need to know about this Canadian concert enterprise. Tickets for tonight can be tracked down here.

Friday’s Vodkanauts concert at freeFall Theatre is sold out.

Friday brings Styx and Cheap Trick back to the bay area once again; this 7 p.m. show is at the BayCare Sound amphitheater, and tickets are at this link.

At Ruth Eckerd Hall Friday: Jay Leno. Publicity photo.

None other than Jay Leno is back in our midst, for a standup comedy show Friday at Ruth Eckerd Hall. Opening set from Arsenio Hall (none other). Tickets.

In case you didn’t hear, Friday’s Barry Manilow concert at Benchmark International Arena has been postponed again. The singer’s health issues are keeping him off the road. A new date has not been announced.

More familiar faces: Jazz group Spyro Gyra is at the Capitol Theatre Friday. Find tickets here.

Bill Medley and Bucky Heard, known to the world as the Righteous Brothers, return to Ruth Eckerd Hall Saturday for their annual visit (tickets at this link). Here’s the 2025 Catalyst interview with founding RightBro Medley.

Singer, songwriter and pianist Alicia Witt, performing at the Murray Theatre (part of Ruth Eckerd Hall) Sunday, is an accomplished actress (Dune, Longlegs, Twin Peaks, Mr. Holland’s Opus, et cetera) who’ll tell you all about herself in this Catalyst interview from earlier in the week (it has a ticket link, too).

 

Friday for families: Gregory Popovich and the Popovich Comedy Pet Theater at the New Tampa Performing Arts Center. Publicity photo.

For families

Russian juggler and mime Gregory Popovich and his Popovich Comedy Pet Theater, a charming stage show featuring trained dogs and cats – all rescued from animal shelters – has a show at 6:30 p.m. Friday at the New Tampa Performing Arts Center. Find info and tickets at this link.

 

Up next

Monday at the Capitol Theatre: Original Beach Boy Al Jardine and band, with a tribute to the late Brian Wilson. Info and tickets.

Monday at the Safety Harbor Art & Music Center: Blues veteran Bobby Rush, 83. Info and tickets.

Tuesday at the Capitol Theatre: Jake Shimabukuro, the “Jimi Hendrix of the Ukulele.” Info and tickets.

Tuesday at the Seminole Hard Rock Event Center. Rod Stewart. Info and tickets.

 

Your Weekend Spotlight appears every Thursday in the Catalyst’s CREATE section. 

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