{"id":136529,"date":"2026-01-29T17:41:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T17:41:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/136529\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T17:41:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T17:41:07","slug":"weekend-spotlight-lotta-opera-and-a-whole-bunch-of-plays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/136529\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekend spotlight: Lotta opera and a whole bunch of plays"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Opera aficionados have their hands full this weekend, as companies from both sides of the bay have new productions onstage. That\u2019s the sort of coincidence that we don\u2019t see too often.<\/p>\n<p>Opera Tampa, as the Catalyst wrote about a few days ago, is offering up two performances of the English-language adaptation of Stephen King\u2019s book The Shining, at the Straz Center. Read the interview with composer Paul Marovec <a href=\"https:\/\/stpetecatalyst.com\/stephen-kings-the-shining-to-get-the-opera-tampa-treatment\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">here<\/a>. Showtimes and tickets are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.strazcenter.org\/events\/2526-season\/opera\/the-shining\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">at this link<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>At the Palladium Theater in St. Pete, Giulio Cesare in Egitto (Julius Caesar in Egypt) is presented Friday, Sunday and again Tuesday, Feb. 3 by St. Petersburg Opera Company. George Frederic Handel\u2019s baroque opera, in Italian, takes place during the Roman Civil War, and chronicles Caesar and Cleopatra\u2019s first encounter (among many other events).\u00a0Showtimes and tickets are <a href=\"https:\/\/ci.ovationtix.com\/36810\/production\/1240142\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">at this link<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The weekend concerts (three of them) from The Florida Orchestra include onstage flamenco dancing from the acclaimed Irene Rodr\u00edguez and Marlon Fern\u00e1ndez,\u00a0vocals by mezzo soprano Sarah Purser and narration by Michael Francis. The occasion is a performance of Manuel de Falla\u2019s El Amor Brujo (Love, the Sorcerer). With Chelsea Gallo conducting, this chamber orchestra program also includes Danny Elfman\u2019s Suite for Chamber Orchestra and Libertango for String Orchestra by Astor Piazzolla.<\/p>\n<p>Find tickets <a href=\"https:\/\/floridaorchestra.org\/event\/el-amor-brujo-chamber-orchestra-concert\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">here<\/a> for these performances: Friday at 7:30 p.m., Clearwater\u2019s Church of the Ascension; Saturday at 7:30 p.m., the Peter and Cynthia Zinober Concert Hall at USF, Tampa; Sunday at 2 p.m., USF St. Pete Student Center Ballroom.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-111734\" class=\"wp-image-111734\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Scarlet-Letter-1-American-Stage-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\"  \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-111734\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">American Stage is Puritanical these days with \u201cThe Scarlet Letter.\u201d Images: Chaz D. Photography.<\/p>\n<p>On theater stages<\/p>\n<p>If this isn\u2019t a record, it\u2019s worth pointing out nevertheless: Of the seven professional theater productions onstage this weekend \u2013 that\u2019s right, seven \u2013 three of them are new. As in, just opening today or Friday.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ll start with those.<\/p>\n<p>Himself and Nora premieres Friday at freeFall Theatre in St. Pete. Jonathan Brielle\u2019s musical is the true story of controversial Irish novelist James Joyce and the love of his life, his partner and muse Nora Barnacle. The drama will remain onstage through March 8. Tickets, showtimes and all the rest are <a href=\"https:\/\/ci.ovationtix.com\/34941\/production\/1244283\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">at this link<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>God of Carnage, the Tampa Repertory Theatre take on Yasmina Reza\u2019s sharply-written drama about two sets of parents arguing (and arguing) over a playground accident, debuts Friday (preview performance tonight) at Hillsborough Community College Performing Arts Center Studio Theatre. Find showtimes, details and tickets <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tamparep.org\/godofcarnage\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">at this link<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The Trail to Oregon! is the latest from Ybor City\u2019s LAB Theater Project. The comic musical giddies-up Saturday and will run through Feb. 15. The pitch from LAB: \u201cThe production blends musical theater, improv, and audience participation into a fast-paced, anything-can-happen frontier adventure.\u201d Find everything you need <a href=\"https:\/\/labtheaterproject.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Sunday is the final performance of the remarkably taut Stageworks Theatre production of the mountain-climbing drama Touching the Void. <a href=\"https:\/\/stpetecatalyst.com\/stageworks-scales-new-heights-with-touching-the-void\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Here\u2019s our story<\/a> about the Tampa show; it includes a ticket link.<\/p>\n<p>Jobsite Theatre\u2019s wild ride through Shakespeare country, A Comedy of Errors, is onstage through Feb. 8 at the Straz Center in Tampa. <a href=\"https:\/\/stpetecatalyst.com\/and-then-theres-mod-inside-jobsites-comedy-of-errors\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Here\u2019s our story<\/a> about the day-glo show; it includes a ticket link.<\/p>\n<p>Nathaniel Hawthorne\u2019s The Scarlet Letter is drawing raves at American Stage. The Kate Hamill adaptation of the literary classic about repression and judgement in 17th century America will be in production through Feb. 15. <a href=\"https:\/\/stpetecatalyst.com\/american-stage-readying-the-scarlet-letter\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Here\u2019s our story<\/a> about the St. Pete show; it includes a link for showtimes and tickets.<\/p>\n<p>At St. Pete\u2019s The Studio@620 tonight and Friday is actress Samantha Marti Parisi, onstage in The Pink Unicorn. The Story Keepers production of the one-woman drama by Elise Forier Edie presents a conservative Texas housewife detailing the emotions that followed her daughter\u2019s coming out as gay. This is the show that has been performed in private homes across St. Pete for several weeks. After The Studio@620 performances, it moves to The Werk Gallery Saturday and Sunday. <a href=\"https:\/\/stpetecatalyst.com\/no-place-like-homes-unconventional-theater-to-debut\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Here\u2019s our story<\/a> about the production; it includes showtimes, ticket links and other important details.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-111735\" class=\"wp-image-111735\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/God-of-Carnage-Tampa-Rep-300x173.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"368\"  \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-111735\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tampa Repertory Theatre debuts \u201cGod of Carnage\u201d with a preview performance tonight. Photo provided.<\/p>\n<p>Concerts<\/p>\n<p>The Wombats perform tonight at Jannus Live. Find tickets <a href=\"https:\/\/jannuslive.com\/events\/the-wombats\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">at this link<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Tonight at the Seminole Hard Rock Event Center, it\u2019s frequent Bay area fliers Pat Benatar and her co-billed guitarist husband, Neil Giraldo. Tickets are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ticketmaster.com\/event\/0D006366B3006C5B?CAMEFROM=CFC_TAMPA_HARDROCK_WEB_SHRTWEB_PATBENATAR-NEILGIRALDO&amp;_ga=2.266500686.1551487527.1769614160-1162481335.1727120092\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The great John Waite, who also performs in our neighborhood with astounding regularity, is onstage Friday at the Capitol Theatre. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rutheckerdhall.com\/events\/detail\/john-waite\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Tickets<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Back at Benchmark Arena Friday is St. Pete-born party-dude comedian Bert Kreischer. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.benchmarkintlarena.com\/events\/detail\/bert-2026\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Tickets<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Longtime Queensryche vocalist Geoff Tate and his band are at Ruth Eckerd Hall with the never-ending Operation Mindcrime Tour. Find tickets <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rutheckerdhall.com\/events\/detail\/geoff-tate\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">at this link<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Saturday brings Kings of Leon to Benchmark Arena. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.benchmarkintlarena.com\/events\/detail\/kingsofleon-2026\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Tickets<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Arenas, Lasky &amp; Nash (bass, piano and vocals) are back with their very well-received Bacharach Book show, at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Mainstage Theater, Hillsborough Community College, Ybor City. Find tickets <a href=\"https:\/\/tampajazzclub.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Magician Lance Burton has a date Sunday with the Seminole Hard Rock Event Center. It\u2019s a 7 p.m. show; find tickets <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ticketmaster.com\/event\/0D006378ED3DA678?CAMEFROM=CFC_TAMPA_HARDROCK_WEB_SHRTWEB_LANCEBURTON&amp;_ga=2.37859811.1551487527.1769614160-1162481335.1727120092\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Sunday at the Capitol Theatre: Los Lonely Boys. Tickets for the 7 p.m. concert are <a href=\"https:\/\/secure.rutheckerdhall.com\/31943\/31945?_gl=1*dtzm6a*_gcl_au*MjU3MzA0MDE2LjE3NjY0NDEyNDE.*_ga*MTM0NjY4NTYxMS4xNzI3MTE5OTE4*_ga_YGMBTHEY0R*czE3Njk2MTM1ODkkbzQwMiRnMSR0MTc2OTYxNjM3MyRqNTkkbDAkaDA.&amp;_ga=2.186276650.2059243235.1769554166-1346685611.1727119918&amp;queueittoken=e_saftynetqueue2021v3~ts_1769616641~ce_true~rt_safetynet~h_3de75298dbc5f2fdad0cd7b1068bc682490a22e83a433047bd4293685cbfacdb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">at this link<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/stpetecatalyst.com\/category\/create\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Your Weekend Spotlight<\/a>\u00a0appears every Thursday in the\u00a0Catalyst\u2019s CREATE section.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Please add us to your mailing list \u2013 send all press releases and event info to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/stpetecatalyst.com\/weekend-spotlight-lotta-opera-and-a-whole-bunch-of-plays\/mailto:bill@stpetecatalyst.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">bill@stpetecatalyst.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>You can also submit your events to the\u00a0Catalyst\u00a0calendar, by clicking\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/stpetecatalyst.com\/contribute\/event\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Opera aficionados have their hands full this weekend, as companies from both sides of the bay have new&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":136530,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":{"0":"post-136529","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-st-petersburg","8":"tag-st-pete","9":"tag-st-pete-headlines","10":"tag-st-pete-news","11":"tag-st-petersburg","12":"tag-st-petersburg-headlines","13":"tag-st-petersburg-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136529","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136529"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136529\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}