{"id":152624,"date":"2026-02-12T05:46:30","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T05:46:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/152624\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T05:46:30","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T05:46:30","slug":"weekend-spotlight-curtain-up-on-the-niceties-and-juliet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/152624\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekend spotlight: Curtain up on \u2018The Niceties\u2019 \u2026 and \u2018Juliet\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

If Lin-Manuel Miranda could re-imagine the Revolutionary War as a hip hop musical, there\u2019s no reason a timeless Shakespeare tragedy can\u2019t be modernized with pop songs from the back catalogues of Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the game plan behind the high-energy jukebox musical &Juliet, onstage through Sunday in Morsani Hall, at the Straz Center in downtown Tampa. Written by David West Read, who won an Emmy for Schitt\u2019s Creek, it asks the musical question: What if Romeo died, but Juliet didn\u2019t?<\/p>\n

The songs, all by the prolific popsmith Max Martin and performed by the cast, include \u201cI Want it That Way,\u201d \u201cBaby One More Time,\u201d \u201cI Kissed a Girl,\u201d \u201cShow Me The Meaning of Being Lonely,\u201d \u201cThat\u2019s The Way It Is,\u201d \u201cSince U Been Gone,\u201d \u201cOops! I Did it Again\u201d and a dozen more.<\/p>\n

The &Juliet tour is part of the Straz\u2019 Broadway series; while the show has been on Broadway since 2022, it originated in London\u2019s West End theater district.<\/p>\n

Showtimes and tickets are available at this link<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Broadway\u2019s \u201c&Juliet\u201d is at Tampa\u2019s Morsani Hall (in the Straz Center) through Sunday. Photo: Evan Zimmerman.<\/p>\n

New this weekend: Directed by Andresia Moseley, Eleanor Burgess\u2019 The Niceties at The Studio@620. Set in a university office, it consists of a conversation between a progressive white professor (Tiffany Faykus) and her Black student (Leanora Octavia Tapper) that becomes a fiery back-and forth about race, power and history.<\/p>\n

Faykus\u2019 creative nonprofit HerStories Told is producing this compelling two-hander Thursday and Friday at 7:30 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday at 3 p.m. All tickets (and information) are at this link<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the final weekend for two exceptionally strong dramatic plays: In St. Petersburg, American Stage\u2019s adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne\u2019s Puritanical classic The Scarlet Letter has performances tonight through Sunday (tickets and showtimes are at this link<\/a>); the Tampa Repertory Theatre\u2019s take on Yasmina Reza\u2019s God of Carnage (at the Hillsborough College Ybor campus theater) similarly runs tonight through Sunday (showtimes and tickets are here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

At freeFall Theatre (St. Pete), the musical Himself and Nora \u2013 the tale of Irish novelist James Joyce and the love of his troubled life \u2013 continues through March 8. Tickets, showtimes etc. are here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Likewise, LAB Theater Project in Ybor City is midway through the run of the interactive musical comedy The Trail to Oregon!, by Jeff Blim, Matt Lang and Nick Lang (it\u2019s onstage through Feb. 15). For showtimes, tickets and additional information, visit this link<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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The comic frontier musical \u201cThe Trail to Oregon!\u201d is onstage at LAB Theater Project, Ybor City. Photo provided.<\/p>\n

American Stage\u2019s \u201cTales By Twilight\u201d series continues with a new show starting tonight. The idea is to take theater \u2026 well, beyond the stage, and for the third year there\u2019s a woodland show at Boyd Hill Preserve. Fairyland: A Midwinter Night\u2019s Dream is Anthony Gervais\u2019 walk-through adaptation of Shakespeare\u2019s A Midsummer Night\u2019s Dream.<\/p>\n

The cast includes Jonathan O\u2019Brien, Sarah Beth Saho, Troy Padraic Brooks, Marguerite Reed, Ryan Joustra and Patrick Mounce, and they\u2019re directed \u2013 right there on the trails of Boyd Hill \u2013 by Cory Kennedy Barrow. Fairyland will continue through March 8.<\/p>\n

Visit this link<\/a> for showtimes, directions, instructions and tickets.<\/p>\n

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EDM artist INZO headlines Friday at Clearwater\u2019s BayCare Sound. Publicity photo..<\/p>\n

Concert calendar<\/p>\n

Hip hop\u2019s Digable Planets are onstage tonight at Jannus Live in downtown St. Petersburg, on the group\u2019s 30th anniversary tour. Find tickets at this link<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Seals & Crofts 2 returns to the bay area for a show tonight at the Central Park Performing Arts Center in Largo. Here\u2019s our interview<\/a> with Lua Crofts from earlier this week (ticket link is included).<\/p>\n

Superstar record producer and musician Don Was performs tonight at the Capitol Theatre, Clearwater with his Pan-Detroit Ensemble. Here\u2019s our interview<\/a> with Was from earlier this week (ticket link is included).<\/p>\n

Friday at Benchmark Arena (Tampa): Country music\u2019s Rascal Flatts. Tickets are here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Friday at the Straz Center (Ferguson Hall) in Tampa: Comedian Kathy Griffin. We spoke with her in 2024 (read that interview here<\/a>). Ticket link<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Friday at the Palladium Theatre in St. Pete: Backtrack Blues Band. Ticket link<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Saturday at the Straz Center (Ferguson Hall) in Tampa: Six time Grammy-winning jazz vocalist Samara Joy. Find tickets at this link<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Saturday at the Palladium Theater\u2019s Side Door Cabaret (St. Pete): Former local resident Whitney James. The jazz chanteuse and her Valentine\u2019s Day band start at 8 p.m. Tickets here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Saturday at Tampa\u2019s Yuengling Center (on the University of South Florida campus); Blues is Alright 2026, with performers King George, Pokey Bear, West Love, Ronnie Bell and others. Find tickets here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Saturday at Clearwater\u2019s BayCare Sound amphitheater: Electronic music artist INZO and others. Tickets are at this link<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Gipsy Kings\u2019 annual Ruth Eckerd Hall (Clearwater) concert is Saturday. Tickets here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Blues stalwart Keb\u2019 Mo\u2019 is back for a Saturday performance at the Capitol Theatre, Clearwater. Tickets are at this link<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The originals left this earth long ago, but The Four Freshmen \u2013 the 2026 version of the 1950s vocal-harmony quartet that directly inspired Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys \u2013 are in concert Sunday at Central Park PAC in Largo. Find tickets for the 2 p.m. matinee here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The classics<\/p>\n

With a program including Violin Concerto in D Minor, Op. 47 by Sibelius, Mozart\u2019s Symphony No. 36 in C Major, K. 425 \u201cLinz\u201d and more, the Tampa Bay Symphony performs Friday at the New Tampa Performing Arts Center (find tickets here<\/a>) and Sunday at Ferguson Hall, in the Straz Center, Tampa (find tickets for the 2:30 p.m. matinee here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Conducted by Laurence Loh, The Florida Orchestra has performances of The Envelope Please at 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday at the Mahaffey Theater. Featuring three guest vocalists, it\u2019s a program of film and Broadway songs. Find info and tickets here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Soprano Maiya Stevenson, accompanied by cello, violin and piano, is at the Side Door Cabaret (Palladium Theater, St Pete) Sunday at 4 p.m. with Tales of Heartstrings, a concert of classical art songs, operatic arias and instrumental arrangements. Visit this link<\/a> for more information about what the producer writes \u201ccombines the timeless beauty of classical music with an immersive romantic experience for guests.\u201d<\/p>\n

Your Weekend Spotlight<\/a>\u00a0appears every Thursday in the\u00a0Catalyst\u2019s CREATE section.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Please add us to your mailing list \u2013 send all press releases and event info to\u00a0bill@stpetecatalyst.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

You can also submit your events to the\u00a0Catalyst\u00a0calendar, by clicking\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If Lin-Manuel Miranda could re-imagine the Revolutionary War as a hip hop musical, there\u2019s no reason a timeless…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":152625,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":{"0":"post-152624","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\/152624","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=152624"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152624\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/152625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}