Thursday 1.3
No Exaggeration The Greatest Show on Earth comes to town through Jan. 6 with six shows under the big top of the Ice Palace roof. For kids, the circus is something like a Disney cartoon come true while adults see it as their greatest excuse to go ooh and aah and say words like dare-devilry. Ringmaster Kevin Venardos expertly guides the audience through the three-ring scene of hilarity and derring-do. The show's featured performers include Sara the Tiger Whisperer, T.M. the Gator Guy, Circus Siren Sylvia Zerbini and Mei Ling the Motorcycle Maiden. Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey perform at 7:30 p.m. opening night and tonight, at 3:30 and 7:30 p.m. Jan. 5 and at 1 and 5 p.m. Jan. 6. Tickets cost $11.75, $14.75, $18.75 and $28. The Ice Palace is at 401 Channelside Drive, downtown Tampa (813-223-1000).
Friday 1.4
The Tale of Tuna Stageworks' latest play, Greater Tuna, is a sendup of small-town mores. The comedy centers on the eclectic band of citizens populating Texas' third-smallest town. The 20 oddball denizens of Tuna are portrayed by only two performers, making the show an exercise in quick-change artistry, both of costumes and characters. The play begun as a simple party skit based on a political cartoon more than 15 years ago in Austin, Texas, and has since developed into a critically acclaimed, widely produced show. Greater Tuna runs through Jan. 20, with performances at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and at 3 p.m. Sundays at the theater of Hillsborough Community College-Ybor Campus, 15th Street and Palm Avenue, Ybor City. Tickets cost $15, $12 for students and seniors. Call 813-258-6757.
From Karlsruhe with Love As the Masterworks concert series continues, The Florida Orchestra performs Brahms' Romantic First, led by guest conductor Maximiano Valdes with featured pianist Lilya Zilberstein. The program, while including Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 12, is highlighted by Brahms Symphony No. 1 in C minor, composed between 1855 and 1876. Performances take place at 8 p.m. tonight, at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center; at 8 p.m. Jan. 5, at the Mahaffey Theater; and at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 6, at Ruth Eckerd Hall. TBPAC is at 1010 N. MacInnes Place, Tampa (813-229-7827). The Mahaffey Theater is at 400 First St. S., St. Petersburg (727-892-5767). Ruth Eckerd Hall is at 1111 McMullen-Booth Road, Clearwater (727-791-7400). For a brief yet detailed essay on the symphony, see the program notes by Dr. Richard E. Rodda on The Florida Orchestra's web site, www.floridaorchestra.org.
Saturday 1.5
Hello, Sunshine TV star Dick Van Patten and comedian/impressionist Frank Gorshin co-star in Neil Simon's The Sunshine Boys. The story centers on Lewis and Clark, two retired vaudeville comedians nursing grudges against one another. One lives in a shabby New York hotel, the other on the porch of his married daughter's house. They're persuaded to reunite for a final appearance in a salute to American show business. The backstage comedy is full of slapstick gags and good-hearted sentiment. The show plays at 2 and 8 p.m. at Ruth Eckerd Hall. Tickets cost $25 and $30. Ruth Eckerd Hall is at 1111 McMullen-Booth Road, Clearwater (727-791-7400).
Turkish Top-40 Turkish musician Esin Afsar, who emerged in the 1960s as one of the founders of the Turkish pop music scene, performs at the USF-Tampa Special Events Center at 7:30 p.m. Afsar's music is inspired by Turkish folklore and thus bares scant resemblance to American pop. It's also of note that the first popular music in Turkey of foreign origin was tango. Afsar is often titled an ambassador due to her participation in developing better Greek-Turkish relations. She's performed throughout the world. Advance tickets cost $5 for students, $15 for non-students and $3 for children 12 and younger. Tickets at the door cost $10 more. USF's Special Events Center is at 4202 E. Fowler Ave., Tampa (813-974-2323).
Sunday 1.6
Museum Theater The Henry B. Plant Museum presents Upstairs/Downstairs, weekly character portraits of the staff and one famous guest of the Tampa Bay Hotel. The featured characters are: Maggie, laundress at the Tampa Bay Hotel, 1891-1930; Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt, hotel guest and First Lady, 1901; Otis Freedman, The Bishop, head waiter at the Tampa Bay Hotel, 1905; Pauline Polly Smith-Jones, telegraph operator at the Tampa Bay Hotel, 1913; and Arthur Schleman, hunting guide at the Tampa Bay Hotel, 1915. One character performs approximately 30 minutes. This production has recently received the American Association of State and Local History's most prestigious honor and is sponsored in part by the Arts Council of Hillsborough County. The performances, which are complimentary with admission, take place each Sunday at 2 p.m. through May. Admission costs a requested donation of $5 for adults and $2 for children under 12. The Henry B. Plant Museum is at 401 W. Kennedy Blvd., Tampa (813-254-1891).
Monday 1.7
Examining Outlooks The Florida Coalition for Peace & Justice is conducting discussion groups on the documentary Faces of the Enemy, which addresses the psychology of hatred and war. The video looks directly at how we view our enemies, dehumanize them, and what happens when we portray ourselves as heroes and our enemies as sub-humans. The video addresses the issues without offering solutions. The latest viewing/discussion takes place from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Quaker Meeting House, 130 19th Ave. S.E., St. Petersburg. Call 727-343-7652.
Tuesday 1.8
Beware of the Dieffenbachia The Master Gardening series offers a safety-conscious program titled Poisonous Plants and Critters, covering all manner of poisonous plant, bug and snake, as well as creatures known by more scientific names such as creepy crawler and get that damn thing outta my yard! This is the sort of information hobbyist gardeners, new residents and migratory retirees probably oughta brush up on. There's never any telling what one may come across searching for their golf ball in the brush. The free program takes place at 10 a.m. at the New Tampa Regional Library, 10001 Cross Creek Blvd., Tampa (813-903-2280).
Wednesday 1.9
Open for Laughs Catch the laughs-in-progress that are the stories, one-liners and bits of some of the Bay area's top aspiring comics. The monthly Open Mic Nite at the Improv Comedy Theater boasts a list of talented amateurs who make the most of the stage time, developing their material. Those regularly signed up include Tony Esposito, Cowboy James Gleason, Spoon, Tony Gaud and about a dozen others. A couple of them started with hardly any material and now have 10 solid minutes; and the material is as diverse at the comics themselves. One's a retired rodeo star. One's a lesbian prison guard. (You get the picture.) Advance tickets cost $5, $8 at the door. The Improv is at Centro Ybor, 1600 E. Eighth Ave., Ybor City (813-864-4000).
This article appears in Jan 3-9, 2002.