Hospital waiting rooms bring up a bevy of frustrations. (Cue Fugazi: I wait, I wait, I wait, I wait.) The Waiting Room by Lisa Loomer deals with a specific set of challenges: the pursuit of feminine beauty through the ages. The season opener for the USF School of Theatre and Dance 2010-11 season delivers dark humor and provocative commentary by way of an 18th-century Chinese woman with bound feet, a corseted Victorian lady and a contemporary American who’s undergone a succession of breast implants. They all meet in a waiting room and discuss physicians, sex, books, Freud and Big Pharma. Visiting professor Lisa Powers Tricomi directs the award-winning play. Runs through Oct. 3 in Theatre 2 at the University of South Florida’s Tampa Campus. 8 p.m. Fri. and Sat. and 3 p.m. Sun. Tickets are $8-$15. Call 813-974-2323 or visit arts.usf.edu/.
Lady Chablis herself would likely attend Tampa Theatre’s annual wine tasting, cuisine-sampling and movie-themed soiree, Midnight in the Vineyard of Good and Evil. The soiree’s decor and ambience will capture the Southern Gothic intrigue of the 1997 film Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (based on the bestseller by John Berendt). The two-day event kicks off at 6:30 p.m. on Friday at Mise En Place restaurant and features a wine pairing and seminar. On Saturday, guests can attend a premium tasting at Tampa Theatre from 7 to 8 p.m. or the Grand Wine Tasting 8-10 p.m. All proceeds go to Tampa Theatre and its programs. Wineries J. Lohr, King Estate, Wente pour on the goodness. Restaurants, along with Mise En Place, include biggies like Bern’s, Donatello, Ella’s, NoHo Bistro, the Refinery and Cupcake Spot. $195 for both nights; $50 and up for Saturday only. Mise En Place is at 442 W Kennedy Blvd.; Tampa Theatre, 711 N Franklin St., Tampa. Call 813-274-8981.
Like alternative cinema? Think animated shorts are the coolest? Then this is your chance to take the dinner-and-a-movie thing to a fun new level at the Education Channel’s first Animation Celebration. The 20 films being screened have been made within the last five years and include Kung Fu-fighting cows, aliens and talking fruit. Before the 60 minutes of shorts, nosh from a dinner buffet serving aptly named dishes like Porky’s Pigs in a Blanket, and then play trivia games. After the shorts, participate in an informal discussion over coffee and dessert. 7 p.m. on Fri., Sept. 24. The Education Channel is at 703 Willow Ave., Tampa. Tickets are $20 and include dinner and are available at educationchannel.org. For more information, call Ann Goldenberg at 813-254-2253 x.205, ann@tecc.tv
On Saturday, Sept. 25, bay area museums and cultural institutions offer admission for a price that can’t be beat: free, as part of Museum Day, a nationwide event sponsored by the Smithsonian. Visitors who download a ticket from Smithsonian.com can find out which museums will be free and choose among the slew of facilities displaying all measure of human achievement – see Tampa Museum of Art’s The American Impressionists in the Garden or the ongoing photographic exhibits at the Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg. Or, learn about butterflies and natural disasters at MOSI and take in the Florida Watercolor Society: 39th Annual Watercolor Exhibition at Tarpon Springs’ Leepa-Rattner Museum. See these and more for free. Order tickets at Smithsonian.com/museumday.
The poets and writers at YellowJacket Press say they’re whooping it up this Friday, Sept. 24, from 6 to 9 p.m. in celebration of – and I quote – a “TGIF happening.” The third annual Florida Poets Happy Hour and Prime Time Show will feature performances throughout the night by YellowJacket Press poets and other well-known Florida writers. Peter Meinke, Poet Laureate of St. Petersburg and CL's "Poet's Notebook" columnist, will read along with YJP poets Cole Bellamy, Gregory Byrd, Robert S. Carr, Nyssa Hanger, Kirsten Holt, Susan Lilley and Jesse Millner. Guest poets include Silvia Curbelo, Philip F. Deaver, Melissa Fair, Phyllis McEwen and Enid Shomer. Along with listening to wordsmiths grind out some impressive prose and verse, attendees can mix and mingle with the poets, partake of food and drink specials, browse the book sales and sign up for a prize drawing. A silent auction will allow guests to bid on various published rarities by the writers involved. $5 donation; at Tre Amici at the Bunker, 1907 N 19th St., Ybor City. 813-247-6964.
The 49th Street Business Association, Gulfport Chamber of Commerce and the cities of Gulfport and St. Petersburg will host the third annual Tangerine Blues Fest on the Tangerine Greenway. The free event on Saturday from 4 to 10 p.m. includes the Joel Sanders Band, Julie Black, Deacon Blues Band and Damon Fowler Group. During the festival there will also be an arts and crafts show, an antique car show sponsored by the Down Shifters of Brooklyn and a children’s fun area. Gates open at 2 p.m. Word is that Mayor McCheese of old school Mickey D's fame will be there (!). No coolers will be permitted. Proceeds go to All Children’s Hospital. For more information, call the Gulfport Chamber of Commerce 727-344-3711 or visit www.TangerineBluesFest.com.
Make ‘Room’ for some fun, cult-film insanity: The cult film The Room and, its zany audience-participation, um, experience, has attracted the most attention since The Rocky Horror Picture Show first got toast pelted at the screen. See St. Petersburg’s only showing of the 2003 cult classic on Sunday at American Stage. Co-produced by Damage Control, the Ed Wood-caliber masterpiece includes interactive-theatrical activities such as wearing tuxedos, Johnny look-alike contests, tossing footballs, shouting at the screen and throwing plastic spoons, which will be provided at the door. What’s more, the film has been cited by some critics as one of the worst films ever made and has been called "the Citizen Kane of bad movies" for its continuity errors, inconsistent plots and subplots, badly synced dubs and character details that are introduced and instantly abandoned. The plot, such that it is, centers on the love triangle of Johnny (Tommy Wiseau), his "future wife" Lisa (Juliette Danielle), and his best friend, Mark (Greg Sestero) and the insanity that ensues from their f-ed up situation. After a brief run in Los Angeles, The Room went on to develop a cult following and continues to have midnight screenings around the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia. 8 p.m. on Sun., Sept. 26, American Stage Theatre Company is located at the Raymond James Theatre, 163 Third St. N, St. Petersburg. Tickets are “Pay-What-You-Can”(suggested $5-$15) at the door and $15 in advance. Call the American Stage box office at 727-823-7529 or visit americanstage.org.
Also …
FRI I’ll Show You Mine, You Show Me Yours Less pervy than it sounds, the exhibit at Centre Gallery displays collaborative pieces by Adam Kitzerow and other artists. Reception 7-9 p.m. in the Centre Gallery at the Marshall Student Center, room 2700, USF, Tampa. Free.
SAT Jollipalooza Street Party Food, music, fun and bikinis on Huntley Avenue in downtown Dunedin (between the back entrance of the Dunedin House of Beer and JolliMons Grill). Lucid Druid, Full Fledged Unit featuring Sean De Long and Altered Dysfunction perform. Proceeds go to local charities. Free. Call 727-902-1671.
SUN Jim Morey Band at Ella’s The versatile horn player and his backup band perform at Ella’s Americana Folk Art Cafe, Best of the Bay 2010 winner of Best Combination of Food and Live Music. 4-7 p.m. Free. 5119 Nebraska Ave., Tampa. 813-234-1000.
This article appears in Sep 23-29, 2010.
