Get Your Tickets to Highball - A Craft Cocktail Competition

Do It Today: The Shaughraun at USF, VYB contemporary dance, meet St. Pete Times columnist Ernest Hooper and more

By Franki Weddington on Thu, Feb 18, 2010 at 1:00 am

St. Petersburg Times columnist Ernest Hooper celebrates his grandmother Ann Nixon Cgrant coooper's book, A Century and Some Change: My Life Before the President Called My Name. He's joined by history Professor Dr. Keith Barry and family historian Paula Stahel. Visit inkwoodbooks.com for more info. Thurs., Feb. 18, 6 p.m., Inkwood Books, Tampa.

Leave Tampa Bay behind at this afternoon's Florida Orchestra Coffee Concert: Music Around the World. Conducted by Grant Cooper, TFO injects a little culture (and a little caffeine) into your morning routine with a line-up of international works that includes Mendelssohn's Hebrides Overture, Op. 26, Puccini's Musetta's Waltz, Sibelius' Finlandia, Op. 26, Haydn's Berenice, che fai, cantata, Sousa's The Glory of the Yankee March and more. Visit floridaorchestra.org for more info. Thurs., Feb. 18, 11 a.m., Mahaffey Theater, St. Petersburg, $24-$42.

This month's New Seeds Mic topic is Mass Media and the Sexual Exploitation of Women, with a presentation by Vanessa Brown, who holds a Master's in social work. Visit newseedsfest.org for more info. Thurs., Feb. 18, 8 p.m., Sacred Grounds Coffeehouse, Tampa, free.

Mayor Iorio chairs today's Tampa Riverwalk for Wishes, with proceeds to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Step it up, power walkers, 'cause you'll need to burn some calories before digging into the delicious array of apps provided by Bennigan's and Splitsville, along with music, a live broadcast by 93.3 FLZ, games and more. Visit RiverwalkforWishes.wishcentral.org for more info. Thurs., Feb. 18, 5:30 p.m. registration, 7 p.m. walk, Channelside, Tampa, $10-$20.

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USF's College of Visual and Performing Arts puts The Shaughraun, Dion Boucicault’s confusing and amusing melodrama about an Irishman on the lam after being mistaken for a freedom fighter. It’s helmed by Olivier Award-winning director Michael Bogdanov, and it plays out like an 19th century episode of Rocky and Bullwinkle: noble heroes, dastardly villains, daring escapes, double crosses, love at first sight, and damsels in distress, all crammed into two hours of thrilling theater. (Pictured: Stephanie Smoak and Nick Horan as Claire Folliott and Captain Molineux in The Shaughraun. Photo by Anthony Morrison) Feb. 18-27, 8 p.m. Thurs.-Sat., 3 p.m. Sun., College of Visual and Performing Arts Theater I, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Ave., Tampa, $8-$12, arts.usf.edu.

It's a little late for Valentine's, but if you owe your dance-crazy sweetheart a belated gift, VYB Dance Company's Heart 2 Heart: Fall In Love Again contemporary performance is just the ticket. Proceeds from the evening of live musical performance and array of dance and choreography benefits Danita's Children's Center in Haiti. Contact [email protected] for more info. Thurs., Feb. 18, 8 p.m., Friday Morning Musicale, Tampa, $10 in advance, $12 at the door.

After the break: St. Petersburg Times columnist Ernest Hooper at Inkwood Books, The Florida Orchestra's Coffee Concert, New Seeds Open Mic, and Tampa RiverWalk for Wishes with Mayor Pam Iorio