(L-R) Alex Rodriguez, Jordan Mason, Hayden Brown-Wahlgren and Jaiden Gray from the cast of ‘The Great Christmas Cookie Bake-Off’ playing at Stageworks Theatre in Tampa, Florida through Dec. 17, 2023. Credit: Stage Photography of Tampa Bay
Tampa high school students—including Alex Rodriguez, Jordan Mason, Hayden Brown-Wahlgren and Jaiden Gray, pictured above, left to right—make their professional acting debuts in a Stageworks Theatre show based around cooking game show reality TV.

“The Great Christmas Cookie Bake-Off” features kids from from Blake, Plant and Robinson, plus more from the Patel Conservatory at the Straz Center, in a light-hearted musical where bakers compete, only to cook up the surprising real meaning of Christmas.

“This musical is about a group of unique characters who discover themselves and the power of friendship while also celebrating the magic and traditions of the season and the joy of coming together,” Karla Hartley, Stageworks Theatre’s Producing Artistic Director wrote.

Tickets to the ‘The Great Christmas Cookie Bake-Off’ happening Friday-Sunday, Dec. 15-17 at Tampa’s Stageworks Theatre start at $45. Subscribe to Creative Loafing newsletters.

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This article appears in Dec 7-13, 2023.

Read his 2016 intro letter and disclosures from 2022 and 2021. Ray Roa started freelancing for Creative Loafing Tampa in January 2011 and was hired as music editor in August 2016. He became Editor-In-Chief...