COMMENTS FROM THE PEANUTS GALLERY After decades of syndication and umpteen television specials, there are few folks who fail to recognize the characters from Peanuts, Charles Schultz’s long-running comic strip. You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown is a musical about the famous cartoon featuring a series of songs and vignettes chronicling a day in the life of Charlie himself. All the well-known personalities are in attendance (along with the quirks we’ve come to know and love): Snoopy continues his relentless hunt for the Red Baron; Lucy dreams of being queen of the world and continues to boss everyone around, including her little brother Linus, who seeks solace from his blanket; Sally, Charlie’s precocious little sister, struggles with jumping rope and bad grades; while piano-playing Schroeder fully immerses himself in his music. And in the midst of it all, Charlie Brown reveals his usual self-deprecating bundle of insecurities. Presented by Masque Community Theatre; directed by John Wilshusen. 8 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 2 p.m. Sun., Sept. 30-Oct. 16. $14 adults/$12 students, seniors and military/$10 children 12 and younger. 8825 56th St., Temple Terrace, 813-980-3321, www.masquetheatre.org.
SWING HIGH, SWING LOW Swing Dance U.S.A. takes the Bay area by storm with a weekend’s worth of dance activities that’ll keep local hoppers and boppers on their feet. The events kick off tonight at Centro Asturiano with a free open dance from 8 p.m. to midnight, live music by Wayne Pearson’s Swingin’ Quintet, a “Circle Jam” featuring dancers from around the world, prize giveaways and an after-hours dance marathon from midnight to 2 a.m. (1913 N. Nebraska Ave., Ybor City, 813-224-9185). Throughout the day on Saturday, dance champions Kevin and Carla, and Danielle Blouin offer a complete day of workshops at The Coliseum. The 2005 Florida Swing Dance Competition takes place from 6 to 8 p.m., and the main event dance occurs from 8 p.m. to midnight with live music by Los Angeles jazz sensation Barbara Morrison and the All Star Swing Band ($24, 535 Fourth Ave. N., St. Petersburg). The dancing winds down on Sunday at Zendah Grotto with a series of workshops, an awards ceremony and a dance from 6 p.m. to midnight ($7, 4109 N. Lauber Way, Tampa). Individual workshops vary in price; all-access weekend passes begin at $99. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.swingdanceusa.com.
SEEING RED After earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Savannah College of Art and Design, Benjamin Chmura packed up and headed north to soak up the ever-changing trends of the Big Apple. He flexed his fashion design muscles in the Sean John Denim Division of Fishman and Tobin, and worked on freelance projects for TSE, Men’s Express, Ralph Lauren and American Eagle. Nowadays, the 25-year-old textile artist cultivates his creative ideas in the Bay area and unveils his new fall/winter collection of men’s fashions tonight at the Czar nightclub. The show, “Red Hood,” is a runway adaptation of Little Red Riding Hood that spotlights a collection of European street and urban-inspired styles, from hand-painted striped pants to rabbit fur-lined cropped hoodies. Also featured are a series of related photographs by Ryan Prado. A portion of proceeds raised at the event benefit the Tampa Bay AIDS Network. For more information, visit www.myspace.com/redhood2005. Doors open at 8 p.m. Free admission. Czar, 1420 Seventh Ave., Ybor City, 813-247-2664.
OCTOBER FEST Now in its third year, the ¡Viva Dalí! Hispanic Heritage Festival is a celebration of the Spanish artist and a festive observance of Florida’s distinctive Hispanic culture. The family-friendly, day-long event takes place in and around the Salvador Dalí Museum, and features reduced admission, docent tours, food and libations, an arts and crafts area for the kids, face painters, strolling entertainers, cigar rollers, surreal piñatas and salsa lessons. In addition, attendees can enjoy performances by children’s music and dance ensemble Taller Inter-Cultural Hispano Americano (TICH), as well as flamenco artistry by Fuego Flamenco and live, Latin-flavored beats by Orquestra Infinidad, Manigua, JazzOlé and Freddy Montes y Su Son. 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Outdoor entertainment and activities are free and open to the public; reduced museum admission is $5 general/free for children 12 and younger. 1000 Third St. S., St. Petersburg, 727-823-3767, www.salvadordalimuseum.org.
THANK YOU BEANTOWN Georgia O’Keeffe and Her Time: Modern Masters from the Lane Collection is a traveling exhibit of more than 40 works by some of our country’s most significant 20th-century painters. Produced between 1900 and 1930 during the American Modernist movement, the paintings represent both a changing perspective on the world and rebellion against representational norms. Progressive forms of European art (like Cubism, German Expressionism and Futurism) were fused with American style, and the resulting landscapes, cityscapes, still lifes and figurative works uniquely depict different aspects of American life. The iconic images for which O’Keeffe is most famous — flowers, skulls and adobe buildings — are showcased at this Tampa Museum of Art show, along with pieces by Charles Sheeler, Arthur G. Dove, Stuart Davis and Marsden Hartley; all are on loan from the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat., 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sun.; the exhibit is on display through Jan. 8. Admission: $7 for adults, $6 for seniors and $3 for students, children and military personnel; free from 10 a.m. to noon every Sat. 600 N. Ashley Drive, Tampa, 813-274-8130 www.tampagov.net/dept_Museum.
CREATIVE LOAFING Sunday is a day of recovery for many, a day of all-purpose loafing that usually involves slapdash housework or some sort of couch or channel surfing followed by a restless, I-have-to-work-tomorrow-and-I-want-to-kill-myself slumber. If you’re looking to break the habit, the Planet has several recommendations:
The Florida Orchestra hosts its first Pops in the Park of the season, with Susan Haig conducting the orchestra through a program that includes selections from Phantom of the Opera, Dvorak’s Symphony No. 8, Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty Suite, Howard Shore’s Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring Symphonic Suite, and many others (7 p.m. Free. Coachman Park, 301 Drew St., Clearwater).
You don’t have to be a Pagan to hang out at the Suncoast Pagan Pride Day Festival, an event geared toward educating the community about Pagan beliefs and culture. The fest consists of introductory workshops, informational booths, live music, arts and crafts by Pagan and metaphysical artists, a live demonstration ritual to celebrate the fall harvest and more (10 a.m.-6 p.m. Free. England Brother’s Band Shell, 5010 81st Ave. N., Pinellas Park, 727-580-0106, www.paganpride.org).
Finally, Planet staffer and Southeast Music Alliance founding member Joran Oppelt hosts Band/Together, a benefit and canned food drive for victims of Hurricane Katrina that features an art and memorabilia auction, as well as live music by 13 well-known local talents, including Cuban Sandwich Crisis, Gravy, The Human Condition, Lucious P. and the Burning Seeds Orchestra, Truly Sunday and Nessie (5-11 p.m. $8 general/$5 with voter I.D. State Theatre, 687 Central Ave., St. Petersburg).
This article appears in Sep 28 – Oct 4, 2005.
