Once upon a time in the very late 1960s, I sang with a sweet and earnest folk/rock group. We strummed guitars and harmonized in local coffee houses and school parties. We lit candles by the stage and hoped the dim lighting hid the pimples. Our big number was “Comin’ Back To[…]

Two big televised political events are coming to the Palladium this summer which will bring statewide and national exposure to the theater and St. Petersburg College. * Tampa Bay Times, Bay News 9 and FPBS are partnering to produce a U.S. Senate Republican Debate for Florida voters on Thursday, July 26 –[…]

The audiences and the critics have spoken – they love the current St. Petersburg Opera produciton of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro. Your last chance to catch this hit show is Tuesday night at the Palladium. Showtime is 7:30. Here’s what Tampa Bay Times critic John Fleming said in his[…]

Your long, hot summer just got a little cooler. Down here at the Palladium we’ll be spending June, July and August – and a little bit of September – in the air-conditioned Side Door Cabaret for what we’re calling “Side Door Summer.” Friday nights we’re focused on the Blues – with great performers[…]

LOUISIANA MUSIC FACTORY – TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY: I spend much of Tuesday and Wednesday inside the Lousiana Music Factory catching the in-store shows. Each hour, another band crowds onto the small stage, the jazz festers line up in the record stores narrow aisles or stand back on the wooden stairway.[…]

JAZZ FEST, THURSDAY, May 3:  There was rain on Wednesday and the flat, black clouds have stuck around, but the are mostly just keeping the sun from doing its worst. Thursday is always the best day at the fest – small crowds, no lines, and today, no summer heat. Jazz[…]

WWOZ PIANO NIGHT AT HOUSE OF BLUES: This is an annual fundraiser for NOLA’s community radio station. It’s a celebration of New Orleans piano styles. Got here a little late because I’d been celebrating some New Orleans cooking styles, but I did catch Palladium favorite, Joe Krown, and visited with[…]

The week between the two jazz fest weekends is my favorite time in New Orleans. Great music in all the clubs and the in-store showcases at Louisiana Music Factory, across from the House of Blues on Decatur. This is an old-school, music-lovers shop that carries new and vintage New Orleans[…]

NEW ORLEANS, SUNDAY, APRIL 29: It’s a beautiful, sunny Sunday in New Orleans, with low humidity and enough sun-blocking clouds and breeze to make a day at the Jazz Fest tolerable and, often, pleasant. We arrive early to avoid the ticket lines, since The Boss is closing the show today and[…]

Jim Witter was barely into his teens when his brother offered him his extra ticket to see a piano player named Billy Joel. “I went and was completely in awe at what this man did. I remember the next day asking my Mom if she could show me a few[…]

This is a case of one-plus-one adding up to three. Broadway star Brian Lane Green, and Lee Lessack, a top cabaret artist, regularly used pianist John Boswell as their musical arranger and director. Brian suggested the three get together for a show. What came next was Three Men and A Baby…Grand.[…]

Palladium audiences know that we specialize in top tier artists – even if some of them aren’t household names. Michael Chapdelaine, who is playing the Side Door Cabaret on Thursday, April 19, fits that bill. He’s one of the best classical and fingerstyle guitarists in the world – and he[…]

We added some landscaping around our new piece of public art and I wanted to share a recent photo of the work with the landscaping. It looks even better. The sculpture is called “Soul Survivor” and it is a work by Louisiana artist Russell Whiting. the piece was installed in March. It[…]

Last Thursday, in the middle of the busiest week in Palladium history, we hosted a wonderful show with the Broadway star Susan Egan. She was a Tony nominee for her role as “Belle” in Beauty and the Beast, and Broadway’s  longest running “Sally Bowles” in the revival of Cabaret. She[…]

If you were part of the record-setting crowds attending shows at the Palladium last week, you might have seen our new outdoor sculpture. It’s located on our 3rd Street side and is very hard to miss. The sculpture is called “Soul Survivor” and it is a work by Louisiana artist Russell Whiting. It had[…]

I’m always promoting Palladium shows in this space, and we’ve had some great ones this year – including Monday’s sold-out Billy Joel event. But after hearing and seeing last night’s rehearsal for Cirque des Voix, I have to tell you – this is the most amazing show ever presented at[…]

Just in case you didn’t see the front page of the Tampa Bay Times today, here’s a link to Jay Cridlin’s coverage of our Billy Joel concert Monday night: http://www.tampabay.com/features/music/billy-joel-talks-about-life-music-sings-a-little-at-the-palladium-in-st/1220892

The Palladium’s Steinway Concert Grand has been visited by some of the world’s best pianists – jazzmen like Dick Hyman and Chick Corea; classical music’s Jeffrey Siegel; and New Orleans keyboard legend Dr. John. Since we’re an 850-seat theater, we never thought our piano would get a visit from the[…]

I chatted recently with Broadway, film and TV star Susan Egan about her upcoming show at the Palladium, her family life in Southern California and her big break in the business – landing the lead in Beauty and the Beast in 1993 soon after her arrival in New York. Egan[…]

Our Side Door Cabaret has turned again into a costume shop as St. Pete Opera returns for another weekend of grand opera the Palladium. This time the show is Saint-Saens Samson and Delilah. Fittingly, the place is crawling with tunics and Roman military vests – it looks like the costume shop of a swords-and-sandals biblical epic,[…]

Lot of performers who made their names and fame in the 1960s tour the country recycling the old hits. Noel Paul Stookey, one-third of the legendary folk trio, Peter, Paul and Mary, certainly has plenty of hits to recycle. But Stookey keeps writing great songs and pushing himself as a solo[…]

I’m going to be talking this week with Noel Paul Stookey, of Peter, Paul and Mary. His solo show two years ago was a highpoint of my four plus years running this wondeful theater. I’ll be posting a new blog interview this week in advance of his show on Saturday, Feb. 18 at[…]

When I was hired to run the Palladium in the summer of 2007, I was lucky enough to “inherit” Jeffrey Siegel from my predecessor, Dar Webb. Jeffrey, the renowned concert pianist, had performed the previous March. The show had been a celebration of the hand-over of the Palladium to St.[…]

Normally, I’m writing about something related to the Palladium in this blog. But my buddy, Dr. Ferdie Pacheco, sent me this remembrance of his friend – the famous boxing trainer Angelo Dundee. Angelo and Ferdie were in Muhammad Ali’s corner for all the famous fights. Angelo died last week in Clearwater.[…]

American Stage opened its riveting and musically-rich production of Seven Guitars on January 20, and the opening party featured seven of the bay area’s best guitarists. It was seven guitarists for Seven Guitars. To celebrate the run of the August Wilson play about a struggling bluesman, we’re featuring two of those guitarists this[…]

  Here’s a review and photos of this great show. Check it out! http://communityvoices.sites.post-gazette.com/index.php/arts-entertainment-living/blue-notes/31751-a-joyous-boogie-n-blues-piano-fest (And here’s my story written just before the 1-28-12 concert!) Hard to believe our annual Boogie Woogie piano show is now in its third year. Each year, the Boogie Woogie Blues Piano Stomp, gets bigger. Last year’s headliner,[…]

Michael Kaeshammer

We’ve got two shows coming up in the course of a few days that should be on your “must see” list. When we booked HAHN-BIN (he uses only capital letters) last summer as part of our Young Concert Artist Series, we thought he was a unique performer – a world-class violinist and[…]

 For Bill Burkette, lead singer of the The Vogues, his musical career, like his life, has been a series of reinventions. The Vogues started as high school kids doing R & B demos as the Val-Airs, with help from their high school principal in the Pittsburgh suburb called Turtle Creek.[…]

The Palladium’s intimate Side Door Cabaret is already a favorite of audiences and artists. Musicians say it’s the best place to play in Tampa Bay – a room with great acoustics where fans come to LISTEN to the music. Audiences always tell me how much they love hearing their favorite bands and singers in[…]

If it’s getting close to Christmas, Palladium audiences know that Nate Najar is coming to town with another great evening of holiday jazz. This year’s show is Friday, Dec. 9, at 8 p.m. The St. Pete jazz guitarist, who is building a big national reputation, has been doing holiday shows here[…]

Last summer we had Doug Deming and the Jewel Tones, along with New Jersey harmonica star Dennis Gruenling, in the Side Door Cabaret. The music was so much fun we decided to expand the show. Working with Tom Carter at the Suncoast Blues Society, and the blues guitarist and singer Steve Arvey, we[…]

St. Petersburg Times Fine Arts Writer John Fleming talked last week with Caroline Goulding, who is performing tonight at the Palladium.  The 19-year-old violinist is kicking off our Young Concert Artist Series. The show has generated a lot of excitement among classical music lovers and music students.  Caroline appeared Tuesday at[…]

Here’s the press release for the awards. Read down a graph or two for the Palladium’s nomination. Hopefully, I’ll see some of you at the awards gala tonight at The Coliseum in St. Pete. The press release follows: TAMPA, Fla. (Oct. 25, 2011) – Tampa Bay Businesses for Culture and[…]

St. Petersburg Times Fine Arts Writer John Fleming was knocked out by the  American Stage production of “August: Osage County” at the Palladium. This show runs only through Sunday, so if you love theater, you don’t want to miss this production. Here’s an excerpt from Fleming’s review: ST. PETERSBURG —[…]

Here’s an excerpt from the Sarastoa Herald-Tribune’s review of August: Osage County. The American Stage  production is playing through Sunday at the Palladium. The reviewer is Jay Handleman. For the full review visit: http://artssarasota.com/2011-10-23/featured/review-august-osage-county-stirs-dramatic-excitement-at-american-stage/  ST. PETERSBURG — You don’t need to see Tracy Letts’ “August: Osage County” because it’s the[…]

Everybody here at the Palladium is still recovering from a very historic Sunday of jazz. Our tribute to WUSF Jazz Director Bob Seymour and his 30 years on the air was historic enough, with dozens of world-class players on our Hough Hall and Side Door stages. Then, of course, there was all[…]

Adam Hall is part of the cast of St. Petersburg Opera’s upcoming production of Die Fledermaus. He’s also a blogger who writes at http://tenordad.blogspot.com/2011/09/die-fledermaus.html Here is his take on the show: Die Fledermaus   Die Fledermaus (literally, Batman) is an operetta by Johann “The Other” Strauss, which exactly follows the plot[…]

One of our favorite traveling jazzmen, Chuck Redd, is returning to the Palladium this Thursday. He’s playing vibes with the Nate Najar Trio, as they kick off our 2011-2012 Side Door season. Over the past few years, the Side Door has become THE listening room for jazz, blues, folk, and lots[…]

Our good friends at Hotel Indigo are helping the Palladium kick-off our 2011-2012 season with a great party at the beautifully renovated property on 3rd Avenue North. I’ll be there with details of our upcoming season. Palladium favorites Nate Najar and John Lamb will provide the music. (Nate and John are headlining our[…]

If you were in the audience for the Jeff Norton Theater Awards last month at the Palladium, you know theater is thriving on both side of Tampa Bay.  You can now add “A Simple Theater” to the mix. I caught the company’s debut show, Death and the Maiden, Friday night at[…]

Our new season at the Palladium – which begins in September – has all of us excited. It turns out John Fleming and the St. Petersburg  Times are also excited about what’s coming up in 2011-2012.  Sunday’s Latitudes section (8-28-11) featured a major story on the season – Fleming, the Times[…]

Playwright Bill Leavengood was worried that local critics might think his new comedy, Lourdes of the Flies, was too juvenile and silly. Leavengood made his rep in this area with more weighty work  including the hit musicial “Webb’s City.” And, sure enough, Mark Leib, writing in Creative Loafing, said just[…]

St. Petersburg Times fine arts writer John Fleming published a story on the Jeff Norton Theater Awards, which debuted Monday night at the Palladium. To read the story follow this link: http://www.tampabay.com/features/performingarts/too-few-theaters-too-many-awards-at-first-annual-jeff-norton-theater-awards/1187603

Going through a box of keepsakes a few weeks ago, I found a picture from the mid-1990s: The actor Jeff Norton and the sometime actor, Paul Wilborn, posing in costumes that are a little bit Shakespeare and a lot more like 1950s sci-fi spacemen. We were doing “Return To the[…]

In a jazz community with some great piano players, Kym Purling is one of the very best. He’s a regular in our Side Door Cabaret and on our main stage in Hough Hall. He most recently headlined our jazz benefit for Nepal. Now Kym will be spending more time on[…]

 For those of you coming on board the SS Palladium during our upcoming production of Bill Leavengood’s hilarious new play, Lourdes of the Flies, you’ll want to check out the following video of boating safety tips from the class chaperone, Mrs. Clincher. Her tips are posted on You Tube. You can click this[…]

After three albums of southern-fried, take-no-prisoners songs, Grant Peeples says his new songs are headed in a different direction. His as yet unreleased album will be called Prior Convictions and the straight-talking Mr. Peeples is throwing around the words like “introspective.” “There will be no ‘LeftNeck’ songs on there,” Grant told[…]

People talk about the arts reaching a critical mass in St. Petersburg. I think it’s passed that stage. The selection of arts and performances – along with new restaurants and clubs – has evolved from mass to massive. Keeping up can be downright staggering for a middle-aged arts patron and[…]

My buddy, Rob Rowen, a gallery owner and music lover, has developed a non-profit that provides meals for school children in Nepal. Rob came to me with a proposal to do a benefit featuring some local jazz greats. We jumped at the idea. The show is Wednesday, July 13, 7:30 p.m. in our[…]