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[…]

With the return of the great ’60s band – Coo Coo Ca Choo – this Saturday, I thought it would be appropriate to bring back my blog post from their last show at the Palladium’s Side Door. So here you go: If you grew up in Tampa in the 1960s, as[…]

I remember Jim West as one of Tampa’s best guitarists back in the guitar heavy days of the late 1960s and ’70s.  Jim and I were also in a contest to see who was the skinniest, geekiest kid at King High School. I won. Jim evenutally headed off to Los Angeles and found[…]

Normally I like to write about upcoming shows in this blog – since I can’t sell a ticket to something that’s already happened. However, this past weekend deserves some virtual ink. We kicked off the Palladium’s Side Door Summer series with Sarasota Slim on Friday night and Kat Hefner’s band on Saturday[…]

We’ve been doing blues shows at the Palladium’s Side Door for almost three years now and somehow we’ve not presented the big daddy of Tampa Bay blues guitarists. But we’re making up for that this Friday when Sarasota Slim brings his full band and his new CD  – Get Up,[…]

The weeks leading up to a St. Petersburg Opera opening night are always a wild time in our old theater. Stage hands build sets on the Hough Hall stage, singers warm up around the grand piano and the Stavros Room – normally home to our Side Door shows – turns into a sprawling costume[…]

Proving that last year’s ranking was no fluke, St. Petersburg again tops the AmericanStyle Magazine’s listing of the top 25 arts destinations. The magazine focuses on mid-sized cities. Tampa and Miami also made the list. But St. Pete, riding high on the opening of the new Dali Museum and the[…]

I joined the sold-out crowd last Saturday night to see Bonnie Raitt and Buddy Guy at Taste of Pinellas. The official title was “Bill Edwards Presents A Taste of Pinellas” and it was clear that Edwards was making a statement with the weekend event. His company, Big 3 Entertainment Group, won the contract[…]

Tampa Bay Magazine published its annual “Best of Tampa Bay” edition and again, the Palladium earned top honors. Here’s what they said: “Best Community Performing Arts Center – The Palladium at St. Petersburg College.”  “This architecturally beautiful, 850-seat  community theater is committed to representing cultural diversity and emerging artists, as[…]

We’re still in the final leg of our 2010-11 season, the biggest and most successful in Palladium history but we’ve also been focused on the future. For those who can’t wait for a preview of the Palladium’s upcoming season – here’s an advance peek at just some of the highlights: AUGUST[…]

Upright Citizen’s Brigade, the troupe that spawned some of the biggest stars in comedy today, including Amy Poehler and Rob Riggle, are bringing their brand of insantity to the Palladium Tuesday night, April 19. Since we’re always trying to support our local talent, we’ve added the Tampa-based improv group –[…]

Bring your shillelagh, your dearests and your favorite leprechauns, and get ready to dance a jig to the Irish music of Cork’s Jimmy Crowley,  and Dublin’s Brendan Nolan, otherwise known as Two Irish Troubadours! These two seasoned musicians will perform traditional Celtic music as well as their beloved original tunes on Friday, March 25 in our[…]

Signaling the start of the month of the ‘wearin’ of the green at the Palladium, last Friday night, March 12, proud Canadians and appreciative Americans all, joined in the merriment wrought by outstanding Cape Breton fiddler Andrea Beaton. Winner of the 2010 East Coast Music Association award for Instrumental Recording[…]

St. Pete’s own living legend of acoustic blues, Mr. Roy Book Binder, spent 30  minutes visiting with Larry Lisk on WMNF’s Mo’ Blues Monday show this week. You can listen to an archived recording of that show – Roy’s in the opening hour – by going to WMNF Radio on the[…]

Roy Book Binder, known around the world for his acoustic blues playing, songwriting and storytelling, calls St. Petersburg home. But after touring eight to nine months each year, the Travelin’ Man doesn’t work in the area during his winter break. But last year we changed that when Roy played to a packed[…]

 How and why did you and the group come to choose the Weavers as an inspiration? Growing up in California, I discovered and admired Pete Seeger and the Weavers from afar from their records. When I moved to New York some years ago, I realized I was in the heart[…]

The February return of the Palladium’s Encore Chamber Series, now in its 11th season, always reminds me that the year is passing fast. Our season, which started last September, is now more than halfway through. We’ve been too busy to celebrate but this season has been the Palladium’s biggest and[…]

Jim White writes the BlueNotes’ blog for the Pittsburg Post-Gazette and divides his time between Pittsburg and our The Burg. Here, repeated with his permission, is his report on our Boogie Woogie Blues Piano Stomp. For more check out: http://communityvoices.sites.post-gazette.com/index.php/arts-entertainment-living/blue-notes/27268-boogie-n-blues-piano-feast First published Monday, Jan. 30: At the risk of repeating[…]

The following are excerpts from a short speech I gave to the SPC Values and Visions luncheon on Thursday, Jan. 27, in the Stavros Great Room at the Palladium: Welcome to the Palladium at St. Petersburg College. You’re in our Side Door Cabaret where the best jazz and blues musicians[…]

I love lots of our Palladium shows but as a piano player myself, the Boogie Woogie Blues Piano Stomp has to be my favorite night of the year. We first presented the show last January and it returns on Saturday, Jan. 29, with four more rockin’ pianists. This year’s model[…]

Times arts writer John Fleming did a wonderful preview of Buglisi Dance Theatre’s upcoming performance in Sunday’s arts section. The New York City company, which features St. Petersburg’s own Helen Hansen French, appears Thursday night at 7 p.m. If you missed it here’s the link: http://www.tampabay.com/features/performingarts/buglisi-dance-theatre-previews-new-work-at-palladium–in-st-petersburg/1146161 Fleming also wrote a[…]

The young company Buglisi Dance Theatre renews the Graham technique in all its full-bodied glory…Everything is here: those potent torsos, contracting, releasing, spiraling; legs, arms and heads alert to every surge of emotion. They have inherited her theatrical mastery of lighting, costumes and stage space, her way of making us feel that each dance is an encounter with destiny.
Margo Jefferson, The New York Times

A couple of years ago Doug Wilson brought his Elvis tribute show to the Palladium. The world of Elvis tribute artists is a mixed one at best. I had seen some bad versions and some great ones – particularly El Vez, the Mexican Elvis. I wasn’t sure what to expect from Doug.[…]

I spent 25 years as a journalist and as every year draws to a close, journalists are required to come up with  lots of “best (or worst) of the year” lists. Now that I’m at the Palladium, looking back on a year of great shows, and talented artists, seems like[…]

If it’s getting close to Christmas, it means that Nate Najar is coming back to the Palladium.  The St. Pete jazz guitarist, who is building a big national reputation, has been doing holiday shows here since 2005. This year Nate and his trio, along with some special guests, take the[…]

Talk to anyone who has seen our annual production of Black Nativity and the conversation will quickly go to Sharon Scott. The powerhouse singer and actor plays the narrator and manages to stop the show more than once. But if you ask Sharon Scott herself about Black Nativity, you get a[…]

If you weren’t here last Friday night, you missed a great show! The Rowan Brothers – Loren and Chris – and champion fiddler Sue Cunningham were back in the Side Door last Friday for another night of Americana and bluegrass music, great harmonies, and lots of stories.  If you missed[…]

The Palladium goes Celtic in November with three great concerts, starting on Friday, Nov. 5 with Solas. The series also features Celtic Harpist Patrick Ball on Friday, Nov. 12 and the legendary Scottish group, The Battlefield Band on Sunday, Nov. 21.  I’ll have more on Patrick Ball and Battlefield Band in future[…]

If you grew up in Tampa in the 1960s, as I did, you were lucky. Tampa had lots of great bands and lots of places to hear them – teen clubs, rec centers, union halls, rock clubs, and opening for big names at Curtis Hixon Convention Center. Now, a bunch of guys[…]

After explorations of the music of Duke Ellington and Elton John, Los Angeles pianist, composer and arranger Ted Howe is going deep undercover – into the land of James Bond, aka Agent 007. He is bringing new arrangements of more than a dozen Bond film themes to the Palladium on[…]

I told you last week that Pump Boys and Dinettes, produced at the Palladium by New American Theater, was a must-see show. Now John Fleming, theater critic of the St. Petersburg Times, confirms it. Fleming says the show is a lot of fun, the cast is great and the songs are toe tappers.[…]

  The Tampa Bay theater community is still mourning the loss of Jeff Norton, the actor and teacher who was tragically murdered in July.  Now, the leaders of some of the area’s professional theaters have created a fitting memorial for him – The Jeff Norton Awards. (http://stpetersburg.broadwayworld.com/article/Tampa_Bay_Theatres_Announce_Awards_Named_In_Honor_of_Artist_Jeff_Norton_20100914) The awards will honor[…]

For tickets and detailed information on shows currently on sale click here. The Palladium’s new season kicked off last weekend with a shimmering production of Sondheim’s A Little Night Music. A great cast, a lyrical score built around waltz times and a tear-inducing rendition of “Send In The Clowns.” We’re happy[…]

The Fall Arts Issue of Creative Loafing puts the Palladium right in the middle of St. Peterburg’s blossoming music and concert scene. Here’s what they said: The Palladium Theater: The historic theater has continued to expand its programming since getting a facelift and becoming part of St. Petersburg College a[…]

Tampa Bay Metro Magazine has again chosen the Palladium at St. Petersburg College as the area’s “Best Local Theater.” This is the third year in a row the metro magazine has handed that title to the Palladium. Among their comments: “In addition to the continual line-up of stage performance, check[…]

 Fine Arts writer John Fleming featured two Palladium theater companies in his article on Sunday. The Blue Scarf Collective shows are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of this week. The New American Theater debuts in September. For the full story click this link:  http://www.tampabay.com/features/performingarts/st-petersburg-theater-scene-is-booming/1106332

After a stellar opening outing by 19 year old guitar protege Chase Foster, Tommy Emmanuel took the stage and wowed every last one of the 700+ audience members in a rousing performance to the nearly packed house. Those who weren’t die-hard fans before they took their seats, surely left them as such.[…]