Sinatra, the Studio and SPO keep the ‘burg busy this past weekend, with West Side Story coming up

The temperature says it’s summer, but you wouldn’t know it is the slow season by the pace of the arts and cultural life in St. Pete.

I couldn’t get to everything on Saturday night, since I was singing a few songs with the big band at the Celebrate Sinatra event at Nova 535. But my spies were out and here’s a sampling from the weekend:

STUDIO620 BIRTHDAY BASH: My wife made a cake that was among a large table-full of homemade treats created to celebrate the Studio @ 620’s 10^th anniversary. I stopped by a few minutes after six to deliver the cake and already people were filing in for the 6:20 p.m. official start.

One of my favorite local bands – The Lounge Cats – provided the musical entertainment and friends reported a mob scene inside from start to finish.

Congrats to Bob and David and all the board members and friends for 10 eclectic years.

Brett Theile

SPO’s BROADWAY CABARET: West Side Story opens this Friday at the Palladium, but the folks at St. Petersburg Opera got a chance to bring out the cast for a cabaret show at Opera Central last Saturday night.

It was a chance to show off SPO’s new performance space and they filled it with 22 performers, many of them from the cast of West Side Story. Some of Shorecrest’s best student singers also performed. Shorecrest’s Bill Leavengood is directing the musical for SPO.

My friend Susan Howard was up front. The show, she said, was full of highlights, including Brett Thiele, who just finished a run as the lead in Broadway’s Spiderman. Brett, who plays Riff in WSS, sang George and Ira Gershwin’s “Our Love Is Here To Stay.”

Anais Mejias, SPO’s cover for Maria, delivered a knockout performance of the Liza classic – Cabaret.

And Matt McGee, who plays Glad Hand in the show, closed it out with Comden & Green’s New York, New York. Of course, Matt performed versions of the song portraying Judy Garland, Liza MInelli and Carol Channing.

SPO is doing six performances of West Side Story. Friday night is opening night and Susan already has her ticket. I’ll be in the audience too.

Our box office reports the phones are ringing off the hook, so get your tickets early and don’t miss this show!

Tickets are on sale at the St. Pete Opera website until Thursday, when they will be available through the Palladium box office.

Some Sinatra-style beverages

CELEBRATE SINATRA: My buddy, Ken Walters, brought his successful Celebrate Sinatra party to St. Petersburg for the first time. He moved it from the Coliseum to the Nova event space and I think it was a good move.

Nova was full of well-dressed men and women, along with a big band. I was the first singer, as the party got going around 9 p.m. As soon as the conductor signaled the first notes, the dance floor filled and never emptied the rest of the night.

I was lucky enough to perform two of my favorite Sinatra tunes – Where or When (by Rodgers and Hart) and Night and Day (Cole Porter’s biggest hit). I was followed by a string of other great singers who delivered the Sinatra songbook.

Ken worked with St. Pete’s Jon La Budde on the party. Cassis did the food and Nova offered special martinis that matched the night’s mood.