16. On average, students in our pre-professional ballet program go
through 1,000 pairs of tights per year and Next Generation Ballet
Trainees go through 1,125 pairs of pointe shoes.
17. This season, our oldest Patel Conservatory student is 75;
the youngest, 3 years.
18. Over the years, we’ve donated more than 3,000 ballet
shoes to young people who want to train here but
can’t cover all the costs of arts education.
19. We have 84 instructors on staff with our education
department.
20. Every single arts education
scholarship is 100% donor-funded.
21. The Straz Center is a non-profit
organization. Last season,
individuals, companies and
foundations made 4,600
donations totaling 4.6 million
dollars – all of which funnels
back to book the next season’s
artists and shows; provide
outreach, arts education, facilities
maintenance and upgrades and more.
22. Straz Center staff sends and receives
roughly 2,796,000 business emails
in one year.
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23. Best of Tampa Bay is one of our biggest fundraisers. In 2016, Bavaro’s
used 60 pounds of pasta during the eat-and-drink extravaganza.
24. The Morsani Hall stage is 120 feet wall-to-wall. The performance area is 60 feet
across, a very large area even by Broadway standards.
25. Between each theater, there are sound isolators, unique sheets of rubber from the
foundation to the top of the building, built into the walls so patrons in one theater
won’t be distracted by noises from the show next door.
26. Paul Sarrett of Odessa, Fla., made the first donation – a $25 check – in 1979.
27. Famed soprano Beverly Sills, who at the time was the general director of New York City
Opera, attended the January 1986 “topping out” of the building.
28. The first touring Broadway show to play The Straz was Cats in November 1987.
The show has since played here on five other occasions.
29. We have more than 1,000 dimmer switches for all the lights in the theaters.
30. Before The Straz was built, some lobbyists tried to convince
Mayor Martinez to build a baseball stadium on this land instead
of a performing arts center. We’re glad he said no.