DEAR FRIENDS,
Welcome to the new season at The Straz, the place where it all happens. We truly have
become the Broadway of the South and the center of it all for downtown Tampa. Riverfront
dining, free outdoor performances and art exhibits, bars, restaurants, an on-site coffee
shop, thousands of performances each year in theater, dance, opera, comedy, speakers,
music and more – plus one of the best Broadway seasons we’ve ever presented. Across the
grounds and throughout our theaters and classrooms, we are hustling, bustling, creating,
learning, laughing and spreading the joy of being the Tampa Bay area’s vibrant gathering
spot and not-for-profi t home for the performing arts.
For those of you who are with us for your fi rst subscription season, we are so happy you
are here. As you read through this full season brochure, you’ll fi nd that the Straz Center
offers so much more than outstanding performances. We have a fully-accredited performing
arts school, 51 community partnerships where we take arts education to community
organizations like schools and senior centers, annual celebrations like Straz LIVE! in the
Park, fundraisers like Best of Tampa Bay, opportunities to tour the theaters, stay after shows
for talk-backs with performers, VIP experiences, a military initiative called Straz Salutes and
many ways for you to get involved including donating, volunteering or taking classes.
For our returning Straz family, we thank you with deepest gratitude for everything you see
in these pages and around our campus. We are the place where it happens, the center of
it all, because you wanted a cosmopolitan cultural experience with a close-knit feel. Your
continued investment in The Straz has created the extraordinary destination we’ve become.
We hope, as you leaf through these pages, that you’ll see how much we respect our
relationship with you by the caliber of programming, the care of our community and
the non-stop festivities we have planned for you in the 2018-2019 season.
Sincerely,
Judith Lisi
President and CEO, Straz Center
2 TICKETS: 813.229.STAR (7827) • STRAZCENTER.ORG