Internet star Grumpy Cat appears in Tampa

   You've seen her on Facebook. Now you can see her in person.

   Tardar Sauce, who's better known as Grumpy Cat, will be at Tampa Theatre on to celebrate the premiere of her new BuzzFeed video, "Happiness Finds Grumpy Cat." (Happiness is the name of a dog who recognizes Grumpy Cat in the aisles of a PetSmart store. He tries to meet Grumpy and Grumpy tries to avoid him.)
   If you're unfamiliar with Grumpy Cat, you clearly don't waste enough time scrolling through social media feeds. She's a tiny 3-year-old cat from Arizona who has a pronounced and permanent frown on her face, reportedly a result of the same birth condition that caused her

Tardar Sauce, a.k.a Grumpy Cat

small stature. She became a star on the internet thanks to social media posts that juxtaposed her sour puss with wry captions (e.g. "You're still here. How disappointing"). She's also become a regular guest on TV shows, from "The Today Show" to "American Idol." And she's the "official spokescat" for Friskies, which is co-sponsoring the Tampa Theatre event with PetSmart.
   For the Tampa Theatre event, she'll be joined by five feline mascots -- DJ Kitty of the Tampa Bay Rays, Sir Purr of the Carolina Panthers, Stanley C. Panther of the Florida Panthers, Kingston the Lion of Orlando City Soccer Club and Aubie the Tiger of Auburn University.
   The event is free, and it's slated to run from 6 to 8 p.m. Aug. 4. The first 150 people who get there will be rewarded with tickets to "an exclusive meet-and-greet with the cat star-power onstage following the viewing," according to the press release. In other words, you'll get to say howdy to a cat.
   Tampa Theatre is at 711 N. Franklin St., right in the heart of downtown Tampa, Call 813-274-8981 or go to tampatheatre.org.

Emmylou Harris is coming to Tampa Theatre

    Emmylou Harris, a progenitor of Americana music whose gorgeous voice and impeccable songwriting have made her one of biggest stars in all of music for more than 40 years, is coming to Tampa.

   She's set to play at Tampa Theatre at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 12. 

   Tickets go on sale on Friday, Sept. 5. They're $59, $80 and $101 if you order online from tampatheatre.org. If you get

Emmylou Harris

someone in Tampa to buy them for you at the box office, you'll save $6.50 per ticket.

   Harris' great 1995 album "Wrecking Ball" has recently been reissued, and earlier this year she was playing dates with Daniel Lanois, the album's producer who's also an amazing musician. There's no indication at this point that Lanois will be joining her of the tampa gig, and the show is simply titled "An Evening With Emmylou Harris, with no mention of other artists on the bull, but we can always hope.

   Tampa Theatre is at  711 N Franklin St. in downtown Tampa. Call 813-274-8981. 

   

Filmmaker Waters brings one-man show to Tampa

   The Tampa International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival is almost always worth checking out, for the assortment of odd and often great films that you might not get a chance to experience in a theater otherwise.
   This year's 25th annual festival has a great bonus: Iconic outsider filmmaker John Waters (of "Pink Flamingos," "Polyester" and "Hairspray" fame) will be there, performing

John Waters

his one-man show "This Filthy World: Filthier & Dirtier" at the gorgeous Tampa Theatre.
   In 2012, Waters hitchhiked across America. The show deals largely with that experience, which is also the basis for his entertaining new book "Carsick." He'll be autographing copies of "Carsick" after his Tampa Theatre performance.
   Waters' show is set for 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 4. Tickets are $33, $43 and $63. You can get them through the festival's website, tiglff.com. Tampa Theatre is at 711 N. Franklin St., in the heart of downtown Tampa.
   The festival runs Oct. 3-11.

Jimmy Fallon comes to Tampa in October

   The future king of late night TV is coming to Tampa.
   Jimmy Fallon will bring his "Clean Cut Comedy Tour" to Tampa Theatre at 8 p.m. Oct. 16.
   Three other comics -- Julian McCullough, Nate Bargatze and Nick Thune -- will open.
   Fallon, of course, is the current host of "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon." But much more importantly, he's slated to replace Jay Leno as host of "The Tonight Show" in February.

Jimmy Fallon

   Tickets are $45 plus service charge, and they'll go on sale at noon Saturday through www.ticketmaster.com. They'll also be available at the Tampa Theatre box office from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday starting Aug. 26.
   Tampa Theatre is at 711 N. Franklin St. in downtown Tampa. Call 813-274-8981 or go to www.tampatheatre.org for information.
   The show is presented by Ruth Eckerd Hall's "On the Road" program.

Top 10 Kris Kristofferson covers

Kris Kristofferson's songs have been covered by everybody from Elvis Presley to Al Green — not to mention Johnny Cash and Janis Joplin.

Here are my favorites.

And here's my recent interview with Kristofferson, which has been picked up by newspapers nationwide.

Kristofferson performs Tuesday (May 10) at Tampa Theatre.

Jamey Johnson's version of "For the Good Times" barely missed my final cut.