DESTINATION SPOT: Star Fish Company in Cortez near Bradenton is Old Florida at its finest

Many people, even true Floridians, don't believe in eating outdoors here in the summer.

At least not for lunch when the temperature stays around 90 degrees.

I disagree.

Especially if seated along the water, in the shade, with a pleasant breeze blowing in from the Gulf.

At an Old Florida jewel like the Star Fish Company in Cortez.

At the cash-only counter, I had placed an order for two "highliner" dishes:

Sea scallops ($12.50) and blackened grouper ($12.95).

Read more.

Read more here: http://www.bradenton.com/2012/08/05/4142277/old-florida-at-its-finest-star.html#storylink=cpy#storylink=cpy

—The uncovered seating area of Star Fish Company Dockside Restaurant in Cortez. Photo by Wade Tatangelo.

Read more here: http://www.bradenton.com/2012/08/05/4142277/old-florida-at-its-finest-star.html#storylink=cpy#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.bradenton.com/2012/08/05/4142277/old-florida-at-its-finest-star.html#storylink=cpy#storylink=cpy

The Straz Center of Tampa announces full 2012-13 season

The Straz Center for the Performing Arts, the longest running venue of its kind in Florida, will celebrate its 25th anniversary season with an eclectic program of fresh attractions and fan favorites.

There will be touring Broadway hits.

An opera and dramatic play series.

Plus a slew of dance, comedy, music and educational events.

Highlights range from the return of Jerry Seinfeld to "Flashdance -- The Musical," the new stage adaptation of the 1983 hit film that will begin performances on Broadway in the fall.

Hot tickets also include another run of "Wicked," a return by comedian/TV star Louis C.K. and the regional premiere of "American Idiot," the rock musical based on the best-selling Green Day concept album of the same name.

Read more.

Full, chronological list of shows.

FRIDAY LIVE: Jerry Garcia Band, Sept. 6, 1989, Uniondale, New York

In honor of Jerry Garcia, who would've turned 70 on August 1, here's audio (very good) and video (average) of him performing with his solo band in 1989.

Garcia's other group, The Grateful Dead, were stadium-filling superstars at this time thanks to two-decades-plus of touring and recording boosted by the bestselling 1987 album "In the Dark," which contains the band's sole Top 10 hit "Touch of Grey."

But Garcia largely skips the Dead stuff, opting for gorgeously arranged and passionately performed covers of songs by the likes of Bob Dylan ("I Shall be Released," "Tangled Up in Blue"), The Beatles ("Dear Prudence"), Chuck Berry ("Let it Rock") and Jimmy Cliff ("The Harder They Come").

Performances from this tour appear on the highly-recommended official live releases "Jerry Garcia Band" (1991), "How Sweet It Is" (1997) and my personal favorite, "Shining Star" (2001).

Artist: Jerry Garcia Band
Date: Sept. 6, 1989
Location: Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, New York
Lineup: Jerry Garcia (guitar, vocals), John Kahn (bass), Melvin Seals (keyboards), Jaclyn LaBranch (backing vocals), Gloria Jones (backing vocals), David Kemper (drums). 

Setlist: 1. How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)
2. Stop That Train
3. That's What Love Will Make You Do
4. Mississippi Moon
5. I Second That Emotion
6. And It Stoned Me
7. Deal
8. Harder They Come
9. Dear Prudence
10. I Shall Be Released
11. Let It Rock
12. Evangeline
13. That Lucky Old Sun
14. Tangled Up In Blue

WANTED: Nature photos for South Florida Museum in Bradenton

The South Florida Museum has extended its deadline for submitting photos to coincide with its exhibition, "Preserving Eden: Clyde Butcher's Florida Photographs," which is on display through Aug. 26.

Florida photographer Clyde Butcher 'preserving Eden' at South Florida Museum: interview 

The Bradenton museum seeks photographs of a natural place that is important to you and that you think others might find inspiring, as well.

Send a photograph along with a short explanation (200 word maximum) of why this place matters to you to at:myplacematters@southfloridamuseum.org

At the end of the submission period, which has been extended through August, a selection committee will choose the photographs and stories it finds inspiring and will host them in an exhibition at the South Florida Museum.

Photos must be 8x10 at 72dpi in jpg format, no more than 3 MB in size. Place text in the body of your email.

More information. 

Read more here: http://www.bradenton.com/2012/04/29/4016601/florida-photographer-clyde-butcher.html#storylink=cpy

The South Florida Museum, 201 10th St. W., Bradenton, 941-746-4131 or www.southfloridamuseum.org.

Read more here: http://www.bradenton.com/2012/04/29/4016601/florida-photographer-clyde-butcher.html#storylink=cpy

—Photo by Scott F. Odell courtesy of South Florida Museum.
 

WEEKEND: Chris Tucker, Have Gun Will Travel, Wiggles, WMNF Fest and more

• Chris Tucker at The Mahaffey in St. Petersburg 

• WMNF Americana Fest at Skipper's Smokehouse 

• Tampa Identity electronic dance music festival at Ask Gary Amphitheatre in Tampa 

• The Wiggles perform after Ray-Orioles game at Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg 

• Actress Robin Givens stages her play 'Joy in the Morning' in Bradenton with Manatee Players 

• Bradenton bands rock to raise money for Manatee Players 

•  Bradenton band Have Gun Will Travel with Matt Woods at Aces Live in Bradenton 

Check it out in Weekend.

 

—Publicity photo of Rebekah Pulley, who will be performing at WMNF's Americana Fest.

Asolo Rep adds 'My Brilliant Divorce' to its 2012-13 season in Sarasota

Asolo Repertory Theatre announced today the addition of "My Brilliant Divorce" to its 2012-2013 lineup. The one-woman comedy by Geraldine Aron will have its regional premiere at the Sarasota company from June 26 to July 14 with preview performances June 23 and 25. "My Brilliant Divorce" will be directed by Asolo Rep Producing Artistic Director Michael Edwards.

“A script like 'My Brilliant Divorce' comes along once in a lifetime,” said Edwards in a statement. “The whole notion that a divorce, probably one of the single most painful and traumatic experiences anyone can have in life, could actually be ‘brilliant,’ really intrigued me. The play is grounded in elements of a genuinely lived experience, though it’s not autobiographical, and the character’s ‘voice’ is very authentic. It deals with an emotional subject with humor and humanity.”

The play is part of the Asolo Rep’s new American Character project.

“It’s important that she be American, that she’s an American ‘out of water’ – coping with London, with a British husband, with the reality that even her daughter is a little alien to her because her daughter’s more British than she is," Edwards said. "The openness, the ease, the lack of guile in the British world is part of what it is to be an American, and at first it puts her at a disadvantage in coping with the charged emotional layers of complication in British life, but in the end it’s to her advantage. It’s her American character that pulls her through the experience.”

Set in present-day London, the story revolves around American expatriate Angela, a middle-aged woman who is blindsided by her British husband’s sudden decision to leave her. Adrift in a sea of bizarre dates, shifty lawyers, phone-in helplines and impending poverty, Angela somehow finds the strength to live anew and find what she needs most. The play has been lauded for being intelligent and funny, "a highly entertaining exploration of divorce, dating and the search for love," reads the publicity material.

"My Brilliant Divorce" had its premiere in 2001 in Galway and was later transferred to London’s West End, where it was nominated for the 2004 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Entertainment. It will be the final production of 2012-13 Asolo Rep schedule.

Single tickets will go on sale to the public online only Sept. 30 and by phone and in person Oct. 1.

Information:  941-351-8000 or www.asolorep.org.

Asolo Repertory Theatre announces 2012-13 season 

—Publicity photo of the Asolo Repertory's Mertz Theatre, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota.

Read more here: http://www.bradenton.com/2012/06/24/4089810/love-loss-and-what-i-wore-asolo.html#storylink=misearch#storylink=cpy

Perlman Music Program Sarasota Winter Residency 2012-2013 season announced

The  ninth annual The Perlman Music Program Sarasota Winter Residency will take place Dec. 20 through Jan. 5.

Founded by Toby Perlman, wife of internationally acclaimed concert violinist and conductor Itzhak Perlman, it offers musical training for students ages 12 to 20-plus who play the violin, viola, cello, and bass. Itzhak Perlman leads the first-class faculty.

PMP/Suncoast’s winter residency is hosted in partnership with the University of South Florida, Sarasota-Manatee. The public is invited to attend more than 20 free events, including orchestra and chorus rehearsals, master classes, and works-in-progress recitals. Most of these events take place in a heated outdoor performance tent on the grounds of the USF Sarasota-Manatee campus, 8350 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota.

The general public is invited to pick up free tickets in person at the USF Sarasota-Manatee Rotunda, December 1-10. Advance tickets are available for PMP/Suncoast members and sponsors beginning in November. More information about membership and sponsorship opportunities can be found at www.PMPSuncoast.org or by calling 941-955-4942.

The program culminates with the “Celebration Concert" at the Sarasota Opera House, 5 p.m. Jan. 5. Tickets are $40, $60, $80 and are on sale starting Oct. 1 at the Sarasota Opera House’s box office at 941-366-8450. Advance ticket sales for PMP/Suncoast members and sponsors begins August 15. The “Perlman and Pearls” gala dinner event, immediately following the concert, celebrates the Perlmans, faculty, students, and PMP/Suncoast sponsors and patrons. For gala tickets and information, call 941-350-2338.

PMP/Suncoast presents the Sarasota Winter Residency as only one part of a year-round program. Now in its fourth year, PMP/Suncoast’s Education Outreach Program brings PMP alumni into area schools as professional teaching artists throughout the year. This year, the internationally celebrated Ariel Quartet will present interactive performances and hands-on training for area music students and their teachers. The Quartet will spend three weeks teaching and performing locally: November 1-7, 2012; February 21-27, 2013; and May 1-7, 2013.

This season’s program will serve 12 schools at the elementary, middle, and high school levels, and reach approximately 4,000 students, grades 5 through 12. The Ariel Quartet will also perform three free, public concerts as part of PMP/Suncoast's Emerging Artists Performance Series. Dates and venues will be announced soon. This three-week, in-school residency is entirely funded by PMP/Suncoast through grants, sponsorships and individual patrons.

The Perlman Music Program Sarasota Winter Residency is only one part of a year-round New York-based music education program of The Perlman Music Program (PMP) providing mentoring, coaching and guidance for an exclusive group of string musicians of unique and special talent chosen from applicants from around the world.

Each summer, PMP students convene on Shelter Island, New York, to participate in the six-week Summer Music School and two-week Chamber Music Workshop under the guidance of Toby and Itzhak Perlman and an equally exceptional faculty roster. Regular mentorship opportunities are offered throughout the school year for students and alumni including concert series at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Neue Galerie.

For more information about The Perlman Music Program/Suncoast, visit www.PerlmanMusicProgramSuncoast.org or call 941-955-4942.

--Photo of Itzhak Perlman in rehearsal with PMP orchestra students by Barbara Banks.