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First-rate fun
[Times photo: James Borchuck]
First Night isn’t just about the performing arts. There’s a feast for the eyes, too, such as this luminaria labyrinth in South Straub Park last year.
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By MARTY CLEAR
© St. Petersburg Times
published December 26, 2002
St. Petersburg's New Year's Eve party is filled with arts and entertainment - and this year, a birthday party celebrating the event's 10th year.
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ST. PETERSBURG -- A few years ago, cities and towns all across Florida hosted First Night events on New Year's Eve. This year, there will be only one First Night event in the state.
First Night Tampa and the short-lived First Night Dunedin have fallen by the wayside. But St. Petersburg's biggest New Year's Eve party, now in its 10th year, is stronger than ever.
"We have wonderful backing from the city," said Pat Mason, the executive director of First Night St. Petersburg. "They're really interested in keeping First Night going. They make it easy for us."
Besides official backing from the city, Mason said, First Night St. Petersburg gets exceptional support from the arts community and corporate sponsors.
A group of visual and performing artists developed the First Night concept more than 20 years ago in Boston to provide an alternative to the traditional New Year's Eve celebrations that center around alcohol and rowdy behavior. They wanted to bring people into the center of town for an intoxicant-free evening of music, theater and dance.
"That's really the whole point of First Night," Mason said. "The idea is to bring the arts out of the galleries, the museums, performing arts halls, bars and restaurant and help introduce people to art forms they might not seek out."
That's especially important for kids, she said.
"How many chances do children get to get up really close to the performing arts, to see that these are ordinary people and that if you're inspired to go into the arts, you can do it too?"
Attendance is tough to predict for the largely outdoor celebration, but, barring rain or an unusual chill, some 15,000 to 20,000 people are likely to be a part of this year's First Night. They'll be treated to a buffet of arts and entertainment starting at 5:30 p.m. and continuing until the first hour of 2003 on 10 stages and 14 other venues around the downtown area.
"The theme of First Night has always been looking ahead to a new beginning," Mason said. "But this year, we decided to have our theme be American music."
During the planning stages, someone suggested that works by Aaron Copland would be a natural fit.
Either by coincidence or divine intervention, Mason received an e-mail a few days later from a New York pianist named Giacomo Franci. He had recorded the complete piano works of Copland -- the first time an artist had recorded all those pieces -- and was letting First Night organizers around the country know that he was available.
Franci will appear twice on Classical Stage No. 2, at the Museum of Fine Arts. He's scheduled to perform The Cat and the Mouse at 8:30 p.m., and Passacaglia at 9:30 p.m.
The museum will also host one of the evening's most unusual performances. Moving Current, a Tampa-based modern dance company, has designed a new work for First Night.
"There's a giant kapok tree on the south side of the museum," said Erin Cardinal, co-founder and co-artistic director of Moving Current. "So we're doing a site-specific work. We'll be dancing in, around and under that tree."
Moving Current will perform the as-yet-untitled piece at 8 and 9 p.m.
Not all the entertainment will be so esoteric. Barely Pink, a local power pop band, will be on the rock 'n' roll stage at Jannus Landing all night. The Porchdogs, an Orlando-area Cajun outfit, will be on the Cajun stage (First Methodist Fellowship Hall, 212 Third St. S.) for the entire evening.
Other stages will feature gospel, swing, bluegrass, blues and jazz -- all American-born styles of music. And the Native American stage at Williams Park will showcase American Indian dance, music, storytelling and crafts.
But First Night isn't just about performing arts. There's plenty for visual arts lovers, too.
Besides the American music theme, First Night has a mini-theme celebrating the connection between St. Petersburg, Fla., and St. Petersburg, Russia.
"Bridging St. Petersburg," an art quilt project, will be going on all night at South Straub Park. First Night attendees are invited to create dyed silk squares that will be incorporated into the work that quilters are creating to present to the city of St. Petersburg, Russia.
Local artists Robert and Cathleen Schott will be at First Night to start a mural depicting the history of the two St. Petersburgs. They'll complete it over the next few months.
For kids, the hub of First Night activities will be the Arts Center, at 719 Central Ave., where youngsters can enjoy a musical petting zoo and plenty of hands-on activities.
But kids will get a lot out of many other events at First Night, Mason says.
"People always ask me if we have anything for kids," she said. "We have that First Kids event at the Arts Center, but I always tell people they should make sure they bring their kids to the other stages and venues too."
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PREVIEW: First Night 2003, 5:30 p.m. to midnight Tuesday at venues around downtown St. Petersburg. Buttons ($8 in advance, $10 at the gate; $5 for ages 6-12) that allow admission to all First Night activities are available through www.stpete.org/firstnight, and at the event. For information, visit the Web site or call (727) 823-8906.
A. Classical Stage 1, St. Peter's Sanctuary, 140 Fourth St. N.
7 to 7:30, 8:45 to 9:15, 9:30 to 10, 10:15 to 10:45 -- Eckerd College Winter Sun Quintets.
7:45 to 8:30 -- Crescendo Singers.
B. Gospel Stage, First Methodist Sanctuary, 212 Third St. N
7 to 7:45 -- Mount Zion Primitive Baptist Church Choir
8 to 8:45 -- The Mass Choir at Bethel Community Baptist Church
9 to 9:45 -- Belinda Womack and Gospel Praise.
C. Cajun Stage, First Methodist Fellowship Hall, 212 Third St. N
7 to 12 -- Porchdogs, Cajun food.
D. Native American Stage, Williams Park
7 to 11:30 -- Big Thunder Enterprises.
E. Swing Stage, Central Avenue between Second and Third streets
7 to 12 -- Swing dancing with Savoy South.
F. Rock 'n' Roll Stage, Jannus Landing, Second Street and First Avenue N.
7 to 11:30 -- Barely Pink.
G. Bluegrass Stage, the Plaza, Second Avenue and First Street N.
7 to 11:30 -- Gypsy Wind.
H. Classical Stage 2, Museum of Fine Arts, 255 Beach Drive NE.
(1) 7 to 7:45, 8:45 to 9:15, 10:15 to 10:45 and 11 to 11:30 -- Winter Sun Festival players.
(2) 8 to 8:30 and 9:30 to 10 -- Aaron Copland Concert, Giacomo Franci.
I. Blues Stage, North Straub Park.
8 to 10 -- Walter Smith and Chicago Nights.
10 to 12:30 -- The Mick Sharp Band.
8 to 8:30 and 9 to 9:30 -- Moving Current Dance Company in the Bombax Tree.
7 to 12 -- Trip to St. Petersburgs -- Florida to Russia.
J. Jazz Stage, the Pier.
7 to 12
(1) The Buster Cooper Band.
(2) Herb Snitzer, photographs of jazz greats.
VENUES
1. Bayfront Medical Center's Firstkids, the Arts Center.
5:30 to 8:30 -- The Hat Salon -- First NightCaps; mask making; musical petting zoo; portrait studio -- Beth Reynolds takes your picture; Great Explorations -- tile making; Body Art -- make an arty body with Bayfront Medical Center.
6 to 6:30, 7 to 7:30 and 8 to 8:30 -- Razzmatazz Theater, Lowell Tauzik.
6:30 to 7:10 and 7:30 to 8:10 -- Whimsical Notions Theater.
2. Sunshine Center
(1) 8 to 8:30 and 10 to 10:30 -- Mental Mystery Tour.
(2) 7 to 7:45 and 8:45 to 9:45 -- Suzanne and Jim Oldetime Entertainment, banjo pickin'.
3. Mirror Lake Library
(1) 7:45 to 8:30 and 9:30 to 10:15 -- Windell Campbell storytelling.
(2) 7 to 7:30, 8:45 to 9:15 and 10:30 to 11 -- Harmonica Troubadour.
4. St. Peter's Hall
7 to 8 -- Baroque guitar and flute, featuring Joe Braccio and Barbara Prescott.
8:30 to 9:30 -- Manhattan Casino Excerpts (musical excerpts from the new original play by Bob Devin Jones premiering in February 2003 at the Coliseum).
5. Municipal Services Building
7-10 -- American Stage -- Arts Center Video.
6. American Stage
7 to 8:30 and 9 to 10:30 -- Dragon Fire -- American Stage's FirstStage Children's Theatre.
7. The Palladium
7:15 to 7:45 -- Southern Jubilee Cloggers.
8 to 8:45 -- Bits and Pieces Puppet Theater
10 to 10:30 -- The Tampa Bay Gay Men's Chorus.
8. Central Avenue between Second and Third streets.
10 -- Cake served
(1) Birthday cake balloons, balloon arch.
(2) Scott Smith, "Uncle Sam" balloon making.
(3) Rasta Pasta -- Joe Braccio, Dave Holmstrand on the steel drums.
9. Bank of America Tower, Central Avenue and Second Street
7 to 11 -- The Birthday Party, the Oiseaux Sisters and Betsy Lester.
10. Florida International Museum, 100 Second St. N
1) 8 to 8:30 and 9:30 to 10 -- St. Petersburg Folk Ensemble -- Russian folk dance.
2) 7:15 to 7:45, 8:45 to 9:15 and 10:15 to 10:45 -- Boris Lebedinsky plays the balalaika.
3) 7 to 11 -- 100-300th birthday celebration kickoff -- Robert and Cathy Schott, muralists, will paint a mural commemorating the birthdays. (Third Street side).
11. Baywalk, First Street, Second Avenue N
8 to 8:45 and 9:30 to 10:15 -- Dundu Dole Urban Ballet
7:15 to 7:45 and 8:45 to 9:15 -- Youth Arts Corps, Drum and Dance.
12. South Straub Park, Beach Drive
1) 7 to 11:30 -- Bridging St. Petersburgs, an art quilt project.
2) 7 to 12 -- The Labyrinthe.
3) 7 to 12 -- Bayfront Medical Center's Ribbon of Hope.
13. Museum of History, 335 Second Ave. N
1) 8:15 to 9 and 10 to 10:45 -- "Salvador Dali -- Dream This."
2) 7:30 to 8, 9:15 to 9:45 and 11 to 11:30 -- Manhattan Casino film, Live Arts Peninsula,
14. The Pier
7-11 -- Mask making.
At the Vinoy Basin
9 -- First Fireworks
Midnight -- Finale Fireworks.
Back to Weekend
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