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Rousing starts, solid bookings
© St. Petersburg Times The theater scene in Pasco County continued to prosper throughout 2002. Nick and Sal Sessa celebrated the sixth anniversary of their Show Palace Dinner Theatre in Hudson on Oct. 19, while down the road in New Port Richey, Jimmy Ferraro toasted the first anniversary of his Angel Cabaret Theatre on the same day. The popularity of the Broadway Series at the Show Palace forced the Sessas to purchase the 18,000-square-foot former Expo Center in south Spring Hill to accommodate their burgeoning catering and banquet business. After a more than $1-million redecorating project, the Palace Grand opened in mid January with international star Jackie Mason selling out the 7,000-square-foot grand ballroom for four consecutive nights. The Palace Grand quickly became as solidly booked as the Show Palace. Meanwhile, the Richey Suncoast Theatre continued its recovery from the doldrums of a few years ago, frequently filling the house for its plays and musicals, expanding its volunteer base, adding acting workshops, installing sophisticated sound enhancement equipment and refurbishing the building. In November, the theater topped off its two-year revitalization by covering the landmark dome on its roof with a gold-colored material that looks like gold leaf. "In the coming year, we'll be working on the inside of the theater, with some nice surprises for our patrons," said Charlie Skelton, the board president who is credited with much of the theater's recent success. The Hudson Regional Library got 2002 off to a rousing start with a series of discussions called "Philosophy Cafe," a movement that started in Paris a decade ago and spread to 70 countries around the world. University of South Florida professors drove up from Tampa to keep the conversations on "From Socrates to Sartre" moving along at the well-attended sessions. The library system continued to work with the Florida Humanities Council to bring authors, actors and other performers to various libraries, and with the county and Friends of the Library to present a series of musical concerts at all the branch libraries. Actors with local ties moved into the national spotlight. Former Richey Suncoast Theatre actor Jim Kelly won a pivotal guest role on the popular television show, The Guardian, and River Ridge Middle School student Brandon Mauro, 12, played a murderer on the No. 1 TV show, C.S.I. Two alumni of the Show Palace got top billing in two major touring company shows. Kissy Simmons (narrator in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat) plays Nala in the Broadway tour of The Lion King, now playing at Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. Quentin Darrington (Red Hot Ragtime) played the lead role of Coalhouse Walker Jr. in the national tour of Ragtime, which came to Ruth Eckerd Hall. And an alum of both Richey Suncoast and the Show Palace -- Michael Ursua, director of Into the Woods, Padre in Man of La Mancha -- is pianist and singer in the musical, My Doris Day, at Don't Tell Mama, a cabaret on W 46th Street in New York City. Newsday gossip columnist Liz Smith mentioned the show in her Nov. 22 column (she describes Ursua as one of "five fine singers"), and Rex Reed is set to review the show sometime before it moves from its present locale at the end of December. River Ridge Middle and High School's theatrical program got a jolt in August, when its founders, Lori and Tim Erickson, left the award-winning program with plans to help launch a charter school for the performing arts. The program quickly recovered after professional theater director David O'Hara, a longtime friend of the Ericksons, agreed to take over in the high school. When the new performing arts school couldn't be ready for a September opening, Ms. Erickson accepted a position similar to her River Ridge spot in Hernando County, and Erickson began freelancing in area theaters. Late in the year, the Pasco Art Center launched a new series of performing arts shows with nationally known folkie Jack Williams playing to an appreciative near-full house. Bourbon Street Concert Club continued its winning streak of shows, bringing to town blues and rock stalwarts like Leon Russell, Dave Mason, Bogus Pomp (their farewell performance), and, as a grand finale, the legendary Bo Diddley.
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