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Happy Holidays 2006

Santa's not the only red hat here

By BARBARA FREDRICKSEN
Published December 9, 2006

The Show Palace Dinner Theatre looked like the Red Sea on Wednesday, when about 400 women from 43 chapters of the Red Hat Society filled every seat for the Show Palace Christmas matinee.

They came from Hillsborough, Pinellas, Citrus, Pasco and Hernando counties, with a huge contingent from New Tampa, said Rita Ehrenpreis, a Cheerie Tarts member from Odessa, who organized the event.

Each hat was unique, from the billowy net creation with miniature glass Christmas balls dangling from the edges, to the cute little number that had a saucy red tree made out of coiled pipe cleaners with tiny dolls wearing red felt bowlers nestled around the base.

The shoes were almost as elaborate as the hats and purple dresses. One particularly sparkling pair looked just like Dorothy's from The Wizard of Oz.

The Red Hat paraphernalia were just as thick outside, where several people had set up tables with Red Hat-themed handbags, jewelry, housewares and, of course, big red feather boas.

Show Palace artistic director Matthew McGee was back home from a successful run of the comedy All the Great Books abridged at American Stage in St. Petersburg to give the Red Hatters a sample of his show impersonating the late Paul Lynde, best known as the center square on Hollywood Squares.

McGee said he'll do the whole show at the New Year's Eve party at the Show Palace.

* * *

The Tony Danza shows to be presented by Ruth Eckerd Hall at the Show Palace won't happen until March 21, but, despite a $70 price tag, the evening show had only two tickets left as of Thursday. (The matinee still has several good tables available.)

The night show for the 1970s nostalgia group Sha Na Na on March 19 is rapidly filling up, too, but its matinee has lots of good seats left.

The final dress rehearsal for the theater's Christmas show was truly packed. Co-owners Nick and Sal Sessa invited volunteers and family members from hospice and several Hernando foster children in for a free show.

For some, it was their first time seeing a live theater performance.

"They all just loved it," Nick Sessa said.

* * *

Dancer Troy LaFon, a Show Palace favorite, will soon celebrate a super-significant No. 40.

No, not his birthday (he's sticking with 29 on that score), but his 40th show at the Show Palace Dinner Theatre, the musical Victor/Victoria, opening Jan. 5.

"I think I've been in more shows here than anyone else," he said earlier this week.

My first impression of LaFon was in late 2000, when he did a flawless "bottle dance" in Fiddler on the Roof.

But he really wowed the audience in early 2001, when he danced circles around the bigtime Equity actor hired to be a gangster leader in the comedy Some Like It Hot.

"Dancer Troy LaFon is another one to watch," I wrote back then.

"He has been in 10 productions at the Show Palace, and he gets better with each one. LaFon, who plays a sidekick to a big-time Chicago hood in the current show, has an easy-going, swinging style that can't be taught or learned; you either have it or you don't. He's one of those rare tap dancers who make tapping look smooth and effortless, even as the feet are flying."

He has only gotten better since then, adding singing, acting and stage managing to his theater skills.

Ready, set, almost go

The third building in the Sessas' growing entertainment and hospitality empire is moving along nicely, thanks in part to the slowdown in the building industry, which made top-notch construction workers available to work on their banquet hall and shopping center just south of their Palace Grand.

I took a short tour this week, and it looks as though it will be ready for brides, grooms and parties by spring. The main ballroom is going to be as gorgeous as the drawings designer Tom Hansen made earlier this year: crown moldings, multilighted tray ceiling, regal columns, gleaming, soundless floors and a luxurious lobby.

Three tenants have already signed leases in the wedding-themed shopping area attached to the hall - a florist, a photographer and a bridal shop - and several similar businesses are poised to do the same for the remaining empty slots.

Guess this means more members of the Sessa family will be moving to town to oversee the new enterprise.

Barbara L. Fredricksen can be reached at (727) 869-6262 or at fredricksen@sptimes.com.

[Last modified December 8, 2006, 20:03:31]