A Broadway Musical in Downtown Tampa...

Last evening, I scored a few tickets to the 2008 Tony Award winning Broadway musical "Spring Awakening" playing at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center downtown.
Prior to the play, we stopped by Fly Bar, which was not very crowded on this Tuesday eve, getting a table that was inside, but beside the large glass doors which were all wide open to the outside, was nice, and gave an open, airy feeling to this very nice, eclectic place in downtown. Service was very friendly, and for eats, since it is mostly all small plates, we munched on Goat Cheese balls in a Panko Crust, 3 large cheese balls, hot and with a nice clean tomato sauce; next was the Fish Tacos, two large fried white fish soft tacos, with some toppings, again very good; then came out the Butter Nut Mac n Cheese, a bowl full of cheesy pasta with Butter Nut squash, different and tasty; and finally ended with the Kobe Beef sliders, three large meatball looking burgers cooked medium rare for a taste of the full flavor of this Kobe Beef on French Bread. Washing it all down with a nice bottle of wine made for a great start to the night...one thing I will mention is it is a bit expensive for such small plates...we mentioned that instead of having three of everything, they should add a forth, and keep the prices the same(a forth cheese ball, a forth slider, etc.)...
We left the car at Fly Bar, and walked a few blocks over to the Performing Arts Center...great seats in the Balcony Box we shared with only 4 others...the musical was awesome, and now I see why it received all the awards it did, music very meaningful and uplifting at times to emotional...the story is about teenagers coming of age and everything that goes along with it...and true to what they advised, there is definitely mature situations, nudity and adult language...but all done in an artsy and cultural way that did not offend(except the one lady in the almost sold out crowd of over 2000 that gasped when two of the guys on stage kissed each other...)

Now on to New Years...2008 was GREAT for me, and i'm looking forward to a FINE 2009!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TAMPA BAY!
.

Mexican Food and a Broadway Show!

Took Madre out for dinner and a show tonight. We started at Algusto's Mexican Restaurant on Kennedy Blvd just west of University of Tampa. Parking is behind the restaurant...I have to say some of the FRESHEST Mexican I've had in a while. It wasn't too busy at 630pm when we arrived, and were seated in a nice window booth facing Kennedy Blvd. Started with the Guacamole Dip and Chips, which was so fresh, but could've used a little more garlic. The salsa is perfect the way I like it with chunks of tomato. We ordered the Combo Fajitas for two, and when it came out it was more like for four!! Fresh tender cuts of chicken and steak piled with tri colored peppers and onion, the flour tortillas were hot and fresh as well. A Great Meal.
We then headed to the Tampa Performing Arts Center to see "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee"..I have wanted to see this every time I go to NYC, but it's always sold out. it has won several Tony Awards. The musical/comedy was excellent, great story line, audience gets involved, although I can see why it would be better to see this in a smaller venue, like the 200 seat theater on Broadway it plays at. All in all, a very entertaining show!
One thing I noticed when leaving the Performing Arts Center(which is beautiful, right on the River downtown, there are several venues)..that is that walking out of the Morsani Hall you see the best view of the downtown skyscrapers, and University of Tampa minarets all lit up at night.
I'm looking forward to this weekend, with no rain in sight, temps around 80, and blue skies..AGAIN(4th week in a row)...there is so many choices..Spring Break game, St Pete Grand Prix, MacDill AirFest, Italian Fest in Ybor City, Tampa Firefighter Chili cookoff..and on and on!