The Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center offers some of the city’s great entertainment options and is the primary center for housing touring companies and major musical productions and other events. It is a standard aspect of evenings out for many of the city’s residents and also one of the main entertainment options for the numerous tourists that visit the city each year. Information on this complex, which is now referred to as the David A. Straz, Jr. Center for the Performing Arts , is available at many places around town, on the Internet and from the best resorts and hotels in Tampa.

One of the productions that is soon to be featured on the complex’s stage is Pericles: A New Rock Musical. This is presented by Jobsite Theatre and is scheduled to open April 8th. The show is an interesting, to say the least, adaptation of the Shakespearean play and is set in the contemporary United States. Rock musicals are popular and experience phases of extreme commercial success and popularity while also going through lapses in mainstream appeal. Currently, they are the hit, and Pericles should be entertaining to audiences with or without a familiarity with the Shakespeare play.

Little House on the Prairie, The Musical , which starred Melissa Gilbert from the original television series, finished its run at the Center, on Sunday. This musical has proved to introduce a whole new generation of fans to the amazingly successful book series. It also reminds the older generation of this hit program and for some people the musical is a bit of a nostalgic journey. Gilbert plays Ma in the musical production, which is a sort of full circle experience for her. Godspell continues its run in the Jaeb Theatre. It is scheduled to run through May 16th and there are plenty of options for family night ticket purchases. There will be a post show talk-back in the theatre, which will take place after the May 5th performance.

I was not going to take no for an answer. I realize our financial situation is not as good as it has been in the past, but I did not want to give up our annual visit to New York City. We would normally go first class all the way but this year is just in not in our budget to do so. But I am not believing for a minute that we couldn’t make it some how.

Well cheap hotel New York saved the day. With going from our usual midtown five star hotel to one that is much less expensive the savings was enough for us to be able to pull off a trip just within this years budget.

Our usual trip would be staying at a five star hotel, eating wherever we liked, catching some shows on and off Broadway and pretty much anything else we wanted to do. I think we will have fun though. On our budget we will be forced to be creative, do some things that are more out of the way and less trendy. I actually think and hope to be getting a more authentic view and flavor for what living in New York City is like. Our previous trips have always been centered on our luxury hotel, upscale eating and shopping and Broadway plays in the best seats.

Well change is good and I am not going to let this change get me down. With the availability of reliable public transportation we will be able to get to anywhere we want to go. With all the many neighborhoods that are off the well-beaten tourist path we will find interesting adventures around every corner. I hope to meet local people whom actually live and work in New York City, maybe make a friend and end up having a personal contact there. I sure we can find a lot of fun and interesting things to do with out having to spend a fortune.