I’ve lived in Jacksonville my whole life—a soon to be 23 years. That’s a pretty long time to get used to a place. The way it works and the way it very much doesn’t work. Travel is a blessing. You must always get outside the little box you call home to experience exactly what else is out there…the good, the bad, the ugly and the beautiful for that matter. So when my beloved job takes me places, I gladly accept the invitation. Now don’t get me wrong about Jacksonville. I do love this place. It has been the setting of grand memories and almost every notable stride made to advance myself in life. But it simply does not have everything. It simply does not understand everything. We as a community have a lot of work to do. Let’s start here. A recent trip to New York brought out the magnifier glass on my world back home. The city is incredible and if you have never been, you must make...

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Let me begin with this, Kathy Griffin is a tremendously funny lady. What a great show last night. The sold out crowd never paused for a breath while laughing from start to finish! For those of you who are Life on the D-List fans, I got to meet and chat with Tom! Woo! Now for a little recap of NYC…I don't even know where to begin with my amazing "business" trip to New York City. Let's see, our hotel was on 6th Avenue, which is in the middle of everything! We were in walking distance of Central Park, Times Square, Broadway theatres and of course 5th Avenue (just to name a few). Through the Association of Performing Arts Presenters conference which we attended, we had the opportunity to see and experience various showcases and events unlike anything I have ever seen or done. As Katie reported last week, we were lucky enough to visit Jennifer Muller/ The Works studio to enjoy excerpts from new and old dance pieces. Incredible, this company will take your breath away. The best part of the experience, was knowing they soon would be here on our stage to share their amazing talents with the Florida Theatre. The company will be performing with local Jacksonville dance students from Douglas Anderson School of the Arts, Jacksonville University as well as FCCJ. It is going to be remarkable to see the collaboration between this innovative company and the local talent. Take the time to experience something you may never have before and check out their performance on February 8th....

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I’m in a New York state of mind….and that’s a good thing, because I also happen to be in New York. Sitting comfortably out of the drizzly cold in our lovely Hilton hotel room with a view of more windows, I will recap our first…and my very very first…day in the big city. The K-girls (Kendall and myself, Katie), Mary Claire and Toni have jet-setted to NYC for business, or we’ll call it that, wink nudge. We are participating in the Association of Performing Arts Presenters conference that is held here every year. It is a chance to go to workshops to learn more about our field and our specific roles in our field, network with amazing people who do just what we do and view a variety of showcases that range from dance to musical theater to comedy and beyond. And hello! It’s in New York! An interesting thing happened though last night. We were checking out one of the neat little hangouts...

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It's a New Year, why not write a blog? For your viewing pleasure, as well as to see what is going on at the Florida Theatre, stay tuned each week for insight and overview from the "K" Girls (Kendall and Katie!). Check in every Friday to get your weekly fill from the Florida Theatre. First "K" Girl up is me, Kendall! Happy 2008! And to kick it off, three lovely Florida Theatre ladies and I will be heading to The Big Apple next Thursday for the Association of Performing Arts Presenters conference. For five days we will be immersed in talent, ideas, creativity and new experiences. Can't wait! Katie and I will fill you in when we return. Now, what we are leaving you here with are some great acts next week and it is sad to know we are missing them. To kick off the weekend check out Willie Nelson on Thursday, January 10th. This legend is about sold out! So make sure to get your tickets today. Come along and sing to your favorites...hopefully "On the Road Again", "Always On My Mind" and "Mamas Don't...

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Hello. Is there anybody in there? There is something you should know about. I have figured out the key to time travel—well of sorts. It’s really easy. Just close your eyes, or keep them open for that matter, but just listen, and you’ll be whisked away to years gone by…say 1979. This grand invention is called music, really well done music. Apparently it’s been around for a while I hear, but this kind of music, courtesy of the Canadian troupe Classic Albums Live, has super powers. Classic Albums Live is not a tribute band. They are not a cover band. They are an experience. Taking our favorite classic rock albums, they re-create them live on stage complete with every drum beat and guitar riff perfectly placed like a carbon copy of the original. There are no cheesy costumes or over flamboyant singers and absolutely no creative freedom with the songs. CAL performances are the...

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Almost every day, I get to work with the same cast of characters, all of whom enrich this experience in one way or another. Each one of us has our own part to play to make sure the show does go on. The leads can take the spotlight most often, but it is the ensemble that deserves the recognition also. Within this ensemble is a special group of men and women who gladly volunteer their time to this theatre as ushers. Not one show goes by without a team of ushers manning the doors, taking tickets and assisting the patrons and staff. They allow for our events to run smoothly. The service provided by each usher warrants recognition. They have their own jobs, their own lives, their own stories—where this theatre is only one chapter. With all of this, they appreciate this place that much to take time out of their busy lives to help with our mission. For that we hold an Usher Appreciation...

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Wednesday, August 2, 2006 Most of the time, the audiences we welcome to the Florida Theatre are rather calm and collected, fitting for the particular event, but there are times when the event beckons for a crowd with a bit more enthusiasm—heart pounding, tail wagging, paw stomping enthusiasm. The August Art Walk at the Florida Theatre was a tribute to our four-legged friends. Art Walk Pet Walk was graciously sponsored by PetGuard and garnered a fabulous turnout of both man and mutt…oh and not to forget the occasional feline. Seriously, it hadn’t been more than 30 minutes until I heard the phrase I had been anticipating ever since the drive to the theatre. “Man, this place has really gone to the dogs,” one man remarked with a grin of satisfaction on his face. I wonder how long he had been waiting to say that. But clichés aside, I have never quite been surrounded by so many well dressed animals. One dog was all dolled up in her rock star sweater and black feather boa. The Art Walk must have fallen on another dog’s basketball night as he was all geared up for a game—jersey, shorts, ball and all. There were tutus. There were tiaras. There were denim dresses and patterned vests. And the rest of them, well, they were just naked I guess. ...

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Alright I'm not going to lie here. As a person with a rather busy schedule, it is not often I have the ability to take two hours out of my day to spend sitting in a dark room with eyes glued to a movie screen. I love movies--don't get me wrong--it is just that my mind works a mile a minute. That mile may not always be in a straight line, but it's working none the less, and with that said, a two hour silent movie theater experience is just the perfect opportunity for my brain to be thinking that I could be doing about 15 other things during this time. But when I was told I should come see this past Sunday's movie, which happened to be the original "Rocky", I decided that if it was for the Theatre, I would do it. I'm not much of a sports fan, so I don't really follow basketball or football, and boxing is certainly never Tivo-ed. Knowing this was a boxing movie, I was even more hesitant, but to my pleasant surprise, I found myself chuckling here and there. I never expected there to be such a sense of humor to...

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The Theatre was much tamer than I expected when I arrived Friday evening about 20 minutes before show time. The lobby was full of fresh faced teens and an occasional parent, quite a repectful crowd waiting patiently for things to get underway. I easily made my way backstage to see if that destination was offering any extra excitement. What I found there was the opening band, Band Marino, an awesome group of guys from Orlando, and the impromtu opportunity to announce them. While lead singer Nathan Bond scribbled a few directional notes for me on a sheet of loose leaf, my brain did some mental scrambling to figure out what I was going to say. I was able to avoid an appearance on stage, opting for the mysterious "man behind the curtain" announcement and ushered Band Marino on to the sounds of an energetic crowd. I enjoyed the rest of the show as one of the audience. Band Marino was a spunky opening act, quite the crowd pleaser with their assortment of instruments as well as the infectious hoedown that ended...

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You know, when you’re young and you watch your favorite movie, you play for the next three hours as if you were a certain character living the scenes from the film. You repeat the dialogue over and over, don a cape and frolic around the house with that glimmer of youthful exuberance in your eyes. All of this behavior comes from a pure excitement from the experience of the movie; you just don’t want to let that excitement stop, so you relive it as best you can. Well, my movie wasn’t on the big screen. It wasn’t even just on the stage. It was in my mind, projected onto the worldly screen through my eyes. The whole day was quite a production. I followed the stage crew and Theatre staff all day long to see the development of a big show, which just happened to be Jason Mraz, a musician who I have listened to and enjoyed for years. Fast forward to sound check. Here is where the plot...

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