Claus goes to Oz
Una Voce: The Florida’ Men’s Chorale, pulled off an entertaining and hilarious holiday show this year by incorporated everyone’s favorite movie musical, The Wizard of Oz into the Christmas season. Audiences followed Dorothy and the men of the chorus on a magical trip through a winter wonderland that looked an awful lot like the Land of Oz. The popular chorale group played to several packed houses over the weekend of Dec. 15 and had audiences begging for more, especially when the purple-haired, green witch made his, uh, we mean “her,” appearance. “The Wizard of Claus” played in both Hillsborough and Pinellas counties.
Snyman Sings Again
Well, he never stopped singing, but he will be singing again in Tampa Bay. Counter tenor Jacques Snyman is coming back to St. Petesburg to show off his acrobatic voice, and this time, he’s expecting a big crowd. Snyman, a former Rugby star, bodybuilder and model, recently toured Europe and auditioned for some pretty classy directors. Since discovering his ability to hit notes several octaves above his speaking voice, he’s performed around the globe, all while bringing a message of anti-bullying. He’s back in the states after the holidays and will perform Jan. 26 at the Studio@620 in St. Petersburg. Check out the mid-January issue of Watermark for our interview with the sexy and talented performer. In the meantime, check out details at TheStudioAt620.org.
Who’s your muse?
We all need inspiration once in awhile, but that especially holds true for the artists among us and let’s admit it, a large percentage of artists are LGBT or at least LGBT-friendly. So the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance is looking for a unique way to honor those who influence the vibrant artistic culture within the community by asking the public to nominate their muse really! The Celebrate Artistic Inspiration event will benefit the arts on Friday, Jan. 21, at the Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, where two MUSE Arts Awards will recognize St. Pete artists who are stellar representatives of the city. The Arts Alliance has a website devoted to nominations for the recognition and candidates can me artists, actors, dancers, singers, musicians or writers. The muse with the most nominations will get a cherished “People’s Choice Award.” For details or to submit your nomination, visit StPeteArtsAlliance.org.
Honoring Human Rights heroes
If you missed the early morning breakfast put on by the Hillsborough/Tampa Human Rights Council Dec. 13, you missed an inspirational Friday morning at the Tampa Doubletree. The organization honored several members of the community and their works involving human rights, including Pat and Lynn Mulder, the parents of Ryan Keith Skipper, who was murdered in 2007 in Polk County because of his sexual orientation. The Mulders were gracious when accepting their award and Pat, Skipper’s mother, was teary eyed as she looked out at the applauding crowd. Another inspirational moment came when HRC president Mark Nash invited those who participated in the 1963 March on Washington to come to the stage, and presented each with a Hall of Fame medal.
