David A Straz JR Center

Arts programming:during fiscal 2009/2010, the Center received the largest philanthropic gift made to A cultural institution in the Tampa Bay area. The donation is dedicated in its perpetuity to benefit the Performing Arts Center and its programs. In recognition of this generous gift from the David A. Straz, JR. foundation, the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center was renamed the David A. Straz, JR. Center for the Performing Arts (aka "the Straz Center"). (continued on schedule o)the Straz Center for the Performing Arts is the Tampa Bay area's premier venue, independent presenter, producer, educator, and economic catalyst for the Performing Arts and is considered the largest Performing Arts complex south of the kennedy Center. The Straz Center books touring broadway shows and is one of the most successful single-week markets and largest Performing Arts Center in the nation. In our fiscal year 2022/2023 (22/23) season, we held 1,322 performances and events, served by 851 annual volunteers dedicating over 142,459 service hours. We extended our outreach to the community in providing 16,670 complimentary tickets.our 22/23 fiscal year was A transition year in ceo leadership of the Straz Center, with the retirement of judy lisi, former president and ceo of the Straz Center, in our 21/22 fiscal year. Judy's retirement reflected the culmination of judy's 30 years of hard work and leadership of the Straz Center through its most successful seasons, the closed doors of covid and our emergence from the pandemic. During her tenure, the Straz became one of the most formidable Performing Arts centers in the nation. The relationships judy built with the new york theater community made the Straz the broadway of the south. Dance, comedy, theater, lecture, pop and classical music, and, of course, opera also flourish at the Straz. Her commitment to Arts education shines in the bright faces of our students attending the patel conservatory and her legacy forever grows through Straz outreach programs in area schools and underserved communities. Judy, whose focus on issues that impact all sectors of our community, launched the Straz's inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility (i.d.e.a.) Initiative. I.d.e.a. Nurtures an organizational culture that advocates welcoming inclusivity of all, equity and belonging on our campus and beyond. The stakeholders of the Straz Center are forever thankful to judy for the foundational vision and success in bringing the Straz Center to where it is today.in moving forward, greg holland was appointed by the Straz Center's board of trustees as the Straz Center's new president and ceo as of october 1, 2022. Greg is A highly experienced professional and leader in the commercial aspects of the Performing Arts industry. He is excited to build upon the sound organizational foundation that judy built, joining the community and moving the Straz Center as A charitable and nonprofit organization, into A bright and wonderous future. Greg commenced doing so with the 22/23 season, with A strong vision of expanding both our Straz offerings and reach to the community.accordingly, in A word, our 22/23 season was big. Big is the word that keeps coming to mind when we here at the Straz think about this past season. Big broadway hits. Big crowds coming to see them. Big times had by all.the broadway musical, six, got our broadway series off to A fantastic start. Six is the musical in which henry viii's half-dozen spouses tell their sides of the story, away from the shadow of the big ol' boy. Audiences took to six in A big way. Attendance for its week of shows in morsani hall was 19,562. It was the Straz's highest-grossing one-week engagement up through the 22/23 season.the rest of the broadway schedule was sterling as well. Two shows in particular saluted music legends with compelling stories and knockout performances. Ain't too proud to beg: the life and times of the temptations told the winding story of one of the motown stable's most successful acts, one that had hits and interpersonal drama in roughly equal proportion. Tina turner was one of the biggest pop music acts of the 1980s, 30 years after she began singing professionally and 10 years after she left musical mentor/abusive husband ike turner. Tina: the tina turner musical told turner's story and recreated some of her most frenetic, most electrifying performances. The Straz never does things nice and easy. We do things nice and big. Of course, with A broadway season that monumental, it's hardly A surprise that some old friends dropped by, those being hamilton and wicked.however, our 22/23 season's bigness wasn't confined to the broadway series. We had big names on our stages, including comedian-tv host craig ferguson, and humorist-npr favorite David sedaris. We had veteran tv and film actor richard thomas (the waltons) portraying atticus finch in to kill A mockingbird, adapted for the stage from harper lee's timeless novel by aaron sorkin (the west wing).speaking of big, jim gaffigan, one of comedy's biggest names, filmed his amazon prime special, dark pale, in morsani hall. The seemingly seamless set was culled from three separate performances through the magic of editing and gaffigan hitting his marks.the bigness wasn't all fun and games, though. We had our share of misery, madness and dodgy meat pies. Those savory pastries figure prominently in sweeney todd: the demon barber of fleet street, stephen sondheim's magnificently malicious horror-comedy. Opera Tampa's production shifted confidently between dark-humor and just plain dark.jobsite theatre had A big year as well, racking up nominations and awards for dracula and alice and especially misery. Wedded creative types, David jenkins (jobsite co-founder) and summer bohnenkamp (Straz chief marketing officer), mined the familiar story for humor while establishing the creeping tension that builds to near-unbearable, edge-of-your-seat intensity. Misery was A hit with critics and at the box office. So was the straz-produced shear madness, the hilarious yin to misery's brutal yang. Audiences flocked to the interactive work, looking for clues and interrogating characters. Now it's back to the task of making our next season bigger than the last in continuing to welcome all from our community.integrated into its campus and community wide offerings, the Straz has A firm commitment to both community engagement and diversity. I.d.e.a. Continues to make the Straz A strong evolving cultural institute with its culture and identity. Our audience development initiatives steer our efforts towards the greatest community impact in the welcoming and inclusion of all. For the 22/23 season, we continued our focus on community access and welcoming and including all. This includes an advisory committee, staff training and voices of the community town halls, Arts legacy remix series, focus on board diversity commitment and hr initiatives to extend our reach to A wide reach of candidates from various sources.in 22/23, our cultural institute program focused on representation of bipoc artists on our stages and invited everyone to discover the richness of diverse cultural contributions. In addition, we also hosted our frequent voices of our community town hall events to provide A welcoming space for sharing stories and experiences with topics ranging from behind-the-scenes professions in the Arts and much more, with thousands attending these events.we continue offering our Arts and health offerings of lecture series, adult classes, and programs for veterans. Our Straz salutes represents our commitment to veterans, first responders and their families including: tickets for veterans and their families, outreaches taught at macdill afb, military event nights, Straz salutes artwork on the riverwalk and military related performances on our stages. The transformative power of the Arts as A healing modality is tapped through comprehensive programming for hospitalized and isolated military veterans transitioning to community life, and their caregivers and families. Straz salutes artmaking, discussions, professional and student performances, and public events also help celebrate Tampa Bay's unique military community.

Arts education programming:arts education is A top priority at the Straz Center. Through its patel conservatory, Arts education is comprised of age-appropriate performances on its main stages, A sequential classroom curriculum in dance, theatre and music provided in the patel conservatory, and outreach initiatives designed to reach those in the community who would otherwise be unable to attend on-site activities. (continued on schedule o)patel conservatory continues to provide the finest Performing Arts training in an inspirational setting by giving students the tools to dream, reach, discover and create the Performing Arts, integrate them into everyday life and contribute to the community. The conservatory is an accredited school through the southern association of colleges and schools council on accreditation and school improvement. The conservatory is now in its tenth year of accreditation and currently in the process of renewing its accreditation through 2029. At the north end of the Straz Center's campus, the patel conservatory's three-story, 45,000 square-foot facility offers more than 120 Performing Arts classes in dance, theater, and music for students of all ages and experience levels. The curriculum is designed to provide introductory classes for the culturally curious and progress to pre-professional training for serious Performing Arts students.to us, Arts education is not about making new professional artists. It's about giving young people the chance to develop competencies that will help them succeed in school, work, and life; to grow into good citizens and good neighbors; to dream and achieve better futures.the patel conservatory continues to flourish with high enrollment, great attendance at our professionally produced productions and strong diversity among students from pre-k to golden age. Curriculum includes sequential instruction in music, dance and theater, vocal Arts, musical theater, playwriting, improvision and storytelling.placing Arts education within reach of all Tampa Bay students is something we can't do without community donors and support. This year, with your help, over 3,000 patel conservatory enrollments were served in on-site classes, camps, intensives, and workshops in 162,783 instruction hours. In addition, over 31,400 regional and national students visited and participated in events or classes at our campus.performance opportunities are an important part of Arts education. Patel conservatory students stepped onto Straz Center stages to showcase their skills in over 28 student productions throughout the school year, gaining valuable experiences that reflect professional applications. Scholarships:since our scholarship launched in 2007, millions of dollars have been awarded to deserving students with limited resources - many through endowed scholarship funds established through planned estate gifts. We awarded 366 scholarships totaling $343,214 to help students access the training they desire...all thanks to our donors.selected advancing students were also invited to perform alongside professionals in Arts legacy remix and other performances on our outdoor riverwalk stage. The Straz Center also links students to opportunities to stretch their wings and earn scholarships, by hosting events like youth america grand prix international ballet competition finals, Florida thespians festival, and regional broadway star of the future awards.arts education partnership program:we also delivered patel conservatory dance, music and theater curricula and other Arts learning experiences to 1,783 Tampa Bay students in 43 schools and neighborhoods lacking in Arts offerings through our Arts education partnerships program. Patel conservatory and partnership students also participated in master classes and workshops with professional touring artists, including complexions contemporary ballet; attended dress rehearsals of opera Tampa productions; and received more than 800 tickets to attend select study-related performances on Straz Center stages.

Facility services:facility services include operations involved in the presentation of Performing Arts to the community and the utilization of all available resources to ensure continued financial stability.these operations are responsible for both front-of-house and back-of-house functions for five theaters and A 335,000-square-foot complex. (continued on schedule o)operations is also responsible for food and beverage (with three on-site restaurants plus catering), maintenance and cleaning, facilities, house management (including 851 volunteers), security and grounds as well as production support through lighting, sound, load-ins, load-outs and staging. Operations is responsible for maintaining A 37-year-old building, as well as A 19-year-old conservatory with 20 studios. Expense base also includes depreciation expense of $1,684,392 for the amortized cost recognition of property, equipment, and leasehold improvements.