So, being a small part of six nearly-all-sold-out shows just wasn’t enough for me and the amazing cast of the New Tampa Players (NTP)’s production of “Grease” at the New Tampa Performing Arts Center (NTPAC).
To that end, on the Thursday after the production wrapped its second weekend, yours truly, my wife Jannah and the Neighborhood News hosted a fun post-party for the “Grease” cast and crew.
The event was held at Joe Whiskey’s Sports Bar on S.R. 54 in Wesley Chapel, and was attended by more than 40 members of the “Grease” cast and crew, including “Grease” director & musical director G. Frank Meekins, choreographer Sarah Walston and NTP producing artistic director and “Grease” stage manager Nora Paine.
With delicious food provided by owner Pat Ciaccio (at left in photo with yours truly & Jannah Nager) and his Johnny C’s Italian Kitchen on Cross Creek Blvd. and three hours of private karaoke with Joe Whiskey’s own karaoke jock Allan Hudson Brady, the cast party was almost as much fun as the show itself. I did say “almost.”
And, despite the fact that several of the cast members had said previously they didn’t want to do any “Grease” karaoke at the party, everyone who was on hand performed the song-&- dance routines from “Summer Nights,” “Greased Lightning” and other favorites from the show. There may have even been a “Macarena” and other dances that weren’t in “Grease.”
Truly a great time was had by all. It was just our way of thanking all of these talented people for their efforts
Nora said, “That spirit of community everyone was feeling tonight is exactly what community theatre is really all about.” Agreed! — GN
Photo above courtesy of Picture This Photography of Palma Ceia. All other photos on these pages by Charmaine George
The last time I performed in “Grease,” the 1972 Tony Award-winning musical about mythical Rydell High in 1959, I was Teen Angel and Johnny Casino in summer camp.
I auditioned to be Teen Angel in the New Tampa Players production of “Grease” — which missed selling out all six shows in the new New Tampa Performing Arts Center by fewer than 10 seats total — but the role rightly went to the much more talented Trevor Lloyd (more on him in a bit).
Instead, I portrayed radio DJ “The Main Brain” Vince Fontaine and was officially the oldest member of an incredible cast of mostly “kids” ages 15-34 — and loved every minute of it.
With five cast members either still in or having just graduated from high school, NTP’s “Grease” had the look and feel of the Broadway hit and the cast didn’t disappoint. Under the direction and musical direction of G. Frank Meekins, with great choreography by Sarah Walston, these very young performers wowed close to 2,000 people between the six shows.
“We’re season ticket holders at the Straz Center (in downtown Tampa),” one couple told me after the first performance. “And this was a good as anything we’ve seen there.”
Were they kidding or exaggerating? Not in my book. Real-life substitute teacher Dylan Fidler was a powerhouse as Danny, especially his hand jive contest-winning duet dance with Makayla Raines as Cha-Cha DiGregorio, and crowd-pleasing karaoke favorite duet “Summer Nights” with Olivia Carr’s innocent (but later transformed) Sandy. At 17, “Liv” owns her own music business and she and Dylan also got high marks for the Olivia Newton-John/John Travolta duet “You’re the One that I Want” from the hit 1978 movie version of the show.
But, the rest of the cast members were all so talented and fun to work with, too.
Kyle Fisher, who works for USAA Insurance, was perfectly cast as Kenickie. His rendition of “Greased Lightning,” with Walston’s outstanding choreography with both the full-sized 1957 Chrysler and most of the guys in the cast, definitely rocked the house.
Target employee Jake Veit, 22, who was rightfully likened to late-‘50s pop star Ricky Nelson by Broadway World.com reviewer Peter Nason, charmed while singing “Those Magic Changes,” while the duet between 18-year-old Tripp Peavyhouse (as Roger, aka “Rump”) and University of Tampa musical theatre major Anna Jeffries (as Jan) on “Mooning” was so sweet and cute it gave me a toothache every time.
Meanwhile, 22-year-old Heather Rich (Marty), who hopes to be a forensic psychologist after graduating with Psychology and Theatre degrees from the same program at UT as Jeffries, belted out a stirring “Freddy, My Love.”
And, commercial leasing agent Alyson Gannon was another audience favorite as the rough-edged Rizzo, whose sarcastic “Look at Me, I’m Sandra Dee” was one of the best-received songs in Act 1, and her heartfelt “There are Worse Things I Could Do” was one of the top moments from Act 2.
Speaking of Act 2, Lloyd, who previously wrote for another local publication and who currently writes for Savvy Dealer automotive websites, was a super-cool Johnny Casino on “Born to Hand Jive” and a true show-stopper as the Teen Angel on “Beauty School Dropout.” Oh, how I wish I could match Trevor’s falsetto. “Dropout” also featured most of the female cast members in pyramidic hair curlers providing comic relief. Props also go out to Chelsea Orvis, an ensemble player who not only rejects my Vince character at the dance but who also sang “It’s Raining on Prom Night” as a beautiful duet with Sandy — even though Chelsea was off-stage for the entire song, as it was supposed to be coming from a radio in Sandy’s lonely bedroom.
As for the cast members who didn’t have solo songs or duets, whether featured players or members of the ensemble, their backing vocals were always outstanding and their dance moves were super-impressive. One such standout was Michael Figueroa as the crude Sonny, who spent as much time being battered around the stage by Kenickie, Danny and even stay-at-home mom Suzanne Bainbridge’s Miss Lynch character when he wasn’t turning cartwheels or other athletic dance moves (which he says he learned how to do from the Just Dance! video game; who knew?).
Ariyonna Thomas, who manages two local Join Chiropractic centers, was super-cute as the high school and beauty school dropout Frenchy, who loves her friends but can’t pronounce anyone else’s name correctly.
Although they’re also really good singers and dancers as part of the ensemble on most of the musical numbers, Starbucks barista Cassidy Haberland was great as Patty, the peppy cheerleader who’s sweet on Danny, while young substitute teacher Zach Smith provided lots of laughs as the bumbling class valedictorian Eugene. Meekins, Walston and NTP producing artistic director (and “Grease” stage manager) Nora Paine also did a great job of picking their ensemble players.
Not only was Raines, a behavioral therapist who works with special needs kids (including as one of the on-stage mentors during NTP’s Penguin Productions), amazing as Cha-Cha, her voice was as impressive as her dancing and her acting was spot-on, too.
Dakota Henry, at 15, was the youngest cast member. She is just starting her sophomore year at Pasco High, but she already is an accomplished singer who also has professional dance credits and is a standout in every ensemble dance number. Also fantastic was credit card processor Zane Sanrsour, who also learned how to dance from Just Dance!, but who somehow knew not only his own dance steps, but everyone else’s, too. I told Zane I would give him a much-deserved “assistant choreographer” credit for his efforts.
The remaining ensemble players also all had beautiful singing voices and auditioned for bigger roles, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t just as important to the success of the show, as they were the people most responsible for moving and locking down the brakes on the big, rolling set pieces between every scene.
Michael Neary, a remote IT tech for Stavvy in Boston, was Paine’s go-to guy for making sure everything was in its proper place on stage. He also earned laughs for his over-the-top solo hand jive during the dance contest.
Amanda Schapiro, a high school math teacher; Wesley Santana, who works for GTE Financial; and youngsters Mia De Choudens, a 17-year-old Wharton High senior; and Cypress Creek high junior Julian Rebelo, 16 (who also works at Sbarro at the Tampa Premium Outlets); rounded out the cast.
Yes, I was by far the oldest of the performers and had the smallest of all the speaking parts, but I can’t imagine that anyone had more fun on stage in “Grease” than I did. I even got my first-ever stage review from BrodwayWorld.com’s Nason, who raved about the show as a whole and called me “such a fun presence.” Thanks, Peter!
‘Shrek’ Is Next!
Although the cast had not yet been announced at our press time for NTP’s production of “Shrek, the Musical” (with shows Oct. 20-22 & 27-29) the auditions already were held and I chose to not try out, after seeing what a huge commitment it was to perform with this community theatre troupe. I can’t thank Nora, Frank, Sarah and the entire cast and crew (again, see pg. 28) for making me feel so at home. For “Shrek” tickets and more info, visit NewTampaPlayers.org.
A dispute between the residents of Seven Oaks and Crown Community Development, which developed the master-planned community, has been settled with an impressive compromise, brokered in no small part by Pasco County District 2 Commissioner Seth Weightman, who represents Seven Oaks and most of Wesley Chapel on the Board of County Commissioners (BCC).
Since 2017, Crown has been trying to re-zone a vacant parcel of nearly 1.2 acres (see map) that is adjacent to the Seven Oaks Community Club for both office and possible recreational uses.
The unspecified recreational uses, which could have been anything from a park to a bowling alley to a putt-putt golf course, was the cause of the dispute between Crown and the residents of Seven Oaks, led by Seven Oaks Community Development District (CDD) supervisor Jon Tomsu.
The concern was that these types of recreational uses would attract large numbers of cars to not only travel, but also possibly park, on Seven Oaks’ primary north-south thoroughfare, Ancient Oaks Blvd.
The BCC had turned down Crown’s rezoning request back in 2018, but a mediator ruled in June of 2020 that the Parcel 12 could be divided in two, with the 16.8-acre CDD maintaining its ownership of Parcel 12A (which includes the community center), and Crown retaining the 1.2-acre Parcel 12B, with the ability to add office uses.
The fate of the parcel still had not been decided when Covid hit in 2020 and the possible rezoning wasn’t brought back to the BCC for a vote until its July 11 meeting.
Weightman brought Tomsu and Crown attorney Barbara Wilhite together to settle the dispute, with Tomsu saying that although he was OK with a less intrusive PO-1 office use for the 50,000+-sq.-ft. space, he would not agree to any “recreational use” on the site.
After Wilhite agreed to the office-only stipulation, the agreement was brought before the BCC and unanimously approved.
“That was a great coming together of two parties — the residents of Seven Oaks and Crown Development,” Weightman said. “Ultimately, the CDD leadership and Crown came together to go with office space and match what was already there. It was a nice negotiation and agreement to have that issue come to an end and I think it was the best possible resolution for that site.”
Weightman’s legislative aide Andy Taylor agreed.
“When they were talking about recreational uses, like a Main Event-style use, where people would be coming in and parking on the roads in Seven Oaks, everything about it just didn’t make sense. It was nice to see it finally get resolved amicably.”
The rezoning was officially approved at its second reading before the BCC on Aug. 8, without objection. Public comment also was not permitted, per Wilhite’s request at the meeting on July 11.
The large area in white is the under-construction AutoNation used car dealership south of S.R. 56.
After months of trying to find out what type of auto dealership AutoNation, which owns and operates both new and used car dealerships, was planning to open (see site map), our editorial researcher Joel Provenzano was able to find out that the dealership under construction behind Cigars International on the south side of S.R. 56 will be a used car lot, similar to Carmax.
AutoNation USA, which also owns the Mercedes Benz of Wesley Chapel dealership on the east side of S.R. 56 (less than a half-mile from the under-construction used car dealership), owns 300+ new and used car dealerships across the country, making it the fourth largest owner of auto dealerships in the U.S.
A recent photo of the progress on AutoNation. (Photos by Charmaine George).
One of the company’s used car slogans is “We’ll Buy Your Car” (“Even if you don’t buy ours”), as AutoNation provides its customers with a competitive, no-purchase-necessary, same-day cash offer that is valid for seven days, helping fuel its share of the used vehicle market while ensuring the most extensive selection available to AutoNation USA customers.
According to a statement from AutoNation’s public relations department, “AutoNation USA makes buying a pre-owned vehicle easy. (Our) One Price Pre-Owned vehicles feature a low, haggle-free price. AutoNation USA’s focus on customer excellence is what drives the organization to ensure that it maintains a favorable reputation, has the widest selection of quality used vehicles available across the network, along with low, no-haggle pricing, competitive financing, and streamlined online inventory tools that make vehicle selection easy.”
The AutoNation dealership will encompass a total of 22,723 sq. ft., with more than 11,000 of that the used car showroom and nearly 8,000 sq. ft. for the nine-lift service area.
Even though I had never had Black Rifle Coffee, I was excited — as many of you were — that a new non-Starbucks coffee place was planning to open in our area.
Many of us got even more excited when they saw the new building going vertical on S.R. 56, just west of Rock & Brews, thinking that it was Black Rifle getting ready to open.
Ummm, no. Although it hasn’t been widely reported, Black Rifle withdrew its plans to build a location with a drive-through in our area. The building that got a lot of folks excited will be a new Paradise Grills location (see below).
Black Rifle, founded and operated by U.S. military veterans, currently has 18 locations in several states, including two in Georgia. Ours would have been the second store in Florida, but unfortunately, unless it resurfaces, that plan is gone.
The only good news is that Black Rifle Coffee is available at local Walmart stores, so even though it’s not the same as experiencing it at one of the company’s shops, it’ll have to do.
Almost Paradise (Grills)!
The progress on Paradise Grills, located due west of Rock & Brews.
Paradise Grills, the outdoor kitchen superstore, with a nearby location on N. Dale Mabry Hwy. in Tampa, is the building in the bottom photo below that is under construction due west of Rock & Brews.
Paradise Grills allows you to design your own outdoor living experience, offering ten different grill islands and ten different bar systems to customize your outdoor kitchen, with lots of different available grills and accessories.
It’s a cool concept that already has about 50 locations in seven states, more than half of which are here in the Sunshine State.
Here’s yet another chance to win FREE dining to the restaurant of your choice! One entry per person, per question. Below, please name just your Favorite Pizza Place in New Tampa OR Wesley Chapel! Even if you already named your five favorite restaurants in Wesley Chapel last issue, you can still enter again by clickingHERE!
In this issue, we are giving you two separate chances to win a FREE dining prize of $100, $60 or $35!
Whether or not you already told us your five (5) favorite Wesley Chapel restaurants of any kind last issue, you’re still eligible to have a second chance to enter and win free dining by also telling us your Favorite Pizza Place in New Tampa OR Wesley Chapel (entry form HERE) and a third chance to win by naming your five (5) Favorite Restaurants in (& near) New Tampa.
Just fill out the entry forms online or mail your entry to us at 2023 Neighborhood News Reader Dining Survey & Contest, 2604 Cypress Ridge Blvd., Suite 102D, Wesley Chapel, FL 33544, or email your entry to us at Ads@NTNeighborhoodNews.com. Each time you answer a different Dining Survey question, you’ll receive an additional chance to win one of our FREE dining prizes — to the restaurant of your choice located anywhere in the Tampa Bay area!
All we ask is that you please check the zip codes of the restaurants you choose and remember not to name any Wesley Chapel restaurants as your favorites in New Tampa on the entry form.
We also include restaurants located in Lutz (either on Wesley Chapel Blvd., S.R. 56 and S.R. 54 (within no more than two miles from I-75) as Wesley Chapel eateries and those located in the Palms Connection Plaza on E. Bearss Ave. and the Oak Ramble Plaza on BBD Blvd. as acceptable places to eat in New Tampa.
As always, there’s no purchase necessary to enter or win a prize. All we ask is that you follow the following rules:
1. Enter by filling out the entry form in the issue or HERE.
2. You can mail us your filled-out entry form (send it to “2023 Neighborhood News Dining Contest,” 2604 Cypress Ridge Blvd., Suite 102D, Wesley Chapel, FL 33544) or email it to us at Ads@NTNeighborhoodNews.com. *Note-Entries filled out on our website do not need to be mailed or emailed to us.
3. Please check the addresses and zip codes of the restaurants you choose, as we will only consider votes for restaurants in zip code 33543, 33544 and 33545 (Wesley Chapel), 33647, the portion of zip code 33559 (Lutz) and in the Oak Ramble Plaza (33613) as valid votes.
4. In order to be eligible to win any of our free dining prizes to the restaurant of your choice, your entry form with a response to at least one of our questions over the next five months must include your full name, the community you live in (Hunter’s Green, Grand Hampton, etc.), a daytime phone number where you can be reached and your valid email address.
We look forward to seeing how this year’s contest shakes out. Good luck! — GN
