Compiled by Kathy L. Collins, Arts and Entertainment Editor

If you are looking for something fun to do over the weekend, let this be your guide finding fun, creative and exciting things to do in the area. The Greater Brandon area and Tampa Bay have tons of activities going on every weekend. Get out and enjoy all that this area has to offer.

On Friday, January 28 Center Place presents a lively production of Rapunzel. Show time is at 7 p.m. The show is produced by Stages Production and promises to be fun. If you would love to see a live theatrical production, here is your chance to see one close to home. Tickets are $6 for members of Center Place and $7 for non-members. Center Place is located at 619 Vonderburg Dr. in Brandon. For more information, please call 685-8888 or visit the website at www.centerplacebrandon.org.

Let Pottery Patch help you say “I love you” and create a gift from the heart for your sweetheart this Valentine’s Day and attend Pottery Patch’s “Pottery, Paint and Wine” on Friday, January 28 at 7 p.m. Come out and learn to paint like an artist. Bring your friends and your own beverages and have a fun-filled night making your very own creation. Pottery Patch is located at 2551 SR 60 E. in Valrico. Call 643-0014 for more information on this fun event. 

Apollo’s Bistro will host Illusionist Nathan Coe Marsh as he presents “NCM Comedy Magic Tour” on Friday, January 28. Come and enjoy a three course dinner and the show beginning at 6:30 p.m. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for the dinner show are $35 (includes tax and gratuity) and $15 just for the show. Apollo’s Bistro is located at 6520 Richies Way in Apollo Beach. For more information, please call 641-2685 or visit the website at www.Apollosbistrofl.com.

If you would like to see some young thespians in action, check out two shows at TADA on Friday, January 28 and Saturday, January 29. TADA will present Free to be You and Me and How to Eat Like a Child in TADA’s Little Theatre. Tickets are $5 at the door. TADA is located at 571-0901. For more information, please call 571-0901.

If you are interested in becoming involved in art collaboration in the SouthShore area, please attend a meeting on Saturday, January 29 regarding the New Community Arts Program. The meeting will be held at 1 p.m. in at the Big Draw Studio in Ruskin. For more information and to register for the meeting, please call Mike Parker at 846-2000 or email him at mike.parker1@comcast.net.

The Gasparilla Pirate Fest will take place on Saturday, January 29 beginning with the Gasparilla Invasion at 11:30 a.m. The world’s only fully rigged pirate ship, the Jose Gasparilla, will invade Hillsborough Bay. The flotilla will make its way north and dock at the Tampa Convention Center at 1 p.m. Once the key to the city of Tampa is surrendered by Mayor Pam Iorio, the Pirate Parade will commence. The Parade will begin at 2 p.m. at Bay to Bay Blvd. and Bayshore Blvd. and end at Ashley St. and Cass St. in downtown Tampa. The event is free to the public. Come out and see over 90 elaborate floats, 14 marching bands and 50 distinguished Krewes. For more information please visit, www.gasparillapiratefest.com.

If you like dinner and a good murder mystery, check out MurderS She Wrote, Inc.’s production My Big Fat Italian Funeral. Enjoy a night of suspense, comedy, audience participation and good food. Tickets are $47.50. The show will take place at the Best Western Hotel, 20967 U.S. 19 N. in Clearwater. For more information, please call 727-7012.

On Sunday, January 30, you can enjoy a concert by Richard Kiser at 8:30 a.m. or 10:45 a.m. at the Ruskin United Methodist Church located at 105 4th Ave. NW in Ruskin. Kiser is International Country Gospel Music Association’s “Instrumentalist of the Decade.” He is a three time winner of Country Gospel Association’s “Artist of the Year,” and he is a member of the “Country Gospel Hall of Fame.” For more information, please contact Hal Jeffery, Minister of Youth, at 741-3533.

Herb Snitzer, author of Glorious Days and Nights: A Jazz Memoir will be at the Tampa Museum of Art for comments and a book signing at 1 p.m. on Sunday, January 30. This event is held in conjunction with the exhibition Herb Snitzer: A Jazz Memoir on display in the Ferman Gallery at the Tampa Museum of Art. The Tampa Museum of Art is located at 120 W. Gasparilla Plaza in Tampa. For more information call 274-8130 or visit www.tampamuseum.org.

The SouthShore Symphony Orchestra will perform “Beginnings…All About Overtures” on Sunday, January 30 at 4 p.m. at the United Methodist Church located at 1210 Del Webb Blvd. W in Sun City Center. You can hear the great orchestral overtures such as Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville” and John Williams’ “The Cowboy Overture.” For more information, please call 667-7776 or visit www.thessso.org.

Email kcollins@ospreyobserver.com with any upcoming arts and entertainment events you would like to include in this weekly column.

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