In-depth arts reporting that follows the money and asks hard questions—remember that? Tampa Bay Arts Passport does. Founded this spring by Avery Anderson, the Passport is a free newsletter platform with arts discounts and other benefits available to paid subscribers ($10—a bargain). Anderson, the former marketing director for American Stage, is an excellent writer with broad interests. Over the last few months, they’ve written about theater subscriptions, the Tampa Arts Alliance, dancer/choreographer Alex Jones, rock band Kitty Kitty Meow Meow, and multidisciplinary artist Ashley Rivers, whose work he described in characteristically vivid terms: “Towering and tactile, cracked and vibrant, Ashley Rivers’ ‘Bird of Paradise’ doesn’t just stand—it summons.” Arts aficionados should follow Anderson’s summons and sign up for their Passport. tbartspassport.com—David Warner
Arts & Entertainment
Finalists: Patrick Wilson, Arianna Williams
Winner: Dunedin Fine Art Center
Finalists: Morean Arts Center, FloridaRAMA Gallery
Finalists: Pride and Passion at Tampa Museum of Art, Suenos at The Dalí Museum
Winner: Gasparilla Festival of the Arts
Finalists: Straz Center for the Performing Arts, Creative Pinellas
Few performers can take a Broadway warhorse and make it sound brand new, but Matthew McGee does just that with “Some People” from "Gypsy." Where Merman belted, Lansbury crackled, and McDonald soared, McGee refracts the anthem through his own prism—funny, furious, and defiantly alive. He strips away decades of diva baggage and lets us hear the song as freshly as if Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim had written it yesterday. It’s a thrilling reminder that the Bay Area’s most beloved chameleon doesn’t just perform—he reinvents. freefalltheatre.com—Jon Palmer Claridge
Winner: MiniM
Finalists: The Wandering Hours, Whale Feral
Winner: Crossfire Creek
Finalists: The Wandering Hours, The Applebutter Express