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From Dracula to Mary Poppins: 5 Reasons September Is a Beast for Tampa Bay Arts

From Dracula to Mary Poppins: 5 Reasons September Is a Beast for Tampa Bay Arts
From Good Peaches’ all-star collaboration, to The Florida Orchestra’s powerhouse month (JAWS, Morgan Freeman, Cynthia Erivo, Amadeus Live), freeFall’s Tell Me on a Sunday, the Straz’s campy Dracula: A Comedy of Terror, and a Julie Andrews double feature (Mary Poppins at Tampa Theatre and The Sound of Music at Beach Theatre) — September is stacked.

by Avery Anderson

Summer’s out, spotlight’s on. September isn’t a warm-up — it’s a full sprint. World premieres, bold collaborations, Dracula reimagined as slapstick, and The Florida Orchestra pulling off a lineup so packed it feels like they’re showing off. Add in sing-alongs from Grease to Mary Poppins, and suddenly the season’s first month looks less like a soft open and more like a mic drop.

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This list is curated and managed by Avery Anderson. To submit events for consideration, email avery@tbartspassport.com.

Five Things We’re Most Excited For This September

  1. The Good Peaches Hands down, the most exciting collaboration of the fall. American Stage, The Florida Orchestra, and projectALCHEMY are joining forces on a single show — and honestly, when was the last time you saw a theater, a dance company, and a symphony all share a stage without someone demanding top billing? It’s the Avengers of local arts, except with violins and jetés instead of spandex, well maybe spandex depending on the costumes.
  2. The Florida Orchestra’s Monster September JAWS in Concert. Morgan Freeman narrating the blues. Cynthia Erivo bringing down the house. Amadeus live with a full score. This month, the orchestra is basically flexing like, “Yeah, we can do Spielberg blockbusters, Oscar-winners, Broadway divas, AND Mozart. Try and keep up.”
  3. Tell Me on a Sunday Andrew Lloyd Webber’s one-woman musical lands at freeFall Theatre. It’s equal parts witty and heartbreaking — basically a power ballad for anyone who’s ever been dumped, survived, and then thought, “You know what? This deserves a key change.”
  4. Dracula: A Comedy of Terror At the Straz, Dracula’s not brooding in a cape — he’s tripping over punchlines in a spoof that promises more camp than a summer at Fort De Soto. Expect fangs, farce, and a suspicious amount of fog machine budget.
  5. Julie Andrews Cinematic Double Feature Not the flashiest event, but come on: both of Julie Andrews’ most iconic roles are back on the big screen this month. Mary Poppins at Tampa Theatre. The Sound of Music at Beach Theatre. That’s practically a rite of passage — or at least a great excuse to sing loudly in public with strangers.
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Professional Theatre

  • Off‑Central Players (2260 1st Ave S, St. Petersburg, FL 33712) — Website
    • Bakersfield Mist by Stephen Sachs — Sept. 4–14
  • freeFall Theatre (6099 Central Ave, St. Petersburg, FL 33710) — Website
    • Tell Me on a Sunday — Sept. 6–Oct. 5
    • The Bacharach Book (Arenas, Lasky & Nash Project) — Sept. 17
  • Dead Canary Theatre – (performed at The Studio@620, 620 1st Ave S, St. Petersburg, FL, 33701) — Website
    • Fat Pig — Sept. 18-28
  • American Stage – (performed at the Mahaffey Theatre, 400 1st St S, St. Petersburg, FL 33701) — Website
    • The Good Peaches, in partnership with The Florida Orchestra and projectALCHEMY — Sept. 20
  • Stageworks — (1120 E Kennedy Blvd suite #151, Tampa, FL 33602) — Website
    • Act 2 Series – Disco Dance Party – Sept. 17
  • Straz Center — (1010 N Macinnes Pl, Tampa, FL 33602) — Website
    • Dracula: A Comedy of Errors – Sept. 16- Oct. 26
  • Lab Theatre Project — (812 E Henderson Ave, Tampa, FL 33602) — Website
    • Goddess of the Hunt – Sept. 18- Oct. 5
  • Florida Studio Theatre — (1241 N Palm Ave, Sarasota, FL 34236) — Website
    • Don’t Dress for Dinner — through Sept. 7
  • Urbanite — (1487 2nd St, Sarasota, FL 34236) — Website
    • Modern Works Festival — Sept. 10–21
  • TheatreFor — (1863 N Highland Ave, Clearwater, FL 33755) — Website
    • The Picture of Dorian Gray — Aug. 28–Sept. 14

Tampa Theatre Screenings & Specials

Tampa Theatre — (711 N Franklin St, Tampa, FL 33602) — Website

  • What We Hide — Sept. 1 & 4, 7:30 p.m.
  • Mean Streets — Sept. 3
  • Grease Sing‑Along — Sept. 7
  • Pulp Fiction — Sept. 10
  • Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale — Sept. 12–25
  • Frozen Sing‑Along — Sept. 14
  • Rave‑Along: Pitch Perfect — Sept. 19
  • Rave‑Along: Sweeney Todd — Sept. 19
  • Rave‑Along: Mamma Mia! — Sept. 20
  • Rave‑Along: Repo! The Genetic Opera — Sept. 20
  • The Greatest Showman Sing‑Along — Sept. 21
  • Author Talk: Elizabeth Gilbert — Sept. 23
  • Jimmy Carr: Laughs Funny — Sept. 24 (second show added)
  • Pretty Vee: Why Am I Like This? — Sept. 26
  • Mary Poppins Sing‑Along — Sept. 28

Indie Screenings & Festivals

  • Greenlight Cinema — (711 N Franklin St, Tampa, FL 33602) — Website 
    • Splitsville — Sept. 5–11
    • Hell on Heels: The Rocky Horror Picture Show — Sept. 13
    • Monty Python and the Holy Grail @ Webb’s City — Sept. 13
    • The Baltimorons — Sept. 1 is 9–25
    • Manhattan Short Film Festival — Sept. 26–Oct. 2
  • Beach Theatre — (315 Corey Ave, St Pete Beach, FL 33706) — Website
    • The Green Flash — Sept. 1–7
    • Superman — Sept. 10–14
    • The Sound of Music — Sept. 13–17
    • New Play Festival — Sept. 19–21
    • Megan 2.0 — Sept. 24–27

Community Theatre

  • Carrollwood Players — (315 Corey Ave, St Pete Beach, FL 33706) — Website
    • Company — Sept. 5–27
  • Eight O’Clock Theatre — (105 Central Park Dr, Largo, FL 33771) — Website
    • Beautiful — Sept. 5–14
  • West Coast Players — (21905 US Hwy 19 N, Clearwater, FL 33759) — Website
    • Blithe Spirit — Aug. 22–Sept. 7
  • Early Bird Dinner Theatre — (13355 49th St N, Clearwater, FL 33762) — Website
    • 37 Postcards — Sept. 13–Oct. 26
  • Sarasota Players — (3501 S Tamiami Trl Suite 1130, Sarasota, FL 34239) — Website
    • The Wedding Singer — Sept. 24–Oct. 5
  • Francis Wilson Playhouse — (302 Seminole St, Clearwater, FL 33755) — Website
    • Camelot — Sept. 4–21
  • St. Pete City Theatre — (4025 31st St S, St. Petersburg, FL 33712) — Website
    • The Mystery of Edwin Drood — Sept. 19–28
  • Suncoast Broadway Dinner Theatre — (16128 US-19, Hudson, FL 34667) — Website
    • Grease — Sept. 19–Oct. 26

Music & Orchestra

  • Florida Orchestra:
    • Cynthia Erivo in Concert — Sept. 3
    • Amadeus LIVE — Sept. 13–14
    • Morgan Freeman’s Symphonic Blues Experience — Sept. 25
    • JAWS in Concert — Sept. 25–27

Visual Arts & Exhibitions

  • Studio@620 — (620 1st Ave S, St. Petersburg, FL, 33701) — Website
    • Black Male Joy — Opens Sept. 13
  • Ringling Museum — (5401 Bay Shore Rd, Sarasota, FL 34243) — Website
    • Ancestral Edge: Abstraction and Symbolism in the Works of Nine Native American Women Artists — Opens Sept. 13
  • Sarasota Art Museum — (1001 S Tamiami Trl, Sarasota, FL 34236) — Website
    • Art Deco: The Golden Age of Illustration — Aug. 31, 2025–Mar. 29, 2026
    • Selina Román: Abstract Corpulence — Aug. 31, 2025–Mar. 29, 2026
  • Werk Gallery — (2210 1st Ave S, St. Petersburg, FL 33712) — Website
    • Carol Dameron: The Secret Lives of Paintings— Opens Sept. 6

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