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From Hocus Pocus to Mozart: 5 Reasons October Is Wicked for Tampa Bay Arts

From Hocus Pocus to Mozart: 5 Reasons October Is Wicked for Tampa Bay Arts

By Avery Anderson

Pumpkin spice is predictable. October’s arts calendar? Not even close. We’re talking drag queens turning Disney upside down, Mozart operas scheming their way into your date night, and an orchestra mixing Batman with Spider-Man like it’s a Marvel/DC crossover. Add a play that proves family can be scarier than any monster, plus a 50-year photo reel of Tampa’s most infamous sports franchise, and you’ve got a month that’s bold, bonkers, and begging to be binged.

Five Things We’re Most Excited For This October

  1. Monsters of the American Cinema — Urbanite Theatre
    This regional premiere is not just another “spooky season” show. Urbanite is tackling grief, race, and fatherhood under the glow of a drive-in movie screen. It’s raw, it’s funny, it’s tender — the kind of theatre that sticks with you long after the curtain call.
  2. Hokus Pokus Live! — Tampa Theatre
    Because Halloween deserves sequins. Ginger Minj (recent winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars), Jujubee, and Sapphira Cristál aren’t just spoofing Hocus Pocus — they’re rewriting it in drag queen technicolor. Expect camp, chaos, and the kind of energy you won’t get from another slasher rewatch.
  3. The Bucs at Fifty — Tampa Museum of Art
    Because only in Tampa can a football anniversary double as an art show. This exhibit digs into five decades of Bucs history — the good, the bad, and the creamsicle uniforms. Even if you’ve never screamed “Go Bucs!” in your life, it’s local history told through grit, glory, and some truly questionable fashion.
  4. Così fan tutte — Sarasota Opera
    Mozart knew how to stir the pot. Lovers swap partners, secrets get spilled, and disguises get hilariously bad. It’s centuries old but feels like reality TV with a better soundtrack — and Sarasota Opera brings the drama with voices that will floor you.
  5. Bugs, Bats, and Birds — Sarasota Orchestra
    Spooky season isn’t complete without a killer playlist. This concert mashes up Strauss, Rossini, Batman, and Spider-Man into one wild ride. It’s orchestral music that winks at pop culture — proof that a symphony can be just as fun (and spooky) as a haunted house.

Arts Passport Picks

We’re not just covering the arts — we’re hosting them. Here are three events we can’t wait to share with you this October:

  • Arts Passport Book Club: Lies in Bone — Oct. 5 @ freeFall Theatre
    • Because reading is better with community. We’ll dig into Lies in Bone and then carry the conversation with author Natalie Symons in attendance.
  • Hidden Figures Screening — Oct. 12 @ Green Light Cinema
    • Because history deserves the spotlight. Celebrate the unsung Black women who helped launch America into space — then stick around for a community conversation about women in the movement and it’s connection to Powerstories and the Studio@620’s production of Cadillac Crew.
  • Phantom of the Opera - 100 Anniversary - Oct 24 @Tampa Theatre
    • We’re closing October with a scream. Step into Tampa Theatre for the 100th anniversary of Phantom of the Opera — the 1925 silent classic starring Lon Chaney — brought chillingly to life with live accompaniment on the Mighty Wurlitzer Theatre Organ and a guest soprano soaring above the score.

Union Theatre

  • freeFall Theatre (6099 Central Ave, St. Petersburg, FL 33710)
    • Tell Me on a Sunday — Sept. 6–Oct. 5
    • Tandem Series: Brit Pop — Oct. 3
    • Ira Levin’s Deathtrap — Oct. 24–Dec. 7
    • A Little Hocus Pocus — Oct. 29
  • American Stage – (performed in various locations)
    • Weird in St. Pete — Oct. 2–29 @ Duncan McClellan Gallery
    • Hundred Days — Oct. 22–Nov. 16 @ Raymond James Theatre
  • Studio@620 – (620 1st Ave S, St. Petersburg, FL 33701)
    • Tail of the Bell — Oct. 2–5
    • I Am a Mystery — Oct. 10–11
  • Straz Center — (1010 N Macinnes Pl, Tampa, FL 33602)
    • Dracula: A Comedy of Errors — Sept. 16–Oct. 26
    • The Wiz — Oct. 14–19
    • Water for Elephants — Oct. 28–Nov. 2
  • Suncoast Broadway Dinner Theatre — (16128 US-19, Hudson, FL 34667)
    • Grease — Sept. 19–Oct. 26
  • Florida Studio Theatre — (1241 N Palm Ave, Sarasota, FL 34236)
    • Peter Pan — through Oct. 25
  • Urbanite Theatre — (1487 2nd St, Sarasota, FL 34236)
    • Monsters of the American Cinema — Oct. 31–Dec. 7

Non-Union Theatre

  • Jobsite Theatre (1010 N Macinnes Pl, Tampa, FL)
    • Ghost Brothers of Darkland County by Stephen King and John Mellencamp — Oct. 15–Nov. 19
  • Stageworks Theatre — (1863 N Highland Avenue, Clearwater)
    • Act 2 Series: Evil Dead Movie Night — Oct. 11
    • Evil Dead: The Musical — Oct. 24–Nov. 16
    • Act 2 Series: Spooky Trivia Night — Oct. 29
  • TheatreFor — (1010 N Macinnes Pl, Tampa, FL)
    • Clone — Oct. 16–Nov. 2
  • Dunedin Public Theatre — (453 Edgewater Dr, Dunedin, FL 34698)
    • 80's Jazz Party featuring La Lucha with special guest Allison Nash — Oct. 23
  • Carrollwood Players — (4333 Gunn HighwayTampa, FL 33618)
    • Murdered to Death — Oct. 3–12
    • Misery — Oct. 17–Nov. 2
  • West Coast Players — (21905 US Hwy 19 N, Clearwater, FL 33759)
    • Keep on Laughing — Oct. 17–Nov. 2
  • Early Bird Dinner Theatre — (13355 49th St N, Clearwater, FL 33762)
    • 37 Postcards — Sept. 13–Oct. 26
  • Sarasota Players — (3501 S Tamiami Trl Suite 1130, Sarasota, FL 34239)
    • The Wedding Singer — Sept. 24–Oct. 5
    • Legend of Sleepy Hollow — Oct. 23–25
  • Francis Wilson Playhouse — (302 Seminole St, Clearwater, FL 33755)
    • Luv — Oct. 9–19
  • St. Pete City Theatre — (4025 31st St S, St. Petersburg, FL 33712)
    • The Mystery of Edwin Drood — Sept. 19–28

Tampa Theatre Screenings & Specials

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

  • The Invisible Man — Oct. 1
  • Carrie — Oct. 2
  • Prom Night — Oct. 2
  • Taylor Swift | The Official Release Party of a Showgirl — Oct. 3–5
  • Kiki’s Delivery Service — Oct. 4
  • Teen Witch — Oct. 4
  • Death Becomes Her — Oct. 4
  • House — Oct. 4
  • Haunted Mansion — Oct. 5
  • The Cabin in the Woods — Oct. 5
  • The Evil Dead — Oct. 5
  • The Birds — Oct. 6
  • Alien — Oct. 7
  • The Day the Earth Stood Still — Oct. 8
  • Heather McMahan: The Bamboozled Tour — Oct. 9
  • Felipe Esparza: At My Leisure World Tour — Oct. 10
  • Jack Carr — Oct. 11
  • Blade — Oct. 11
  • Spawn — Oct. 11
  • Trevor Wallace: The Alpha Beta Male — Oct. 12
  • Scary Movie — Oct. 13
  • Candyman — Oct. 14
  • Frankenstein — Oct. 15
  • Doctor X — Oct. 15
  • A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge — Oct. 16
  • Scream Queen: My Nightmare on Elm Street — Oct. 16
  • Young Frankenstein — Oct. 17
  • Late Night, Lights Off Paranormal Investigation — Oct. 17
  • Hokus Pokus Live! starring Ginger Minj, Jujubee, and Sapphira Cristál — Oct. 18
  • Scooby-Doo — Oct. 19
  • An American Werewolf in London — Oct. 19
  • The Thing — Oct. 19
  • Re-Animator — Oct. 20
  • Tales from the Hood — Oct. 21
  • Forbidden Planet — Oct. 22
  • Clue — Oct. 23
  • Final Destination 3 — Oct. 23
  • Phantom of the Opera — Oct. 24
  • Hocus Pocus — Oct. 25
  • The Rocky Horror Picture Show — Oct. 25
  • Phantasmagoria XVI: Hauntingly Whimsical Tales — Oct. 26
  • Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror — Oct. 26
  • Sinners — Oct. 27
  • Campfire Stories — Oct. 28
  • King Kong — Oct. 29
  • The Conjuring — Oct. 30
  • The Exorcist — Oct. 30
  • Halloween — Oct. 31
  • Halloween II — Oct. 31

Indie Screenings & Festivals

  • Greenlight Cinema — (221 2nd Ave N, St. Petersburg, FL 33701) 
    • Elenor the Great — Oct. 3–16
    • Mars Attacks! (at La Setima Club) — Oct. 7
    • The Baltimorons — Oct. 10–16
    • Hidden Figures — Oct. 12
    • The Others — Oct. 16
    • The Urchin — Oct. 17–23
    • Blue Moon — Oct. 24–30
  • Beach Theatre — (315 Corey Ave, St Pete Beach, FL 33706)
    • E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial — Oct. 1–2
    • Mean Girls — Oct. 3
    • Taylor Swift | The Official Release Party of a Showgirl — Oct. 3–5
    • The Nightmare Before Christmas — Oct. 4–5
    • Corpse Bride — Oct. 9
    • Scooby-Doo — Oct. 10
    • Friday the 13th — Oct. 11–13
    • Nosferatu — Oct. 16–17
    • The Goonies — Oct. 18–19
    • Night of the Living Dead — Oct. 24–25
    • The Substance — Oct. 26
    • D(e)AD — Oct. 26
    • Psycho — Oct. 27
    • Lisa Frankenstein — Oct. 28
    • Beetlejuice Beetlejuice — Oct. 29
    • Ghostbusters — Oct. 30
    • Hocus Pocus — Oct. 31

Music & Orchestra

  • Florida Orchestra
    • Inside an Alpine — Oct. 2
    • Strauss’ An Alpine Symphony — Oct. 3–5
    • Summer Breeze: Yacht Rock Classics — Oct. 10–12
    • The Roaring ’20s — Oct. 11
    • La Tea Do — Oct. 14
    • Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto — Oct. 18–19
    • Free Pops in the Park — Oct. 25
    • Haunted Halls Family Concert — Oct. 26
  • Sarasota Orchestra — various locations
    • Hidden Treasures — Oct. 4
    • Free Family Concert: Orchestra Games — Oct. 10
    • Bugs, Bats, and Birds — Oct. 15–18
    • The Empire Strikes Back (film with live score) — Oct. 24–25
    • Mendelssohn and Maslanka — Oct. 30
  • Sarasota Opera — (61 N Pineapple Ave, Sarasota, FL 34236)
    • Così fan tutte — Oct. 31–Nov. 15
  • St. Pete Opera — various locations
    • Susannah — Oct. 17–21

Visual Arts & Exhibitions

  • Studio@620 — (620 1st Ave S, St. Petersburg, FL, 33701)
    • Black Male Joy — Now thru Oct 17
  • Ringling Museum — (5401 Bay Shore Rd, Sarasota, FL 34243)
    • Ancestral Edge: Abstraction and Symbolism in the Works of Nine Native American Women Artists — Now thru April 12, 2026
  • Sarasota Art Museum — (1001 S Tamiami Trl, Sarasota, FL 34236)
    • Art Deco: The Golden Age of Illustration — Aug. 31, 2025–Mar. 29, 2026
    • Selina Román: Abstract Corpulence — Aug. 31, 2025–Mar. 29, 2026
  • Museum of Fine Arts — ((255 Beach Dr NE, St. Petersburg, FL 33701)
    • In Caravaggio’s Light | Baroque Masterpieces from the Fondazione Roberto Longhi — Oct 25, 2025–Mar. 22, 2026
  • James Museum of Western Art — (150 Central Ave, St. Petersburg, FL 33701)
    • BEN STEELE: A POP OF ART!— Opening Oct 11, 2025
  • Tampa Museum of Art — 120 W Gasparilla Plaza, Tampa, FL 33602)
    • The Bucs at Fifty: A Photographic Retrospective— Now thru Oct. 26, 2025
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