Command performance: Theater enters new era with leadership change

The pandemic was an existential threat for the David A. Straz Jr. Center for the Performing Arts, one of Tampa’s premier venues for arts and entertainment. The iconic building, alongside the Hillsborough River in downtown Tampa, closed its doors in March 2020 as the coronavirus threat spread far and wide. 

Not until more than a year later, in October 2021, did the venue reopen, albeit cautiously, with limited capacity and a mandatory facemask policy. It also required patrons to be vaccinated against Covid-19 or provide proof of a negative test.