Tampa Bay Arts Passport Podcast

Roxanne Fay on Shakespeare, Action Movies, and the Alchemy of Gender

Forget everything you remember from high school English class. This week on the Arts Passport podcast, we’re joined by the legendary Roxanne Fay—dramaturg, actor, and resident Shakespearean expert—to talk about her latest reimagining of Julius Caesar at The Studio@620.
Fay breaks down why Shakespeare’s Roman epic is actually the ultimate action movie, full of "action-consequence" and "thoughtful entertainment." We dive deep into her decision to cast an all-female ensemble and the radical choice to cut the play’s only two female roles to make a powerful point about whose voices we listen to.
Beyond the Bard, Roxanne shares a candid look at the "ultimately terrifying and amazingly gratifying" journey of being a caregiver and how life’s unexpected roles can make us better artists.
In this episode:
Gladiator Vibes: Why Julius Caesar is built like a modern thriller.
The Alchemy of Gender: How Fay approaches traditionally male roles like Brutus.
Book Club Announcement: Details on our March partnership with Tombolo Books to read The Silence of the Girls.
The 2026 Outlook: Alleviating "existential dread" through community and art.

Ray Roa: The Radical Act of Local Journalism

In an era where major news outlets are scaling back, how do two people put out a weekly physical newspaper? Ray Roa, Editor-in-Chief of Creative Loafing, joins Avery Anderson to pull back the curtain on the "nuts and bolts" of independent media in Tampa Bay.
In this episode, we discuss:
The Survival Mindset: How Creative Loafing navigated laying off 67% of its staff during the pandemic to remain a weekly staple.
The Tampa Bay Journalism Project: Ray’s ambitious goal to raise $750,000 to hire reporters and photographers for the community.
Progress over Perfection: Why a "squeaky wheel" attitude won't save local news, but collaboration will.
The Death of the Paywall: Why Ray believes essential community information should always be free.

Alexa Perez on Showing Up (Not Perfectly)

Before she was directing, producing, and shaping seasons at The Studio@620, Alexa Perez was spiraling over auditions, freelancing social media gigs, and wondering if she fit the mold.
In this episode of the Tampa Bay Arts Passport podcast, Alexa talks about the pivot from musical theater grad with anxiety to Associate Artistic Producer — and why the real turning point wasn’t landing the “perfect” job. It was deciding to show up.
We talk about:
• Going on as Juliet mid-run in Romeo & Juliet (yes, outdoors, during red tide)• Moving from marketing into casting, directing, and producing• The difference between perfection and progress• Why “community over competition” matters more than ever• Her one-word hope for the future of the Tampa Bay arts scene
If you’re an artist trying to find your footing — or someone juggling seven roles in one nonprofit job description — this one’s for you.
Progress over perfection.Show up.Touch grass.
Follow Tampa Bay Arts Passport for behind-the-scenes conversations with the artists shaping our creative community.

Game On: Inclusive Dance & Radical Community

What happens when an athlete becomes a dancer — and then builds a company where disabled and non-disabled artists create work side by side?
In this episode of the Tampa Bay Arts Passport podcast, Avery Anderson sits down with "D", the artistic director of Revolution Dance Company, to talk about inclusive dance, leadership, and what it really means to build community through art.
"D" shares his journey from wheelchair track and field to founding a professional inclusive dance company now entering its third decade. Along the way, he reflects on collaboration across difference, teaching dance in unexpected places (including a juvenile prison in Russia), and the mindset that’s carried him through it all: game on.
This conversation is about access, trust, and the quiet power of showing up — even when the space isn’t built for you yet.

45 Days of Excellence: Reimagining MLK in St. Pete

What if MLK Day wasn’t just one morning — but a season?
In this midweek conversation, Avery Anderson speaks with Samantha Harris, executive director of the Tampa Bay Collard Green Festival, about the city’s inaugural 45 Days of Excellence — a new framework connecting the MLK Day Parade, community health initiatives, youth entrepreneurship, and the annual Collard Green Festival.
Harris reflects on why excellence is inseparable from resilience, how the festival grew from church fundraisers to citywide leadership, and what it means to build events with a community rather than for it.
This episode explores how celebration, health, and history can work together — and how small acts of care can carry the spirit of Dr. King forward every day.

The Courage to Stay Curious

What happens when love doesn’t arrive fully formed — but shows up anyway?
In this episode of Tampa Bay Arts Passport, Avery Anderson sits down with actor and arts advocate Samantha Marti Parisi to talk about The Pink Unicorn, a one-woman play being performed not on a stage — but in living rooms, backyards, and community spaces across Tampa Bay.
Parisi plays Tricia Lee, a conservative Texas mother grappling with her child’s coming-out as genderqueer. The story isn’t neat. It doesn’t preach. And that’s exactly the point.
The conversation ranges from:
Why curiosity matters more than certainty
What it’s like to carry an entire story alone onstage
How unconventional spaces can unlock deeper connection
And why some of the most important stories are still being quietly overlooked
This is an episode about motherhood, memory, theater without a safety net — and what it means to stay open when the world asks you to shut down.

Telling the Truth, Together

As Powerstories closes its 25th anniversary season, Artistic Director Clareann Despain  returns to the Tampa Bay Arts Passport podcast for a rare, reflective conversation about where the work has been—and where it’s headed next.
In this episode, Clareann and Avery talk about why women’s stories still need defending, how theatre can offer light in dark times, and what it means to make art for the greater good. Clareann shares her personal journey into leadership, a preview of Power Stories’ 2026 season, and why connection—not just ticket sales—is the true measure of impact.
It’s a conversation about collaboration over competition, joy over burnout, and the quiet power of showing up in the same room to listen.
A fitting close to 2025—and an invitation into what comes next.

Building an Arts Ecosystem (Not a Spotlight)

Arts communities don’t sustain themselves. People do.
In this episode of The Arts Passport Podcast, Michele Smith—Executive Director of the Tampa Arts Alliance—joins us for a wide-ranging conversation about leadership, infrastructure, and the often invisible work that keeps creative ecosystems alive.
Michele reflects on her unconventional journey into arts administration, from international trade and crisis logistics to community-centered cultural leadership. Along the way, she unpacks how the Tampa Arts Alliance emerged through years of relationship-building, listening, and collaboration—rather than top-down planning.
This episode explores:
Tampa’s evolving arts identity
The reality of building an arts organization from scratch
How grief, resilience, and joy shape leadership
Why physical space matters in a digital age
What’s possible when a city stops trying to be “the next” anything
Thoughtful, grounded, and deeply human, this conversation offers a rare look at what it truly takes to support the arts—not just onstage, but in the spaces in between.

From Apprentice to Director: John Perez on Building Arts Access

John Perez, the new Director of Education at American Stage, joins Avery for a candid conversation about how arts education actually moves in Tampa Bay—beyond the stage lights and into classrooms.
We cover:
John’s full-circle path from apprentice to Director of Education
What American Stage Education offers (adult + youth classes, outreach, matinees)
Write On, the playwriting program inside Pinellas County schools
The School Tour tradition—and why it matters that some kids see professional theatre for the first time this way (this year’s tour: “Polka Dots: The Cool Kids Musical”)
Why teaching artists being working local artists strengthens the whole community
Theatre as training for being a human (the real curriculum)
Plus: quick Book Club updates—January off, February: Florida + Botanical Gardens, and March: all-female Julius Caesar at The Studio@620 (book TBD).

Helen French: Reimagining St. Pete Arts

When dancer, educator, and arts advocate Helen French stepped into the role of Executive Director of the St. Pete Arts Alliance on August 1, she didn’t just inherit 16 programs, a citywide mural festival, and a three-person staff — she inherited a community in flux.
In this candid conversation, French pulls back the curtain on her first 70 days on the job — from the stress and gratitude (“I have more good days than bad days… I’m a mother of two”) to the deep, structural questions she’s asking about what St. Pete’s arts ecosystem needs now.
She talks about her Juilliard-bound ninth-grade spreadsheets, her early exposure to arts administration in New York, the founding of Beacon, and the creative muscle artists bring to leadership roles. Most importantly, she names the voids she sees — and how the Arts Alliance might fill them.
It’s a conversation about vision, advocacy, and the messy, beautiful work of building an arts city that actually supports the artists who live here.