Upcoming Entertainment

DECEMBER

Wednesday Night Concert Series
SANDESTIN – The Village of Baytowne Wharf presents a special holiday edition of concerts through the month of December from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Events Plaza. Call 267-8117.

Anime South convention
DESTIN - The fifth annual Anime South convention, celebrating Japanese animation, music and culture, will be held Dec. 18-20 at the Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort & Spa.   

Pensacola Symphony Orchestra
PENSACOLA – Vocalist Diane Penning will be the featured guest artist in a celebration of the New Year on Dec. 31.
•Feb. 13: Classical Mystery Tour – A Tribute to the Beatles.

JANUARY

Sinfonia Gulf Coast
DESTIN – The 2009-2010 season of the Sinfonia Gulf Coast will include the following events. Season subscriptions and tickets are available at www.SinfoniaGulfCoast.org or call 269-7129.
•Jan. 3: Violinist Caroline Goulding will make an appearance in a special recital at Grace Lutheran Church in Destin. This concert is free to season subscribers.
•Jan. 16: Seasons Squared at 7:30 p.m. at Grace Lutheran Church in Destin features violinist Nicholas Kendall performing Vivaldi's classic masterpiece “The Four Seasons” and the premiere of tango king Astor Piazzolla's “The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires.”
•Feb. 28: Time Travel at 3 p.m. at Good News United Methodist Church in Santa Rosa Beach features the Manhattan Piano Trio and Demetrius Fuller, clarinet.
•March 23: The Sinfonia Gala Event,  “An Evening in Vintage Hollywood featuring Pink Martini,” will be held at 6 p.m. at the Emerald Coat Conference Center.

Coffee seminar
DESTIN – Every first Tuesday, Starbucks Destin Commons will host a coffee seminar dealing with various topics with the growing, roasting and preparing of coffee. The next seminar will be held at 11 a.m. Jan. 5. Call 650-0333.

Auditions: Come Blow Your Horn
NICEVILLE – The Northwest Florida State College division of Humanities, Fine and Performing Arts will hold auditions for its Spring 2010 production of Neil Simon’s comedy “Come Blow Your Horn” Jan. 7 in the Sprint Theater at the Mattie Kelly Arts Center on the Niceville campus. Sign-in starts at 6 p.m. and auditions start at 6:30 p.m. Callbacks will be held Jan. 8, by appointment only.
Actors should come with a prepared one minute modern comic monologue. The cast of characters consists of Alan Baker (late 20’s, early 30’s), Buddy Baker (early 20’s), Peggy (early 20’s), Mr. Baker (early 50’s or 60’s), Connie (late 20’s, early 30’s), Mrs. Baker (early 50’s or 60’s), and Aunt Gussie who will be doubled with the actor cast as Peggy. Call 729-6007 or e-mail  mahlej@nwfsc.edu.

Auditions: Choral Society of Pensacola
PENSACOLA – The Choral Society of Pensacola will hold auditions for new singersfrom 10 a.m. to noon Jan. 9 in Room 801 of the Pensacola Junior College Ashmore Fine Arts Auditorium, 1000 College Blvd. Call 484-1810 for more information. Auditions on other days can be arranged by special appointment.

ECCA’s 50th Concert Season
OKALOOSA COUNTY – It’s the Emerald Coast Concert Association’s 50th birthday and concert goers will be treated to several “surprises” throughout the season.
All performances begin at 7:30 p.m.  Tickets for individual performances will be available at the door and at local outlets. To order season tickets call 362-9356. For a season brochure, call 837-1742. Individual tickets are available three weeks prior to performance date.
 Season includes:
•Jan. 9: Linda Gentille and the Linda Gentille quartet kick off 2010 with Great Balls of Fire at the Fort Walton Beach Civic Auditorium.
•Jan. 23: Dave Bennett’s New Orleans – A Salute to Pete Fountain, at Mattie Kelly Performing Arts Center in Niceville.
•Feb. 20: The Canadian group Barrage – Animado features an international, multi-talented cast performing an eclectic mix of music, song and dance at the Mattie Kelly Performing Arts Center in Niceville.
•March 6: Season finale, ABBA-Mania, musicians from Canada, at NWFSC.

Pensacola Symphony Orchestra
The Pensacola Symphony Orchestra’s Masterworks Concerts are held at 8 p.m. at the Saenger Theatre, 118 S Palafox Street. Saturday afternoon dress rehearsals will be at 2 p.m. at the Saenger Theatre. Admission is $5. Public is welcome.
For ticket information, call 435-2533, visit www.pensacolasymphony.com or purchase in person at 205 E. Zaragoza Street in Pensacola.
Schedule includes:
•Jan. 10: Beethoven & Blue Jeans let you get out your best blue jeans and enjoy a smorgasbord of familiar tastes and new symphonic delights.
•March 6: Maestro Rubardt conducts Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik and Symphony No. 5 by Gustav Mahler.
•April 17: Ashley Brown – Uncommon Woman, features Gulf Breeze’s Broadway star Ashley Brown joining the PSO for a night of classical hits.

Mattie Kelly Arts Center
NICEVILLE – The 2009-2010 season at the NWF State College’s Mattie Kelly Fine and Performing Arts Center will include a Broadway season package for four shows for $165 per package or $45 per individual ticket. A six-show Broadway/Artist combo package will be $200, with $30 individual ticket prices for Artist Series shows.
Season packages are available by phone, in-person or by mail only from the Mattie Kelly Arts Center Box Office. Individual show tickets go on sale through the center's online box office at www.mattiekellyartscenter.org and in-person or by phone.
Broadway package includes:
•Jan. 22: The Wedding Singer.
•Feb. 17: Le Grand Cirque.
Artist Series includes:
•Feb. 6: Ed Asner as FDR.
A series of children's shows which will be matinee performances for school groups include the following. Limited seating for the public may be available for $6 each.
•Jan. 12: Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing.
•March 9: Frog and Toad.
•April 13: Click, Clack, Moo.

First Arts Concert Series
FORT WALTON BEACH – The 21st season of First Arts Concerts presents   Corky Siegel Chamber Blues at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 22 at First United Methodist Church in Fort Walton Beach.
Season and individual tickets can be purchased at www.firstartsconcerts.org or call 243-6083 for a brochure.  
Other concerts include:    
•Feb. 13: Saturday Intersection Trio
•Feb. 26: Thomas Pandolfi, piano    
•March 12: Proteus 7, brass    

Destin Gospel Cruise
DESTIN – SunQuest Cruises’s first Gospel Cruise to come to Destin in remembered history sails from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Jan. 23. The Dent Brothers will be featured. Tickets, $40, include cruise, gospel concert, coffee and iced tea. À la carte menu available. Visit www.sunquestcruises.com or call 650-2519.

Denim & Diamonds
OKALOOSA ISLAND – The annual Denim & Diamond United Way fundraiser will be held at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 29 at the Emerald Coast Conference Center.
Come dressed in your favorite denim and enjoy a relaxing evening with friends, great food, casino games and auction items. A dance contest will provide fun entertainment as several community leaders compete to see which couple can raise the most money for the United Way.
To reserve a corporate table of ten, $900 per table, to buy individual tickets, $100 per person and/or to make a donation for the silent auction, call 243-0315 or e-mail rondad@united-way.org.

Salon Series Concert
DESTIN – Pensacola Opera will present its next Salon Series Concert, featuring baritone Corey McKern, at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 30 at the home of Joe and Judy Zito in Destin. This intimate evening of entertainment features a program drawn from the operatic repertoire as well as greats from the American Songbook. Blake Riley will accompany McKern on the piano.
Tickets are $125 a person and include the concert, cocktails and heavy hors d’oeuvres catered by Chef Tim Creehan.
Attendance is limited to the first fifty guests. Call 433-6737 for reservations.
 
Ice Skating Rink
The ice skating rink at The Village of Baytowne Wharf will be open through Jan. 31. Non-holiday hours are 4 to 10 p.m. Monday-Friday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, and 12 to 6 p.m. Sunday. Holiday hours Nov. 22-29 are 2 to 10 p.m. Monday-Friday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and 12 to 8 p.m.. Sunday. Skating is $8; skates, $2. Call 267-8118.

FEBRUARY

Destin Area Restaurant Week
DESTIN – Destin locals are encouraged to enjoy tasty dishes from across the Destin area during the first Destin Area Restaurant Week Feb. 1-7.  
Restaurants will showcase signature and new dishes on affordable prix fixe menus. Participating restaurants so far include Café Thirty-A & Fishbone Room, Commander's Palace, Fudpucker's Beachside Bar & Grill, and Hard Rock Café. Lunch and dinner options will be available. All participating restaurants and menus will be announced on Jan. 11 at www.DestinChamber.com.
For more information or to sign up to participate, contact Elizabeth Spies at 837-2711, ext. 5 or e-mail espies@DestinChamber.com.

The Wedding Singer
The Wedding Singer will bring back the 80s when it dances into the Pensacola Saenger Theatre for one performance only at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 2.
Tickets, starting at $32, are on sale at the Saenger Theatre box office, online at Ticketmaster.com or by calling 1-800-745-3000. Discounts are available for groups of 20 or more by calling 850-595-3880.

Vienna Boys Choir
PANAMA CITY BEACH – The Vienna Boys Choir will perform Feb. 16 at Gulf Beach Presbyterian Church. Tickets are available at 230-1991.

Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra
NICEVILLE – The Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra at Northwest Florida State College, under the baton of Jeffrey Rink, announces its 2009-10 concert season and the availability of season tickets. The 23rd season of the region’s professional orchestra will include five concerts, special events and new benefits for season subscribers, award-winning guest artists, the premiere of a new work written for the NFSO, collaborative performances with the Northwest Florida Symphony Chorus and more.
Regular season subscriptions for the 2009-10 series of five NFSO concerts are now available for $100. NFSO season tickets are available for purchase in-person or by phone from the college’s Mattie Kelly Arts Center Box office at (850) 729-6000 or online at www.nfsymphony.org.
Conductor’s Circle memberships, for subscribers who make a tax deductible gift of at least $250 to the symphony in addition to their purchase of the $100 season subscription, are also available.
The Mattie Kelly Arts Center is on the Niceville campus of Northwest Florida State College at 100 College Blvd.
•Feb. 19: Annual “Stars of Tomorrow” concert featuring the winners of the  regional Concerto Competition.
•April 10: “European Masters” features the Northwest Florida Symphony Chorus and orchestra.

MARCH

Choral Society of Pensacola
PENSACOLA – The Choral Society of Pensacola’s concerts for the 2009-2010 season include the following. Tickets are $15/reserved seating, $12/general admission, and $5/students. To purchase, call 484-1806 or e-mail csop1@juno.com.
•March 13: Durufle’s “Requiem” at 7:30 p.m. at St. Paul Catholic Church, Hyde Park Road.
•May 1: “Bach to Broadway” at 7:30 p.m. at St. Paul Catholic Church, Hyde Park Road.