TAMPA, Fla. — In Focus:
· The Straz Center will have a free show commemorating MLK Jr.
· There will be live music, dance and spoken word
· The event is Friday evening from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.
With Martin Luther King Jr. Day right around the corner, the Straz Center for the Performing Arts will have a free show celebrating the late civil rights leader.
“Every year in January, we honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Remember and acknowledge the ultimate sacrifice that he made for civil rights and the quest for freedom for all Americans,” said Fred Johnson with the Starz Center for the Performing Arts.
The Straz Center will have its sixth annual MLK Jr. commemoration on Friday. “Our overarching theme for this year’s presentation is amplifying freedom,” said Johnson. It’ll be an evening of music, dance, and spoken word. And everyone’s invited. “From the young to the elderly,” said Johnson.
Across the Bay in Clearwater, the Voices of Unity choir is hard at work rehearsing for their part in the show. The Voices of Unity is a Baháʼí gospel choir that recently formed. “It’s the first time we’ve really come out. We’ve performed here at the center several times for people that basically know us, but this is an opportunity for us to sing for a wide audience, and we’re all really excited about it,” said Vicki Hill, one of the choir members.
“Music is the art of the signs of talking to hearts,” said Daryll King, director of The Voices of Unity. “And that’s what Martin understood is that if you could reach hearts, you can make major changes in the world that we live in.”
Usually, the performances are outside, but due to possible inclement weather, they’ll take place in the Teco Theatre at the Starz Center on Friday evening from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.
