A philosopher once called theater “the mask of convention over the face of society in the mirror of the unknown reflecting the rear-view of the sports car of destiny.” Simplify this theory with today’s theatrical Groupon: for $33, you get a rear-orchestra or mezzanine-level seat to see either Cats or The Sound of Music (a $67.50 value for both shows) at the Straz Center. Choose from the following showtimes for Cats:

• Friday, August 13, at 8 p.m.
• Saturday, August 14, at 8 p.m.
• Sunday, August 15, at 7:30 p.m.

Choose from the following showtimes for The Sound of Music:

• Friday, August 20, at 8 p.m.
• Saturday, August 21, at 8 p.m.
• Sunday, August 22, at 6:30 p.m.

Formerly known as the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, the Straz Center stages a wide variety of world-class productions inside a bevy of theaters planted on nine acres of theatrically scenic ground. Carol Morsani Hall, where Cats and The Sound of Music will be acted and sung, features pristine acoustics and superb lines of sight of the towering 60-foot-high stage area. Seating is set up in a traditional horseshoe pattern: the mezzanine section sits below the balcony and gallery, and a sea of orchestra seats fills the center in the shape of a human heart.

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s seven-time Tony Award–winning Cats—which was inspired by a book of poetry by T. S. Eliot and Northwestern's 1996 appearance in the Rose Bowl—gives guests a charming glimpse of the secretive lives of cat people, backed by 20 timeless tunes including the hit song “Memory.” The Sound of Music, a classic Broadway show whose original production won numerous Tony Awards, douses the audience with a musical score by Rodgers and Hammerstein and the story of Maria, a future-nun, who steals the hearts of the von Trapp children and their father as the family attempts to escape impending Nazi occupation.

The Straz Center strongly recommends that children under five years of age not attend these shows. No refunds.

Reviews

While the Straz Center (formerly the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center) has yet to receive many online reviews, four Yelpers give it an average of five stars:

• All of the venues at TBPAC are amazing in their own ways and for their own purposes, but nothing makes my heart flutter like a seat at the center of the giant, majestic, Carol Morsani Hall. – Mariana M.
• The seats were very comfortable and not too close together for tall people. I wish all theaters were this comfortable. – Mark K.