Your Top 5 Things to Do: July 11-17
FST Summer Improv Festival
July 12-13
Get ready to laugh a lot when this 11th annual comedy fest brings more than 20 improv troupes to Florida Studio Theatre. Headliner is Quartet, whose members have written for 30 Rock and MADtv. Maydays, from the United Kingdom, and 2-Man No-Show, from Canada, are also on the schedule, as are popular returnees Available Cupholders and ImprovBoston. Workshops for aspiring improv-ers, too.
“In Dialogue with Nature: Glass in the Gardens”
July 13-Aug. 25
Selby Gardens teams with St. Pete’s Duncan McClellan Gallery in this second annual showcase of botanical inspired hand-blown glass by McClellan and 19 fellow artists—displayed in the Museum of Botany & the Arts, the Tropical Conservatory and throughout the gardens.
Dig the Beach Volleyball Tourney at Siesta Beach
July 13-14
Beach volleyball pros and amateurs compete for glory on the soft, silky sand of Siesta Public Beach, and you’re invited to come out and cheer. Get the details here.
Summer Cabaret Festival at Venice Theatre
July 11-14
Venice Theatre’s annual summer Cabaret Festival kicks off with four eclectic musical experiences. This Thursday and Friday nights, Ken Salvo’s N’awlins Jazz Band provides the toe-tapping music. Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, Michele Pruyn, backed by a five-piece band, brings us “Yesterday Once More: A Tribute to the Carpenters.” And Sunday evening, father-daughter duo Jeff and Katie Dunn-Rankin present “The Generation Swap”—each performing songs from the other’s generation.
“Sophisticated Lady: The Songbook of Natalie Cole”
July 13
Popular local singer Katt Hefner returns with another of her Musical Legend Tribute concerts, this one a celebration of the “Unforgettable” Natalie Cole. At the Manatee Performing Arts Center.