David Jenkins News

Jobsite Theater's production of Green Day's AMERICAN IDIOT is set to open at the Straz Center in Tampa, with the principal cast now announced for the rock opera.

FADE IN: The open ocean, 1974. Filming is delayed...again. The lead actors- theatre and film vet Robert Shaw and up-and-coming Hollywood hotshots Richard Dreyfuss and Roy Scheider- are crammed into a too-small boat, entirely at the mercy of foul weather and a faulty mechanical star. Alcohol flows, egos collide, and tempers flare on a chaotic voyage that just might lead to cinematic magic... if it doesn’t sink them all... Words...pulled directly from Director David Jenkins most recent Facebook post, promoting Jobsite Theater’s most recently launched production of Ian Shaw’s The Shark is Broken.

Let me start with a question, if you shall indulge me for a moment. What happens when one of the greatest storytelling musicians of modern times, and the master of horror/suspense and the downright weird, decides to form a partnership? What happens when you take a story, stretch the lore, change the pace, add in some elements of mystery, love, deception, intrigue, and perhaps murder? What then happens when you set the story to a gritty, no-holds-barred, blues/folk score that shakes you to the very being of your core?

Spooky season has arrived at the Straz Center with Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, the southern gothic supernatural musical by literary icon Stephen King and rock legend John Mellencamp. The production, presented by Jobsite Theater, runs through November 9 in the Straz’s Shimberg Playhouse. See photos of the production.

Jobsite, resident theater company of the Straz Center, is presenting the Florida premiere of literary legend Stephen King and rock ‘n' roll icon John Mellencamp's Southern gothic musical GHOST BROTHERS OF DARKLAND COUNTY. Learn more!

A hilarious spoof about a certain unnamed school for wizards featuring a stellar cast and astonishing special effects!

The Butterfly’s Evil Spell was the first play written by twentieth-century playwright and poet Federico Garcia Lorca. Drawing much of its inspiration from the works of Yeats and Maeterlinck, the plot of Lorca’s play deals with the journey of an injured butterfly who is temporarily stranded amongst other insects, but does indeed fly away despite the love of a cockroach.

Platinum-certified pop rockers Pablo Cruise will bring their infectious grooves to Las Vegas for a special performance at Chrome Showroom at Santa Fe Station on Saturday, August 23, 2025 at 8 p.m. 

Harrowing & Hilarious, the play's comedy is pitch black and the show itself is pitch perfect.

This evening, or rather last evening, during their “Final Preview,” I was once again regaled to my seat with baited breath as I waited for the lights to fall on McDonagh’s masterpiece and, forthrightly, my favorite play, The Pillowman.

Jobsite Theater will present Shakespeare's MACBETH on stage, January 17 - February 9 in the Jaeb Theater at the Straz Center, where Jobsite is resident theater company.

Winners have been announced for the 2024 BroadwayWorld Tampa Awards! The 2024 Regional Awards honor regional productions, touring shows, and more which had their first performance between October 1, 2023 through September 30, 2024.

Jobsite Theater once again dives headfirst into a world only they know how to portray. A world reveling in the strange, the unorthodox, and yet proving to be a masterclass of all things twisted and warped. This production which harkens back to their production of Shockheaded Peter, a few seasons back, once again dives into a little unfamiliar territory than we normally witness in the area, but an area so well known to Jobsite and its followers. Perfectly demented and, perfectly placed this deranged grouping of child-like tales have a bleak ending for most of the characters involved.

The Boy Who Loved Batman at The Straz

Alice Paul...remember her? In 1920, she was THE WOMAN, THE SUFFRAGIST, who secured the right to vote for women, and wrote the unratified Equal Rights Amendment. Further explanation of her movement can be found in the recent musical Suffs, Shaina Taub’s musical which more recently won Best Book of a Musical at this years Tonys Ceremony. However, this is not Suffs, nor is this a musical. Instead, this is the blistering, hilarious, farcical take on women in the White House behind every dumb ass that could’ve ever held power. Its borderline lumbering subtitle says it all, “Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive.” Selina Fillinger’s hilarious play proves just that. Women are in power, and behind every great man is a woman trying to save the day. Feminism at its finest, and proving that this is the moment to be alive.

Something we knew we always wanted, but unexpected is how much we would need a show like this. Who’d of thought, Rocky Horror in July? If ever there was a truer testament to the old saying, “If you build it, they will come...,” then that would be none other than Jobsite and their production of Richard O’Brien’s titillating cult behemoth The Rocky Horror Show.

With a cast led by Clay Christopher as Dr. Frank-N-Furter, this is one glorious production that will be talked about for years.

Many times, I look at the cultural landscape and all its vast plethora of fortune we have been given in the Tampa Bay area alone, and one things for certain, I will move mountains, stop at nothing to experience theatre that moves me and thrills me to the core. Taking me out of the present worldview, away from daily trials and tribulations and into the stories of many characters, or in this case, one singular character that will allow me to invest time in their plight.

What did our critic think of BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE at Jobsite Theater?

wild project has revealed additional programming for February and March. See full programming and learn how to purchase tickets!