CAILILYEY oy DUG ODES Set The Stage For A Great Vacation (NAPSA)—Atrip that offers the romance and mystery of a remarkable work of art can start in the city where the Pulitzer Prize-winning and Tony Awardnominated play, “Anna in the Tropics,” is set: Ybor City, Florida during its cigar-producing heyday. During the decade in which the play is set, Ybor City was considered the “Cigar Capital of the World,” after Vicente Martinez Ybor opened his cigar manufacturing operation there. Some 12,000 master tabaqueros handrolled 700 million cigars a year in 200 factories. Cuban, Spanish and Italian immigrants flocked to work in the factories, while Ger- mans, Romanians and Chinese came to build businesses to support the industry, creating a thriving multicultural neighborhood. Today, Ybor City is an artist enclave and a National Historic LandmarkDistrict. Its red brick streets, wrought iron balconies and globe streetlamps offer distinctive architecture and a festive atmosphere. Chic cafes, quaint shops and pulsating nightclubs line main street 7th Avenue and millions of dollars have been poured into the neighborhood to open new businesses and revive historic treasures. Two of the biggest projects are Centro Ybor, an entertainment complex cen- tered around theoriginal Centro Espanol social club, and electric streetcars, which were brought back after a 55-year absence. By day, the Cigar City is a living history attraction where visitors can see cigars being handrolled and taste a Cuban sandwich and caf con leche. The former cigar capital of the world is the setting for a brilliant play—that’s actually playing right there in town—Ybor City in Florida’s Tampa Bay. By night, it’s an entertainment district that draws 40,000 visitors on weekends to dine at the sidewalk cafes and drink and dance in the nightclubs. What’s more, if you are there from September 8 through October 17, you can enjoy the acclaimed play by Nilo Cruz itself at Tampa Bay’s American Stage theater and then tour the Historic District that provided its inspiration and backdrop. Set in 1929 in an Ybor City cigar factory, “Anna in the Tropics” is a romantic drama revolving around a Cuban-American family of cigar workers and a celebrated lector hired to read aloud to the cigar rollers. Central character Juan Julian reads from Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina,” becoming a lightning rod for the emotions of his devoted listeners and risking an adulterous affair with the factory owner’s wife. For more information on “Anna in the Tropics,” call 727-823-7529 or see www.AmericanStage.org. For more about Ybor City and Tampa Bay, call 1-800-44-TAMPA or see www.VisitTampaBay.com.
