BY IRIS B. HOLTON
Sentinel City Editor
Tony Stinyard grew up in Tampa, but he spent a lot of time in Dade City and Zephyrhills. As a young adult, he found himself drawn to movies with settings in the 1930s.
Stinyard didn’t know at the time that his love of movies from that era, combined with experiences in rural Florida would have a profound effect on his future.
After graduating from Brandon High School, he enrolled at Hillsborough Community College, and took some classes. Stinyard discovered that he wanted to become an actor and began pursuing that goal in 2008.
It wasn’t long after that that the young man came to realize he could also write and direct. One of his creations, “Sex, Love, & Consequences,” won an award in the “Most Popular Film” category in 2010 at the Your Indie Film Festival.
One of his next creations was the play, “Saul’s Junk Joint,” with a cast of 20 actors and 12 singers.
“It’s a dance musical that takes place in the 1930s. It’s about a place where Blacks and whites can go to get away from segregation. But the mayor of the town wants to close the joint.
“They club goers get together and raise the money to bring a famous group to town to save it, but then dark secrets start coming out,” he said.
The play will have its final showing in Tampa on Saturday, March 9th. The shows will take place at 2:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., at the Main Stage Theater at Hillsborough Community College, Ybor Campus. He also plans to have a DVD recording of the performances.
After that, Stinyard plans to take it on the road. He hopes to have showings in several cities. His goal is to get to Broadway in New York City.
The 35-year-old said he wrote and directed the play.
