I am a Tampa native and have lived in this area my whole life. It was not until a few years ago that I visited Tampa Theater for the first time. I really enjoyed it and have been back a couple times, although not as often as I would like. This Tuesday I finally had the opportunity to take the Balcony to Backstage Tour. The biggest bonus for me as a photographer is that I got to go in before the tour and take photos without anybody except for the organist in the theater. You can get more details about the history here, but I will give you the executive summary. Tampa Theater was built in 1926 by famed theater architect John Eberson. Inside Tampa Theatre, audiences are transported to a lavish, romantic Mediterranean courtyard replete with old-world statuary, flowers and gargoyles. Over it all is a nighttime sky filled with twinkling stars. For 10 cents, you could escape into a fantasyland for two hours, see first class entertainment and be treated like royalty by uniformed platoons of ushers and attendants. Tampa Theatre was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. The tour is well worth your visit if you have not been.