'Flashdance: The Musical' opens Tuesday in Tampa

Thirty years ago, Flashdance was a surprise hit movie, starring Jennifer Beals as a Pittsburgh welder by day and go-go dancer at night who aspires to be a ballerina. Leg warmers and sweatshirts with a large neck hole became de rigueur, and songs from the soundtrack like Irene Cara's Flashdance … What a Feeling and Maniac ("Just a steel town girl on a Saturday night") were unavoidable. Now there's Flashdance: The Musical, starring Emily Padgett as Alex and directed and choreographed by Sergio Trujillo (choreographer for Jersey Boys), which opens Tuesday and runs through Feb. 24 at the Straz Center for the Performing Arts, Tampa. $44.50-$89.50. (813) 229-7827 or 1-800-955-1045; strazcenter.org. — John Fleming