Los Lonely Boys: Leon Russell

Saenger Theatre Dept: Podunk no more. Looking more like Buenos Aires than Miami, this Florida panhandle town attracts loyal opera lovers, true, but picnicking families flock to the town s free outdoor concerts, hipsters old and young love Vinyl Music Hall headliners Leon Russell, Doctor John, Los Lonely Boys. Ballet, symphony and opera happen at the Saenger Theatre, a gorgeously restored 1920s vaudeville house in the heart of old downtown, according to The Star. Downtown tells a different story. Historical Village homes are tended by costumed interpreters on Spanish-named streets; the repurposing of old buildings is well established: the Art Museum used to be the jail; the History Museum was once City Hall and pENSACOLA, FLORIDA A night at an opera fundraiser wasn t part of the plan, but a friend had tickets, so here we were, raising our glasses to the upcoming season. I d expected beaches, yes, and sun double yes but opera? The raven-haired mezzo soprano on my right sets me straight. This used to be a podunk place, but not now. Pensacola seems quite content having multiple personalities, boasting of its Five Flags history Spanish, French, British, Confederate, USA . Across the long bay bridge, beach hotels Jimmy Buffet s Margaritaville resort is the newest cluster on Santa Rosa Island; rental condos line Perdido Key, where wintering Canadians are enticed by deep discounts offered between January and March. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.