Kimberly Moy - Page 2

Before Gloria Estefan became a Latin pop superstar, she was a young performer whose family immigrated from Cuba. Gloria's mother, Gloria Fajardo, made her own career sacrifices for her family, which caused strife between her and her daugher. I had a chance to speak with Nancy Ticotin who plays Gloria Fajardo in ON YOUR FEET.

LIFE COULD BE A DREAM and is a dream at Winter Park Playhouse's latest revue. The music from this era is iconic, upbeat, and harkens back to a simpler time when dreams were made over the radio. The musical numbers are all instantly recognizable and make for a toe tapping enjoyable performance.

The Garden Theatre kicks off it's 10th season with JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR. This production features a number of actors who are debuting at the Garden for the first time and a number of returning faces who are all ready to rock. With a familiar story, a famous score, and great live musicians this production should have risen to the top of Garden Theater debuts.

Kavin plays Lun Tha, who is Tuptim's secret lover. Tuptim is of course a young slave girl brought to the King of Siam as a gift from the king of Burma. Lun Tha escorts her to the Siamese king's court. The pair hide their love, until Anna finds out and Tuptim and Lun Tha go on the run.

With so many great performances and classes throughout Orlando, the next logical step would increase our national arts footprint by fostering new work. That's where Winter Park Playhouse's Florida Festival of New Musicals comes in.

The first ever New Musical Festival comes to Orlando this week at Winter Park Playhouse. If you've ever wondered where musicals are born, this is how. With the help of arts organizations like Winter Park Playhouse, musical creators can refine their pieces and use it as a stepping stone towards publication. Orlando is quite the creative place and having a new musical festival fits right in. I took a moment to chat with Roy Alan, who serves as the Artistic Director for Winter Park Playhouse about the festival.

If you took almost all your favorite Rodgers and Hammerstein songs and put them together into one two hour playlist you'd have SOME ENCHANTED EVENING at Winter Park Playhouse. This combination of hit songs performed by some of Orlando's best voices make for a thoroughly enjoyable night. It's like a Rodgers and Hammerstein playlist without commercials.

All's fair in love and politics. Maybe that's not the correct saying, but it accurately describes David Hare's SKYLIGHT. Currently playing at Mad Cow Theatre, this play focuses on the complexities of the heart. It is dramatic and thought-provoking enough to leave audiences thinking about the plot days after.

Written by Tracy Letts in 2008, the play jumped to Broadway in 2009 and is now a sitcom on CBS. The original play is also now appearing at Theater On The Edge. I had a chance to catch up with Artistic Director, Marco DiGeorge about the show.

This week FINDING NEVERLAND takes the stage as the final show in the 2016 - 2017 FAIRWINDS Broadway in Orlando season. It's been a great season and next year's promises to be even better. FINDING NEVERLAND started touring in October 2016 after a decent Broadway run.

Murder is always entertaining in musical theater. The construct is usually surrounds a detective and his quest to find the suspect. MURDER FOR TWO takes that to an extreme with just two men playing all roles in this murder mystery. They also accompany themselves on the piano. It's tiring, entertaining, and astounding to watch.

It's the season of graduations and as high schoolers head off to college, it great to look back on all they've accomplished. Two local theater teens, Jasmine Forsberg and Tony Moreno are moving on to the next steps in their training and theater careers, but before they do they will perform in a Winter Park Playhouse Spotlight Cabaret. I had a chance to catch up with Jasmine and Tony as they prepare.

MATILDA is a great story with great characters, so it only makes sense that a musical would be its next iteration. Though the show closed on Broadway on January 1, 2017, the national tour still goes strong and now appears at the Dr. Philips Center.

MURDER FOR TWO begins its run at Winter Park Playhouse this week. Promising to be better than most of those murder mystery diners in the tourist area, this cabaret-style show is played by just two men. I had an opportunity to interview MURDER FOR TWO stars Michael Swickard and Kevin Kelly as they prepare to put on a lot of different hats.

Sometimes doing what is right is hard. Being a woman in a man's world is also hard. [MISS} explores the challenges faced by one of the first woman FDA researchers Dr. Frances Oldham Kelsey. This play by W.L. Newkirk is a world premiere by Playwrights' Round Table and promises to be one of the most talked about plays of the season.

Did you know that UCF has their own big band jazz program called The Flying Horse Band? Neither did I. The Flying Horse Band lead by professor Jeff Rupert, performs nationally and has their own record label. On Friday, The Flying Horse Band along with students from UCF's acting program presented THE BAT SWINGS, which was a jazz tribute to the 1960s favorite superhero, Batman.

There is no doubt that Shakespeare's influence on theater is pervasive. No one in Orlando does Shakespeare better than Orlando Shakespeare Theater. Now combine that with the talent and resources of UCF and you get THE BARD TAKES BROADWAY. As part of UCF Celebrates the Arts, this one-night show featured songstress Laura Hodos, accompanied by UCF professor Brian Hoffman, and produced by Orlando Shakes' Jim Helsinger.

ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA is one of those mandatory high school reading Shakespeare classics that never gets old. Though it is a tragedy, Orlando Shakes production is glamorous, entertaining and extremely palatable. Casting, costumes, and classic story come together to make ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA the crown jewel of the season.

No one looks forward to their mid-life crisis. Known as the time when men buy expensive sports cars and women go through the dreaded menopause. Mid-life is certainly not glamorous. So if you can't beat it, turn it into a laugh out loud musical. Winter Park Playhouse presents MID-LIFE! THE CRISIS MUSICAL, which pokes fun at all things relating to this strange time.

This week Disney's THE LITTLE MERMAID sails into the Dr. Phillips Center as The 5th Avenue Theatre, based out of Seattle, brings the show to life. I had a chance to chat with Jennifer Allen who plays the best Disney villain, Ursula.