Libby Champion - Page 2

From December 1 to 18, the beloved tale of Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol' comes to life at the Athens Theatre in Deland. This particular telling of the story is a musical version with singing and dancing numbers. While I'm not sure I particularly enjoyed the musical version of the show, I can definitely say that the outstanding performances of the cast are well worth the cost of a ticket. 

The business side of Mad Cow Theater may be going through a rough patch, but you'd never know it by their recent production of Pygmalion, the beloved tale by George Bernard Shaw. On the Sunday afternoon that I attended the show, the theater was almost full and both the actors and the audience seemed to be having a lovely time (and rightly so as the show was fabulous!).

The rigidness of the acclaimed PBS show Upton Abbey and the unpredictability and overall silliness of improv theater. These things could never work together... or could they? While these two genres of theater couldn't be more different, they come together to form both a hilarious and heartfelt night of theater.

Montverde Academy in Montverde, Florida will be showing the critically acclaimed 13: THE MUSICAL starting this week. The show centers on 13-year-old Evan Goldman who moves from New York City to Indiana. Goldman must escape gossip and blackmail if he hopes to make friends and find peace and happiness at his new school. The play deals with the hardships of leaving familiar places for unfamiliar ones, fitting in with your peers, and transitioning from youth to adulthood. Montverde Academy's production will be entered in the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts Applause Awards for the 2016-17 year. Unlike many school productions in which teenage kids play adults, '13' is unique since kids are playing kids their age. Broadway World Orlando's Libby Champion caught up with the director of the production, Roberta Emerson, to talk about what that experience is like for kids and to see how composer Jason Robert Brown's tough musical score affected the cast.

Good and evil. Purity and sin. Divinity and hell. These things are complete opposites and many would argue that people can be either one or the other. But is it possible that both of these traits can live inside of us? Can each of us have a darkness inside of them yearning to be free? In Orlando Shakes' DR. JEKYLL & MR. HYDE these are the questions audience members find themselves asking.

Magic shows. These two little words spark so many different thoughts, feelings and opinions from people. Some view them as a complete farce and waste of time, while others are completely fascinated by the sleight of hand, the disillusionment and the mystery behind it all. I happen to be the latter type of person and have seen my fair share of magic shows, so I really wasn't expecting to see anything new or daring in this particular show. Boy, was I wrong! In THE ILLUSIONISTS the seven different type of magicians promise they will "notice, observe, deduce" in a way never seen before, and they absolutely do not disappoint.

Have you ever gone through life feeling like a fly on the wall? Ever heard something you wish you hadn't and ended up saving the day because of it? In Rollins College's THE FOREIGNER, Englishman Charlie does just that.

1942 - it was the time of the big band, war bonds for the troops, and radio. Winter Park Playhouse's ALL HANDS ON DECK transports the audience back to that time with classic tunes, hilarious jokes, and so much more. Based on Bob Hope's 1942 USO tour during World War II, this roadshow turned radio show for the troops has stopped in Winter Park, Florida for the evening!

Perfectly encapsulating the great singer Billie Holiday is no easy feat. The legendary jazz singer with a career spanning over thirty years was a mystery to many people - she was beautiful and talented but her personal life was shrouded in drug and alcohol addiction and a myriad of abusive relationships. On paper, it's easy to leave it at that and move on - another celebrity sob story. But in Cultural Fusion's production of LADY DAY AT EMERSON'S BAR AND GRILL, words normally associated with Holiday such as 'revered', 'pain' and 'soulful' take on a whole new meaning, and Holiday's story is so much more than that.  

I caught up with the cast of Orlando Shakespeare Theater's WEST SIDE STORY and learned a few of the moves from the show.

Not sure what you're in the mood for for dinner tonight? How about five generations of an American family with a side of laughs, tears, and introspective reflection? If that sounds like something you could munch on, then the Mad Cow Theatre's THE BIG MEAL is for you. This outstanding play by Dan LeFranc is directed by Mark Edward Smith and serves up the story of two characters - Sam and Nicole - and their journey through the feast that is life.

Based on the quintessential British comedy Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the Athens Theater's production of SPAMALOT will have you not only crying of laughter, but wishing you could see it again and again. Whether you're the number one Monty Python fan in your family and know every line of the film, or this is your first dive into the quirky and over-the-top humor of Python, the show's wit, tenacity, and outstanding musical numbers leave something for everyone to enjoy.

Mad Cow Theatre's latest production, THE BROTHERS SIZE, is an emotionally charged, yet fulfilling journey that leaves the audience yearning for more by the end. Named “the greatest piece of writing by an American playwright under 30 in a generation or more” by the Chicago Tribune, THE BROTHERS SIZE is an evocative and thrilling piece of work by Tarell Alvin McCraney. 

Tommy Heller has wanted to work in theatre ever since he can remember. “When I was six I saw a production of “The Christmas Carol” where I grew up in Long Island and I was totally entranced by the whole thing. That's when I knew – I just knew that theatre was going to be my thing.” Heller says. Heller is chasing those dreams by working on his BA in Theatre Studies the University of Central Florida (UCF) in his junior year. He'd one day like to be a theatre director or a screenwriter, and he recently assistant directed Theatre UCF's production of Almost, Maine running through June 11 in UCF's Black Box theater.