ORLANDO THEATER REVIEWS

A welcome break from all the holiday shows and holiday parties is THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA. It is a simple love story of guy meets girl, except she's American and they're all in Italy. Add some amazing vocalists to sing the luscious score of Adam Guettel and Mad Cow's THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA is every...

The classic 1946 holiday movie, IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE comes to life on stage, but with an Orlando Shakes twist. Brilliantly staged as a live radio play, the audience gets to see and hear IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE as if it were being performed in as an old time radio show - cleverly branded WOST. This un...

It's the classic Dickens tale that has a long history at Theatre Downtown. Theatre Downtown's A CHRISTMAS CAROL is a chilling, yet entertaining piece that stays true to the original story. It transforms a theater in Orlando to a cold winter in 1840s London. No matter what the temperature outside, th...

It's got rhythm; It's got music; Who could ask for anything more? This production is complete with toe-tapping dance routines and memorable hit songs. Gershwin fans rejoice as the Winter Park Playhouse pays tribute to all the great songs written by George and Ira Gershwin in CRAZY FOR GERSHWIN....

It may not be snowing in Florida, but the holiday season has arrived. With the theme parks already decorated and holiday shopping in full swing, it is important to take a moment to enjoy the good times. Orlando Rep is the first of many local theaters beginning their holiday programs debuting RUDOLPH...

VENUS IN FUR is a story within a play written by David Ives. Performed in Mad Cow's intimate black box theatre, the tension and sexiness is palatable at such close range. Tim Williams and Piper Rae Patterson are a smoldering pair as both teeter between innocence and raw unleashed desires....

Based off the popular Magic Tree House book series by Mary Pope Osborne, A NIGHT IN NEW ORLEANS makes its rolling world premiere at Orlando Shakespeare. Not only does this production introduce young audiences to musical theater, it also provided Orlando public school students with an opportunity to ...

The biggest show of Orlando's Broadway Across America season, THE BOOK OF MORMON is finally here and playing at Bob Carr. It is destiny that a show that cites Orlando as the greatest place ever, brings the audience to its feet. Even people who do not like musicals are lining up and getting excited t...

Much darker than anything you would expect from a play based off a classic children's tale, ALICE LOST IN WONDERLAND is a psychological thriller written to bring the audience to the edge of sanity. It is haunting, curious, and in a strange way moving. ALICE LOST IN WONDERLAND makes its World Premier...

Theatre UCF's fall musical, THE DROWSY CHAPERONE is a show within a show that delights musical theater fans by spoofing everything that defines our obsession. It is definitely recommended for anyone who has listened to a show's cast album over and over again. While some jokes may fly over the heads ...

This is the quintessential October production and its star John P. Keller the perfect storyteller. Original to Orlando, DRACULA: THE JOURNAL OF JONATHAN HARKER was written by Orlando Shakes Artistic Director, Jim Helsinger and is possibly the most creative retelling of the classic tale....

THE UNDERPANTS is an adaption from Carl Sternheim's 1910 play DIE HOSE. The adapter is comedian and actor, Steve Martin. Martin's humor is clearly present throughout the play with an absurd amount of overt sexual innuendos, slapstick comedy, and over-the-top characters. Though the humor is shallow, ...

It is often said that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, and that very well might prove to be true for the Wyeth family in 'Other Desert Cities,' playing now through October 27th at Orlando's Mad Cow Theatre....

THE TAMING OF THE SHREW is one of Shakespeare's most famous comedies. In popular culture the play was translated into the 1999 movie 10 Things I Hate About You starring Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles. To keep the content entertaining Orlando Shakespeare Theater staged this production in the wild west...

Orlando, Florida is one of the few places in the world that people directly correlate the city with fairy tale princesses. Orlando is also where it all started for creators Dennis Giacino and Fiely Matias, who were tired to the same old happily ever after stories. DISENCHANTED tells the tale of nine...

Who knew nuns could be so fun? When the five nuns from the Little Sisters of Hoboken put on a showcase to raise money, hilarity ensues. NUNSENSE pokes fun with Catholic Church jokes and crowd-rocking song and dance numbers....

The innocence of childhood is alive and well in the Orlando Rep's production of IVY & BEAN: THE MUSICAL. Based on the hit children's book series by Annie Barrows, IVY & BEAN: THE MUSICAL starts at the beginning of the pair's friendship. Though they live on the same cul-de-sac, Pancake Court, Ivy and...

Make no mistake about it, Shakespeare's plays, despite their intellectual reputation, are filled with content that, if written today, would draw the ire of many parents. However, when Shakespeare used rape, drugs and alcohol, and murder in his plays, it was always as a vehicle to serve the larger st...

Orlando is no stranger to high-profile murder trials, so sensationalism hits home with the true life tale of LIZZIE BORDEN. Set to a pretty score with music composed by Rich Charron, book and lyrics by Michael Wanzie, and new arrangements by John B. deHaas, all Orlando residents, this original produ...

In the pantheon of American playwrights, only Eugene O'Neill, Tennessee Williams and Thornton Wilder, can rival the artistic and cultural significance of Arthur Miller. In 1947, 'Death of a Salesman' won the second Tony Award for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize. In the years since, such stars as Ge...

QUAKE: A LOVE STORY is the saga of a couple whose marriage is ending. A powerful earthquake traps Hannah and Joe in a small closet, where they are forced to be with each other for an unknown period of time....

THE FANTASTICKS boasts a claim of the world's longest running musical. It is also a musical for musical enthusiasts. Though the plot of boy and girl fall in love seems simple enough, first-time audience members may be confused by the intrusive breaks of the fourth wall. The songs and comedy are wort...

What better way to beat the heat and have fun with the kids than seeing Orlando Shakespeare's SLEEPING BEAUTY. Based on the classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale, Brandon Robert's version of SLEEPING BEAUTY adds a modern twist that keeps the story fresh. It's short enough to keep the young audience's at...

The lack of the typical summer bombasity is only one of the many reasons that the beautifully simple 'Collected Stories,' currently running in Mad Cow Theatre's Black Box (which has surprising amounts of legroom), is a refreshing summer treat. Pultizer Prize-winner Donald Margulies' two-woman play i...