ORLANDO THEATER REVIEWS

Although it’s been romanticized and idealized in sitcoms like “Friends,” the wilderness years of the modern twentysomething has been most accurately captured in Jonathan Larson’s seminal work RENT. The musical premiered on Broadway in 1996 and subsequently became a phenomenon that’s influe...

“Somebody loses, and somebody wins, and one day it’s kicks, then it’s kicks in the shins. But the planet spins. And the world goes ‘round and ‘round.” So goes the title song of the musical revue THE WORLD GOES ROUND – capturing the essence of life, love, loss and everything in between ...

As a concert, SIX maintains the momentum and energy for its audience with a consistently good set list of songs, the brazzle-dazzle of lights on the stage, and playful choreography that add up to an exciting ninety minutes of sheer, unadulterated fun....

Director Joseph Walsh has mounted this production fifteen years previously in the UK and Ireland, but he's brought a new production to Central Florida during a year that has been, to say the least, a difficult challenge for both the LGBTQ+ and local theatre communities....

The Winter Park Playhouse, in Winter Park, FL is extremely good at producing intimate, sometimes lesser-known, but always high-quality musicals. In my short time here in Orlando, I have had the pleasure of visiting the Playhouse on a few occasions, and each time have been thrilled at my experience �...

There’s no arguing that musicals made from movies can be hit or miss. Broadway has had it’s share of them over the last few decades. Sometimes they work well (e.g., HAIRSPRAY, LEGALLY BLONDE, THE PRODUCERS) and sometimes not so much (e.g., CARRIE, KING KONG, DRACULA) but there is something parti...

Thomas “Fats” Waller, a pioneer in jazz piano, was a prolific composer, writing over 400 songs in his lifetime, with hits like “Ain’t Misbehavin’” and “Honeysuckle Rose” even making it into the Grammy Hall of Fame. So, it is no surprise that in 1978 a Broadway Musical, AIN’T MISBEH...

What’s the formula for a perfect farce? First take a bunch of unwitting characters thrown together in an unlikely scenario, add to that a lot of slamming doors, physical comedy and costume malfunctions (and maybe a bunch of sardines) and let boil over until you have immense amounts of laughter. Or...

Nothing lasts forever, but that doesn't stop us from enjoying the moments as they pass into memory. A CHORUS LINE teaches the audience this through a story that is rooted in the classic vein of 'let's put on a show,' but contains a universal message that rings true to anyone with a passion, whose li...

Twenty years ago, a group of Walt Disney World cast members decided they wanted to put their talents to good use beyond their roles within the theme parks. Inspired by an Andrew Lloyd Webber 'Birthday Concert' in which stars got together to celebrate the acclaimed composer, they likewise set out to ...

Audiences in Titusville have their own chance to journey to Bikini Bottom and visit SpongeBob and friends in Titusville Playhouse’s 58th season opener – THE SPONGEBOB MUSICAL – a visual feast of a show featuring an outstanding cast which delivers a fun, family-friendly, and highly entertaining...

These are the moments that make ON YOUR FEET such a strong musical, and the Garden Theatre's production such a monumental one. Within the intimacy of this theatre, through this masterful direction of performance and light and sound, we've been transported. ...

How do you take a brilliant piece of classic musical theatre and improve upon it? Orlando’s New Generation Theatrical's production of SWEENEY TODD, does this by breaking down the typical stage barriers and immersing the audience in the material, creating a fresh (and fantastic) production....

What happens when you take a popular comedy film, add in new music by the king of musical theatre, and put it on stage with a talented cast? You get the Orlando premiere of SCHOOL OF ROCK presented by Theatre South Playhouse in Dr. Phillips - an energetic, entertaining, and eminently electric experi...

“So, did you hear the story of the Johnstone twins? As like each other as two new pins. Of one womb born, on the self-same day, how one was kept and one given away?” These are the words spoken by the Narrator at the beginning of BLOOD BROTHERS, the long-running West End musical by Willy Russell ...

What did our critic think of JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR at Dr. Phillips Center? The show remains fundamentally a relic of the precise moment in time that Short summed up so well, when the convergence of counterculture and rock & roll meant that an irreverent but ultimately thin concept like this one —...

Somewhere on Highway 57 between Frog Level and Smyrna sits a little diner across from a service station where the pie is fresh, the beer is cold, and the gas is cheap (if that’s even possible these days). Such is the setting for the Off-Broadway hit musical PUMP BOYS AND DINETTES. And in its lates...

But BEAUTIFUL is structured differently than most 'backstage biomusicals.' It's not a rags to riches story, exactly, nor the routine tale of one woman's ascent to superstardom. Mercifully, we are spared the obligatory plot points of that particular formula. King never learns her contract is unconsci...

There are some musicals that just make you smile and can do so regardless of how many times you have seen in them. For me, one of those shows is (and will always be) LEGALLY BLONDE THE MUSICAL. Read our critic's review about this production of this fun and uplifting musical,. Titusville Playhouse de...

In the opening number of Elton John and Tim Rice’s hit musical, AIDA, Princess Amneris sings - “Every story, tale or memoir, every saga or romance, whether true or fabricated, whether planned or happenstance….All are tales of human failing, All are tales of love at heart.” and with those ope...

Director Roberta Emerson has devised an intriguing way to approach the story's outer framework without altering the libretto. The story opens not with an unseen narrator recounting the enchantress's spell on a prideful prince and his servants but instead with a young Black girl (played sweetly by Ga...

In the world of musical theatre there are productions that come along that deliver the perfect storm of creative expression. This elusive synergy can be due to the topic or setting being extremely relevant to the time that it is performed or can come from the blending of top-notch talent, creative v...

A CHORUS LINE, the hit Broadway musical about performers auditioning for a Broadway show played for 6,137 performances in its original run due to several factors. Audiences simply connected with the characters on stage and related to their lives, their experiences, and their passion for pursuing the...

The biggest draw to an evening with Alan Cumming may be just that: it’s an evening with Alan Cumming, a playful and energetic personality you like right away. His easy wit and effortless charm create an atmosphere that feels distinctly personal and intimate, even a thousand miles south of Club Cum...

Now I would never wish harm on cats, of course. It's just that they ought not wish it on me either. But as I sat there bored nearly to felicide Tuesday night and praying for a cat-pocalypse on stage, I couldn't help but wonder why there's not a PETA for theatregoers - and if there were whether they'...