ORLANDO THEATER REVIEWS

We have all been there. The work party that you feel compelled to attend, whether you want to or not, where some years it is just a bit of egg nog and polite conversation, and others it is a night to remember (or forget, depending on how much you have to drink). Regardless of which type of shindig y...

Visiting THE PROM in original stage form will be refreshing for those who know only the Netflix version. It's as if someone grabbed a theatrical scouring pad and scrubbed away all the glitzy, feel-good 'Glee'-dom that made Murphy's take feel slightly sugar-rushed. On stage, THE PROM is refreshingly ...

It is rare for audiences to have the chance to come back and revisit characters in a musical – and when producers do decide to go the sequel route, they often end up critically panned - take ANNIE WARBUCKS or LOVE NEVER DIES, for example. But when a show already doesn’t take itself too seriously...

The holidays, for many, are about family, food, and traditions. We listen to familiar songs, pull out decorations that have been in the family for generations, and partake in the annual viewing of familiar holiday classics. One of those classics, that holds a special place for many, and which has be...

BIG props to the artistic team behind BIG: THE MUSICAL at Garden Theatre. They built a BIG all-wood roller coaster right on stage. It's a beauty to look at, honestly as dazzling as the famous real-deal I rode at Dollywood two weeks ago. You can't ride the Garden's, but it does move. The show's vario...

Read our full review of Cirque Du Soleil's New DRAWN TO LIFE show. DRAWN TO LIFE's stagecraft and special effects are second to none. People and objects move about the stage - and through the air - in ways they shouldn't be able to.......

CABARET and Theater West End are a match made in the heavens of art direction, so much so that it’s nearly a wonder they hadn’t staged it here til now. The plexiglass partitions even hint at the giant mirror that faced this show’s earliest audiences on Broadway — I caught reflections from pe...

The holidays, for many of us, are for family, food, and good cheer. They are also a time where tradition plays a major role. From favorite dishes around the holiday table to annual visits to see Santa Claus at the mall, traditions help ground us and connect us to a time when things were simpler. And...

Sometimes, when the stresses of life get too be too much, nothing soothes the soul more than escaping into a good story. This can be particularly true when that story is one that holds special meaning for you – one you read as a child, or that meant something to someone special. The story of Cinde...

Family can be very complicated. Just think about it – parents with unique personalities and perspectives bring children into the world who have their own quirks and problems and everyone lives together for an extended period under the same roof and are subject to common ups and downs. It can be a ...

But when all is said and done, after the big speeches are made and the morals have been imparted, TOOTSIE's 1982 DNA proves inextricable. Its parting lesson is fundamentally that women should be women and men should be men. The show's progressivism is limited to a fairly surface-level, lighthearted ...

In today’s society, when someone is born with a birth defect, has an unusual look or is simply unlike most others, we use our understanding of science and a myriad of protections and laws to ensure those individuals receive equal treatment. They have the opportunity (and right) to live their life ...

Actually, LOOPED is more specific than that. The movie in question is Die! Die! My Darling!, and by the time Act I opens, filming has already wrapped. We meet Ms. Bankhead as she barges into a post-production editing room with an F word so boisterous and stylish it could only leap from the lips of a...

Sometimes the theatre is the perfect place to explore some of life’s toughest questions. Playwrights and actors for thousands of years have been using the stage to help audiences grasp the core tenets of philosophy, religion, and metaphysical concepts. So, it is apt that the most recent production...

It’s always exciting to get to be the first to experience something. From the first person in line to buy the newest iPhone, to the first guests to board a new theme park ride, there is a special thrill in being there when something great begins. That was my experience last night at the very first...

With one of the more memorable rock and roll scores of the 20th century, THE WHO’S TOMMY has been entertaining, exciting, confounding, and stimulating listeners for over 50 years. And with its current production of this iconic score (now full-fledged musical), Titusville Playhouse thrills, challen...

It is a marvel to fathom the many aptitudes required of Tymisha Harris in crafting and delivering JOSEPHINE, a 75-minute, one-act, one-woman show that the Orlando native co-created and took to New York and international tour. She, like the trailblazer she honors, is a singular force of manifold tale...

This latest production puts the classic tale of Don Quixote and its author in an almost shocking new context - one that's as powerful as it is surprising... Though the dialogue stays the same, with references to the Inquisition intact, Cervantes's prison is very clearly a U.S. immigration detention ...

Everyone loves to cheer for the underdog, especially when they are standing up for something that needs to change – injustice, cruelty, unfairness, or lack of voice. And in many ways, it is easy to relate to those struggling to be heard - the lone, but loud, voices of reason cutting through the no...

“Something familiar, something peculiar, something for everyone a comedy tonight!” As the lyrics in the opening number of the classic musical, A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM, convey – it is a comedy with a little something for everyone. And in the hands of the talented, nimble,...

A musical about love? Nothing new there – from Broadway classics to modern musicals, love is often a prevailing theme for a night at the theatre. But love and murder? Well, now you are talking about something unique. And something uniquely thrilling is what you get with Robert L. Freedman and Stev...

Spot-on casting is nothing out of the ordinary at Theater West End, nor are tasteful set direction or an overall atmosphere of well-themed festivity. But for all the production's successes, Dennis T. Giacino's musical, as written, never fully realizes its potential......

“THE BODYGUARD on stage sounds fun,” I thought, “but is there really anybody in Winter Garden who can handle Whitney Houston songs for two whole hours?” It turns out there are at least two people up to the task, and The Garden’s got them both......

They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks, yet that is exactly what the intrepid team behind HEAD OVER HEELS sought to do. The 2018 musical retells Sir Philip Sidney's Old Arcadia by way of Shakespearean line delivery and the music of The Go-Go's....

Has anyone ever read you a fairytale? So goes the opening line of “Once Upon A Time” the best-known song from BKLYN THE MUSICAL, a show that you might not have heard of before (it played on Broadway in 2004) but one that, in the hands of the stellar team of performers and creatives at the Titusv...