Kayla Alvarez

Orlando Shakes in partnership with UCF's production of Lin-Manuel Miranda's In the Heights runs from September 5 - October 7, 2018. Tickets (starting at $30) are available now by phone (407) 447-1700 ext. 1, online at orlandoshakes.org, or in person at the John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center (812 East Rollins Street).

Orlando Shakes in partnership with UCF's production of Lin-Manuel Miranda's In the Heights runs from September 5 - October 7, 2018. Tickets (starting at $30) are available now by phone (407) 447-1700 ext. 1, online at orlandoshakes.org, or in person at the John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center (812 East Rollins Street).

ThanksKilling The Musical is quickly being hailed as the must-see Fringe Show of 2017.  The cast is putting the final touches on this journey through blood, guts, laughs, drinking games, and more. Get to know them before the run below!

After critically acclaimed and sold out productions in Seattle, New York Columbus and Atlanta, ThanksKilling The Musical flies into Central Florida this spring. Get ready Orlando, Turkie is coming for you!

S-P-E-L-L-I-N-G B-E-E. Those 11 letters spell out 'spelling bee,' but in the Garden Theatre's production of THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE, those 11 letters spell so much more than that. Based on a fictional spelling bee in the fictional Putnam County, this hilarious and heartfelt tale centers on six young spellers who made it through various rounds in their own school's spelling bee to compete at the illustrious 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Along with the six adolescent kids are the three adults who run the bee. Each child is played by an adult and each of them have their own quirks, hardships, and goals which make this show an absolute delight. 

The cast for TheatreWorks Florida's Central Florida Premiere of the musical ROCK OF AGES is dynamite; easily one of the two or three best collections of talent that I have seen on an Orlando stage in my three-plus seasons of Central Florida theatergoing. Director and choreographer Scott A. Cook has crafted an impressively ambitious production with a top-notch, multi-level set from James F. Beck. The silly show is trivial at best, but that is the exact mark that it aims to hit, and the onstage band, led by music director Shannon Kropf, rocks incredibly hard to some of the most recognizable tunes of the hairband-era.

TheatreWorks Florida will present the Central FL regional premiere of Rock Of Ages, opening at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts (Alexis and Jim Pugh Theater) Sept 28 - Oct 9, 2016 for 15 sizzling performances. TheatreWorks Florida is proud to announce the outstanding cast, band, designers and staff of Rock Of Ages...

TheatreWorks Florida will present the Central FL regional premiere of Rock Of Ages, opening at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts (Alexis and Jim Pugh Theater) Sept 28 - Oct 9, 2016 for 15 sizzling performances. TheatreWorks Florida is proud to announce the outstanding cast, band, designers and staff of Rock Of Ages...

Barbi Miller and Jay Levy of Jutes Productions have joined GOAT and Pipsqueak Collective to collaborate on the production of a cabaret called I Dreamed A Role. Directed and Stage managed by Jay Levy and Music Directed by Eric Walters, this cabaret is a journey that takes you through dream roles that some of Orlando's finest  performers never had that chance to bring to life -- until now. 

?DayStar Studio Productions has announced that the groundbreaking rock musical SPRING AWAKENING will play at the Alexis and Jim Pugh Theater at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts June 19 through 26.

For community theatres, producing a musical can be ambitious for any number of reasons; the difficulty of the music, the complexity of the dramatic content, the number of settings required, the size of the cast needed, but it is difficult to imagine a more ambitious project than the Wayne Densch Performing Arts Center's recent production of BRING IT ON THE MUSICAL. Though the stage adaptation's story, script, and score are completely original, they do draw inspiration from the series of teen films of the same name set in the high-stakes world of competitive high school cheerleading. Against that backdrop, the story is a funny, surprisingly touching tale of female empowerment and friendship.

There are few shows in the American Musical Theatre cannon that are as intriguing as CARRIE THE MUSICAL. From it's legendary Broadway flop in 1988 to the re-worked Off-Broadway revival in 2012, despite its rocky history, CARRIE fascinated theatre-goers. Last week, Clandestine Arts opened the musical's Central Florida premiere at the ME Theatre, and will run through through August 30th (BroadwayWorld Orlando's review will come out on Thursday). Recently, I chatted with Clandestine's founder and CARRIE's co-director Derek Critzer about the process of choosing and producing this unusual musical.

There is something noble about earnestly attempting to do good, despite the overwhelming evidence that what you are embarking upon is almost certainly doomed to disappoint. Not only is that sentiment at the center of CARRIE THE MUSICAL, which Clandestine Arts is premiering in Central Florida through August 30th at the ME Theatre, but it also accurately describes the undertaking of performing this infamous piece of musical theatre history. Like Carrie's senior prom, unless everything goes unbelievably perfectly, the musical is likely going to be a substantial let-down. While Clandestine has put together an impressively talented group of young performers, especially in the show's four leads, the uneven and sloppy production undermines whatever power the piece might otherwise have had.