Hannah Laird

God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater is Kurt Vonnegut’s fifth novel and was published in 1965. Its Post-Modern Satire context paved way for Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five, arguably his most well-known work. In the novel, Vonnegut highlights the life and times of the consciously-bound multi-millionaire Eliot Rosewater.

Kurt Vonnegut's God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, pays homage to Vonnegut's witty humor and energetic dialogue with an infectious score by the Oscar-winning team of Alan Menken and Howard Ashman.

Sometimes a production comes along that finds the perfect synergy between content, cast and creative vision ultimately delivering an elevated theatrical experience. And when that show is lesser known, but wildly entertaining that makes this perfect alignment seem even more rare. I am thrilled to say that The Winter Park Playhouse has found just such a production in DESPERATE MEASURES, the final offering in its 20th season. This rollicking, hilarious and superbly performed musical comedy is sure to thrill and shows off why The Winter Park Playhouse is truly a gem in the Orlando theatre community.

Closing the highly successful Winter Park Playhouse 20th Anniversary Series, the Off-Broadway hit - Desperate Measures - makes its way to the theatre's Mainstage May 12 - June 11, 2023. 

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 create a concert setting - all on their own time and dime - to help benefit the Central Florida community they call home. What began as a contingent of nearly seventy players has expanded and grown over the next two decades as hundreds of members come and go at their leisure, based upon the time they can give and the talent they can share. In a world filled with uncertainty and strife, it's a blessing that something as inherently good and selfless as Encore! Performing Arts continues to thrive.

What fun it is to take a stroll down memory lane and revisit the locations (and experiences) of our youth. Such journeys often include stops at familiar haunts, laughs at the fashions we thought were so hip at the time, and listening to the songs that served as the soundtrack to our formative years. Imagine, then, if you could roll all of those things into a musical, and you might get THE MARVELOUS WONDERETTES: DREAM ON – the current mainstage production at the Winter Park Playhouse. This fun, fabulous and fantastic time-machine of a show featuring four wonderfully talented women illustrates perfectly the kind of intimate, inviting and thoroughly entertaining production that The Winter Park Playhouse so often has to offer.

Chart-toppers, laughs and nostalgia await musical theatre patrons as The Winter Park Playhouse continues its 3-show Spring Series with a throwback to hit music of the late 60's and 70's eras in The Marvelous Wonderettes: Dream On - playing on the theatre's mainstage March 18 - April 16, 2022.  

In this time of national unrest, Theatre South Playhouse in Dr. Phillips is proud to bring back their annual Equity Stage Benefit of 'The Diary of Anne Frank' in honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 23rd.

Direct from New York City after its closing last Fall, The Winter Park Playhouse opens the country's first professional production of the Off-Broadway hit - Desperate Measures - September 20 through October 13.

Direct from New York City after its closing last Fall, The Winter Park Playhouse opens the country's first professional production of the Off-Broadway hit - Desperate Measures - September 20 through October 13. This uproarious musical comedy won both the 2018 Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards and is set for its national premiere at The Winter Park Playhouse September 20 through October 13. Performances are Friday and Saturday evenings at 7:30 p.m., Thursday and Saturday matinee performances at 2 p.m. and select Friday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m.

Hannah Laird has graced many theatre stages in the Central Florida area, but will debut her brand new cabaret, Out of My Dreams, as she takes the stage in The Spotlight Cabaret Series at the Winter Park Playhouse June 26 and 27, 2019. Playhouse Musical Director Christopher Leavy will accompany on piano.

The Winter Park Playhouse will present a humorous and heartwarming contemporary musical, Heartbeats, as the final production of its current series of professional musicals May 10 through June 9, 2019. Performances are Friday and Saturday evenings at 7:30 p.m., Thursday and Saturday matinee performances at 2 p.m. and select Friday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m.

Click your heels and join us in the newly renovated Haddam-Killingworth High School Auditorium.

Mad Cow Theatre presents The Mystery of Edwin Drood, based on Charles Dickens' unfinished novel and winner of five Tony Awards. With music, lyrics and script by the award-winning composer Rupert Holmes, The Mystery of Edwin Drood is set in a grand Victorian music hall. This hilarious interactive mystery musical tries to solve the murder of the young and charming Edwin Drood. Was it a romantic rival? The purveyor of opium and vice? The newly arrived twins from the East? Each night, the audience chooses the villain in this tuneful tale of intrigue.

The family event of the H-K school year is almost upon us! The year is 1958, and the much-adored rock-and-roll idol Conrad Birdie, played by H-K Senior, Giovanni Casella, has been drafted into the US Army.

DADDY LONG LEGS makes its Central Florida debut at Winter Park Playhouse. This charming newish musical is based on a novel by Jean Webster with music and lyrics by Paul Gordon. I found the music absolutely stunning. The two-person cast executed the piece beautifully in such a moving way; however, I got hung up on the plot holes and my jaded view of the world. Still, I left thinking, I wish I could see this again, because of the music and cast.

The Winter Park Playhouse plucks Daddy Long Legs straight from its Off-Broadway run in New York City to produce the southeast region's premiere of this well-loved musical. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

The Winter Park Playhouse plucks Daddy Long Legs straight from its Off-Broadway run in New York City to produce the southeast region's premiere of this well-loved musical.

The Winter Park Playhouse plucks Daddy Long Legs straight from its Off-Broadway run in New York City to produce the southeast region's premiere of this well-loved musical. Performances are Friday and Saturday evenings at 7:30 p.m., Thursday and Saturday matinee performances at 2 p.m. and select Friday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m.

The Winter Park Playhouse plucks Daddy Long Legs straight from its Off-Broadway run in New York City to produce the southeast region's premiere of this well-loved musical.