Vandy Wood News

Orlando Repertory Theatre opens the season with a chilling retelling of Washington Irving's classic, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, adapted for the stage by Derek G. Martin and Jesse M. Sullivan.  Just in time for Halloween, this production runs October 8 – 31, 2021, and is sponsored in part by the Orange County Government through the Arts & Cultural Affairs Program.

In the world of musical theatre, there are some shows that feel fresh and new, no matter how many times you see them. These are the musicals you drop everything to experience even if it may be your fortieth time. For musicals like that, the thrill of seeing what a different theatre, director, designer, or actor may do with a favorite piece can often be just as thrilling as sitting in an audience for opening night of a world premiere musical. For me, this is the case with Alan Menken and Howard Ashman’s LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS – a cautionary tale of what lengths some may take for love, fame and success all wrapped up in a colorful, fun, and nearly perfect book with catchy songs and memorable characters. A frequent choice when asked what my favorite musical may be (and I have seen/heard/performed in many), LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS is the perfect mix of comedy, horror, camp and love story all rolled into one. So, imagine my thrill sitting outside (without a mask based on the new CDC rules!) at the Walt Disney Amphitheatre in Lake Eola Park on opening night of Orlando Shakes latest production as the chords of the opening number began. Excitement, anticipation, and curiosity - and I am here to tell you 100 minutes later (without intermission) my expectations were not only met, but exceeded.

For their second in-person, socially distanced production at Lake Eola Park, Orlando Shakes in partnership with UCF is taking over Orlando with the hilarious award-winning, musical send-up of sci-fi 50’s movies, Little Shop of Horrors (May 5 - 23, 2021).

For their second in-person, socially distanced production at Lake Eola Park, Orlando Shakes in partnership with UCF is taking over Orlando with the hilarious award-winning, musical send-up of sci-fi 50’s movies, Little Shop of Horrors (May 5 - 23, 2021).

The brilliant, new children's musical, Interstellar Cinderella produced by Orlando Shakes in partnership with UCF, runs from April 9 - May 2, 2020. Based on the book by Deborah Underwood, this musical features music and lyrics by Laurie Berkner and book by Barbara Zinn Krieger.

Orlando Repertory Theatre (Orlando REP) will close the run of Tuck Everlasting on September 29, after receiving heartfelt reviews by critics and audiences alike. Based on the novel by Natalie Babbitt, with book by Claudia Shear and Tim Federle, music by Chris Miller and lyrics by Nathan Tysen, Tuck Everlasting tells the story of the eternal Tuck Family and their meeting of Winnie Foster, a young girl with quite an adventure ahead of her.

Orlando Shakes in partnership with UCF's production of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and adapted by Jim Helsinger runs from November 28 - December 30, 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).

The Jungle Book adapted by April-Dawn Gladu, produced by Orlando Shakes in partnership with UCF, appears in the Margeson Theater from October 18 - November 16, 2018. Tickets ($10 - $20) are available now by phone (407) 447-1700 ext. 1, online through 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 A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and adapted by Jim Helsinger runs from November 28 - December 30, 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).

The Jungle Book adapted by April-Dawn Gladu, produced by Orlando Shakes in partnership with UCF, appears in the Margeson Theater from October 18 - November 16, 2018. Tickets ($10 - $20) are available now by phone (407) 447-1700 ext. 1, online through orlandoshakes.org, or in person at the John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center (812 East Rollins Street).

Orlando Repertory Theatre (Orlando REP) is proud to A Year With Frog and Toad(September 4 - 30, 2018). This production is presented by Orange County Arts & Cultural Affairs, and Disney. Orlando REP's 2018 - 2019 season is sponsored by Florida Hospital for Children.

The time has come for the 63rd Annual Drama Desk Awards, hosted by Michael Urie, June 3 (8:00 PM) at The Town Hall in Manhattan.

In the past few weeks, we've watched the nominations roll in. Today the final crop of nominees have been revealed, all leading to next week's ultimate announcement- the 2018 Tony nominations.

A staged reading of Steve Yockey's Blackberry Winter, presented by Orlando Shakespeare Theater (Orlando Shakes) in Partnership with UCF as a part of UCF Celebrates the Arts, will appear April 9, 2018 in the Alexis & Jim Pugh Theater. This production of Blackberry Winter originally appeared at Orlando Shakes in 2017, after the script was featured as a reading at the Theater's PlayFest 2014. To raise awareness of caregiving in its various forms for Alzheimer's, dementia, and other conditions, the reading will be followed by a post-show talkback with the playwright, caregivers, and performers. Tickets ($20) are available online now at http://arts.cah.ucf.edu/event/blackberry-winter.

The Garden Theatre begins performances this week of its highly anticipated historical drama, A Tennessee Walk. Presented March 16 - 31, 2018 the award-winning play by Garden Theatre's artistic director Rob Winn Anderson shines new light on a seldom-told, true story of a circus elephant that was executed by a hysterical public.

Almost, Maine, the unincorporated village in the rural wilderness in New England's northernmost state, is a cute, quant town filled with residents that have each gone a teensy bit stir-crazy after years of snowed-in winters spent staring out at miles and miles of shimmering snow and sparkling stars. The result is a delightfully whimsical comedy by John Cariani, running through June 11th at TheatreUCF. Consisting of nine, metaphor-laden vignettes, we meet the eclectic, silly, neurotic, and adorable citizens of Almost, on their paths to finding, accepting, and letting go of love.

Ambition can be a dangerous thing, whether you are a guitar-playing drifter in early Twentieth Century Orlando, or a playwright attempting to recontextualize an outdated work. In SPUNK AND THE HARLEM LITERATI, running through January 31st, UCF Theatre professor Be Boyd attempts to take an existing play by author and playwright Zora Neale Hurston, and ham-handedly shoehorn it into a framing device that seeks to admirably put the works of Hurston and her African-American contemporaries into proper cultural context. Unfortunately, the lack of connection between the framing scenes, set on a Harlem rooftop, and those of the play proper, set in rural Eatonville, Florida, robs both of any greater significance.

Happy Holidays! It's the last week to vote for the 2015 BroadwayWorld Orlando Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of December 18. Nominations were reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors. Voting runs through December 31!

Time is running out to vote for the 2015 BroadwayWorld Orlando Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of December 18. Nominations were reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors. Voting runs through December 31!

Voting is fully underway for the 2015 BroadwayWorld Orlando Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of December 11. Nominations were reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors. Voting runs through December 31.