Orlando Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 12

BWW Review: Cultural Fusion's LADY DAY AT EMERSON'S BAR AND GRILL is Smooth as Silk
by Libby Champion - September 12, 2016

Perfectly encapsulating the great singer Billie Holiday is no easy feat. The legendary jazz singer with a career spanning over thirty years was a mystery to many people - she was beautiful and talented but her personal life was shrouded in drug and alcohol addiction and a myriad of abusive relations...

BWW Review: WHEN SHADOWS FALL Blends Personal, Mythological in Uniquely Thrilling Experience
by Matt Tamanini - August 19, 2016

For the second summer in a row, Pseudonym Productions has given Central Florida something special; not to mention something surprising, something a little bit sexy, and something altogether sinister. Their new interactive, immersive theatre piece, which they refer to as a 'real-life video game,' ble...

BWW Review: Mad Cow's THE BIG MEAL Will Leave You Hungry For More
by Libby Champion - August 16, 2016

Not sure what you're in the mood for for dinner tonight? How about five generations of an American family with a side of laughs, tears, and introspective reflection? If that sounds like something you could munch on, then the Mad Cow Theatre's THE BIG MEAL is for you. This outstanding play by Dan LeF...

BWW Review: Promises that I LOVE MY WIFE at Winter Park Playhouse 7/30 2pm
by Kimberly Moy - August 01, 2016

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BWW Review: Find Your Grail at the Athens Theater's SPAMALOT
by Libby Champion - July 27, 2016

Based on the quintessential British comedy Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the Athens Theater's production of SPAMALOT will have you not only crying of laughter, but wishing you could see it again and again. Whether you're the number one Monty Python fan in your family and know every line of the fi...

BWW Review: Intimate EQUUS Provides Startling Take on Pain and Passion
by Matt Tamanini - July 21, 2016

EQUUS, presented and directed by Jeremy Seghers, now playing through July 24th at Orlando event site The Acre, is not a show that will appeal to everyone, as it treads not so lightly on a number of rather taboo issues. That being said, if your sensibilities are not easily rattled, the story of a sta...

BWW Reviews: THE BROTHERS SIZE Mesmerizes at Mad Cow Theatre
by Libby Champion - July 05, 2016

Mad Cow Theatre's latest production, THE BROTHERS SIZE, is an emotionally charged, yet fulfilling journey that leaves the audience yearning for more by the end. Named “the greatest piece of writing by an American playwright under 30 in a generation or more” by the Chicago Tribune, THE BROTHERS SIZE ...

BWW Review: Exhibits Teenage Angst BARE: A POP OPERA
by Kimberly Moy - July 01, 2016

The Summer of teenage angsty themed musicals continues with BARE: A POP OPERA. It is one of those shows that never quite made it to Broadway, the closest being an off-Broadway run in 2004, but still has a cultish fan base. It is also a regional favorite with productions as far as the Philippines and...

BWW Review: SPRING AWAKENING Defines Morals at Alexis & Jim Pugh Theater
by Kimberly Moy - June 22, 2016

After what can only be described as the worst week in history for Orlando, we are all healing and trying to find answers amid so much loss. The Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts has been a gathering place and public memorial for people to gather and leave tokens of remembrance. Theater has...

BWW Review: Orlando Shakespeare Theater's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST is a Must-see for Kids of All Ages
by Danielle Ashley - June 20, 2016

After a week a heartache and pain in The City Beautiful, going to the theatre to see a whimsical show is exactly what the doctor ordered....

BWW Review: AVENUE Q Provides Humor, Acceptance, Community in Orlando's Difficult Days
by Matt Tamanini - June 14, 2016

It seems unimaginable that a single work of art can both hysterically mock and lovingly embrace some of our fondest childhood memories. However, as the 'AVENUE Q Theme Song' transitions into the first official song of the musical (one of modern musical theatre's most effective opening numbers) it be...

BWW Review: UCF's ALMOST, MAINE is Whimsical Rom-Com Filled with Kooky Characters
by Matt Tamanini - June 08, 2016

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....

BWW Review: Winter Park Playhouse Closes Season with Longest Running Musical, THE FANTASTICKS
by April Montgomery - May 23, 2016

THE FANTASTICKS opened for the first time in a small Off-Broadway theater in Greenwich Village in 1960. It has enjoyed astonishing popularity and is still running Off-Broadway to this very day. Recently, the Winter Park Playhouse opened this timeless show to close out its 2015-2016 season....

BWW Review: BEAUTIFUL's Emotional Musical Journey is One of Dr. Phillips Center's Best
by Matt Tamanini - May 05, 2016

Unsurprisingly, the crowd at Orlando's Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts for the Opening Night performance of the Tony-winning musical BEAUTIFUL, the final show of the 2015-2016 Broadway in Orlando season, was filled with baby boomers. Not only does that age group line up with traditional ...

BWW Review: Elephant and Piggie's WE ARE IN A PLAY!'Brings Favorite Children's Book to Life at Orlando Shakes
by Kimberly Moy - April 11, 2016

As a kid I was obsessed with elephants and if you took a look at my desk today, you would think that I still am. I wish that the 'Elephant and Piggie' books were around when I was a kid, but alas, author Mo Willems didn't create them until 2007. Since then, these books have been a hit with kids beca...

BWW Review: Ambitious BRING IT ON's Stars Shine at Wayne Densch PAC
by Matt Tamanini - April 04, 2016

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 Per...

BWW Review: Orlando Shakes' VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE is Fresh, Dynamic Comedy
by April Montgomery - April 03, 2016

I recently read that unless material comes out of living experience, it does not live. The truth of this premise resonated clearly when I attended preview night for Orlando Shakespeare's final play of its regular season, VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE, a show with an unmistakable heartbeat. ...

BWW Review: DIRTY DANCING is a Disappointing Disservice to Original Film
by Matt Tamanini - March 30, 2016

Since the dawn of the genre, stage shows have been adapted from various sources; books, other plays, poems, historical events, and, increasingly over the past two decades, movies. The best projects based on movies take what is special from the source material and use that as inspiration to form a fr...

BWW Review: Mad Cow's LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT is an Uneven American Masterpiece
by Matt Tamanini - March 28, 2016

Eugene O'Neill's epic LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT is undoubtedly one of the most venerated works of the American theatre. With a star-studded Broadway revival set to open in April, it is a show that is never far from the theatergoing public's consciousness. While that can be a blessing for theatre...

BWW Review: THE WHALE is a Difficult Tale of Grief, Regret at Garden Theatre
by Matt Tamanini - March 25, 2016

For most people, it is extremely difficult to watch another person struggle, especially when it comes to doing the most mundane of tasks. That could be why it is so challenging to watch Beth Marshall Presents and the Garden Theatre's jarring production of THE WHALE, directed by Rob Winn Anderson and...

BWW Review: STOMP Smashes Its Way to Orlando
by Kimberly Moy - March 25, 2016

STOMP is one of those shows I've heard about, seen the advertisements, seen the commercials, but have never experienced in person. If you're like me then it's time to see this show, if you haven't. STOMP was a concept devised in the UK by Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas in 1991. It came to the U...

BWW Review: Theatre UCF's Sparkling SHE LOVES ME is One of the Year's Best
by Matt Tamanini - March 24, 2016

Last Thursday night, 1,079 miles apart, two different casts celebrated triumphant openings of the classic Bock and Harnick musical SHE LOVES ME. In New York City, the Roundabout Theatre Company's Broadway revival opened with a cast of Tony winners and TV stars, while here in Central Florida, Theatre...

BWW Review: A Romp through the Golden Age of Broadway with SHOWTUNE! at Winter Park Playhouse
by Kimberly Moy - March 21, 2016

The music of legendary Broadway composer Jerry Herman comes together in Winter Park Playhouse's revue, SHOWTUNE. This musical journey showcases what Winter Park Playhouse does best, bringing quality musical theater performance in its simplest form to audiences who appreciate great music. Combining a...

BWW Review: Get Hooked on Fantastic Plastic with DIXIE'S TUPPERWARE PARTY
by Danielle Ashley - March 17, 2016

Ladies and gents, do you think you know your Tupperware? Well, if you haven't had the pleasure of meeting Dixie, I'd think again. For the next two weeks, Dixie Longate will be gracing Orlando, home of the Tupperware headquarters, with her presence at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts t...

BWW Review: THE ADVENTURES OF PERICLES Serves a Feast for the Senses at Orlando Shakespeare Theater
by April Montgomery - February 28, 2016

It isn't often that an experience touches the complete range of emotions that we are capable of feeling as human beings. We buy a ticket for a show and think we might laugh at a comedy, shed a few tears in a drama or perhaps fall in love with a romance. But, is it possible to thoroughly feel all of ...