Orlando Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 6

BWW Review: THE GREAT AMERICAN TRAILER PARK CHRISTMAS MUSICAL at Titusville Playhouse
by Joseph Harrison - December 05, 2021

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, su...

BWW Review: A CHRISTMAS CAROL: THE NEW MUSICAL at The Henegar Center
by Joseph Harrison - November 30, 2021

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...

BWW Review: Garden Theatre Finds BIG Fun in Seldom-Staged Musical
by Aaron Wallace - November 26, 2021

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...

BWW Review: At Walt Disney World, Cirque Du Soleil's New DRAWN TO LIFE Is Nothing Less Than Actual Magic
by Aaron Wallace - November 23, 2021

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.......

BWW Review: CABARET Fits Theater West End's Vintage Vibe Like a Fishnet Stocking
by Aaron Wallace - November 23, 2021

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 performers...

BWW Review: RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER at Titusville Playhouse
by Joseph Harrison - November 20, 2021

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...

BWW Review: CINDERELLA at Orlando Repertory Theatre
by Joseph Harrison - November 15, 2021

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 Cindere...

BWW Review: THE LYONS at The Ensemble Company
by Joseph Harrison - November 09, 2021

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 fo...

BWW Review: At Dr. Phillips Center, TOOTSIE Brings Broadway Back... and 1980s Gender Ideas Too
by Aaron Wallace - November 04, 2021

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 ...

BWW Review: SIDE SHOW at The Henegar Center
by Joseph Harrison - October 17, 2021

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 in...

BWW Review: LOOPED Brings Legendary Diva Tallulah Bankhead to Electric Life at Garden Theatre
by Aaron Wallace - October 14, 2021

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...

BWW Review: WIT by The Ensemble Company
by Joseph Harrison - September 12, 2021

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 o...

BWW Review: THE GREAT AMERICAN TRAILER PARK MUSICAL at Titusville Playhouse
by Joseph Harrison - September 11, 2021

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 p...

BWW Review: THE WHO'S TOMMY at Titusville Playhouse
by Joseph Harrison - September 06, 2021

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, challenge...

BWW Review: JOSEPHINE Puts Showbiz's First Black Superstar in a One-of-a-Kind Spotlight at Theater West End
by Aaron Wallace - August 30, 2021

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...

BWW Review: Garden Theatre Reimagines MAN OF LA MANCHA as a Tale for Our Time
by Aaron Wallace - August 30, 2021

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 ...

BWW Review: NEWSIES at The Henegar Center
by Joseph Harrison - August 29, 2021

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 nois...

BWW Review: A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM at Titusville Playhouse
by Joseph Harrison - August 01, 2021

“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, and h...

BWW Review: A GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER at Osceola Arts
by Joseph Harrison - July 18, 2021

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 Steven...

BWW Review: Theater West End's DISENCHANTED Is a 'Not Safe for Fantasyland' Royal Rebellion
by Aaron Wallace - July 14, 2021

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......

BWW Review: Garden Theatre's THE BODYGUARD Is Whitney-Worthy and One-Ups the Movie
by Aaron Wallace - July 13, 2021

“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......

BWW Review: Get Up and Go to Encore Performing Arts' HEAD OVER HEELS at Orlando Shakes' Margeson Theater
by Albert Gutierrez - June 12, 2021

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....

BWW Review: BKLYN THE MUSICAL at Titusville Playhouse
by Joseph Harrison - May 30, 2021

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 Titusville...

BWW Review: Theater West End's ONCE Interrupts the Familiar with Blasts of Joy
by Aaron Wallace - May 17, 2021

Twice, ONCE won awards I thought the competition deserved. In 2012, the Broadway musical knocked out Newsies for the Tonys' top prize. Another Alan Menken musical, Enchanted, lost an Oscar to ONCE thrice - its trio of nominees falling swiftly to 'Falling Slowly' and my anger rising rapidly at home.....

BWW Review: Living Drama Theatre Proves a Show Still Shines Even WHILE THE LIGHTS WERE OUT
by Albert Gutierrez - May 16, 2021

Yet, even with the hardships this theatre has gone through, and the uncertainty of the future, all involved with WHILE THE LIGHTS WERE OUT made sure to go out on that stage and give it their all. They rose up, like a David to the mighty Goliath, to deliver entertainment for an audience that strives ...