Annie Russell News

This August, The Studio Theatre™ Tierra del Sol (806 San Marino Drive, The Villages, FL) opens the second Summer Show of the 2023/2024 Season: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.

Former Orlando theater and opera mainstay Frank McClain, who left Orlando in 2012 to assume the role of Managing Director of Opera Tampa and who then relocated to Dubuque, Iowa (2015) to become the Executive and Artistic Director of the Grand Opera House, will return to Orlando this summer to direct Stephen Lewis and Michael Wanzie in the Wanzie Presents production of Mass Appeal – opening on Friday, July 14th, 2023 for a limited 3-performance run.

The latest standings as of Monday, December 19th, have been released for the 2022 BroadwayWorld Orlando Awards! Nominations were reader-submitted and now our readers get to vote for their favorites.

The latest standings as of Monday, December 12th, have been released for the 2022 BroadwayWorld Orlando Awards! Nominations were reader-submitted and now our readers get to vote for their favorites.

The latest standings as of Monday, December 5th, have been released for the 2022 BroadwayWorld Orlando Awards! Nominations were reader-submitted and now our readers get to vote for their favorites.

For the first time, I was actually very anxious to get back to school during break, which is very telling of the positive environment that I’ve experienced at Rollins. Or maybe I’m just a big nerd.

OCA has announced tickets on sale for the spring production of Shrek the Musical, JR. The Running Man Theatre Company production takes place April 26 - 27, 2022, at 7 p.m. at the Annie Russell Theatre at Rollins College.

This piece is inspired by Plato's Allegory of the Cave with a modern twist which explores American identities impacted by prejudice and discrimination. This devised piece will be performed by a diverse group of performers both undergrad and professional, led by Sonia Pasqual, Marianne DiQuattro and Ghina Fawaz.

April 19 through 27, a hopelessly romantic but comically unfortunate dance hall hostess, Charity Hope Valentine, takes Winter Park audiences along on her journey to find the man of her dreams. Originally directed and choreographed by Bob Fosse, the classic Sweet Charity showcases the energy, humor, and heartbreak of life in New York City in the late 1960s.

ON THE VERGE opens this Wednesday, April 11 at Rollins College. The play follows three Victorian women as they explore Terra Incognita, an unknown land. Soon they find themselves traveling forward through time. I sat down with director Nicole Colangelo to talk about time travel, terrains, and more!

Eleemosynary is now a word I use in my daily vocabulary after learning about this play at Rollins College's Fred Stone Theatre. Written by Lee Blessing, it is the story of three strong women with distinct character traits. I had a chance to chat with student director Kaitlyn Harrington about her process and about ELEEMOSYNARY.

Next month, The Studio Theatre Tierra del Sol (806 San Marino Drive, The Villages, FL) will kick-off its second season with a Central Florida Premiere of Bad Jews, the critically acclaimed and Outer Critics Circle Award Nominee by Joshua Harmon.

The Annie Russell Theatre at Rollins College kicks off its 85th season with The Cradle Will Rock. Written in 1937, Cradle is a musical allegory set in Steeltown, USA.

The Annie Russell Theatre, the longest running theatre in Central Florida, announces their 85th season! Running September 2017 through April 2018, the season is inspired by acts of revolution and resistance, big and small.

Urinetown, the witty, clever, satirical Broadway comedy musical at the regal and historic Annie Russell Theatre at Rollins College on April 21, 2017.

The Annie Russell Theatre at Rollins College closes its 84th season with Urinetown, The Musical. This irreverent winter of three Tony awards is set in a futuristic but not-so-unrecognizable society in which water is scarce and private facilities are banned. Residents must pay a fee to a price-gouging megacorporation each time they use the bathroom. Poking fun at corporate greed, bureaucracy, and Broadway musicals, this satire tells the story of revolution incited by one hero who decides it's not 'a privilege to pee.' BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the stars in costume below!

This week, I had the chance to talk with Fiona Campbell, Nick D'Alessandro, and Anneliese Moon from the cast of A PIECE OF MY HEART at Rollins College.

          Looking at a somewhat bare, sloped stage, the audience is warned of gunshots, explosions, and other triggering scenes: Clearly, this won't be an evening of light-hearted fun. But rather than scenes of gore and violence, A Piece of My Heart invites audiences to experience the emotions and lives of the women of the Vietnam War.

The Annie Russell Theatre at Rollins College continues its 84th season with A Piece of My Heart, a drama based on the true stories of six women who served in Vietnam. Called "the most enduring play on Vietnam in the nation" by the Vietnam Veterans Association, this powerful piece portrays the lives of Army and Navy nurses, an enlisted intelligence specialist in the Women's Army Corps, a Red Cross volunteer, and a U.S.O. singer before, during, and after their deployment. Featuring the unforgettable music of the era, the play is a breathtaking examination of the far-reaching costs of war.

Last year BroadwayWorld Orlando interviewed Rollins student Kathleen Capdesuñer when she directed DETROIT. This year Kathleen directed CONSTELLATIONS as her final piece before graduation. I had a chance to catch up with Kathleen to talk about the show.