I’ve loved musical theater ever since I was introduced to it as a child, but every once in a while, there’s a show that just exceeds all expectations. Such was my experience with seeing Hamilton last night at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in Orlando.
I first became interested in music theater as a child, but it was when I saw Betty Buckley in Cats, that like became love. She was just phenomenal.
So I was extremely excited to see Hello, Dolly! at Orlando’s Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts this week, which starred Ms. Buckley herself.
Everybody knows the story of The Wizard of Oz as told from Dorothy’s point of view. But the hit musical Wicked tells the story from the witches Glinda and Elphaba (aka “The Wicked Witch of the West”) point of view.
This show has been a bucket-list item for years, and last night, I finally got to experience it at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. It was everything I thought it would be and more.
The hit Broadway show An American in Paris opened last night at the Dr. Phillips Center, and it truly brought a vintage view of the City of Light to life.
Based on the 1951 film of the same name, the show is a musical telling of life in Paris just after WWII for a trio of men in love, and the women who bewitch them. American soldier Jerry Mulligan (played by Garen Scribner channeling Gene Kelly) opts to stay in Paris after the war as an artist, and it’s love at first sight when he meets a mysterious woman in passing named Lise Dassin (Sara Esty). He meets her again later, discovering she is a ballerina.
This week, Beautiful – The Carole King Musical is at Dr. Phillips Center, and I had the opportunity to see the show opening night.
The musical tells the story of singer-songwriter Carole King, starting with her teenage years in the 1950’s when she met her husband Gerry Goffin and the two began writing songs together.
This weekend, my family and I were invited to opening day of the Orlando Shakespeare Theater‘s production of The Magic Tree House: A Ghost Tale for Mr. Dickens.
If you have kids and have read the Magic Tree House books, you remember Jack and Annie, along with the tree house and how it magically travels through time with help from Morgan La Fey, the magical librarian of Camelot.
One of the most outrageously funny musicals produced in recent years is Monty Python’s SPAMALOT and Orlando Shakespeare Theater has chosen it to kick off their 2015-2016 season.
I caught one of the preview performances last week, and I have to say they chose wisely. It’s a wonderful production of the wacky, bawdy, and exhuberant stage version of the classic film, Monty Python and the Holy Grail.