“Josh Recommends” by Josh Garrick – in a Season Preview – Fall 2021 

The Arts Scene in Central Florida is chock full of wondrous arts groups who can’t wait to get back into their performance spaces to – once again – share the extraordinary joys of LIVE performance with us. Read on, my friends. There are classics for some and new works for others, and NOW is the time to reserve your tickets to become a part of it all … 

The Garden Theatre in Winter Garden presents
Man of LaMancha
August 27 to September 19 
One of the greatest Broadway musicals of all time, Man of La Mancha is a story of hope set against a background of despair. Dealing with the Spanish Inquisition (in the original), the Garden Theater boldly updates their version to a detention camp on the Texas border. Miguel de Cervantes transforms into the legendary “knight” Don Quixote in order to ‘humanize’ his fellow detainees through storytelling and song. This affirmation of good in the human spirit helps each of us to dream “The Impossible Dream” while seeking the good in each of us. Please note this production is for mature audiences and contains scenes of violence and abuse. That said, this musical is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Call 407.877.4736 or visit gardentheatre.org

The Breakthrough Theatre in Winter Park presents 
Steel Magnolias
September 3 to 20 
Congratulations to the Breakthrough Theatre – who will open their new season in a NEW home -- with one of the most touching comedy-dramas of all time -- STEEL MAGNOLIAS. The 1989 film featured an all-star cast including Sally Field, Dolly Parton and Julia Roberts in a play about a group of women in a small-town southern community -- and how they cope with the death of one of their own. Writer Robert Harling based the story on the death of his sister. The title suggests the main female characters can be both as delicate as a magnolia flower, and as tough as steel. Call 407.920.4034 or visit breakthroughtheatre.com 

Orlando Shakespeare in Orlando presents
Every Brilliant Thing
September 22 - October 16, 2021
Orlando Shakes returns to its “home theaters” with a play about laughter. This uplifting story explores the lengths we will go to for those we love. With laughter as ‘the antidote to all things,’ this play is the funniest play you’ll ever see about depression—and possibly one of the funniest plays you’ll ever see. When his Mom is depressed, a young child assembles a list of all the things that make life wonderful. From “ice cream” to “sunshine,” the list grows as the child grows. Told with audience participation, I’m betting you smiled just reading that. Call 407.447.1700 or visit orlandoshakes.org

Winter Park Playhouse presents 
The Book of Merman (as in Ethel) 
September 24 to October 17
Beginning with the fact that any theatrical event related to the great Ethel Merman is bound to be fun and chock full of great songs, the Winter Park Playhouse offers a Regional Premiere -- fresh from its wildly funny Off-Broadway run. The new musical comedy takes a hilarious look at a real encounter between Ethel Merman and two young Mormon ‘missionaries’ who arrived at her door. With a witty original score and a from-the-heart message about being true to yourself, this new musical comedy is (like Ethel Merman) big, brassy and fun! Call 407.645,0145 or visit winterparkplayhouse.org

The Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra at Calvary Orlando at 1199 Clay St. in Winter Park
Presents Opening Night September 25 at 7:30 pm 
Featuring Eric Jacobsen, conductor and Rimma Bergeron-Langlois, violin
Program: National Anthem, Gottschalk’s Symphony No. 2, and Brahms’ Violin Concerto
Called “An Opening Night Mix Tape,” our brilliant Conductor and Music Director Eric Jacobsen leads the Orlando Philharmonic and Concertmaster Rimma Bergeron-Langlois as they execute the technical fireworks of Brahms’s exuberant Violin Concerto. Before that -- Symphony No. 2 by American composer Louis Moreau Gottschalk is to be performed in a very special Opening Night sneak preview of the symphony the Orchestra will record later this season. Visit orlandophil.org

Orange County Regional History Center in Orlando presents
Giants, Dragons & Unicorns: The World of Mythic Creatures
On exhibit October 2, 2021 to January 23, 2022
Originally created by the American Museum of Natural History in New York, Giants, Dragons & Unicorns: The World of Mythic Creatures features unique ‘cultural objects’ that highlight the similarities -- and differences -- in the ways people around the world have envisioned, described or depicted mythic creatures. The exhibition includes cast fossils of prehistoric animals to investigate how – through false identification, fear, or simple human imagination – fossils may have inspired the legends around these “creatures.” For example, dinosaur fossils were mistaken for the remains of griffins, and tales of mermaids or sea monsters came from exaggerated fisherman’s stories of real creatures such as the oarfish and giant squid. Fascinating! Call 407.836.8500 or visit thehistorycenter.org

The Mad Cow Theatre in Downtown Orlando presents 
A Year with Frog and Toad
October 6 to 24
Based on the “Frog and Toad” children's stories written and illustrated by Arnold Lobel, this beloved Broadway hit and Tony-nominated musical lifts every heart—amphibious, mammal … and even reptilian, with its jazz score performed by singing and dancing vaudeville-styled forest creatures. This musical is for any kid (or grownup-child-at-heart) who wants to celebrate the morale boosting joys of friendship. Call 407.297.8788 or visit madcowtheatre.com 

The Orlando Ballet presents
The Jungle Book
October 7 to October 10
The Orlando Ballet opens their season with a colorful retelling of Rudyard Kipling’s stories from The Jungle Book. With whimsical costumes, imaginative sets, and music that conjures the magic of young Mowgli’s life in the jungle, this performance is for audiences of all ages. Join in Mowgli’s jungle adventures as he befriends monkeys, Baloo the Bear, a larger-than-life Bengal Tiger and a clever, 50-foot-long-snake. Within the run, there is also a condensed one-hour performance of the ballet specially designed for families of all ages. For more, call 407.418.9828 or visit orlandoballet.org 

Photo: Eugene Ballet

Opera/Orlando presents 
La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi 
October 29 and 31 
Opera/Orlando has a great track record for up-dating great operas. For example, they updated Mozart’s Don Giovanni to a contemporary college campus … and it was brilliant. La Traviata is a perennial favorite in the opera world, and it will open Opera/Orlando’s fall season with another update to today. Instead of taking place in the original 1853, this version is based on the true story of a 26-year-old “hostess” of a high stakes’ poker game named Molly Bloom. The lead couple will “honeymoon” in a Hamptons summer house, and she will eventually die from cancer (not TB) in a contemporary hospital room. More later. Set for performance at the Dr. Phillips Center, visit operaorlando.org for tickets. 

 

Josh Garrick is the Florida Arts Editor for Wandering Educators