“Josh Recommends” for the Week of June 15, 2018 By Josh Garrick 

Central Florida Community Arts Presents Symphonic Cinema: The Sequel 
June 15 & 16 at 8 pm 
Performed by Over 150 Members of the CFCArts Symphony Orchestra, CFCArts presents Symphonic Cinema: The Sequel, performed by the Orchestra with a special appearance by 60 voices from the CFCArts Choir. The concert includes music from classic modern films to timeless memories from the silver screen. “You'll hear and experience something you never thought a community orchestra could do,” says Justin Muchoney, conductor of the CFCArts Symphony. “The size of our orchestra brings a power, emotion, passion, and energy that is perfectly suited for film scores like these.” Performed at Calvary Orlando at 1199 Clay Street in Winter Park, tickets are $10, $15 and $25. (age 12 and under free). Visit CFCArts.com/Cinema or call 407-937-1800 ext. 710 

Theatre UCF: Human Error – A Main-Stage Production of the Pegasus PlayLab 
June 15 to 24 and August 23 to 26
Part of Theatre UCF’s Pegasus PlayLab, a new theatre festival dedicated to developing plays by emerging playwrights, this is an opportunity to be involved in new play development with playwrights from across the country. This fully staged ‘dramady’ was first seen at Playfest 2017 at our own Orlando Shakespeare Festival. In the new play by Eric Pfeffinger, a fertility clinic mistakenly implants Madelyn and Keenan’s embryo in someone else, only to find an unlikely relationship forged between the two couples … who come from very different backgrounds. Visit theatre.ucf.edu/tickets.php or call 407.823.1500 

Orlando’s ‘Solutionary’ Peace Walk & Festival 
June 16 from 10 am to 4 pm -- Peace Walk starts at 11 am 
Join the “Solutionary Species Community” and walk with Solutionary Events and Vegetarians of Central Florida to celebrate peace, health, and compassion. Meet at the Northeast Corner of Lake Eola Park (E. Washington St) for a peaceful and educational one mile walk around Lake Eola Park, vegan food, live music, speakers, yoga, eco-friendly exhibitors and vendors, educational resources, activities for youth and more. Admission is FREE, and the Peace Walk begins at 11 am. E-mail organizers[at]solutionaryevents.com or call 941-730-4745 

Theatre UCF – Workshop Readings
“Bathsheba’s Psalms, Or, A Woman Of Unusual Beauty Taking A Bath”
June 16 & 17
Pegasus PlayLab is a new summer theatre festival at UCF dedicated to developing plays by emerging playwrights. (see above) This play, by April Ranger, is a “wild retelling of the biblical myth with Bathsheba’s voice front and center.” Both funny and sensual, the play is about David and Bathsheba from a distinctly 21st Century voice, upending several clichés about feminine beauty, power and desire. First developed at Fault Line Theatre in New York City, the audience is invited to a post-show reception with the cast following the Sunday performance. Visit theatre.ucf.edu/tickets.php or call 407.823.1500

An Evening with Chelsea Handler
June 21 at 8 pm
This sounds amazingly cool. We are invited to join comedian, activist, and author Chelsea Handler as she returns to Orlando for an evening of conversation – with NO topic off limits. This is the way it’s supposed to work: Chelsea and her ‘to-be-announced’ guest will spend 50 minutes on-stage in conversation, and after that, it’s our turn. Chelsea wants to hear from US, so for the next 30 minutes, get ready for an in-depth audience Q+A. Think about your question and expect to learn a little, be surprised, and enjoy this special event. She’s looking for real dialogue – NOT right- or left-wing banter. It’s about US letting her know what matters to us – in some ‘real’ conversation. Call 844.513.2014 or visit drphillipscenter.org. 

DONNY & MARIE at the Dr. Phillips Center 
June 30 at 8 pm 
With the chemistry that made them international stars, America’s most famous Brother/Sister act will bring their beloved selves and their beloved show to the Dr. Phillips Center for one performance only on June 30. Mixed with the dynamism of their television specials, ‘Donny & Marie’ features hits from their world famous careers including fan favorites – “A Little Bit Country,” “Paper Roses,” and “It Takes Two” in production numbers drawn from their extraordinary run at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas. They’ve been named Best Show by the Las Vegas Review Journal for three years in a row, and Entertainment Weekly makes it even simpler by calling their live performance “Insanely entertaining.” For tickets, visit drphillipscenter.org or call 844.513.2014​

On-going … 

Tony Award Winning Musical – “Fun Home” at the Mad Cow Theatre 
NOW to July 1
Winner of five Tony Awards including Best Musical, Fun Home is a tragi-comedy about family and sexual identity. Adapted from Alison Bechdel ‘s graphic memoir, Fun Home adds music to a heart-wrenching and hilarious script. Following Alison’s journey into her sexual identity and her relationship with her closeted father, the story is told through the theatrical device of three Alisons – small, medium, and large – who take the audience through a compelling memoir of first experiences, coming of age and loss. Visit madcowtheatre.com or call 407.297.8788 

Giant Bierstadt Painting at the Morse Museum
NOW to July 8
“The Domes of the Yosemite,” the largest existing painting by 19th Century ‘Art-Star’ Albert Bierstadt (1830–1902), is on exhibit at the Morse Museum in Winter Park for three more weeks. The monumental 1867 oil-on-canvas recently received significant conservation treatment; stands 10 feet tall by 15 feet wide; and has not been shown outside the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum since 1873. Bierstadt, a German-American artist, was known for grandiose landscape paintings that captured the American West, and “The Domes” is recognized as his crowning achievement. The giant painting was showcased in New York, Philadelphia, and Boston before its 1873 installation, meaning this “national treasure” fits perfectly in the time period for which the Morse Museum is known. Call 407.645.5311 or visit morsemuseum.org 

The Little Mermaid at Orlando Shakes 
NOW to July 29
Adapted by the comically clever Brandon Roberts, and based on Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale, The Little Mermaid is the familiar story of a precocious young mermaid who dreams of turning in her fins for legs and walking on land. Against the advice of her friends, she makes a deal with an evil Sea-Witch for the chance to earn the love of a human (who happens to be a Prince). Ignoring the danger, the little mermaid can NOT ignore her heart. Told with a combination of real actors with giant puppets, Orlando Shakes offers its own on-dry-land version of this timeless tale. Call 407.447.1700 or visit orlandoshakes.org 

Fine Art Photography Exhibit -- “Margaret Bourke-White's Different World”
NOW to August 26
As a young photographer, the trail-blazing Margaret Bourke-White pursued a (then-unique) documentary vision. Her photographs of Russia were the first images produced by a foreign artist in that country under Stalin. Later, following her pioneering role as a woman photo-journalist in World War II, she produced startling and emotional images of the liberation of the Buchenwald concentration camp, resulting in some of the most powerful photographic works of the 20th century. This exhibit focuses exclusively on her work abroad as she documented pivotal moments of change in politics, cultural shifts, and class transformations.

At the Cornell Art Museum at Rollins College, call 407.646.2526 or visit rollins.edu/cornell-fine-arts-museum/exhibitions/2018/margaret-bourke-white.html
 

Margaret Bourke-White, (American, 1904–1971), Bolshevik Babies in the Nursery: AMO Automobile Factory, 1931, Photogravure print, 16 in. x 20 in

Josh Garrick is the Florida Arts Editor for Wandering Educators