Local talent to take stage in new series
Orlando’s Dr. Phillips Center announces ‘Amp’d’ concerts
A new six-month concert series will give local acts from diverse genres the chance to bring their music to a bigger stage — at no cost to them.
Orlando’s downtown performing arts center today will announce the Amp’d at Dr. Phillips series. Presented with financial support from Orlando Health, Amp’d aims to help up-andcoming musicians develop new audiences, while reaffirming the center’s commitment to making its Alexis & Jim Pugh Theater available to local performers.
“Homegrown talent is something to be celebrated,” said arts center President Kathy Ramsberger, who called the new series an “exciting way to strengthen our community.”
From the earliest days of planning the center, the roughly 300-seat venue was deemed the “community theater.” The larger Walt Disney Theater, on the other hand, seats 2,700 and was designed with touring shows in mind.
The Pugh, named for the center’s board chairman and his wife, is where Opera Orlando regularly performs. A few local theatrical groups, such as Generation Productions and Cultural Fusion, also have staged shows in the theater.
Kicking off Nov. 27, Amp’d at Dr. Phillips Center features a local band or artist each month through April. The center’s programming de-
partment selected the six acts: singer-songwriter Nicole Equerme, Americana band Beemo, bluesfunk collaborators CeCe Teneal & Soul Kamotion, new Southern rockers Thomas Wynn & The Believers, vocal-guitar duo Blueanimal and folk-rockers Sandy Shugart & The January Band.
“They deserve the platform to perform to existing and new audiences alike, and we’re thrilled to provide that opportunity,” Ramsberger said.
For Teneal and her band, performing in Amp’d could be the next step toward the big time.
“We think this is going to be the turning point for us,” said the Orlando resident. “We’re really trying to go to the next level. This is solidifying that we’re doing the right thing.”
To qualify for the series, performers had to be from Central Florida or based here.
The Dr. Phillips team focused on acts that typically played in venues smaller than the Pugh.
Staffers also looked at groups that had a strong social-media following.
“That’s how we knew they had engagement with the community,” said spokesman Robert Jones.
Teneal is ramping up her socialmedia presence even more in anticipation of new fans.
Amp’d is “going to give us more exposure than we’ve probably ever had in this city,” said Teneal.
A human resources director by day, she has been performing nearly 20 years.
She and the band recorded their first album last week. Plans are to release it right after their Jan. 22 Amp’d concert — which should draw attention to the group’s recorded debut.
“Amp’d is going to give our publicity team for this album something to really catapult off of,” Teneal said.
The arts center staff spent several months listening to music and talking with artists before choosing the six acts, Jones said.
Amp’d was scheduled for Monday nights because “it’s the only time in the Pugh we can have consistently,” Jones said. The theater already has more than 40 nights booked for local events in the coming year, and arts groups use the theater for rehearsals before opening their shows. The Pugh also is rented by local organizations for many private events, such as weddings and award ceremonies, Jones said.
Teneal has performed at the center before, in an Aretha Franklin tribute show she wrote.
While the Franklin connection sold tickets to that program, Teneal says she couldn’t take the financial risk on renting the Pugh for a concert.
“It would be out of reach for us to do our music here if it weren’t for Amp’d,” Teneal said.