Save on ‘Aladdin’ tickets, fight racism, hail the viola
Money’s on my mind today: Saving it, raising it and donating it. Here’s the latest on the Orlando arts scene.
‘Aladdin’ deals
Here are a trio of ways to save on tickets to the musical “Aladdin” at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.
Use the discount code DISFAM when buying online to save 25 percent off the price of many seats. It’s possible to get orchestra (ground-floor) tickets for $60.
Meanwhile, the flash-sale code MUSIC allows ticket buyers to get $45 dollar orchestra seats — mainly at the rear and sides of the theater — for select performances. That code is only good through Feb. 5.
Students have still another way to save: Beginning two hours before each performance, they can buy up to two $30 tickets in person at the arts center’s box office. Make sure to bring a valid student ID.
This touring production is a whiz-bang of a show with plenty to like — especially the old-school Broadway razzmatazz of the musical numbers and a flying carpet that has to be seen to be believed.
“Aladdin” runs at the arts center, 445 S. Magnolia Ave. in Orlando, though Feb. 9; more info at drphillipscenter.org.
‘Anne Frank’
Theatre South Playhouse is raising money to support the mission of the Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect this Feb. 8-9 with a staged reading of “The Diary of Anne Frank.”
The New York-based center advocates for social justice and civil rights, in areas such as racism, anti-Semitism, sexism and homophobia. The center’s development director, Alan Grossman, will attend Theatre South’s production and lead a talkback session with the cast, crew and audience, according to director Hillary Brook.
Wendy Kesselman wrote this new adaptation of the famed diary of a young Jewish girl who hid in an Amsterdam attic with her family and others to evade the Nazis during World War II. They were discovered, and Anne died at age 15 in 1945 at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. At Theatre South, Maddie Lane stars in the title role with Melanie Whipple and Paul Padilla as Anne’s parents.
Tickets are $25-$35. Showtimes are 7 p.m. Feb. 8 and 1 p.m. Feb 9 at the theater in The Marketplace at Dr. Phillips, 7601 Della Drive in Orlando; more info at theatresouthplayhouse.org.
Philharmonic gift
The Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra’s principal viola position, or “chair” in orchestral parlance, will be named in honor of June and Jefferson Flowers. The longtime Philharmonic subscribers, who own Flowers Chemical Laboratories in Altamonte Springs, have committed $250,000 to the orchestra’s endowment fund.
In 2006, the couple established Performing Arts Matter, a nonprofit that supports local groups such as the Maitland Symphony Orchestra, Maitland Stage Band, Baroque Chamber Orchestra and others. Jeff Flowers has taken lessons from principal violist Mauricio Céspedes Rivero.
“June and I are so appreciative of Mauricio’s time and talent and because of our love for the orchestra and live music, it makes perfect sense for us to name the Principal Viola Chair,” said Flowers.
“It’s our goal to endow every principal chair in the orchestra,” said Mary Palmer, president of the board of directors, “and this is a very personal way to contribute to our mission of enriching the community and inspiring audiences through the power of live music.”