Big Disney concert ahead, plus singing for the sea
All four performers have Broadway and Disney street cred, and three of them boast Florida roots.
The Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts will host a splashy Broadway concert that takes a page from Walt Disney World’s annual International Festival of the Arts at Epcot.
Part of the center’s Frontyard Festival, “The Music of Disney on Broadway” will feature performers Michael James Scott, Ashley Brown, Kissy Simmons and Josh Strickland. All have led concerts at the Epcot fest, which just ended its annual run. This year, however, the Epcot did not host guest artists as a COVID-19 precaution.
All four performers have Broadway and Disney street cred, and three of them boast Florida roots.
Scott, raised in Orlando, was featured in the opening casts of Broadway’s “The Book of Mormon” and “Something Rotten!” and has played Genie in Disney’s “Aladdin” in productions worldwide, including the 2020 national tour stop in Orlando.
Brown is from the Panhandle and starred as Belle in “Beauty and the Beast” and the title role of “Mary Poppins.”
Florida native Simmons, who is named after the city of Kissimmee, played Nala in “The Lion King.”
Strickland, an “American Idol” contestant, starred as Tarzan in the musical of the same name.
The four singers will be backed by a band for the Frontyard Festival’s three shows, at 1:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. March 20 and 8 p.m. March 21. They will sing favorite songs not only from their own shows but also from “Newsies,” “Hercules,” “Frozen,” “The Little Mermaid” and more.
Tickets start at $25, and there’s a deal for the 1:30 family matinee — a free ticket for a child younger than 18 with the purchase of an adult ticket. Go to drphillipscenter.org.
Saving the sea: Mad Cow Theatre’s streaming cabaret “Fish Are Friends” continues through March 15, and the downtown Orlando company has partnered with the Reef Environmental Foundation to channel some of the proceeds toward protecting under-the-sea inhabitants.
“REEF’s mission is to protect biodiversity and ocean life by engaging and inspiring the public, and we’re glad to help,” said Mad Cow executive director Mitzi Maxwell. “Not only will part of the proceeds from our show ‘Fish Are Friends’ go toward their efforts, we will also be expanding their community reach by connecting them with our theater patrons. It’s a win, win for all.”
“Fish Are Friends” is the second performance recorded as part of the theater’s digital series “Bringing Home the Herd.” The show features singers who usually work in local theme parks as they musically explore the ideas of friendship, family and finding yourself while sharing behind-the-scenes stories.
Maddie Lane, Bert Rodriguez, Christina Sivrich and Charles Stevens are among the performers.
Tickets are $12 per household, or a $99 subscription lets viewers watch all “Bringing Home the Herd” online shows. For more information, go to madcowtheatre.org. To learn more about the work of the Reef Environmental Foundation, go to reef.org.