Disney, big Broadway names on tap for CFCArts this year
Central Florida Community Arts’ fall season will celebrate the music of such Broadway bigwigs as Andrew Lloyd Webber and Stephen Schwartz, along with familiar Disney tunes. The organization’s theater program, meanwhile, looks at diverse aspects of American life while also celebrating imagination in Broadway hit “Peter and the Starcatcher.”
Here’s a chronological look, by genre, of CFCArts’ plans.
Music/Dance
Topsy Turvy Masquerade: A Celebration of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Stephen Schwartz: Aug. 26-27 at Northland Church, 520 Dog Track Road in Longwood. The CFCArts Community Choir concert features favorites from “The Phantom of the Opera,” “Godspell,” “Cats,” “Children of Eden,” “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” “Jesus Christ Superstar” and more.
Ritmo del Sol: A Latin Jazz Celebration: Sept. 18 at Apopka Amphitheater, 3710 Jason Dwelley Parkway in Apopka. The CFCArts Big Band marks Hispanic Heritage Month with a concert of salsa, samba, Afro-Cuban bop, bossa nova and more.
Symphonic Disney: The Most Magical Music on Earth: Nov. 4-5 at Northland Church. CFCArts celebrates the 50th anniversary of Walt Disney World with music from attractions such as The Haunted Mansion, Soarin’, and Pirates of the Caribbean; nighttime spectaculars “Wishes,” “Fantasmic!” and “IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth”; and movies including “Up,” “Frozen” and “The Lion King.”
You Make Me Feel: Nov. 12-13 at a location to be announced. The CFCArts Women’s Chorale performs music from artists including Dolly Parton, Beyoncé, Cher, Whitney Houston and more.
A Holiday Homecoming: Dec. 9-10 at Northland Church. The choir and symphony orchestra are joined by the CFCArts Dance Company for a seasonal celebration that includes favorites such as “O Holy Night” and “Deck the Halls” with a traditional retelling of the Christmas story.
Theater
Ragtime: A Summer Broadway Benefit Concert: Sept. 2-3 at Northland Church. This concert staging of the Broadway hit follows white, Black and Jewish-immigrant families at the turn of the 20th century as they experience the good and bad of America: wealth and poverty, freedom and prejudice, hope and despair.
‘Peter and the Starcatcher’: Oct. 8-31 at CFCArts Black Box Theatre, 250 SW Ivanhoe Blvd. in Orlando. This comic adventure tells the back story of how an orphan became “the boy who would not grow up,” better known as Peter Pan.
‘Rachel’: Nov. 12-21 at CFCArts Black Box Theatre. An African-American family at the turn of the 20th century strives for happiness in this drama. Rachel, an ambitious high-school graduate haunted by her family’s past, struggles to find love and maintain hope in the face of the era’s racism.
Youth
The organization’s youth programs will present original high-school student work June 18-19 and Disney’s “Frozen Jr.” July 30-31, both at the CFCArts Black Box Theatre. Those programs will be followed by “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” Sept. 17-18, and “Meet Me in St. Louis,” Dec. 17-18, both at Trinity Preparatory School, 5700 Trinity Prep Lane in Winter Park.
For more information on the season and tickets, go to cfcarts.com.