Plays, musicals find big fan base in Orlando
Fringe Festival helps set stage for other creative entertainment endeavors
Looking for a new play? Look no further than Orlando — where more and more festivals celebrating new work are finding a home on the arts-season calendar.
This week brings Florida Theatrical Association’s New Musical Discovery Series, in which two musicals are presented. The Be Original Theater Festival, from New Generation Theatrical, debuts in October with 16 plays by local writers. Pegasus Play Lab introduced new works at the University of Central Florida this summer, as the Florida Festival of New Musicals returned to Winter Park Playhouse for a third year.
All of the festivals join Orlando Shakes’ PlayFest, which has been around since 2003 and will run over two weekends this November. “I think it’s really exciting,” said Cynthia White, director of new
play development for the Shakes. “For a long time, it seemed like playwrights got forgotten about.”
But what makes Orlando such a magnet for new-play festivals? Those involved in the creative endeavor point to several factors: a strong local playwriting base, national connections and a theater audience willing to try something new — thanks to the influence of the popular Orlando Fringe Festival, which takes place each May.
“Orlandoans are even more vested in the idea of new works because of the influence of almost three decades of new works seen at Orlando Fringe — which has spawned productions, producers, and writers, and so much more,” said Chuck Dent, president of Playwrights’ Round Table.
His group presents original works year-round, including the Native Voices festival for local playwrights, and also helps cultivate new writers with monthly workshops and readings. There’s evidence the work is paying off: More than 60 locals submitted plays to the upcoming Native Voices, Dent said.
Meanwhile, for the first time in the three-year history of the New Musical Discovery Series, both entries will be from Orlando writers. Some local theaters, such as Breakthrough Theatre of Winter Park, also have been soliciting locally written plays as part of their season.
White points out that the Shakes’ affiliation with the National New Play Network brings world-premiere productions to Orlando, which whets the audience’s appetite for more original work. Orlando Repertory Theatre also works with theaters around the country to premiere works. Fringe influence
But for many Central Floridians, the unjuried, experimental work at the annual Fringe is where they cut their teeth on new-play development — and why they feel comfortable with attending one of the other fests.
“They know the Fringe, so they get the festival idea,” said Heather Alexander, executive director of Winter Park Playhouse. “I have to give great props to the Fringe for growing that kind of audience.”
That doesn’t mean everyone understands new-play festivals, which often have the actors read from scripts or perform with limited stage directions and scenery. That helps keep the focus on the writing itself.
“It’s an educational process,” said Alexander. “Each year, we’re educating the public more and more about what does this mean — and our audiences are just becoming more and more excited about it.”
There are challenges with new work, too: There’s no word of mouth for something no one’s heard of yet.
“New plays by unknown or little-known playwrights can be a tough sell,” Dent said.
But festivals account for that by keeping ticket prices low. The new Be Original festival, coming to the Dr. Phillips Center, will charge $10-$12 per show, said executive producer Aaron Safer. Help to playwrights
Playwrights want theatergoers there to hear feedback as they develop their work
“The New Musical Discovery Series offers the ‘Wasteland’ team an exciting opportunity to put the latest iteration of this big, fun, crazy musical in front of an audience with minimal investment,” said writer Tod Kimbro. “It allows our team to focus on what’s important: the creative work at the heart of the process.”
Kimbro’s “Wasteland” has been in development for years and finally is ready for the “next level,” he said.
“It was once a piece of pure absurdity, a tale of celebrity presidents and technological addiction,” Kimbro said. “But over the years, especially the last three, it’s become a timely reflection of our chaotic modern age.”
“Wasteland” will be presented Wednesday at The Abbey in downtown Orlando; the fest’s other work, a musical about escape artist Harry Houdini, will be shown Tuesday.
Michael Wanzie’s “It All Started at the Radisson Inn” will make its debut at October’s Be Original Theater Festival. Because of its outof-the-mainstream subject matter — role playing with sexual overtones — “I was keen to have feedback from other playwrights and to test the material in front of an audience while in development,” Wanzie said. “The festival offered both these opportunities.”
As part of the festival selection process, the panel choosing the plays gave feedback — and Wanzie already has made revisions based on those notes.
“As far as I am concerned, I have already received a great benefit from my participation even before entering the Dr. Phillips venue,” he said.
Still, comments from theatergoers — and viewing their reaction to his work in real time — will be invaluable to honing the piece.
“I will watch the audience more than I will watch the play,” Wanzie said. Be Original
The Be Original festival grew out of a monthly newplay reading series Safer has been leading for about a year. It started with 25 people packed into his downtown apartment.
“The demand for new works, once the word got out, was incredible,” Safer said. “Suddenly it was 30 people coming, then 40 people coming, then 60 people coming.”
That growing demand is reflected in the interest in the festivals: Playfest sales are going well, White said, and Safer said he was pleased by the number of tickets already sold to Be Original. The Florida Festival of New Musicals has seen its attendance soar.
New-play festivals help the greater arts community as well; Safer will hire about 40 actors for his festival. Winter Park Playhouse employs more actors for its fest than for the rest of its season, Alexander said.
But there’s also a greater cultural motivation to find fresh writing and hear new voices.
“What would we do without new musicals? Imagine a world without new musicals, the canon just ending,” said Kenny Howard, director of The New Musical Discovery Series. “Actually, don’t. It’s too painful.”