Orlando Ballet sets new lineup
Season ticket sales open for updated dance performances.
Change is afoot in the world of the arts. Here are updates on three events for fans of theater and dance.
Orlando Ballet
With Orlando Ballet’s 2020-21 season tickets going on sale May 22, dance fans will notice a change from the previously announced schedule.
Coronavirus, of course, is the culprit. In this case, the ballet has replaced a revue of iconic ballet works with a different mixed program, postponed from the current season. With a title change — from “Made in the U.S.A.” to “The Premiere Collection” — the show will be the first major performance by the company in Harriett’s Orlando Ballet Center, the troupe’s home in Loch Haven Park that opened this year.
As part of “The Premiere Collec
tion” program, artistic director Robert Hill will take the stage as originally planned to perform in “The Calling,” a solo piece choreographed by Jessica Lang.
The rest of the season remains the same:
■ The Sleeping Beauty,
Oct. 23-25, at the Dr. Phillips Center, with new choreography by Hill and Tchaikovsky’s classic score
■ The Nutcracker, Dec. 4-13, at the Dr. Phillips Center
■ Moulin Rouge, Feb. 12-14, 2021, at the Dr. Phillips Center, a story of explosive young love choreographed by new artist in residence Jorden Morris
■ The Premiere Collection, March 19-21, 2021, at Harriett’s Orlando Ballet Centre
■ Peter Pan, April 30-May 2, 2021, at the Dr. Phillips Center, an adaptation of the tale also choreographed by Morris
Mainstage packages start at $75 (not including “The Nutcracker.”) Family packages, with tickets to shorter shows designed for younger children, start at $60. New this year is a payment plan for season subscriptions, which will be available until July 31. For more information, call 407-418-9828.
‘Menopause’
“Menopause The Musical,” which got its start in Orlando, has become a worldwide phenomenon. Jeanie Linders’ comic musical revue about four women experiencing “the change” is in its 19th year on the Las Vegas strip and has played every state in the continental U.S. and more than 500 cities worldwide. Total audience: More than 17 million.
Through May 24, you can catch the show streaming online for the first time. Buying a ticket also helps some folks out. GFour Productions will donate 10 percent of sales to The Actors Fund, which provides emergency financial assistance to entertainment professionals. In addition, several theaters around the country will get a share of the revenue for providing marketing assistance. Among them: Orlando’s own Mad Cow Theatre.
Buy a ticket, for $19, at MenopauseTheMusical.com. Ticket holders will be sent an email with an online link and instructions for watching the show.
Play-In-A-Day
The annual Play-In-ADay from Beth Marshall Presents this year moves online. Fourteen teams of artists will use Zoom to write short plays and then stage them — in just 24 hours. The teams don’t find out the theme of this year’s plays until noon June 19. Videos of the finished plays will be due 24 hours later, and they will air at 5:30 p.m. June 21 via LiveStream on the Beth Marshall Presents YouTube and FaceBook channels.
The suggested donation to watch is $10, and there will also be auction items. All proceeds benefit the MBP Top Teens Scholarship program, which has awarded more than $60,000 in cash and inkind training to teens hoping to enter the entertainment industry.
Donations are also welcome through GoFundMe.com (Search BMT Top Teens). For more information, including all the actors, writers and directors participating, go to bethmarshallpresents.com.