Years ago, when I lived in Indianapolis, my friend Hope Baugh ran a website called IndyTheatreHabit.com. She was a theatre critic and a great supporter of the arts. She wrote a theater review column for Nuvo Newsweekly, our alt-weekly, and regularly wrote about the theater scene as well as reviewed many of the plays. (You can read an archived copy of her website here.)
We had a relatively small theatre scene in Indianapolis, and she was able to cover everything. If you went to a play in a local theater, there was a chance you’d see her. She was a mainstay at the Indy Fringe, and I saw her at the media kickoff event for our local Beef & Boards dinner theater every year. She covered as many plays as she could for Nuvo and for her own blog, and she would even buy tickets to see plays in her downtime. She loved the theatre!
She popped into my head a few days ago, and I started wondering, “Is there any kind of theatre site for Orlando?” I did some research (i.e. I Googled it) and found that there wasn’t anything dedicated to the Orlando theater scene, let alone Central Florida. So I started the Orlando Theater Review and bought OrlandoTheatreReview.com. (I also bought OrlandoTheaterReview.com to hedge my bets.)
I even borrowed a version of Hope’s tagline for my own blog: “Reviews and reflections related to all aspects of live theatre and storytelling in the Indianapolis, Indiana (USA) area.”
I used to write for the Indiana Office of Tourism Development, and I covered the local theatre scene on occasion. But I was a frequent attendee of the Indianapolis Fringe Festival both for IOTD and my own Laughing Stalk humor blog. I realized I missed writing about the theatre, and was hoping to get back to it now that I live here in Orlando.
My plan is a simple one: I want to review plays and musicals in the Central Florida area and write about the theatre scene, with a few rules for myself.
- I will cover Orange, Seminole, and Osceola County, plus a few parts of Volusia. I would cover more, but then I would have to drive to (all of) Volusia, Polk, and Lake counties. Since I’m doing this for free, I’m not spending $20 on gas plus wear-and-tear for my car. (But if you live in the area and want to review plays there, please let me know.)
- I will only cover adult theatre, not children’s or youth theatre. I don’t have anything against them, but if I cover youth theatre, then I should cover high school theatre. There are 39 high schools in Orlando alone. There would be 70+ in my coverage area, and I wouldn’t be able to keep up.
- I am only including theatres that are theaters. (See what I did there?) I’m avoiding concert halls and performing arts centers that occasionally host plays. Again, I don’t have anything against them, but I have to draw the line somewhere.• I am avoiding dinner theatres like mystery theatres or certain knights-of-bold theatres. Don’t get me wrong, I love dinner theatre. Beef & Boards in Indianapolis was one of my favorites. But those theatres usually run the same show over and over and over. I want to review new shows. (Note: I can be talked into covering a dinner theatre and its show. If you run one, let’s talk. I just won’t be doing the same show on a regular basis.)
- I want to work with other writers. If you want to cover a play or musical in your area, let me know, and we’ll make that happen.
- I want to hear from local theaters. If you have a press release or an announcement, or you want me to interview your director or lead actors, I want to do that. I’ll have a form up for that kind of thing shortly.
- I’m spelling it “theatre” and not “theater” because when I asked my Facebook friends, they all said -RE. However, I bought the domain OrlandoTheaterReview, too, just in case.
So welcome to the Orlando Theatre Review. I’m looking forward to getting to know everyone.