Winter Park Playhouse has just wrapped up its 20th anniversary of entertaining audiences, and its brand-new season of musicals has already been announced. It kicks off next month.
Executive Director Heather Alexander and Artistic Director Roy Alan sat down with me to talk about their first show of the new season and its honky-tonkin’ theme, as well as what makes the Playhouse unique in Central Florida.
Heather Alexander:
We are just now starting our 21st year as Central Florida's professional musical theater.
Nicole Darden Creston:
You're the only professional all musical theater, is that right?
Heather Alexander:
That is correct. A lot of people say but there are other professional theaters and that is true. We exclusively are dedicated to producing musicals.
Nicole Darden Creston:
What made you decide to go that route? When you started out? Was it like that 20 years ago, when you started out?
Roy Alan:
When we first started out, there was still the Mark Two dinner theater was here in town [owned by] Mark Howard. Heather and I both performed in his theater many times until it closed. And we realized at that point that there was no professional musical theater in town. So that's when we got the idea. We actually went up to New York and saw a show off Broadway called I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change. And on the flight back, we were like, we could do this. There's only four people in the cast. And it's a small show. And we felt like we could give it a shot and try and open the theater or at least try one musical and see what the audiences thought and we got great response, we started selling out and that's how the theater basically was born with that show. We did the Central Florida premiere of I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change. And that was the beginning of this 20-year journey.
Nicole Darden Creston:
So let's talk about this season coming up. You're opening in early August with a very interesting sounding show. Can you tell us more?
Roy Alan:
Honky Tonk Laundry is about two women working in a laundromat. And it is filled with all kinds of great country music, a lot of classic country music as well as some newer contemporary music. I mean, Reba McIntyre and Trisha Yearwood and ...Carrie Underwood, many of those artists. Most people think, well, country music is Patsy Cline and but there's more to it than that. And this, basically, the music is juxtaposed to help tell the story of these two women who are going through relationship issues with their men, as it were. One of the characters Lana May, who actually owns the washeteria, the Wishy Washy Washeteria, had always wanted to be a grand old Opry country singer. And so the second act is basically her chance to become a country western singer. And so she gets her turn, as it's really a concert, a country western concert, with her singing most of the music and then the other girl also sings backup with her and sings a few solos as well.
Heather Alexander:
It's a ton of fun. It's a musical comedy, which is right up our alley.
Nicole Darden Creston:
Tell me which one of you picks the season, or both.
Heather Alexander:
Both! We do it together. We have a 'living list' that we've had for 21 years and we add titles and we take away titles as we produce them, and we listen to our patrons, we are constantly being sent new works because we're known for doing Central Florida premieres, Florida premieres, world premieres. We love doing things for Central Florida audiences that have never been done here before. Once in a blue moon, we'll choose something that has been done, most likely because patrons have asked us over and over and over to do that show like Nunsense, Amen or Nunsense or Forever Plaid. We didn't do those shows for a long time because they had been done but we finally buckled. [laughter]
Nicole Darden Creston:
You have some education programs too. Can you tell me a little bit about those?
Heather Alexander:
We do. We have a youth education program called REACH - relevant educational arts for children. And we have SHARE - senior health arts enrichment. And basically one of our main goals through all that we do is to uplift, inspire and entertain all people. So making sure all people are included, like those who can't afford or can't physically get into the building, to enjoy what we provide. We take quality arts experiences directly out into the community at no charge. So we go to title one elementary schools we go to underserved day nurseries, community centers, libraries and long term care facilities for our senior adult friends. And we bring them both live entertainment experiences as well as educational experiences. We've been doing outreach for children since 2009. That was right on the heels of the Great Recession of 2008, and arts programming was being decimated in the public schools. And that's what, you know, began that program. And our senior program, we've been in business so long we see how incredibly important to what we do is for the senior population, and we want to make sure that those who are unable to get into the theater still continue to be uplifted.
Nicole Darden Creston:
So let's have a quick rundown of the shows that are in this season. Ready, go! [laughter]
Roy Alan:
Ruthless is coming in September, obviously, we're opening with Honky Tonk Laundry, which we just talked about then Ruthless in September and October. Then for the holidays, we're doing a southern premiere of a show called the Swinging Christmas, the Holiday Music of Tony Bennett. So it's all of his great music. After that in January and February is Breaking Up is Hard to Do with great music by Neil Sedaka. And then after that the Broadway hit Five Guys Named Moe and then in May and June also a Southeastern regional premiere, George M. Cohan Tonight. It's a one man show about George M. Cohan.
Nicole Darden Creston:
I understand that you also have some Cabaret series. Can you talk about the one that's happening in August?
Heather Alexander:
Oh well, our Cabaret series has been going on also since 2009. It is extremely popular. These are premiere up close and personal concerts in your living room. We like to call them their New York style. They happen out in the lobby bar area. You are literally right up close to the performer or performers with our music director Christopher Levy. Patrice Bloomfield is our August artists. She is stunning. She has been on our main stage. She's performed another cabarets and our Florida festival new musicals. People just love Patrice. She was in Ain't Misbehavin' with us. She's just spectacular. We want the community to know that we are here to serve them. That is why the Winter Park Playhouse exists. We are a 501C3 nonprofit charitable organization. And although Roy and I are the faces of the theater because we found that the theater is a nonprofit and it is community armed and we work really hard to bring joy to the world. That's really what it's all about to bring the community together in a common space and feel welcome and safe and joyful and escape the world for a couple of hours.
