03-04 Season Latest News
FREE PERFORMANCE OF ANTONY & CLEOPATRA Performance to be sponsored by the City of Orlando and the Festival Board of Directors  Pictured: Dan McCleary and Chantal Jean-Pierre
ORLANDO, Fla. (March 22, 2004) -- Working closely with the City of Orlando and with the support of the Board of Directors, the Orlando-UCF Shakespeare Festival is proud to announce a free public performance of Antony and Cleopatra at the Walt Disney Amphitheatre at Lake Eola in downtown Orlando on Sunday, April 11, 2004 at 8 p.m.
The free performance is a gift to the people of Orlando from the Shakespeare Festival Board and the City of Orlando. “I am pleased to partner with the Orlando-UCF Shakespeare Festival Board in giving back to the community with this free performance of Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra,” said Mayor Buddy Dyer. “I commend the Festival for its high level of artistic endeavor, both in its traditional presence at Lake Eola, and in its permanent facility at the John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center in Loch Haven Park.” Tickets for this free performance will be available only on the day of show starting at 4 p.m., and will continue as long as tickets are available. The tickets may be obtained from a box office kiosk set up in front of the amphitheatre on Lake Eola. Two tickets per person please. Please DO NOT call the theatre box office for tickets for this free show.
ORLANDO-UCF SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES 2004-05 SIGNATURE SEASON AND... PLAYFEST! ORLANDO FESTIVAL OF NEW PLAYS – DATE ANNOUNCED!Posted: February 27, 2004 The Orlando-UCF Shakespeare Festival has announced its Signature Season for 2004-05. The following plays will be produced at the Lowndes Shakespeare Center in Loch Haven Park, and at Lake Eola in downtown Orlando. Click here to download the 04-05 Subscription Form! 2004-05 Signature SeasonA Little Night Music
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by Hugh Wheeler
September 17 through October 10
Previews September 15 and 16
Margeson Theater
The Festival’s first-ever musical! Set in turn-of-the-20th-Century Sweden, A Little Night Music is a classic of the musical theater. Along with A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and Sweeney Todd, one of Sondheim’s most popular works! Measure for Measure
by William Shakespeare
October 15 through November 21
Previews October 13 and 14
Goldman Theater
In keeping with a stated goal to produce all of Shakespeare’s works, Measure for Measure has never before been produced by the Festival. This dark comedy is sure to make the Goldman Theater come alive with the magic that is Shakespeare at his best! The Trial of Ebenezer Scrooge
By Mark Brown
December 3 through 26
Previews December 1 and 2
Margeson Theater
Produced last year at our first annual PlayFest, The Trial of Ebenezer Scrooge is a twisted tale of Christmas that features Scrooge and the Ghosts of Marley, Past, Present and Future one year later - this time in a courtroom where Scrooge has charged the miscreant spirits with kidnapping, assault and battery. This will be a family favorite for years to come! Trapezium – A Knightly Farce
By Henry Rathvon
January 14 through February 6
Previews January 12 and 13
Margeson Theater
A World Premiere! Trapezium will be the featured production during this year’s PlayFest! A Moon for the Misbegotten
By Eugene O’Neill
February 25 through March 27
Previews February 23 and 24
Goldman Theater
An O’Neill classic! A drunken playboy, tries to blot out a haunting horrible memory while a heroic, plain-featured girl tries to win his love. A Midsummer Night’s Dream
By William Shakespeare
April 8 through May 1
Previews April 6 and 7
Lake Eola
Shakespeare’s most popular play. Share fun in the forest as mortals and spirits collide in this funny, touching masterpiece.
PLAYFEST! ORLANDO FESTIVAL OF NEW PLAYSDATES JUST ANNOUNCED! PLAYFEST RETURNS TO ORLANDO AND IS ACTIVELY SEEING A SPONSOR! PlayFest – Orlando Festival of New Plays will run January 14 through 23, 2005 and feature dozens of readings, workshops, talks and more! Is your Company up to the task of sponsoring what will soon be Orlando’s most prestigious world-class theatrical event? Last year we had 29 plays in 9 days, and internationally acclaimed playwrights Israel Horowitz and Len Jenkin! Rumor has it, this year we may just have a Pulitzer prize winner in our midst… PlayFest 2005 will feature a world premiere of last year’s smash hit workshop production of Henry Rathvon’s Trapezium – A Knightly Farce.
New Play Reading at the Orlando-UCF Shakespeare FestivalPosted: 3/04/04 On Monday March 8th at 7 p.m. at the John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare
Center the Orlando-UCF Shakespeare Festivalšs PlayLab continues its reading
series, with a new adaptation of Jules Vernešs classic story, Journey to the
Centre of the Earth.
Journey to the Centre of the Earth
This stage version of Journey to the Centre of the Earth is a one man show,
and, like the book, it details Axel Lidenbrock's exciting expedition to the
earthšs core. Armed only with his ornery uncle Otto and his silent guide
Hans, Axel descends into a volcano and begins an exciting adventure where he
encounters dinosaurs, giant mushroom forests, wooly mammoths and
twelve-foot-tall Neanderthal men. This adaptation of Journey to the Centre
of the Earth is written by Richard Width, an Orlando based writer, director
and actor. Width is a teacher at Trinity Prep and directed the Shakespeare
Festivalšs currently running production of Othello. PlayLab presents a
yearly program of readings and workshops of new plays, for the purpose of
offering a forum to new playwrights, exposing audiences to new theatrical
voices, and developing works for the main stage. Journey to the Centre of
the Earth will be read on March 8th at 7 p.m. Admission is free and
reservations are not necessary. The audience is encouraged to stay for a
post-show discussion. The John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center is
located at 812 E. Rollins St. in Orlando-Loch Haven Park. There is free
parking, and the theatre is handicapped-accessible. For more information,
please call (407) 447-1700 extension 1.
ORLANDO-UCF SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL TO PRESENT OTHELLO: THE MOOR OF VENICE IN THE GOLDMAN THEATRE Othello is sponsored by Turner Construction Company and Ruden McClosky. Posted: 2/12/04 The Orlando-UCF Shakespeare Festival to present Shakespeare’s tragedy of jealousy and betrayal, Othello: The Moor of Venice, February 26 through March 28 in the Goldman Theatre at the John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center in Loch Haven Park in downtown Orlando. Eight professional actors and actresses bring to life this dark play of deceit, murder, and sexual intrigue. The story: Othello, a Moorish general of the Venetian army, elopes with Desdemona, the white daughter of a Venetian senator. Soon, out of jealousy and probable racism, Othello’s lieutenant, Iago, is bent on Othello’s destruction and his web of deceit begins to entangle every character in the play.  New York actor, and Festival newcomer, Esau Pritchett, stars as the Moor himself. Mr. Pritchett has played the role of Othello in the past in New York, and has also appeared at the Vermont Stage Company, Meadow Brook Theatre in Michigan and Living Voices Theatre Company in Seattle. He is a past winner of the Kennedy Center ACTF Irene Ryan Acting Awards, and was named best supporting actor of the year by the Detroit News in 1997. Mr. Pritchett is available for interviews.
Directed by Festival veteran, Richard Width, Othello: The Moor of Venice features Orlando favorites Eric Hissom as Iago, Sarah Hankins as Desdemona, and Suzanne O’Donnell as Iago’s long-suffering wife Emilia. As a special treat, gracing the Festival stage for the first times will be local actress Becky Fisher, and UCF Theatre instructor, Mark Brotherton. Sets by Bob Phillips, costumes by Denise Warner, and lighting by Eric Haugen, create a time period that is both classical and modern. According to Director Width, this context allows the characters’ relationships to be explored outside of history or any particular set of social mores. Performances are in the Goldman Theatre at the John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center. PHOTO ID: Esau Pritchett is Othello
ORLANDO-UCF SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL TO PRESENT Antony & Cleopatra Antony & Cleopatra is sponsored by AmSouth Bank Posted: 2/12/04  The Orlando-UCF Shakespeare Festival most pleased to present Shakespeare’s epic tragedy Antony & Cleopatra April 8-25 at Lake Eola in downtown Orlando. Watch rulers collide and empires crumble as the tidal wave of passion that brought Antony and Cleopatra together threatens to tear the rest of the world irrevocably apart.
Antony and Cleopatra opens with the mighty Roman warrior and ruler Mark Antony in the flames of a burning affair with Egypt’s queen Cleopatra. When their love comes into conflict with Antony’s role in Rome, the action moves toward upheaval and war. The greatest war of all happens in Antony’s heart as he decides which will win out: his lust for power or his unquenchable love for his exotic Queen Cleopatra.  Directed by Artistic Director Jim Helsinger, the play stars the fresh faces of Massachusetts-based actor, Dan McCleary as Antony and New York-based, Chantal Jean-Pierre as Cleopatra. The play is grounded in the fine cast of Orlando-UCF Shakespeare Company members, Eric Hissom as Enobarbus, Timothy Williams as Octavius Caesar, and Chicago-based, Mark Rector as Agrippa. All actors are available for interviews with the press.
A sweeping story of war, lust, and the clash of empires, the scene is played out in the years just before Christ. Antony and Cleopatra takes us from the balanced coolness of Rome to the exotic lushness of the Nile. The set, costume, and lighting designs of Bob Phillips, Rebecca Baygents Turk, and Eric Haugen, respectively, create the two worlds of the reasoned, toga-wearing rulers of the Roman world and the afro-centric mysticism, mystery, and sexuality that was Egypt. Besides that, the staging makes land and sea battles a reality onstage! Performances are at the Lake Eola Amphitheater in downtown Orlando. Antony and Cleopatra opens April 8 and runs through April 25, 2004. PHOTO ID’S:
Chantal Jean-Pierre is Cleopatra
Dan McCleary is Antony
PIERRE MATISSE EXHIBIT TILL FEB 8Posted 1/16/04
 Pierre H. Matisse to present "We'll Always Have Paris." A series of framed
papercuts at the Orlando UCF-Shakespeare Festival's City of Orlando Gallery during Private Lives. The Orlando-UCF Shakespeare Festival is proud to present Pierre H. Matisse's lastest line of work, "We'll Always Have Paris," in the City of Orlando Gallery of Art. The series is being presented concurrent with Noel Coward's hilarious 1930's comedy, Private Lives, set in the seaside resorts of
France, and the lively city of Paris. The Matisse exhibit will be on display in the lobby of the John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center in Loch Haven Park from January 14 through February 5, when it will move on to the Absolute Americana Gallery in Fort Augustine, Florida. Private Lives runs January 14 through February 8. A special reception for Monsieur Matisse will be held in the Shakespeare Center on Saturday, January 24 starting at 7 p.m. The public is invited to the reception, and tickets are still available for that evening's performance of Private Lives, which begins at 8 p.m. All of Monsieur Matissešs works on display in the lobby of the Festival are for sale and there will be additional signed items available in the Festivalšs gift shop.  As the grandson of Henri Matisse and the son of a sculptor and a painter, Pierre Matisse grew up in the art circles of France. A favorite theme is Paris. The series, "We'll Always Have Paris," was inspired by the movie Casablanca, and Monsieur Matisse says that you must be in love to see Paris in the right light.
You don't have to be in love to see the works of Pierre H. Matisse on display during the Orlando-UCF Shakespeare Festival's run of Private Lives, but it couldn't hurt! Private Lives
Orlando-UCF Shakespeare Festival
John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center
January 14 through February 8
Tickets $10-$35
Box Office - 407-447-1700 x 1
Show Times:
Wed-Thurs 7 pm
Fri-Sat 8 pm
Sun 2 pm | 