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Latest Works

Explore the latest selection of my writing work below.

Orlando Weekly •

Ganesh Utsav brings a piece of home to Central Florida for the Marathi community

Sources: 2

The sounds of prayer, conversation and celebration surrounded the Hindu Society of Central Florida last month for Ganesh Utsav, a festival devoted to a deity widely revered as a remover of obstacles and a symbol of new beginnings for millions of Hindus. 

Ganesh Utsav, also known as Ganesh Chaturthi, commemorates the birth of Lord Ganesha, the Hindu deity with the head of an elephant but the body of a man. The festival is traditionally marked by prayers, offerings, devotional music, food and com...
Orlando Life •

Fashion and Hope Raises Support for Families Facing Childhood Cancer

Sources: 3

The 15th annual Fashion and Hope fashion show brought Central Florida’s fashion, arts and philanthropic communities together Saturday, Aug. 22, at Fields Motorcars Bentley Orlando to raise support for families navigating childhood cancer.

Hosted by the Hope for More Foundation, the event placed the Give Hope foundation at the center of its fundraising efforts. Give Hope is a volunteer-operated nonprofit that assists children with cancer and their families in Central Florida, addressing financia...
Orlando Weekly •

'Come From Away' at Orlando Shakes honors story of compassion and human connection in the wake of 9/11

Sources: 3

When the Orlando Shakes production of Come From Away opens on Wednesday, Aug. 26, audiences will step into a story that is as moving as it is deeply human. The musical centers on the small Newfoundland town of Gander, where residents welcomed 7,000 stranded travelers after the Sept. 11 attacks grounded flights across North America, and the production’s actors say that spirit of generosity still defines the show today. 

For performers like Jason Blackwater, Lindsay Bradshaw and Meka King, the sh...
Orlando Life •

Orlando’s Broadway Season Is Getting A Blockbuster Reset

Sources: 1

The Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts has unveiled its 2026 to 2027 AdventHealth Broadway in Orlando lineup. A mix of returning megahits, enduring classics and first time touring productions that reflect both the city’s growing appetite for theatre and Broadway’s evolving identity.

At the center of this year’s programming is a deliberate balance, one that blends nostalgia with novelty.
“We wanted a season that captures the full range of what Broadway is right now, the shows that bui...
Orlando Life •

Orlando Museum of Art Summer Events and Exhibitions 2026

Sources: 1

Orlando Museum of Art is making a strong case for a cooler kind of summer outing. Its 12th annual Florida Prize in Contemporary Art anchors the season, but the museum is also offering a rotating slate of exhibitions that give locals and visitors multiple reasons to step inside, slow down and spend an afternoon with visual art.

The Florida Prize, on view from May 30th through August 23rd, is the museum’s signature contemporary survey of artists working across Florida. This year’s exhibition is...
Strike Magazines •

When Home Isn’t Familiar — Strike Magazines

For a long time, I believed home was supposed to be constant. It was the fixed point on the map, the place that waited patiently while I went out and became different versions of myself. Returning home would feel like slipping into an old coat: a little worn, maybe, but still mine. Then, you had to move. Instead, coming home sometimes feels like stepping into a room where all the furniture has been left in the same place, but the air has changed. The walls are familiar, yet something in them no...

Hard News Coverage

Explore a featured selection of my hard news writing work below.

Orlando Life •

Fashion and Hope Raises Support for Families Facing Childhood Cancer

Sources: 3

The 15th annual Fashion and Hope fashion show brought Central Florida’s fashion, arts and philanthropic communities together Saturday, Aug. 22, at Fields Motorcars Bentley Orlando to raise support for families navigating childhood cancer.

Hosted by the Hope for More Foundation, the event placed the Give Hope foundation at the center of its fundraising efforts. Give Hope is a volunteer-operated nonprofit that assists children with cancer and their families in Central Florida, addressing financia...
Her Campus •

"Knights in Focus" Event Spotlights Graduate Research

Sources: 2

UCF’s Graduate Student Center turned into a small film festival on Tuesday during the Knights in Focus Spotlight Celebration, where graduate students’ research and creative work took center stage on the big screen.The Knights in Focus Spotlight Celebration showcased winning entries from a graduate student video competition, designed to highlight research and creative work turned into video formats of 60 seconds or less. The screening and awards program invited students, faculty, and staff to vie...
Her Campus •

UCF Students React to Release of Epstein Files

Sources: 2

The U.S. Department of Justice’s release of more than 3 million pages of the Epstein files on Jan. 30, mandated by the bipartisan Epstein Files Transparency Act, has sparked concerns and debates among students and faculty at UCF. The latest release, which DOJ officials say is likely the last major trove of Epstein material, includes millions of pages of investigative files, financial records, images, and videos, all subject to redactions meant to shield victims’ identities and graphic abuse. The...
The Charge •

UCF artists showcase work at Mercurial Spring 2025 BFA exhibition

Sources: 2

Senior undergraduate students presented a vibrant array of colors, shapes and figures at the opening ceremony of Mercurial: The Spring 2025 BFA exhibition at the UCF Art Gallery on Thursday.The gallery walls were covered in artwork from more than 20 students crafted through different mediums, including book arts, ceramics, drawing, illustration, painting, photography, printmaking and sculpture.
At the center of the gallery, a spiraling wooden art piece directed the audience clockwise to...
The Charge •

UCF professor presents "The Making of Bollywoodian Brownface" seminar

Sources: 2

A UCF assistant professor in South Asian literature presented a seminar titled “American Minstrelsy in South Asia: The Making of Bollywoodian Brownface“ on the main UCF campus on Thursday afternoon. Dr. Amrita Ghosh's seminar included talks about rising racism on college campuses, cultural appropriation, and internal racism that has prevailed within Bollywood and Western media since post-colonial India. She also spoke about her most recent published book, “India’s Imperial Formations: Cultural P...
Her Campus •

UCF's Theater Production "Rent" is Now Playing

Sources: 3

This past week, Theatre UCF opened its most recent production of Rent at the UCF Mainstage Theatre, directed by Michael Jablonski. A thrilling musical exploring raw energy through a classic retelling of La Bohème through rock music, the production follows different characters fighting against gentrification and the HIV/AIDS crisis in 1990s New York City. Jasper Allen, a Musical Theatre BFA student, plays Tom Collins in this production of Rent.“In this day and age with our political climate, we a...

Theatrical Reviews

Orlando Weekly •

'Come From Away' at Orlando Shakes honors story of compassion and human connection in the wake of 9/11

Sources: 3

When the Orlando Shakes production of Come From Away opens on Wednesday, Aug. 26, audiences will step into a story that is as moving as it is deeply human. The musical centers on the small Newfoundland town of Gander, where residents welcomed 7,000 stranded travelers after the Sept. 11 attacks grounded flights across North America, and the production’s actors say that spirit of generosity still defines the show today. 

For performers like Jason Blackwater, Lindsay Bradshaw and Meka King, the sh...
Orlando Life •

Orlando’s Broadway Season Is Getting A Blockbuster Reset

Sources: 1

The Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts has unveiled its 2026 to 2027 AdventHealth Broadway in Orlando lineup. A mix of returning megahits, enduring classics and first time touring productions that reflect both the city’s growing appetite for theatre and Broadway’s evolving identity.

At the center of this year’s programming is a deliberate balance, one that blends nostalgia with novelty.
“We wanted a season that captures the full range of what Broadway is right now, the shows that bui...
Orlando Weekly •

Orlando Fringe 2026 review: 'Fogville: A Sparkly Vampire Parody Musical'

Fogville: A Sparkly Vampire Parody Musical is a gleeful, high-octane parody that takes the Twilight saga and amplifies every brooding stare, sparkly vampire cheekbone and dramatic love triangle into campy, musical perfection. Stella MoonSwan (Kristen Lee Vire) stars as the clumsy new girl as she stumbles into Fogville, finding herself immediately trapped in a fierce love triangle between Edgar Sullen (Ansley Arthur) and Jake WolfWhite (Fredy Ruiz). The rest of the Sullen family — Alex (Alex McCr...
Orlando Weekly •

Orlando Fringe 2026 review: 'World Peace Through Humor: A German 101'

World Peace Through Humor: A German 101 is a high-energy stand-up comedy show that delivers exactly what it promises: a German comic who makes American jokes while preaching global unity. Paco Erhard bounds onstage with relentless cheer, firing off jokes about Florida’s unique perks, U.S. government absurdities and his own peripatetic life as a world traveler. 

The show works best when Erhard plays the fish-out-of-water observer, contrasting German efficiency with American excess in ways that f...
Orlando Weekly •

Orlando Fringe 2026 review: 'Masquerade of the Red Death'

Masquerade of the Red Death leans hard into spectacle, dressing Edgar Allen Poe’s plague tale in glitter, flesh and dark burlesque flair. The costumes, designed by Aurora Fable, are intricate and eye-catching as they glitter through each individual dance of the different women, choreographed by Miss Foxy D’Ville. Directed by Sean Holloway with Fable and D’Ville, the production knows how to build an atmosphere that feels decadent, dangerous and theatrical. 

Because the story is built strictly on...
Orlando Weekly •

Orlando Fringe 2026 review: 'Welcome to Clowntown'

Welcome to Clowntown starts sweet, then explodes into chaos when Tanya Perez’s “Pixie the Clown” turns some kids’ birthday party into her own rock & roll confessional. What begins with two balloons and a really dull backdrop unravels into a clown meltdown that reveals high-end burnout. 

Perez’s show thrives on that tonal whiplash. She’s got the full clown package — magic tricks, a goofy voice and a knack for pulling audiences into her madness — but underneath it all is just a hustler’s backstor...
Orlando Weekly •

Orlando Fringe 2026 review: 'The Greatest Betrayal'

Morgan Frey walks a tightrope between charm and pain in her solo show, The Greatest Betrayal, as she mines the gap between delusions and darker truths. Framed as a witty soliloquy about crushes and ambitions, the piece opens with a little bit of self-deprecating humor before peeling back the layers of Frey’s personal life as a child amputee, and the complicated friendships that followed. 

Frey’s voice throughout the show is soothing and conversational, which makes the harder disclosures about b...
Orlando Weekly •

Orlando Fringe 2026 review: 'The Vagina Monologues'

The Vagina Monologues at Fringe this year is bringing different voices, stories and perspectives from women about their experiences having, well, vaginas. Ranging over topics from health and safety to lifestyle and beauty, director Jaimz Dillman’s production of Eve Ensler’s script consolidates various interviews into soliloquies that are read aloud by a large, rotating cast of women that includes local celebrities like Anna Eskamani and Nikki Darden Creston. 

The monologues are delivered with h...
Orlando Weekly •

Orlando Fringe 2026 review: 'The $#!T'

The $#!T is a stripped-down solo piece that turns one extremely cramped setting into a surprisingly expressive walk down memory lane. Writer-star Matti McLean’s performance has the feeling of a confessional monologue, using a toilet stall as the main setting for framing a love story that has shifted from romance to resentment to something more complicated entirely. 

The solo format keeps the audience locked into the story’s emotional logic, even when the content gets explicit. The nudity and se...
Orlando Weekly •

Orlando Fringe 2026 review: 'Breaking Brains: A Lewd Lesson in Polyamory'

Breaking Brains: A Lewd Lesson in Polyamory feels less like traditional theater and more like a lively solo lecture from someone who’s living the topic being taught. Dana Prince, performing as Miss Dana, takes the stage as a polyamorous veteran and instructor, breaking down the facts of ethical nonmonogamy. With a mix of personal storytelling and classroom-style instruction, she includes quizzes, sharpened pencils and a lot of honesty about the messy parts of open relationships. 

The show is in...
Orlando Weekly •

Orlando Fringe 2026 review: 'Homecumming'

Homecumming is a raunchy yet sensitive solo piece that uses the loss of female libido and orgasms as a way to reflect on feelings of grief, depression and self-reclamation women can experience in their youth. The mononymous Magalie gives a performance that is bold and physically committed, as the show often walks a fine line between making the audience feel uncomfortable and experiencing catharsis. Overall, every moment of the show feels intentional rather than careless, even if it’s sometimes h...
Orlando Weekly •

Orlando Fringe 2026 review: 'Four Dinners'

Four Dinners is a sharp, emotionally messy queer dramedy that follows a chronological structure over four meals. These dinners take place in something that feels more like a pressure cooker than an apartment, belonging to roommates Penny (Liv Rawls) and Ynez (Marissa Rodriguez). A complicated dynamic becomes even messier somehow when Penny’s sister, Charlie (McKenna Russell), and Penny’s ex, Talia (Hailee Barrett), enter the picture. 

Written and directed by Emmy Frederickson and Kelsey Grace K...
Orlando Weekly •

Orlando Fringe 2026 review: 'Dreamroles'

Dreamroles is a high-energy cabaret-style show that turns wish-casting of infamous characters in musical theater history into a celebration of talent and pure nostalgia. Laurel Melina, Bryan Cantrell and Matt Cordon lean into roles they may not be cast in currently, but are amazing at playing. Together, the ensemble creates a personal and crowd-pleasing performance. 

With a strong vocal blend among all three artists backed by live pianist Matt Cordon, the show works because the artists understa...
Orlando Weekly •

Orlando Fringe 2026 review: 'Fringin & Flagons Presents: The Last Stand Tavern'

Fringin’ and Flagons: The Last Stand Tavern takes the chaos of a familiar RPG and turns it into an interactive, completely improvised, live comedy gauntlet where nobody gets plot armor. In this production based on the classic role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons, hosts Michael Marinaccio and Tracy McCoy guide the action while Billy McCoy serves as dungeon master. The high concept of this production: It introduces new “Fringe celeb players” in every performance, making each night unique in its...
Orlando Weekly •

Orlando Fringe 2026 review: 'With What We Have Left'

With What We Have Left turns communication into a game, a challenge, and ultimately a shared act of trust. In this unscripted, totally improvised, solo experiment, the performer (Elaina Alspach) steps onstage with only a loosely guiding framework of the production, a shrinking word count, and the audience as an active collaborator for what will unfold next. 

What makes this piece entirely engaging is the deliberate scarcity. The soloist has a very limited word allowance that goes down on a tick...
Orlando Weekly •

Orlando Fringe 2026 review: 'Haunted Co., a Live Ghost Investigation'

Haunted Co., a Live Ghost Investigation starts off as a cheeky paranormal livestream for a popular YouTube show. However, it quickly spirals into something much more unsettling. Framed as a live-ghost hunting special, the production follows Ed and Liz (Andrew Sandoval and Lex Bentley) as they enter the stage armed with heavy equipment meant to catch some ghosts for human interaction and observation. 

Directed by Andy Crisis, the production really leans into incorporating different types of mult...
Orlando Weekly •

Orlando Fringe 2026 review: 'Younger Us'

Younger Us is a slow-burn coming-of-age play that finds its power within themes of grief, humor, and the messy connection of complicated relationships after loss. The play takes place during a traditional celebration labeled as a memorial for the loss of a mutual friend, Peter (Sean McKinley), thrown by his boyfriend, Marc (Tony Haberman), who wants the night to go perfectly. The party is fully equipped, ironically, with beer pong, shared joints, and an extensive Spotify playlists of modern arti...
Orlando Weekly •

Orlando Fringe 2026 review: 'Sororicide'

Sororicide wastes no time throwing its audience into chaos. What begins as a fundraiser event for Delta Nu quickly spirals once the sorority president gets murdered in-house. From there, the killer comedy leans heavily into full camp mode, blending Mean Girls-style satire into a classic whodunnit plot. 

As the production progresses, the characters all fit into traditional Greek life stereotypes. You have the uptight vice president, MacKenzeigh (Grace Brantley); the stressed treasurer, Hanna (Ch...
Orlando Weekly •

Orlando Fringe 2026 review: 'Chase Padgett: How to Play Guitar (Poorly)'

Chase Padgett walks onstage and immediately disproves his own title. How to Play Guitar (Poorly) opens with a skillful, electrifying number that makes it clear that this show is not about incompetence but about the messy road to discovering identity through musicality and humor. 

Blending a mix of stand-up comedy, live musical numbers, and deep personal storytelling, Padgett delves into eight “lessons” about how to learn to play the guitar (poorly). Each lesson relates to chronological acts of...
Orlando Weekly •

Orlando Fringe 2025 review: ‘An American (Not) in Paris’

Through stand-up monologues, musical numbers and a deep dive into her unpublished memoir (hopefully coming out soon), Liv Rocklin presents her one-woman solo show An American (Not) in Paris, directed by Hallie Rae Sebastian. Liv recalls her weeks studying abroad as an NYU student in Paris, and how COVID-19 sent her life into a slow, downward spiral. She loses, learns and grows again as she tells her audience in an extremely amusing manner how she entered her adulthood....
Orlando Weekly •

Orlando Fringe 2025 review: ‘Roo’s Menagerie’

Explore a wild menagerie handcrafted by writer-performer Roo Nafasat, who gathered all her wealth after the Indian Independence from the British and left for Florida. Creating a space for animals with hilariously different personalities, Roo’s Menagerie gives the audience a taste of how the creatures act and how she recruited them in the first place.



The beasts left behind (and embodied) by Nafasat include a tormented spider, a stoned lemur, a prissy show cat and a toxic...
Orlando Weekly •

Orlando Fringe 2025 review: ‘Down the Rabbit Hole’

Take a dive into writer-director Gerry Shannon’s Down the Rabbit Hole, a modern reimagining of the classic Alice in Wonderland told through the art of dance, where we watch the White Rabbit (Andres Gonzalez) dancing deeper into Wonderland followed by a young Alice (Annie Cowden). The cast includes a set of Orlando-based performers who took on the challenge of learning choreography from 1,500 miles away, as Shannon is a Maine-based artist.



Together, the White Rabbit and Alice twirl int...
Orlando Weekly •

Orlando Fringe 2025 review: ‘That’s Why I’m Single’

That’s Why I’m Single, written by Dawson Tran and directed by Jacob Smith, presents a love-filled adventure of chaos and surprise that’s tailormade for the under-25 crowd.



Leo (Roma Zizza) and Austin (Jonathan Somerville) hatch a plan to get away with being the perfect matchmaker employees at their corporate speed-dating job. They are presented with five contestants — Willow (Emma Johnson), Megan (Sophia Valenciaga), Jenny (Kyra Martin), Tom (Sean Hawkins) and M...
Orlando Weekly •

Orlando Fringe 2025 review: ‘A Harlivy Honeymoon Whodunnit?!’

Combining characters from different comic book universes, Gotham City’s Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy are celebrating their honeymoon alongside the X-Men’s Logan/Wolverine at a tropical island resort. All of a sudden, one of their good friends is murdered. With the help of the audience, the couple collects clues, questions suspects and eventually solves the mystery. A Harlivy Honeymoon Whodunnit?!, the latest show from Bombshells Cosplay writer Brooke Yost and director Danielle Bloom, includes sol...
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Strike Magazines •

Not Your Perfect Feminist — Strike Magazines

I am not your clean-cut slogannot the cropped quote beneath a pastel squarenot your pat-yourself-on-the-back diversity hire.I walk in with bold lips, sharp hipsa laugh too loud for your board meetings.You want me either righteousor radiant buttoned high at the throator split down the thigh.But I learned earlythat the world loves a woman easiestwhen she edits herself.So I keep the heels.Keep the eyeliner winged like warning signs.‘Keep the body,’ you saidwould cancel out my mind.I can cite theory...
Strike Magazines •

Ziggy Played Guitar: David Bowie & Trans Androgyny — Strike Magazines

THE INNOVATOR
David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust persona took place during a very short period of his extensive musical career, lasting from 1972 to 1973 and marking the release of the groundbreaking concept album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars. Widely considered to be one of the best rock albums of all time, Bowie brought glam rock to the forefront and created a titular character beyond anything we had seen before. The story of Ziggy Stardust follows an androgynous alie...
Strike Magazines •

Stop Skipping, Start Listening: Why Albums Still Matter — Strike Magazines

There’s a language that forms when you listen to music on albums rather than playlists. When you repeat that same album over and over and over again until it's engraved in you, until the metaphorical disc gets worn down, you start to become fluent in it. You learn the timing of every song transition without thinking. Catch the harmonies buried in the back of the tracks that you missed on the first ten listens. Notice which ear the audio pans to in your favorite song, and how silence is used just...
Strike Magazines •

“To Be Human Is To Be Cringe”: The Holly Pocket Interview — Strike Magazines

“It came from seeing, you know, all of my friends, graduating and feeling like, okay, I’m taking a different path,” Azme said. It’s an acknowledgement of “there is a different path,” but it's still that feel of being stuck and like, you know, “I don’t know what I’m doing in my life, but I’m going to keep moving.”The University of Central Florida brings a lot of the local Orlando artists together, playing in parking garages or at the Arboretum Unplugged event. The Orlando local music scene, Azme...
Strike Magazines •

The Halo Effect — Strike Magazines

a beautiful monster.an angelic ghost,meeting a curious soul.diamonds in his eyes as my heart fliesout of my chest and into his hands.lips kiss it slow and kind,am I wrong to imagine if they bite?monsters hide in the dark and under beds,but this one lies in mine with a halo over his head.my sheets are softer, my dreams dreamier,yet my pillows are daggers compared to his chest.i’m bare under his wings,his hand a string of pearls around my neck.are monsters supposed to hold you even when you’re imp...
Strike Magazines •

This Is Your Sign to Post Your Content (According to Math) — Strike Magazines

"Believe in Yourself" by tahewitt is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/?ref=openverse. The world is falling apart.So why not do it anyway?Listen, I get it.There’s so much uncertainty right now, and a lot of us are trying to build stability from scratch. Young adults ages 18–28 are increasingly skipping college and questioning the future of AI-driven careers in favor of carpentry, construction, and other skilled trade...
Strike Magazines •

Fandom: Community or Competition — Strike Magazines

Making his return to the stage after nearly a decade, Bruno Mars has announced The Romantic Tour. With questions about when he may venture on tour again, fans have been scrambling to secure tickets. Global K-Pop sensation BTS has announced a new album along with a world tour, with North American dates starting as early as April 2026. With only a week to prepare for ticketing, the BTS fandom has expressed anxiety about the ticket sales. After his 22-month hiatus, Harry Styles announced his moment...
Strike Magazines •

Bad Haircuts and 2026 Resolutions — Strike Magazines

A few weeks before 2025 ended, I was in desperate need of a haircut. I was in a rush, and seeing as I was going to be flying out of the country in a few days to visit family, I booked an appointment with a local barber as soon as I could (i.e., not with my usual barber—love you RJ). I was in a vulnerable spot at that time in my life, juggling school, work, messy breakups, and professional responsibilities, so I just needed something to freshen me up a bit.As soon as I walked into that barber sho...
Strike Magazines •

Aphrodisiac — Strike Magazines

the hairs on the back of my neck standtall as you loom over me.you poured honey into my veins,kissing your love into me.the musk of leather from your jacket must've done something to me,for me to still crave your scent even when familiar voices tell me to leave. I poured life into your sheets,I found beauty in your flaws. eyes serene like my hometown beachesremind me of a home where I was the cause. even when your eyes turned green, I buried more of myself into you because the hues of you pulsed...
Strike Magazines •

Brazilian Bombshell: From the Beaches to the Runway — Strike Magazines

Image Courtesy: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/725009240051852816/ The fantasy of the Brazilian Bombshell branded Brazilians as having bronzed skin, beach-toned bodies and a cool air of passionate allure. Their desirability paved the way for audiences to conflate the seductive nature of these supermodels with the seductive nature of Brazil itself. And they wouldn't be entirely wrong to do this; the image of the Brazilian Bombshell aligned seamlessly with Brazil's longstanding emphasis on corporea...

All Works - Art, Culture, Politics, and More

Orlando Weekly •

Ganesh Utsav brings a piece of home to Central Florida for the Marathi community

Sources: 2

The sounds of prayer, conversation and celebration surrounded the Hindu Society of Central Florida last month for Ganesh Utsav, a festival devoted to a deity widely revered as a remover of obstacles and a symbol of new beginnings for millions of Hindus. 

Ganesh Utsav, also known as Ganesh Chaturthi, commemorates the birth of Lord Ganesha, the Hindu deity with the head of an elephant but the body of a man. The festival is traditionally marked by prayers, offerings, devotional music, food and com...
Orlando Life •

Fashion and Hope Raises Support for Families Facing Childhood Cancer

Sources: 3

The 15th annual Fashion and Hope fashion show brought Central Florida’s fashion, arts and philanthropic communities together Saturday, Aug. 22, at Fields Motorcars Bentley Orlando to raise support for families navigating childhood cancer.

Hosted by the Hope for More Foundation, the event placed the Give Hope foundation at the center of its fundraising efforts. Give Hope is a volunteer-operated nonprofit that assists children with cancer and their families in Central Florida, addressing financia...
Orlando Weekly •

'Come From Away' at Orlando Shakes honors story of compassion and human connection in the wake of 9/11

Sources: 3

When the Orlando Shakes production of Come From Away opens on Wednesday, Aug. 26, audiences will step into a story that is as moving as it is deeply human. The musical centers on the small Newfoundland town of Gander, where residents welcomed 7,000 stranded travelers after the Sept. 11 attacks grounded flights across North America, and the production’s actors say that spirit of generosity still defines the show today. 

For performers like Jason Blackwater, Lindsay Bradshaw and Meka King, the sh...
Orlando Life •

Orlando’s Broadway Season Is Getting A Blockbuster Reset

Sources: 1

The Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts has unveiled its 2026 to 2027 AdventHealth Broadway in Orlando lineup. A mix of returning megahits, enduring classics and first time touring productions that reflect both the city’s growing appetite for theatre and Broadway’s evolving identity.

At the center of this year’s programming is a deliberate balance, one that blends nostalgia with novelty.
“We wanted a season that captures the full range of what Broadway is right now, the shows that bui...
Orlando Life •

Orlando Museum of Art Summer Events and Exhibitions 2026

Sources: 1

Orlando Museum of Art is making a strong case for a cooler kind of summer outing. Its 12th annual Florida Prize in Contemporary Art anchors the season, but the museum is also offering a rotating slate of exhibitions that give locals and visitors multiple reasons to step inside, slow down and spend an afternoon with visual art.

The Florida Prize, on view from May 30th through August 23rd, is the museum’s signature contemporary survey of artists working across Florida. This year’s exhibition is...
Strike Magazines •

When Home Isn’t Familiar — Strike Magazines

For a long time, I believed home was supposed to be constant. It was the fixed point on the map, the place that waited patiently while I went out and became different versions of myself. Returning home would feel like slipping into an old coat: a little worn, maybe, but still mine. Then, you had to move. Instead, coming home sometimes feels like stepping into a room where all the furniture has been left in the same place, but the air has changed. The walls are familiar, yet something in them no...
Orlando Weekly •

Orlando Fringe 2026 review: 'Fogville: A Sparkly Vampire Parody Musical'

Fogville: A Sparkly Vampire Parody Musical is a gleeful, high-octane parody that takes the Twilight saga and amplifies every brooding stare, sparkly vampire cheekbone and dramatic love triangle into campy, musical perfection. Stella MoonSwan (Kristen Lee Vire) stars as the clumsy new girl as she stumbles into Fogville, finding herself immediately trapped in a fierce love triangle between Edgar Sullen (Ansley Arthur) and Jake WolfWhite (Fredy Ruiz). The rest of the Sullen family — Alex (Alex McCr...
Orlando Weekly •

Orlando Fringe 2026 review: 'World Peace Through Humor: A German 101'

World Peace Through Humor: A German 101 is a high-energy stand-up comedy show that delivers exactly what it promises: a German comic who makes American jokes while preaching global unity. Paco Erhard bounds onstage with relentless cheer, firing off jokes about Florida’s unique perks, U.S. government absurdities and his own peripatetic life as a world traveler. 

The show works best when Erhard plays the fish-out-of-water observer, contrasting German efficiency with American excess in ways that f...
Orlando Weekly •

Orlando Fringe 2026 review: 'Masquerade of the Red Death'

Masquerade of the Red Death leans hard into spectacle, dressing Edgar Allen Poe’s plague tale in glitter, flesh and dark burlesque flair. The costumes, designed by Aurora Fable, are intricate and eye-catching as they glitter through each individual dance of the different women, choreographed by Miss Foxy D’Ville. Directed by Sean Holloway with Fable and D’Ville, the production knows how to build an atmosphere that feels decadent, dangerous and theatrical. 

Because the story is built strictly on...
Orlando Weekly •

Orlando Fringe 2026 review: 'Welcome to Clowntown'

Welcome to Clowntown starts sweet, then explodes into chaos when Tanya Perez’s “Pixie the Clown” turns some kids’ birthday party into her own rock & roll confessional. What begins with two balloons and a really dull backdrop unravels into a clown meltdown that reveals high-end burnout. 

Perez’s show thrives on that tonal whiplash. She’s got the full clown package — magic tricks, a goofy voice and a knack for pulling audiences into her madness — but underneath it all is just a hustler’s backstor...
Sanford Herald •

Winter Springs City Commission Discusses Repairs, Public Input and More

By Arsheeya Garg Herald Intern The City of Winter Springs Regular City Commission Meeting was held last on Monday, April 27. The meeting included administrative procedures, public input, and discussions on city infrastructure operations.Significant time was dedicated to discussing water projects, including creek clearings, the use of a new vacuum truck for maintenance and sediment removal from various ponds.The City Manager provided an update on reclaimed water issues and expansion efforts, notin...
Orlando Weekly •

Orlando Fringe 2026 review: 'The Greatest Betrayal'

Morgan Frey walks a tightrope between charm and pain in her solo show, The Greatest Betrayal, as she mines the gap between delusions and darker truths. Framed as a witty soliloquy about crushes and ambitions, the piece opens with a little bit of self-deprecating humor before peeling back the layers of Frey’s personal life as a child amputee, and the complicated friendships that followed. 

Frey’s voice throughout the show is soothing and conversational, which makes the harder disclosures about b...
Orlando Weekly •

Orlando Fringe 2026 review: 'The Vagina Monologues'

The Vagina Monologues at Fringe this year is bringing different voices, stories and perspectives from women about their experiences having, well, vaginas. Ranging over topics from health and safety to lifestyle and beauty, director Jaimz Dillman’s production of Eve Ensler’s script consolidates various interviews into soliloquies that are read aloud by a large, rotating cast of women that includes local celebrities like Anna Eskamani and Nikki Darden Creston. 

The monologues are delivered with h...
Orlando Weekly •

Orlando Fringe 2026 review: 'The $#!T'

The $#!T is a stripped-down solo piece that turns one extremely cramped setting into a surprisingly expressive walk down memory lane. Writer-star Matti McLean’s performance has the feeling of a confessional monologue, using a toilet stall as the main setting for framing a love story that has shifted from romance to resentment to something more complicated entirely. 

The solo format keeps the audience locked into the story’s emotional logic, even when the content gets explicit. The nudity and se...
Orlando Weekly •

Orlando Fringe 2026 review: 'Breaking Brains: A Lewd Lesson in Polyamory'

Breaking Brains: A Lewd Lesson in Polyamory feels less like traditional theater and more like a lively solo lecture from someone who’s living the topic being taught. Dana Prince, performing as Miss Dana, takes the stage as a polyamorous veteran and instructor, breaking down the facts of ethical nonmonogamy. With a mix of personal storytelling and classroom-style instruction, she includes quizzes, sharpened pencils and a lot of honesty about the messy parts of open relationships. 

The show is in...
Orlando Weekly •

Orlando Fringe 2026 review: 'Homecumming'

Homecumming is a raunchy yet sensitive solo piece that uses the loss of female libido and orgasms as a way to reflect on feelings of grief, depression and self-reclamation women can experience in their youth. The mononymous Magalie gives a performance that is bold and physically committed, as the show often walks a fine line between making the audience feel uncomfortable and experiencing catharsis. Overall, every moment of the show feels intentional rather than careless, even if it’s sometimes h...
Orlando Weekly •

Orlando Fringe 2026 review: 'Four Dinners'

Four Dinners is a sharp, emotionally messy queer dramedy that follows a chronological structure over four meals. These dinners take place in something that feels more like a pressure cooker than an apartment, belonging to roommates Penny (Liv Rawls) and Ynez (Marissa Rodriguez). A complicated dynamic becomes even messier somehow when Penny’s sister, Charlie (McKenna Russell), and Penny’s ex, Talia (Hailee Barrett), enter the picture. 

Written and directed by Emmy Frederickson and Kelsey Grace K...
Orlando Weekly •

Orlando Fringe 2026 review: 'Dreamroles'

Dreamroles is a high-energy cabaret-style show that turns wish-casting of infamous characters in musical theater history into a celebration of talent and pure nostalgia. Laurel Melina, Bryan Cantrell and Matt Cordon lean into roles they may not be cast in currently, but are amazing at playing. Together, the ensemble creates a personal and crowd-pleasing performance. 

With a strong vocal blend among all three artists backed by live pianist Matt Cordon, the show works because the artists understa...
Orlando Weekly •

Orlando Fringe 2026 review: 'Fringin & Flagons Presents: The Last Stand Tavern'

Fringin’ and Flagons: The Last Stand Tavern takes the chaos of a familiar RPG and turns it into an interactive, completely improvised, live comedy gauntlet where nobody gets plot armor. In this production based on the classic role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons, hosts Michael Marinaccio and Tracy McCoy guide the action while Billy McCoy serves as dungeon master. The high concept of this production: It introduces new “Fringe celeb players” in every performance, making each night unique in its...
Orlando Weekly •

Orlando Fringe 2026 review: 'With What We Have Left'

With What We Have Left turns communication into a game, a challenge, and ultimately a shared act of trust. In this unscripted, totally improvised, solo experiment, the performer (Elaina Alspach) steps onstage with only a loosely guiding framework of the production, a shrinking word count, and the audience as an active collaborator for what will unfold next. 

What makes this piece entirely engaging is the deliberate scarcity. The soloist has a very limited word allowance that goes down on a tick...
Orlando Weekly •

Orlando Fringe 2026 review: 'Haunted Co., a Live Ghost Investigation'

Haunted Co., a Live Ghost Investigation starts off as a cheeky paranormal livestream for a popular YouTube show. However, it quickly spirals into something much more unsettling. Framed as a live-ghost hunting special, the production follows Ed and Liz (Andrew Sandoval and Lex Bentley) as they enter the stage armed with heavy equipment meant to catch some ghosts for human interaction and observation. 

Directed by Andy Crisis, the production really leans into incorporating different types of mult...
Orlando Weekly •

Orlando Fringe 2026 review: 'Younger Us'

Younger Us is a slow-burn coming-of-age play that finds its power within themes of grief, humor, and the messy connection of complicated relationships after loss. The play takes place during a traditional celebration labeled as a memorial for the loss of a mutual friend, Peter (Sean McKinley), thrown by his boyfriend, Marc (Tony Haberman), who wants the night to go perfectly. The party is fully equipped, ironically, with beer pong, shared joints, and an extensive Spotify playlists of modern arti...
Orlando Weekly •

Orlando Fringe 2026 review: 'Sororicide'

Sororicide wastes no time throwing its audience into chaos. What begins as a fundraiser event for Delta Nu quickly spirals once the sorority president gets murdered in-house. From there, the killer comedy leans heavily into full camp mode, blending Mean Girls-style satire into a classic whodunnit plot. 

As the production progresses, the characters all fit into traditional Greek life stereotypes. You have the uptight vice president, MacKenzeigh (Grace Brantley); the stressed treasurer, Hanna (Ch...
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