2023 in review: The year on the Orlando arts scene
Another year has come and gone, this one a year of transitions as leaders departed major organizations, other cultural institutions closed or changed their names, and we said goodbye to a variety of arts supporters.
Here are the headlines as we review the highlights and low points from 2023.
January
With acrobats, living statues and a precarious chair-balancing ribbon cutting, Fringe ArtSpace opened with a party celebrating its new home on Church Street in downtown Orlando. …
Out in Winter Garden, live theatrical productions returned to the Garden Theatre after a six-month hiatus caused by the departure of most of the organization’s staff. Former employees and others had been sharply critical of the board of directors over its handling of multiple issues, including the departure of artistic director Joseph C. Walsh. In a change of strategy, the theater contracted with Victory Productions to produce its plays and musicals. The first, opening on Jan. 25, was “Rock of Ages” with Central Floridan Omar Cardona of TV’s “The Voice” in the leading role. …
The Orlando Museum of Art acknowledged that after more than 50 years of accreditation, it had been placed on probation by the American Alliance of Museums, more fallout from the scandal over the FBI’s seizure of art purportedly by Jean-Michel Basquiat from the museum’s 2022 “Heroes & Monsters” exhibit.
And Renaissance Theatre director Donald Rupe took his original musical “From Here,” a story of friendship in the wake of the Pulse tragedy, to New York City, where it was performed at 54 below in the heart of the Big Apple’s theater district.
February
Just days after a critically acclaimed, sold-out show in Winter Park as guests of the Bach Festival Society, the Grammy-winning King’s Singers were barred from performing at Pensacola Christian college — because the British a cappella group has members who are gay. …
Rollins College officially opened the new $8 million Tiedtke Theatre & Dance Centre, including the Sally K. Albrecht Studio Theatre, a new 1,900-square-foot performance space for the region that, in part, will house student productions previously staged in the college’s demolished Fred Stone Theatre.
March
Winter Park Playhouse officials began brainstorming a future home after they learned the owners of their rented building on Orange Avenue planned to sell the structure at a price beyond the nonprofit’s budget. The first idea proposed: A new home at a new city park. …
The Art & History Museums — Maitland opened a new permanent exhibit: “Maitland’s Attic: A Journey Through a Small City’s Past,” to let visitors rummage through the city’s past. …
Confusion over new state legislation covering drag shows led to the Miss Rose Dynasty Pageant departing the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts — but raising more money for its nonprofit than ever before.
And big changes at two local art museums: With zero public fanfare, Hansen Mulford retired as chief curator of Orlando Museum of Art after 42 years, and Morse Museum of American Art director Laurence Ruggiero died after 30 years with the Winter Park institution.
April
Cirque du Soleil and Disney made changes to their first-ever collaboration, “Drawn to Life,” at Disney Springs. …
Orlando got a new place to listen to groovy vinyl as Proper, a craft cocktail bar and vinyl hi-fi listening room, opened downtown. …
Orlando Museum of Art got a new executive director as Cathryn Mattson stepped into the role at the battered institution. …
And ballerina Kate-Lynn Robichaux retired after dancing for more than a decade with Orlando Ballet.
May
United Arts of Central Florida handily surpassed its $6 million fundraising goal, bringing in $7.6 million for the region’s arts and cultural nonprofits. …
And the annual Orlando Fringe Festival added shuttles to transport attendees to the new venues downtown at ArtSpace.
June
“Our Story,” a 20-year-old play designed to help reach the Black community as part of HIV-prevention efforts, was revised and remounted as the Orlando metropolitan area ranked fifth in the nation for the rate of new HIV cases — with the majority of those cases disproportionally affecting communities of color. …
Orlando Repertory Theatre changed its name to Orlando Family Stage to better align with its mission. …
Two major departures were announced: Douglas Love-Ramos left his job as managing director of Orlando Shakes, while Paul Helfrich said he would step down as executive director of the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra in the fall. …
And Central Florida said goodbye to three women as the arts community mourned Tracey Conner, who founded the educational troupe MicheLee Puppets; Denna Beena, an effervescent arts supporter who worked with Orlando Fringe, SAK Comedy Lab and Spooky Empire; and Jeanne Linders, an arts advocate and creator of the wildly successful “Menopause the Musical.” …
Orlando’s hopes for a new performance space were dashed when plans to open the White Elephant Cabaret Theatre fell through just three days before its grand opening over zoning complications. …
And the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts made eyes pop with a proposal to add a two-level park and performance space at the front of its downtown building; money for the plan still has not been approved by Orange County.
July
Steinmetz Hall at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts drew attention when Architectural Digest named it one of the most beautiful theaters in the world. Meanwhile, the Orlando Philharmonic’s renovations on the Plaza Live kicked into high gear as the multimillion-dollar refurbishment entered a new phase. …
GOPAR — Greater Orlando Performing Arts Relief — partnered with the national Entertainment Community Fund, founded in 1882 and for most of its existence known as The Actors Fund, to strengthen a financial safety net for Central Florida’s entertainment-industry workers, including theme-park employees. …
And the community suffered more losses with the deaths of arts supporters extraordinaire Nancy Boetto and Dennis Sobeck; Orlando Fringe Festival volunteer Brian Flaherty; and two-time Grammy winner Peter Nero, a former leader of the Philly Pops whose generosity helped save the Bay Street Players in Eustis.
August
SAK Comedy Lab announced it would be leaving its longtime Orange Avenue home in downtown Orlando for new digs on Church Street. …
And Orlando Museum of Art filed suit against former director Aaron De Groft and owners of the disputed “Heroes & Monsters” artwork, offering new details of how the ill-fated exhibition came to be — and fueling a fierce rebuttal from the lawsuit’s defendants, including one who said he would be the museum’s “worst nightmare.”
September
United Arts unveiled a new logo and rebranded its monthly magazine with the name Artistry. …
Rollins Museum of Art welcomed a rare exhibition of Baroque masterpieces, the only stop for the art in Florida and one of only a handful in the U.S. (You can still catch “Beyond the Medici: The Haukohl Family Collection” through Jan. 7 at the Winter Park museum.) …
And critically acclaimed actor Dez Allen died at the young age of 21. He was remembered at an October gathering at Orlando Family Stage.
October
Diana Ross headlined the new Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts Residency Festival, featuring the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of London. …
Alauna Friskics announced she would step down as executive director of Orlando Fringe at the end of the year. In other Fringe news, the organization announced it would change the name of its Winter Mini-Fest to the license plate-like FESTN4. …
Orlando Museum of Art settled a lawsuit with Central Florida singer Sisaundra Lewis, an offshoot of the ongoing Basquiat scandal. …
Four years after a sinkhole closed Seminole State College’s Center for Fine and Performing Arts, college officials told the Sentinel enrollment in arts programs has plummeted — and they still don’t know when the building might reopen. …
And the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra named its new executive director: Karina Bharne, who starts in January, will be the first woman at the head of the organization in its 31-year history.
November
Former director Aaron De Groft, fired from Orlando Museum of Art after the FBI raid on the “Heroes & Monsters” exhibit, countersued the institution and later presented his side of the saga to the Orlando Sentinel. …
Orlando Family Stage acquired the puppets and other assets of MicheLee Puppets’ programs to keep the company’s mission going, while Orlando’s critically acclaimed but financially beleaguered Mad Cow Theatre officially dissolved after a 25-year run. …
Orlando Shakes announced a new managing director, Larry Mabrey, while the Dr. Phillips Center announced the opening of a new venue: Judson’s Live. The intimate jazz club, with craft cocktails and nibbles, will bring a slew of musicians to Orlando beginning in February.
December
In its quest for a new home, Winter Park Playhouse received a welcome extension on its lease — meaning it can stay put until August 2025. …
On the move, the Blue Bamboo Center for the Arts played its last concert in its longtime home on Dec. 23, hoping to move during 2024 to a new home in a 6,000-square-foot historic brick building on Orange Blossom Trail owned by Dr. Phillips Charities. …
And Disney and Cirque du Soleil made still more changes to “Drawn to Life,” this time tweaking the last scene in an effort to add more oomph to the show’s finale.
Follow me at facebook.com/matthew.j.palm or email me at mpalm@orlandosentinel.com. Find entertainment news and reviews at orlandosentinel.com/entertainment.
