WINTER PARK — If there was any question about whether Central Florida audiences would line up to watch staged readings of new musicals still in development, the sold out crowds attending the 8th Annual Florida Festival Of New Musicals on Saturday solved that mystery. Three shows in a row attracted standing room only audiences, as every seat got filled inside the Winter Park Playhouse, which created the festival as a vehicle for discovering and boosting new talent.

The concept behind the festival — to allow playwrights and composers to get a staged reading by professional actors and singers before a live audience, followed by a talk back session with feedback from the viewers – got a boost on Saturday from three enormously innovative shows. These often ingenious musicals were built around the world of Disney animation, rock bands on tour and a football star looking for redemption — a wildly diverse selection, covering radically different musical styles.

The audience loved it.

Which New Musicals had a Reading on Saturday?

Ink And Paint

A real treat for Central Florida audiences since Orlando is the home to Walt Disney World, this clever musical by playwright/composer Danielle E. Moore of New York City explores the first women pioneers to work at Disney’s animation studios back in 1939, as the studio looked for fresh talent to assist on two animated movies destined to become cinema classics: Bambi and Fantasia.

As Moore’s play ingeniously notes, the excitement of being the first women trailblazers in this field quickly started to dim, for a host of reasons: their seasoned male coworkers frequently assigned them to menial tasks, they became the subjects of often cruel practical jokes, and had to stand by as the men got big pay raises – and they didn’t.

But with each frustration came opportunities to demonstrate their skill in animation. And their excitement soared whenever someone from their ranks got much deserved recognition — and a promotion.

The reading of this lively and energetic musical benefited from first rate performances by Mahalia Gronigan, Melissa Beradelli, Robin Chinn, Tay Anderson and Tata D. Deadly as the new animators in a male-dominated field. The exhilaration of their adventure in studio animation becomes just as exciting and rewarding for the audience.

Speakerheart

Sort of like “Iron Man The Musical,” Speakerheart is a rock composer and singer who has put together a band, and their first album is soaring up the charts. They connect with an audience so quickly that they plan a major tour, and spend hours rehearsing. This comes at a joyful time for Speakerheart, who has married his sweetheart Cora, and they now own their first house.

But …

Strange electronic feedback sounds keep emanating from Speakerheart’s chest. There’s a good reason for that. He was developed in a lab, and instead of a heart, he has a loudspeaker. While it contributes to his musical development, the frequent times that Speakerheart endures painful amplifier sounds from his chest are a warning that this experiment is going very wrong.

A unique fantasy, the musical applies its Iron Man/Six Million Dollar Man concept to a rock setting, which is great fun, and the play by the father and daughter team of Charlie and Sierra Hitchcock gets a big boost from songs by the pop band Mommyheads, who agreed to become collaborators and allow their tunes to be used as Speakerheart’s compositions. A unique mix of science fiction and rock bio, the show got an excellent reading from the cast, with a standout and highly energetic performance by Kristofer Thornton as Speakerheart.

Spirit Of the game: The Ultimate Musical

It’s notable that Philip Vlahakis, the playwright and composer of Spirit Of The Game, also happens to be a world champion frisbee player, because that sport plays a key role in his show about Johnny Diskakis, a football star whose sports career tanked after an unknown (at first) scandal brought him down, forcing him to move back to his native village on the island of Crete, where his father and grandfather happily welcome him to help run their inn.

Johnny still has ambitions to revive his football career by working out constantly and practicing the game, but his interests start to shift when he meets Thina, who manages a frisbee team and thinks he’s got the skills to be a strong player. As Johnny finally gives in and joins the team, he finds himself increasingly attracted to Thina — but her main interest is getting him to be a skilled Frisbee player second to none.

A sharp and quick-witted musical that mixes a rock score with some traditional Greek music and even a Greek chorus, it’s great fun getting wrapped up in Johnny’s quest for redemption, particularly since the reading featured fabulous performances by Jaidyn Richardson as the high spirited Johnny and Hannah McGinley Lemasters at the sharp-tongued, highly organized Trina.

At the same time, Ned Wilkinson as Johnny’s father Yiorgos and John Cavazos as his grandfather Pappous make a hilarious comedic duo as they work to get Johnny more interested in preparing rooms for guests or tending their flock of sheep. The show is as funny and upbeat as it sounds.

What is the Schedule For The Festival Of New Musicals?

The festival will have its final day on Sunday, Tickets are the readings are $10 each for the productions at The Winter Park Playhouse, 711 Orange Ave. in Winter Park. There is a 15-minute talk-back session at the end of each show, which typically runs for between 45 minutes to an hour.

The schedule for the final day of the festival is:

• Sunday, 11 a.m.: Finding Our Way Back
• Sunday, 1 p.m.: Ink And Paint
• Sunday, 3 p.m.: Speakerheart

Tickets are all six shows are $50. To learn more, call the Playhouse at 407-645-0145.

What is the Festival Of New Musicals?

The Florida Florida Festival of New Musicals was first launched in 2017, created to advance and elevate the original American art form of musical theater by fostering the development of new musicals. The Playhouse, which frequently brings in brand new musicals making their Central Florida debut, also aims to boost the artistic growth of theater writers and composers.

This four-day event showcase six new musicals currently in the development stage. The Festival also enables the writers and composers to get exposure to not only the public, but the news media and to regional theater producers and directors.

A one-hour version of each chosen musical gets fully read and sung concert-style, without staging, by professional actors and musicians.    

Each year, national and international writers and composers submit their musicals, which get reviewed by a professional panel that selects the six final productions to be featured in the festival.

Michael Freeman is an Orlando journalist, playwright and author of the terrifying book “Bloody Rabbit”. Contact him at Freelineorlando@gmail.com.

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