different venues in and around Loch Haven Park and downtown Orlando. Freeline Media will be previewing the shows right up to the festival date.
ORLANDO — A class reunion may sound like fun — isn’t everybody curious to see how their old high school classmates turned out as adults? But holding one at the Orlando Fringe Festival?
Heather L. Bedor begs to differ.
As the producer of the original play The Breakfast Reunion, which is making its debut at Fringe this month, she thinks a funny and moving high school reunion could be just what audiences are looking for.
The play by David Strauss, which Bedor calls “bold and nostalgic,” will have 5 performances in Fringe’s Green Venue at the Fringe Festival that kicks off next week.
What is the Show The Breakfast Reunion?
“You are officially invited to the Shermer High School Class of 1985’s 25th Reunion,” the show’s liner notes point out. “Before the yearbook closes for good and before the reunion night begins, familiar faces are gathering for something that feels a little larger than a simple catch up. What starts as reconnection soon opens the door to memory, old tensions, and the versions of ourselves that never quite stayed in the past. They were once just five strangers in detention and somehow, none of them ever really left Shermer High behind.”
By the end, Bedor notes, the cast will “find themselves together again inside the world that shaped them.”
The play boasts a large cast that includes Bradley Hubbell as Andy, Courtney Cunningham as Claire, Kaitlin Elizabeth Derbyshire as Allison, Sean Derbyshire as Brian and Ryan Leyhue as John. Directed by Patrick Kramer, who has done voice work in VeggieTales, and produced by Bedor, the show is rolling out the invite to high school reunion fans everywhere.
What’s the Story The Breakfast Reunion?
Intrigued, Freeline Media reached out to Heather Bedor to learn more about this production.
Freeline Media: How did you select The Breakfast Reunion as the play you wanted to produce?
Heather Bedor: The moment I read it, I felt like I’d walked into a room full of people I already knew. I actually came across the script while sitting with my friend who is the Playwright, David Strauss, and talking about the challenges I was facing getting ready to help plan my own high school’s 25th reunion. It was also right around the 40th anniversary of the original film, so it hit at exactly the right time. It didn’t feel distant or abstract, it felt personal. The play has this magnetic pull where the characters are both iconic and deeply human. It asks what happens after the credits roll, after life has had its say, and that question stuck with me. Producing it felt less like a choice and more like answering an invitation. It’s the kind of story where you quickly realize we all recognize a piece of ourselves in that room.
FM: Fringe is often known for its wild, zany comedies. How does this show fit into the mix?
HB: It absolutely fits the Fringe spirit, just with a different rhythm. There’s humor throughout, but it lives alongside vulnerability and tension instead of overpowering it. The comedy comes from recognition, from those moments where you think, “I know that person” or “I’ve been that person.” It still has that Fringe energy of surprise and boldness, but it leaves audiences with something that lingers a little longer than just the laugh. And there are many easter eggs hidden throughout for the die-hard fans of the original film.
FM: What kind of nostalgia does this show tap into?
HB: It taps into the memory of who we thought we were going to be, and who we became instead. Not just the aesthetics of the era, but the emotional blueprint we carried out of those formative years. The show lives in that space where past and present sit across from each other and start asking questions. It’s a very human kind of nostalgia, one that reminds you how universal those experiences really are.
FM: What do you find most exciting about producing a brand new play?
HB: There’s a kind of electricity in working on something that doesn’t have a fixed shape yet. Every rehearsal feels like discovery, every conversation shifts the piece in some way. You’re not following a map, you’re drawing one in real time with a group of people who are equally invested in where it leads. That collaboration, and the chance to help bring something entirely new into the world, is incredibly exciting.
FM: Where is The Breakfast Reunion going, post-Orlando Fringe?
HB: At the moment, we’re keeping things a little open-ended. There’s no official roadmap yet, which feels fitting for a story about people who thought they had life all figured out. What we do hope is that audiences carry the conversations, the questions, and maybe a few uncomfortable realizations with them long after they leave the theater. If the show lingers in someone’s mind on the drive home or shows up in a late-night “remember when” conversation, then it’s already gone exactly where it needs to go. Beyond that… we’ll just say we’re listening closely to what comes next.
Where Can I See The Breakfast Reunion at the Orlando Fringe Festival?
The Breakfast Reunion will have 5 performances at the Green Venue (the Black Box theater at Orlando Family Stage, 1001 E. Princeton St. Tickets are $15 each and can be purchased here.
The show schedule is:
- Wednesday, May 13 at 5:25 p.m. ($6 tickets)
- Saturday, May 16 at 8:50 p.m.
- Sunday, May 17 at 3:35 p.m.
- Friday, May 22 at 10:25 p.m.
- Sunday, May 24 at 2 p.m.
Special pricing is available for educators and military personnel with valid ID.
Michael Freeman is an Orlando journalist, playwright, and author of the chilling horror novel “Bloody Rabbit”. Contact him at Freelineorlando@gmail.com.
