ORLANDO — The theater world giveth, and the theater world taketh away.

After unveiling its lineup for its 2025-26 season, Orlando Shakes had to make a last-minute replacement of one planned production. Now Dracula is out, and Sherlock Holmes is in.

As part of the Shakes’ lineup of shows, the theater company had initially planned to stage its version of Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors, but the rights to that show ”have changed and it is no longer available for production in Orlando in the fall of 2025,” the Shakes noted in its email newsletter. “Therefore, Orlando Shakes in partnership with UCF, Central Florida’s premiere professional regional theater, has moved its production of Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors to Fall 2026.” 

What Show is Replacing Dracula at Orlando Shakes?

With Dracula postponed, this Halloween season the theater company is reviving its spoof of the Sherlock Holmes classis The Hound of the Baskervilles, which Shakes produced in 2017 and has since called “the most popular play produced in Shakes’ Goldman Theater. In this comic spoof, Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson investigate the mysterious case of the Baskerville family. Holmes is on the case in this hilarious madcap take on the most famous detective of all time.”

Jim Helsinger, Orlando Shakes’ artistic director, said this switch was a no-brainer.

“We are so excited to bring back this popular comic spoof,” he said, “a trio of actors play a dozen roles in a production that is a master class in funny and perfect for the Halloween season.”

The Hound of the Baskervilles is now scheduled to be performed from Sept. 24 through Nov. 2 as part of Shakes’ mainstage productions. The season kicks off in August with the drama Anna in the Tropics, a play set in a Cuban cigar factory in Ybor City, circa 1929, followed by Hound of the Baskervilles in September.

In October, Shakes is producing its first children’s show of the season, The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show, and then their annual holiday tradition of producing Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol runs from late November through Christmas Eve.

What’s Coming to Orlando Shakes in 2026?

In January 2026, Orlando Shakespeare Theater lives up to its title by producing one of the Bard’s great tragedies, Romeo and Juliet. In March comes the cookout comedy Fat Ham, which Shakes calls “an uproarious southern-fried take on Hamlet.”

The season ends in April 2026 with the Fire and Reign series, a Bare Bard/Original Practices production of the Wars of the Roses, Henry VI Part 3: The Rise of Richard. In April, Shakes will also end the season with its final children’s show, Don’t Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus: The Musical.

This fall, Shakes will also produce its annual PlayFest, a festival of new plays held over two weekends, with readings of new and unproduced works. Playfest is being staged on the weekends of Oct. 26-28 and Oct. 31-Nov. 2.

Finally, Shakes’ ongoing Concert Series brings singers to its Margeson Theater stage with live performances that will kicks off with Nat Zegree for three shows dubbed The History of Rock ‘N Roll from June 6-8, 2025.

What is Orlando Shakes?

Orlando Shakes is now in its 36th season, a non-profit professional theater that produces classic, contemporary, and children’s plays at the John & Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center, 812 E Rollins St. in Loch Haven Park. The theater can be reached at (407) 447-1700.

Michael Freeman is an Orlando journalist, playwright, and author of the book A Christmas Eve Story. Contact him at Freelineorlando@gmail.com.

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