ORLANDO — Phantasmagoria is heading on the road!

In the meantime, it was Orlando residents who got an easy taste – no pun intended — of what audiences in other cities will be experiencing this summer, especially if they’re at a favorite local restaurant.

Phantasmagoria Orlando, the troupe of circus-like performers who have spent nearly two decades recreating horror stories from the vaults of classic literature, having been performing shows every October as well as at the Orlando Fringe Festival, Phantasmagoria recently expanded to perform at dinner shows on the Barbara Lee riverboat cruise in Sanford.

And now Phantasmagoria is ready for quite a few more dinner shows.

What Happened at Maxine’s On Shine?

Maxine’s On Shine, located at 337 Shine Ave. in Orlando, is a popular homey restaurant located in a residential neighborhood. Inside there’s a spacious bar surrounded by tables in its main dining room, along with an outdoor patio for additional seating and drinks. The cozy nature of the restaurant proved to be an ideal setting on Tuesday for two Phantasmagoria shows, performed in the style of a dinner theater.

The setting was ideal. Maxine’s, also known for its live music, jumped into the dinner theater arena and ended up providing a delightfully fun night.

Maxine’s attracted a full house for its 6 p.m. show, while the aisles were kept free as Phantasmagoria’s creator, John DiDonna, and regular performer Carole Ann Miller performed four stories by horror master Edgar Allan Poe, including “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Cask of Amontillado,” to the sold out audience.  

The mix of Maxine’s delectable menu — giving the audience a selection for their appetizer, main course (I sampled the Chicken & Dumplings, a specialty at Maxine’s and exquisite as always) and dessert. The setup worked: Doors opened at 5:30 p.m. and guests were seated and could order drinks, dinner orders were taken, and then DiDonna and Miller recreated their stories in 9-minute segments. In between, the staff delivered the meals.

Maxine’s has an intimate setting that lends itself beautifully to “Poe, Thru The Tales Darkly,” as the dinner theater show was billed. With DiDonna and Miller working up a grisly amount of eerie energy for their performances, including Poe’s powerfully ominous and grim “The Masque of the Red Death,” the evening was as much a celebration of Poe’s literary genius to get under our skin as it was a celebration of the kinds of three course meals that Maxine’s chefs expertly provide.

Where Does Phantasmagoria Go Next?

“Poe, Through The Tales Darkly” has a busy summer and fall of upcoming dinner theater shows. The upcoming schedule includes:

• July 18-19, the Great Northern Artists Collaborative ( Syracuse, NY)
• Sept. 14, the Ocala Civic Theatre in Ocala, Fla.
• Sept. 18 and 20, the Jefferson Avenue Mission Theatre (St Louis, MO)
• Sept. 19, the Grand Opera House (St Charles, MO)
• Sept. 26-27, the Atlanta Workshop Players (Atlanta, GA)
• Oct. 29, the 3^rd Annual Space Coast Halloween Nightmare (Palm Bay, Fla.)

What is Phantasmagoria?

Two words: Victorian Horror.

For every Halloween season since 2009, the Phantasmagoria troupe has been entertaining local audiences through acrobatics, music, dance, giant puppets, and, most importantly, by recreating classic tales of terror from the vaults of legendary horror writers like Edgar Allan Poe, Mary Shelley and many others. Each year, there are new stories — not to mention new adventures for the circus-like performers themselves, and also sometimes new actors as well.

If you’ve lived in Central Florida over the past decade, that word Phantasmagoria needs no introduction. The troupe has been performing around Halloween, at the Orlando International Fringe Theatre Festival, and more recently, around Christmas with their unique version of A Christmas Carol.

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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