ORLANDO — While it’s still August and summer hasn’t ended yet, it’s certainly not too early to start marking your calendar for events and activities this upcoming Halloween season, which its certainly big business here in Central Florida every October, and creepy shows have been known to sell out early.
For that reason alone, it’s not too early to start planning to attend this Halloween season’s presentation of Phantasmagoria, the troupe of circus-like performers now planning its 15th season with the premiere of Phantasmagoria XV: Grim and Grimmer Tales, which will have performances in October at Dr. Phillips Center For The Performing Arts.
To entice horror fans to get their tickets early, Dr. Phillips Center is offering a special discount for those who purchase advance tickets.
What is the Phantasmagoria Special Discount?
With advance tickets now on sale for Phantasmagoria XV, Dr. Phillips Center is making a special discount available.
“The members of Phantasmagoria will weave their ‘Whimsically Macabre’ tapestry as you enter the darkened attic for tales that will send a chill up your spine as well as strike a darkly humorous vein as this Phantastical troupe journeys through tales from literature, folk tales, legend and much more,” Dr. Phillips Center noted. “We would like to offer you a limited time special Orlando discount.”
To take advantage of the discount code, just email phantasorlando@gmail.com requesting the code, and one will be sent back to use when purchasing tickets for the Orlando show. This code is only good for performances at Dr. Phillips Center.
To book tickets for any of Phantasmagoria’s October shows, visit: www.PhantamagoriaOrlando.com
What is Phantasmagoria’s Grim And Grimmer Tales?
Phantasmagoria Orlando has established a strong base of followers for its annual stage productions that recreate tales of horror, the macabre and the supernatural from classic literature. John DiDonna, the founder of Phantasmagoria who also serves as the show’s playwright, co-director and lead actor, said the latest spooky stories will continue to be combined with dance, original music, and large-scale puppetry.
“Phantasmagoria Season is once again upon us and we could not be more excited to tour with our latest Main Stage offering,” he noted.
This year, the recreated stories will include haunting tales from Edgar Allan Poe, Henry James, humorous spectral appendages from Le Fanu, and a host of other classic and original tales. Phantasmagoria’s productions mix storytelling, dance, puppetry, and original music, along with illustrations and graphics projected onto the rear wall as settings for the individual stories.
There will be three Dr. Phillips Center performances on Oct. 10, 11, and 12 in the Alexis & Jim Pugh Theater. Phantasmagoria XV Grim And Grimmer Tales will also be scheduled in October for performances at Ocala’s Reilly Arts Center, The Tampa Theatre in Tampa, The Athens Theatre in Deland, and at the Bay Street Players Theater in Eustis.
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 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 book “Bloody Rabbit”. Contact him at Freelineorlando@gmail.com.
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