Our 2023-2024 Season Announcement

Orlando Family Stage is proud to announce its 2023 – 2024 season. Founded in 1926, Orlando Family Stage is the eighth iteration of the original theatre company and has operated for over 20 years as Florida’s only professional theatre for young audiences. Orlando Family Stage changed its name on June 15, 2023, and was most recently known as Orlando Repertory Theatre (or Orlando REP).

Orlando Family Stage’s season is an exciting lineup of shows for audiences of all ages. In chronological order, the season is as follows:                

Disney’s Descendants: The Musical (A Youth Academy Production) | July 14 – 23, 2023

TheatreWorks USA’s The Magic School Bus: Lost in the Solar System | September 5 – October 8, 2023

Theatre for the Very Young: Dinosaur Dance Party  | September 9 – October 1, 2023

Click, Clack, BOO! A Tricky Treat | October 2 – 31, 2023

Teen Perspectives Lab: #ENOUGH (A Youth Academy Production) | November 6, 2023

Junie B. in Jingle Bells, Batman Smells! | November 13 – December 23, 2023

Disney’s Finding Nemo Jr. (A Youth Academy Production) | December 8 – 10, 2024

Pip-Squeak: An Anti-Bullying Magic Show | January 9 – 12, 2024

TheatreWorks USA’s Charlotte’s Web | January 19 – 23, 2024

Giraffes Can’t Dance, The Musical | January 29 – February 25, 2024

Theatre for the Very Young: Yo, Ho, Ho! Let’s Go!  | March 2 – 24, 2024

Allie Kazan and the Magic Mansion | March 4 – 31, 2024

The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical | April 12 – May12, 2024

Schoolhouse Rock Live! Jr. (A Youth Academy Production) | April 26 – May 5, 2024

General auditions for the season are by video submission only. Callbacks will be in person. Audition information can be found HERE and the deadline to submit is July 26, 2023. Fall Youth Academy classes are now on sale on our website, and auditions sign-ups are open for Disney’s Finding Nemo, Jr.

In addition to our programming, Orlando Family Stage is pleased to have MAC Boys Entertainment in residence for their second season. MAC Boys Entertainment is a theatre company birthed in the heart of Central Florida with the goal of bringing the work and stories of Black, indigenous, and people of color to the forefront. The company will announce their season soon, and more information can be found at macboysentertainment.com.

Orlando Family Stage’s season officially commences in July with Disney’s Descendants: The Musical, a Youth Academy production (July 14 – 23, 2023). Imprisoned on the Isle of the Lost – home of the most infamous villains who ever lived – the fabulously fierce teenaged children of Maleficent, the Evil Queen, Jafar, and Cruella De Vil have never ventured off the island… until now! When the four troublemakers are sent to attend prep school alongside the children of beloved Disney heroes and heroines, they have a difficult choice to make: should they follow in their parents’ wicked footsteps or learn to be good? Based on the popular Disney Channel Original Movies, Disney’s Descendants: The Musical is jam-packed with comedy, adventure, and hit songs from the films! Book and additional lyrics by Nick Blaemire, music adaptation by Madeline Smith, and orchestrations my Matthew Tishler.

TheatreWorks USA’s The Magic School Bus: Lost in the Solar System (September 5 – October 8, 2023) kicks off the lineup of professional productions. When the class gets lost on the way to the planetarium, Ms. Frizzle saves the day by blasting into outer space for an epic interplanetary field trip!  But when rivalries both old and new threaten to tear the students apart, our young heroes must learn to pull together or risk getting forever lost in the solar system. Hop on the Magic School Bus for a ride in this new musical adaptation based on the original book series published by Scholastic with a book by Marshall Pailet, and music and lyrics by Matthew Lee Robinson.

Theatre for the Very Young productions return with Dinosaur Dance Party (September 9 – October 1, 2023).Dinosaur Dance Party, by Jennifer Adams-Carrasquillo, is a 30-minute celebration of dinosaurs, music, and movement. Get ready to party, because everyone knows dinosaurs love to dance! Theatre for the Very Young at Orlando Family Stage is created specifically for 1 to 5-year-olds and is an interactive, multi-sensory, developmentally accessible experience that encourages caregiver interaction and creative play.

Just in time for Halloween is Click, Clack, BOO! A Tricky Treat (October 2 – 31, 2023), adapted from Doreen Cronin’s book by James E. Grote, with music and lyrics by George Howe. It’s Halloween! Duck, Pig, Cow, and Hen cannot wait to throw a Halloween party, complete with apple-bobbing, bottomless candy bowls, and a spook-tacular costume contest, against Farmer Brown’s wishes, as he is afraid of Halloween. Join the barnyard crew as they use some clever trickery to show Farmer Brown that sometimes a little scare can be big fun! A Halloween costume parade of children in costumes is a part of each weekend show!

Teen Perspectives Lab #ENOUGH (November 6, 2023) empowers teens to confront gun violence by producing new works of theatre that will ignite critical conversations and inspire meaningful action. Teens in grades 6-12 from across the country are invited to write and submit 10-minute plays that confront the topic of gun violence. A committee composed of award-winning playwrights select six winning plays and provided feedback in the new-play development process. Theatre, schools, colleges, and other organizations around the country produce staged readings of this year’s plays for their communities. Performed simultaneously across the country on the same night, these readings are part of an evening of reflection, dialogue, and action.

Ringing in the holiday season is Junie B. in Jingle Bells, Batman Smells! (November 13 – December 23, 2023). Junie B. Jones, First-Grader, is super-excited about the upcoming Holiday Sing-Along and Secret Santa gift exchange at her school. Too bad tattletale May keeps ruining all of Junie B.’s fun. So, when Junie B. draws May’s name for Secret Santa, she comes up with the perfect plan to teach her nemesis a lesson! But will the Christmas spirit of peace and goodwill interfere before she can give you-know-who what she deserves? A hilarious and endearing tale based on the best-selling book series by Barbara Park and written by Allison Gregory.

The Fall Youth Academy production is Disney’s Finding Nemo Jr. (December 8 – 10, 2023), a musical adaptation of the beloved film with music by award-winning songwriting team of Disney’s Frozen, Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez. Featuring fun songs such as “Just Keep Swimming,” “Fish Are Friends Not Food,” and “Go With The Flow,” Finding Nemo Jr. brings a vibrant underwater world to life on stage in a story full of family, friendship, and adventure.

Pip-Squeak: An Anti-Bullying Magic Show (January 9 – 12, 2024), featuring award-winning magician Tony Brent, returns! Because of his small size as a child, Tony was bullied in the cafeteria, in the gymnasium, on the playground and generally anywhere there were no adults present. Now using comedy, amazing magic tricks, juggling, and a coat-rack loaded with costumes, Tony gently and humorously teaches children how to cope with being bullied. In addition, children learn to recognize the signs of bullying and whether or not they themselves might be guilty of bullying. Tony portrays various people from his childhood and role-plays with children about various ways they could respond if they or a friend are bullied.

Launching its national tour here is TheatreWorks USA’s Charlotte’s Web (January 19 – 23, 2024). Charlotte’s Web is based on E.B. White’s loving story of the friendship between a pig named Wilbur and a little gray spider named Charlotte. Wilbur has a problem: how to avoid winding up as pork chops! Charlotte, a fine writer and true friend, hits on a plan to fool Farmer Zuckerman. She will create a “miracle.” Spinning the words “Some Pig” in her web, Charlotte weaves a solution which not only makes Wilbur a prize pig, but also ensures his place on the farm forever. This treasured tale, featuring madcap and endearing farm animals, explores bravery, selfless love and the true meaning of friendship. Adapted by Joseph Robinette.

Giraffes Can’t Dance, The Musical (January 29 – February 25, 2024) takes the stage as our first professional production of the New Year. Gerald the giraffe has a problem. All the other animals seem to know how to dance. The warthogs can waltz, the rhinos can rock ‘n’ roll, even the chimps can cha-cha! Gerald, with his long neck and skinny legs, thinks he cannot dance. That is, until he discovers that “sometimes when you’re different, you just need a different song.”Based on the bestselling picture book by Giles Andreae and Guy Parker-Rees, this new musical with original songs will transport you to Africa where you will encounter a cast of characters guaranteed to make you laugh- and think! Most of all, Gerald’s story will remind you that we all can dance when we find the music we love. Book and lyrics by Gloria Bond Cunie with music by Elton Bradman and Leela Oleszkiewicz.

Theatre for the Very Young continues with Yo, Ho, Ho! Let’s Go! (March 2 – 24, 2024), written by Jennifer Adams-Carrasquillo, a 30-minute adventure with a pirate on the high seas following a treasure map! Parrots, crabs, mermaids, and more join the fun! Theatre for the Very Young at Orlando Family Stage is created specifically for 1 to 5-year-olds and is an interactive, multi-sensory, developmentally accessible experience that encourages caregiver interaction and creative play.

A brand-new commission, Allie Kazan and the Magic Mansion (March 4 – 31, 2024) is an original show we are excited to share with our audiences! Five are called by only one can win- let the mystery unravel and the magic begin! In this brand-new original musical commissioned by Orlando Family Stage and Children’s Theatre of Charlotte, you will be kept wondering what’s real and what’s magic as the teen finalists of the Young Masters of Magic competition face off for the prized Golden Key. Who will win Marvellini’s prized possession that unlocks the secrets to the master magician’s greatest illusions? Allie Kazan is hoping it is her, but traps and tricks are around every corner in this Scooby Doo-style musical mystery! Created by the team behind the hit show The Best Christmas Pageant Ever: The Musical, Jahnna Beecham and Malcolm Hillgartner.

The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical (Theatre for Young Audiences Edition) is the final professional production of the season (April 12 – May12, 2024). In this dynamic musical adaptation of Rick Riordan’s bestselling book that took Broadway by storm, teenager Percy Jackson discovers he is the half-blood son of a Greek god!  With newly-discovered powers he cannot control, a destiny he does not want, and a mythology textbook’s worth of monsters on his trail, Percy and his friends embark on an epic journey to find Zeus’s missing lightning bolt and prevent a war among the gods. Book by Joe Tracz with music and lyrics by Rob Rokicki.

Schoolhouse Rock Live! Jr. (April 26 – May 5, 2024) is the Spring Youth Academy production. Based on the ever-popular, award-winning 1970s cartoons, this fast-paced musical teaches lessons with clever, catchy tunes. Memorable songs such as “Just A Bill,” “Lolly, Lolly, Lolly,” and “Conjunction Junction” bring lessons vividly to life.

To learn more about Orlando Family Stage’s upcoming programming, both on and offstage, visit orlandofamilystage.com or call 407-896-7365. Orlando Family Stage is a three-theatre complex located in Loch Haven Park at 1001 East Princeton Street, Orlando, FL 32803.

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Orlando Family Stage – Orlando Family Stage is a professional theatre with a mission to empower young people to be brave and empathetic by creating quality theatrical experiences. The award-winning Youth Academy provides classes and camps for students, along with professional development opportunities for teachers. Housed in a three-theatre complex in Orlando’s Loch Haven Park, Orlando Family Stage is also home to the University of Central Florida’s MFA in Theatre for young Audiences graduate program. Orlando Family Stage exists on the traditional land of the Timicua and Seminole peoples past and present. With gratitude, we honor the land itself and its stewards throughout the generations. Orlando Family Stage is Florida’s only professional Theatre for Young Audiences.
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