Annie Russell News

What if instead of encouraging Jay Gatsby to find the greatness in his true self, Nick Carraway had led his rich friend down a path of phony-spiritualism that brought him to the brink of bankruptcy? That is the premise behind the Jazz Age-inspired production of Moliere's TARTUFFE running at Rollins College's Annie Russell Theatre through November 21st. Directed by John Christopher Jones, a veteran of 15 Broadway shows, including the 1990 revival of Moliere's THE MISER, the production makes great use of a uniformly delightful cast to create a whimsical evening of classic theatrical farce, even if it they never seem to get the most out of the more than 350-year-old text.

The Annie Russell Theatre continues its 83rd season with Moliere's comedic masterpiece, Tartuffe. Originally performed in the 1600s and on stages across the world ever since, the play follows the two-faced Tartuffe as he dupes a well-to-do gentleman into surrendering his home and daughter in the name of religion. 

The Annie Russell Theatre continues its 83rd season with Moliere's comedic masterpiece, Tartuffe. Originally performed in the 1600s and on stages across the world ever since, the play follows the two-faced Tartuffe as he dupes a well-to-do gentleman into surrendering his home and daughter in the name of religion. 

Have you ever seen a movie that you thought was so bad, that it was actually good? That's what happened on the road from turning laughably ridiculous 1936 anti-drug propaganda film REEFER MADNESS into a hit Off-Broadway musical. Despite continually being repurposed and repackaged throughout the 30s, 40s, and 50s, AMC considers the original REEFER MADNESS to be 'one of the worst movies ever made.' So, when Dan Studney (music) and Kevin Murphy (book and lyrics) brought the movie to the stage in 1998, it was with tongue firmly implanted in cheek. The musical, playing at Rollins College's Annie Russell Theatre through October 3rd, is a hilarious look at the paranoid fear-mongering that is often the default response to anything new. Having seen the 2005 star-studded film adaptation (and having recently interviewed original star Lori Alan), going in, my expectations for the Rollins' production were extremely 'high' (pun completely intended). However, as is standard for shows at the Annie, the REEFER MADNESS cast is exceptionally strong and, under the direction of Missy Barnes, manages to create the perfectly manic tone for this laugh-out-loud musical.

Meet the leads of Annie Russell Theatre's REEFER MADNESS, opening tomorrow, September 25th. Seniors MiKayla Phillips and Taylor Wright know what it's like to balance rehearsals, homework, and preparing for what is next. They are definitely not as naive as their characters Mary and Jimmy who find themselves lured by a gnarly crew of marijuana pushers in the musical satire. Check out the interview to find out more! 

The Annie Russell Theatre opens its 83rd season with Reefer Madness, a fast-paced musical satire poking fun at the now-infamous 1938 film of the same name. When we first meet Jimmy (Taylor Wright '16) and Mary Lane (MiKayla Phillips '16), they are a clean cut high school couple falling in puppy love. Lured by a gnarly crew of marijuana pushers, Jimmy and Mary are soon in all sorts of trouble - from hallucinations to homicide!

The Annie Russell Theatre, the longest running theatre in Central Florida, announces their 83rd season! Running September 2015 through April 2016, the season explores taboos - from marijuana to religion, infertility to second marriages.

At its best, GUYS AND DOLLS will transport you to another time and place. A place where career criminals wear colorful, oddly-patterned suits; speak with humorous, but non-descript accents; and live lives in which their marker is their more sacred than gold. This place is called Runyonland. Unfortunately, as entertaining as Rollins College's production of this classic 'Musical Fable' is, it rarely ever rises to the Runyonland level. Running through Sunday, April 26th at the Annie Russell Theatre, Rollins' GUYS AND DOLLS is enjoyable, and again affirms why the program is one of the most consistent theatre companies in Central Florida, but lacks the joy and whimsy that makes GUYS AND DOLLS one of the greatest examples of the American musical theatre.

The Annie Russell Theatre concludes its 82nd season with the iconic musical, Guys and Dolls. The production, directed by Missy Barnes, will seek to expose the humanity in a sixty-five year old love story that has been revived, reimaged, and revisited by companies across the globe.

One of the reasons that I especially enjoy going to quality collegiate theatre is that, while these programs want to have as many people in the audience as possible, for obvious exposure and financial reasons, they are far more focused on presenting interesting and challenging works that prepare their students for whatever artistic careers they eventually pursue. Rollins College's production of MACHINAL, running through February 21st, will not be for everyone, but thankfully, director and Department Chair Dr. David Charles has larger goals in mind for this program.

The Annie Russell Theatre continues its 82nd season with Machinal, based on the real life trial of murderess Ruth Snyder. The production, directed by Dr. David Charles, is a unique style for the Rollins Department of Theatre and Dance, and for the Central Florida area.

More often than not in the coverage of war, while we are presented with ghastly images, the focus is on the larger strategies and total body-counts of battle. We rarely hear the harrowing stories of the innocent lives destroyed by conflict; even less frequently do we see how war impacts those who bring us those ghastly images and harrowing stories. In David Margulies' TIME STANDS STILL, two individuals are forced to deal with the physical and emotional scars left from years of covering war-torn countries. Last weekend the Rollins Players, a student-run organization, tackled this challenging work in the campus' intimate Fred Stone Theatre, with inspiring results.

The Annie Russell Theatre continues its 82nd season with Machinal, based on the real life trial of murderess Ruth Snyder. The production, directed by Dr. David Charles, is a unique style for the Rollins Department of Theatre and Dance, and for the Central Florida area.

Rollins Players is proud to present Time Stands Still by Donald Margulies, directed by senior theatre major, Sarah Clark.

'CPR' (Child Performers Resurrection), starring many former child stars, seeks a home following cast and crew pilot screening at Dick Clark Studios. Check out photos of the cast below!

One of the most magical places that I have ever been is Grover's Corners, New Hampshire. It's not a fancy place, just a simple town in which people go about their business, but are always willing to stop and chat about the weather. Grover's Corners is the epitome of a way of life that has long since ceased to exist, if it ever actually did in the first place. However, despite its quantness and surface simplicity, every time I go back to visit, I find more and more depth in the town than I ever remembered being there before. Perhaps this is a simple byproduct of my own aging, but each time I stop by Grover's Corners, I fall more and more in love with this mythical, magical town.

The Annie Russell Theatre continues its 82nd season with the classic Our Town. The Rollins production, directed by Thomas Ouellette, features alumna Peg O'Keef in the role of the Stage Manager.

As its opening song, and the Walt Whitman poem from which it was inspired, says, WORKING is all about the 'varied carols' of working Americans. For nearly four decades, this musical has been celebrating the high (and low) lights of the American workforce. Conceived and adapted by Stephen Schwartz (GODSPELL, WICKED) and Nina Faso, the show employs no fictional characters, instead, it draws from real-life individuals and the stories that they told legendary author and historian Studs Terkel for his book of the same name. The Rollins College production of the musical, running now through Saturday, October 4th at the Annie Russell Theatre is a joyful, if not over-stuffed, examination of this ultimately uplifting material.

"Un Mejor Dia Vendra" echoes the chorus of a song from Working, a musical based on the 1974 bestseller of the same name by Studs Terkel. "A better day will come." The refrain is sung by a character named Emilio, a migrant farmworker who began picking crops with his family at the age of eight. The song was removed from Working in 2011, but can be seen in the upcoming production at the Annie Russell Theatre at Rollins College.

Mad Cow Theatre has announced that Aradhana Tiwari will join the company as Resident Director, beginning with the 2014 - 2015 season. Tiwari is a Central Florida-based artist who has guest-directed at Mad Cow since 2012. Her production of The Road to Mecca in 2012 was the first in Mad Cow's Zehngebot-Stonerock Theatre, one of two spaces in the company's new location in downtown Orlando.