Watermark Out News • March 23 2026

Lady Bunny says 'Don’t Bring the Kids!' to Florida shows

International drag icon Lady Bunny will return to Florida with her raunchy, witty show “Don’t Bring the Kids!” March 25 in Tampa and March 26 in Orlando. She heads down south on her nationwide tour of the show, with all the same big hair. Bunny, known for her extended residencies in New York, hails from the South and considers herself versatile and fluent in communicating with audiences from wherever they are on the coast. “I’m from a red state,” Bunny tells Watermark Out News. “I gre...

Watermark Out News • March 12 2026

‘RENT in Concert’ brings symphonic performance to Orlando’s Dr. Phillips Center

ORLANDO | Thirty years after the musical originally opened, “RENT in Concert” is bringing “Seasons of Love” and more to the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts for a symphonic version March 14. Jonathan Larson’s “RENT” is set in New York’s Lower East Side under the shadow of HIV and AIDS. It follows a group of young, impoverished artists and musicians like Angel, Roger, Mimi and Tom. Maureen Johnson, a confident, outgoing performance artist, deals with her infidelity through h...

Watermark Out News • March 5 2026

'Lilly and the Pirates the Musical' sets sail at Orlando Family Stage

Young Lilly of Mundelaine sets off for the Shipwreck Islands until March 20 at Orlando Family Stage, conquering her fears and teaming up with unlikely pirates. Directed by Christian Barillas, known for his recurring role as Ronaldo on “Modern Family” and theatre work with Center Theatre Group and Oregon Shakespeare Festival, among others, “Lilly and the Pirates the Musical” features original music and lyrics by his partner of 20 years. Brett Ryback is also an actor, composer, lyricist, wri...

Orlando Weekly • February 18 2026

Electroclash icon Peaches brings transgressive,body-positive music (back) to Orlando

Angry, wet and sexy, Peaches returns to an Orlando stage to feel up the crowd (and herself). After a decade of touring with dance troupes and focusing on the visual and performance arts, Canadian electroclash artist Peaches, born Merrill Nisker, is kicking off a world tour in Florida with the release of her new album, No Lube So Rude. Nisker established herself as a queer, sexually transgressive artist in 2000 in a big way with her salaciously classic debut, The Teaches of Peaches. Her music,...

Watermark Out News • February 5 2026

Orlando Family Stage marks centennial with celebratory reunion

ORLANDO | Orlando Family Stage celebrated its centennial with a commemorative breakfast Feb. 3, reuniting the theatre company’s current and former leaders, board members, artists, donors and community partners. “This organization, to get to 100 years, couldn’t get here without commitment from leaders, volunteers, public and private partnerships that exist,” says Dave Riccardi, President of Orlando Family Stage’s Board of Directors. “And there’s no greater partnership that we have in our hi...

The Charge • January 28 2026

Austin’s Coffee hosts soft opening at new location on Fairbanks Avenue in Winter Park

Soft chatter among employees and customers filled a freshly relocated Winter Park coffee shop and arts landmark early Monday morning. Apologies were offered to customers for the unavailability of chai and espresso, as the espresso machine was being repaired in the background. Eclectic Winter Park third space, Austin’s Coffee & Film, soft opened its new location at 7 a.m. on Monday, with loyal customers stopping by for drinks and staying for the ambience.

Orlando Weekly • November 18 2025

Orlando, hail your new Christmas music overlords: ’90s rock supergroup Ezra Ray Hart

The likes of Mariah Carey and Michael Bublé have been defrosted for their seasonal reign over radio stations. Yes, it must be the Yuletide season, but now some new players are ready to bring 1990s-style Christmas cheer.  Kevin Griffin, Better Than Ezra’s lead vocalist and one-third of festive supergroup Ezra Ray Hart, reveals his recipe for the perfectly baked Christmas hit to Orlando Weekly. “First thing is imagery. Part of Christmas songs is nostalgia — ‘chestnuts roasting on an open fire’...

The Charge • October 23 2025

Orlando residents, UCF students rally for 'No Kings' protest against Trump administration

As the sun rose just above the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday morning, dozens of people had already gathered across Orange Avenue in City Commons Plaza to join in on a nationwide sequel to June’s "No Kings" protests.Orlando residents rallied outside Orlando City Hall in the cooler weather. Among those in attendance was Mari Tomlinson, a UCF alumnus from the class of 2023, who expressed outrage toward President Trump. 
“Trump has been completely ruining this count...

Orlando Weekly • October 22 2025

Orlando drag royalty feature in new ghost-hunting show 'SHOOK! Queens of the Dead'

A new queer, locally grown television project is crossing drop-dead gorgeous drag performers with, well … the dead. SHOOK! Queens of the Dead plunges six Orlando and Central Florida drag queens wig-first into haunted locations around the world. SHOOK! co-creator Brian Reddy, an Orlando native now based in Atlanta, tells Orlando Weekly that the show initially started out as a joke.  “A friend of mine, Tobi, also known as Sue Cyde in Orlando, came up and was just visiting me for a weekend, an...

The Community Paper • October 2 2025

Diving deep and soaring to new heights

A young Jason Chin’s life took a turn when he met famed children’s book author and illustrator Trina Schart Hyman (“Little Red Riding Hood,” “Saint George and the Dragon”), who frequently visited his elementary school in Lyme, New Hampshire. 
Inspired by her, Chin studied illustration at Syracuse University and later developed his love for the children’s book genre while at his post-grad job at independent bookstore Books of Wonder in Brooklyn. 
“I learned from that experience how diverse, creat...

The Charge • September 16 2025

Central Florida community members mourn Charlie Kirk with candelight vigil at UCF

Less than a week after the assassination of prominent conservative activist Charlie Kirk in Utah, Central Florida community members came together for a candlelight vigil at the University of Central Florida. Guests gathered Monday evening at the Pegasus Ballroom for the memorial.
The vigil was a collective effort by Central Florida Young Republicans, Young Americans for Freedom at UCF, the Seminole County GOP, the Orange County GOP and Turning Point USA’s UCF chapter. In the three days s...

Orlando Weekly • August 26 2025

Alice in Chains guitarist and songwriter Jerry Cantrell is coming to Orlando and he wants blood

Jerry Cantrell is a creature of the night. “My fucking brain is a pain sometimes to shut off. I’m kind of a vampire by nature; I normally exist pretty late. I don’t really go to sleep until about 4 or 5 in the morning. I’ve been living road hours my whole life, so I wake up about the crack of noon. I’ve always felt like those are some of my more creative hours because the brain is still turning at those late hours and if your head is keeping you up at night, maybe it’s a good idea to exercise w...

Oviedo Community News • July 24 2025

Tiny Chuluota food pantry provides 1,000 critical meals and counting

A chorus of greetings from a dozen smiling volunteers ushered three small children inside the suite beside the Chuluota Grocery store, their mother trailing behind them.
“Go on and pick your chips,” one of the volunteers told them, helping the kids stuff grocery bags from boxes filled with potato chip varieties. Noticing how one of the children was unable to choose from the bin, a volunteer handed out a Frito-Lay variety mix box and told her she could take it home. Volunteers helped the mothe...