Central Florida Vocal Arts kicks off its 15th anniversary season this weekend with a run of Songs for a New World, the Jason Robert Brown song cycle, marking the first time in the company's history that all three of its mainstage productions will be staged at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. Performances run August 28 through 30 at the Alexis & Jim Pugh Theater, with tickets priced between $47 and $65.
The show, subtitled “It's Decision Time” according to Orlando Weekly, is a series of thematically connected songs exploring moments of decision across history and culture rather than a traditional play or musical theater piece. Jason Robert Brown, a Tony Award-winning composer and lyricist, wrote the piece at age 25, and it premiered Off-Broadway in October 1995 at New York City's WPA Theatre under director Daisy Prince, according to OnStage Blog. That production was Brown's first major New York City showing.
The season itself, titled “Of Dreams and Nightmares,” continues with Evil Dead: The Musical in October and Candide in February 2027, according to Central Florida Vocal Arts. Moving the full season into the 294-seat Alexis & Jim Pugh Theater represents a significant venue upgrade for the company, which is named after Winter Park arts benefactors and built specifically to serve regional arts organizations, according to the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. The venue sits at 445 S. Magnolia Ave. in downtown Orlando.
A Company Born From a Cancelled Holiday Show
Central Florida Vocal Arts traces its origin to a canceled local holiday production of Amahl and the Night Visitors, which prompted founder and Executive Director Theresa Smith-Levin to file 501(c)(3) nonprofit paperwork overnight so she could produce the show herself, according to the32789. Fourteen years later, the organization was named the fastest-growing arts group in Central Florida by the Orlando Business Journal in 2024, per the company's own account. In July, the Edyth Bush Charitable Foundation awarded CFVA an $80,000 grant supporting its music education programming and community outreach.
The company's reach also extends into experimental territory through Opera del Sol, an experimental opera company founded in 2017 by Nicole Dupre under the umbrella of Rethink Homelessness. Opera del Sol officially merged with Central Florida Vocal Arts in 2018 and now functions as a specialized program within the larger organization, broadening its work into non-traditional opera.
Old Friends Reunite Behind the Podium
Leading the Central Florida Community Arts Orchestra for this production is Music Director Chevalier Lovett, who grew up in Winter Park and attended high school with Smith-Levin more than two decades before the two collaborated on this project, the organization said. Directing the mainstage production is McKenzie Pollock, a longtime CFVA performer who is stepping into her company mainstage directorial debut with this staging, according to Bungalower.
The cast includes newcomer Sabria Sego alongside performers Emily Minch, Armon Flukers and Sean McKinley. Flukers, making his CFVA debut, earned a B.A. in Music from Bethune-Cookman University, records original music under the pseudonym Sunny Kahleel, and previously performed in Opera Orlando's production of Treemonisha, per the company's announcement.
What Audiences Can Expect
Songs for a New World is built around thematically connected songs rather than a linear narrative, with Orlando Weekly's coverage describing the piece as focused on moments of decision that span different eras and cultures. For a company that started with one improvised holiday show and grew into a regional presence honored for its rapid growth, the move into the Dr. Phillips Center's dedicated regional-arts theater marks a new chapter as it enters its 15th year of programming in Central Florida.
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