PALM COAST, Fla. (January 25, 2023) How can you see Broadway performances without booking a flight? Pick up a ticket for the Flagler Auditorium. It’s really that easy.
Patrons of the performing arts venue on Wednesday evening were treated to a whirlwind of excerpts from some of Broadway’s hottest shows as The World of Musicals hit the stage.
Delivering two hours of nearly nonstop performances, guests sang along and offered rousing applause as the troupe belted out song after song from shows ranging from OKLAHOMA! to Les Misérables.
Trying to guess which big name show a performance matched with, Jim Ring loved the energy.
“I had a fabulous time. I loved it,” shared Ring.
“It was always a challenge to guess which production it was from. I guess Miss Saigon was one of them. I knew Evita and Phantom (of the Opera), and West Side Story. Of course, Les Misérables.”
Two dozen of the evening’s guests attended from The Azure of Palm Coast. Taking the opportunity to spend an evening on the town socializing with friends and seeing a show is something residents look forward to according to activities director Netta Linn.
“I take my residents to the shows here and they love it,” she said as several posed for photos with the show’s cast.
“They engage, they go back and tell the others about it and the next week we have even more coming.”
Regular patrons of the Flagler Auditorium, Flagler Beach resident Renee Donaghy attended the show with husband Tom Donaghy and their daughter Kathleen.
“They have wonderful shows here. They work hard, they do a lot for the community and we’ve got a wonderful community here,” she said. “This is the best place on Earth. I liked all of the songs tonight. You can’t pick one without the other. All of them were just fabulous. I can’t say enough.”
Picking up tickets, Casey Ryan and boyfriend Eric Whitwam knew almost every song in the show.
“I loved this show. It was really all the sounds, all the songs were something that we wanted to do,” said Ryan. “It’s fun, it’s in our town. There was tons of talent and it was amazing how they were singing while they were dancing. It was quite a workout.”
The World of Musicals is living up to it’s name, currently on a world tour, according to artist and producer Ciaran Olohan.
“I worked with a producer in Ireland by the name of Michael Durkan who’s worked all over the world for the past 25 years,” said Olohan, of the show’s creation. Durkan, an international theatrical producer and CEO of Gaelforce Dance Promotions, is best known for the Irish dance show ‘Gaelforce Dance’ and as a founding member of The Irish Drovers band.
“We’ve been in Australia for six months, New Zealand for four weeks, we had a break over Christmas and now we’re in the U.S. again,” said Olohan.
Drawing energy from enthusiasm shown by the audience, Olohan said the cast love performing the show.
“It’s amazing and it means so much,” he said. “The first time we were in America was 2019 and we hoped to get back a bit sooner. It’s taken this long to get back here and to start our tour in the U.S. in Florida and so many wonderful audiences. It’s really been fantastic.”
The Flagler Auditorium is preparing to welcome The Bachelors of Broadway on Sunday, January 29th, with this evening’s show setting the stage for a week of Broadway.
“We had The World of Musicals here tonight, everybody’s from Europe and it is an amazing, amazing cast,” said Flagler Auditorium Director Amelia Fulmer.
“They did almost every musical you can think of tonight. We went from South Pacific to The Greatest Showman to Les Misérables. It was an absolutely incredible show.”
