Despite recent challenges, Central Florida still flourishes as a booming hub for the arts. Look beyond the theme parks for entertainment and you’ll find more than a few innovative, and often unconventional, stage productions and art shows. From touring Broadway productions and art exhibits to the creativity of our locals across medium and genre, consider seeing some of the productions these local companies and stages have to offer, as well as the visual delights on gallery walls.
Theater & Performing Arts
Annie Russell Theatre
The home of Rollins College theater has hosted decades of original student-directed productions of both classic and modern theater and dance.
rollins.edu/annie-russell-theatre
Athens Theatre
A historic DeLand gem complete with Italian Renaissance architecture. Despite its intimate size, the Athens houses both adult and youth theater companies with a variety of programs throughout the year.
Breakthrough Theatre Co.
An intimate, family-owned community theater with shows for all ages, from murder mysteries to Broadway faves, they recently moved into new digs on Aloma Avenue.
Central Florida Community Arts
An organization that encourages people of all ages and all cultural backgrounds to take the stage and be involved in the performing arts.
Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts
One of Orlando’s largest performing arts venues, this culture facility has four different rooms that host touring Broadway shows, local theater productions, live music and dance. The venue is also home to the annual UCF Celebrates the Arts.
Imagine Performing Arts Center
Operating inside the Oviedo Mall, Imagine features both original locally grown productions as well as a host of performing arts and dance classes for all ages.
imagineperformingartscenter.org
Magic Curtain Productions
A community theater that’s a family-friendly stop for all ages to enjoy a show. Magic Curtain features three performance troupes showcasing actors of all ages.
New Generation Theatrical
An innovative theater company that regularly stages alternative, edgier fare steeped in today’s pop culture.
Orange Rose Performances
Central Florida community theater that invites passionate performers of all backgrounds, no prior performing arts experience necessary.
Orlando Ballet
Orlando’s professional ballet company produces both main stage productions at the Dr. Phillips Center and at their administrative complex and at their school, Harriett’s Orlando Ballet Centre.
Orlando Family Stage
A professional family theater that hosts shows and musicals geared toward youth. This one’s for fans of classic children’s stories and some next-gen productions.
Orlando Shakes at Lowndes Shakespeare Center
Back in action at last, the Shakes rolls out a regular season on top of PlayFest, its two-week-long annual festival that provides a storytelling space for theater professionals and writers. (Not to mention hosting Orlando Fringe.)
Osceola Arts
Osceola’s countywide arts and culture facility in Kissimmee produces live performances of both Broadway classics to new works and stories, as well as the visual arts exhibitions.
Phantasmagoria
A traveling Victorian steampunk circus troupe bringing the enchanting and macabre to the stage in a blend of whimsical storytelling, aerial work, fire performance, puppetry and more.
Renaissance Theater Co.
Original, fringey and oft-immersive productions are the order of the day in this vibrant warehouse space. (Not to mention those drag shows.)
Ritz Theater at the Wayne Densch Performing Arts Center
A restored historic community theater that hosts plays, films, concerts, special events and educational youth programs.
Sak Comedy Lab
This troupe is infamous for crafting edgy humor on the fly, specializing in improvisation enjoyable to audiences both young and old in their spiffy new home on Church Street.
Theater on the Edge
A host of vulnerable and intimate productions full of riveting storytelling and immersive sets. Productions bridge the imagination of cinema with the accessibility of live performance.
Theater West End
A performing arts venue located in historic downtown Sanford that hosts a colorful array of productions of pop-culture favorites and noteworthy plays.
Theatre South Playhouse
A professional community theater in the Dr. Phillips area producing shows geared toward youth while crafting a safe space to nurture artists of all ages.
Theatre UCF
From the young talents at UCF’s College of Arts and Humanities, this college program produces a regular season of both classic and contemporary musicals and plays.
Valencia College Theatre
Valencia’s program mounts four major productions every academic year, and, in collaboration with the Florida Playwright Competition, produces original, student-directed one-act plays.
Winter Park Playhouse
This professional theater seeks to uplift local performers and inspire the community. The 2025-2026 performance series moves to the Mandell Theater at Orlando Shakes during renovations to the original theater.
Galleries & Museums
Albin Polasek Museum and Sculpture Gardens
Dedicated to preserving the works of Czech sculptor Albin Polasek, this Winter Park museum offers tours of his home, galleries and serene sculpture gardens.
Art and History Museums — Maitland
A National Historic Landmark offering a combination of art and history exhibits across multiple museums, including the Maitland Art Center and the Waterhouse Residence Museum.
Casselberry Arts Center
A community hub for contemporary art exhibitions and cultural events, fostering local artistic talent, sharing serene park environs with the Casselberry Art House and Sculpture House.
The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art
The Winter Park home of the world’s most comprehensive collection of works by Louis Comfort Tiffany, including jewelry, pottery, paintings and art glass.
CityArts
Historic downtown space with multiple galleries within that hosts rotating exhibits from both local and international artists.
downtownartsdistrict.com/cityarts
Crealdé School of Art
A community-based art organization offering hands-on visual arts education and featuring galleries with works from emerging and established artists.
The Mennello Museum of American Art
A small gem of a museum featuring a select few galleries, including a permanent collection of paintings by Earl Cunningham and an outdoor sculpture garden.
Orange County Regional History Center
Housed in a renovated 1927 historic courthouse, this museum features four floors that tell the tale of Central Florida’s history through exhibitions and programming for visitors of all ages.
Orlando Museum of Art
The museum in picturesque Loch Haven hosts touring exhibitions by renowned artists and showcases area talent.
Orlando Science Center
A hands-on museum that showcases the world of science and technology for curious minds of all ages.
Rollins Museum of Art
This gallery features programs and exhibitions highlighting a variety of both classic and contemporary art right, on the Rollins College campus.
Wells’Built Museum of African American History and Culture
Parramore home to a trove of historic memorabilia and records of Black history in Central Florida, Orlando’s civil rights movement and the arts.
Women’s History & Cultural Center
Founded by the Girl Scouts of Citrus, this place is home to both permanent and rotating exhibits that highlight women’s history and impacts.
womenshistoryandculturalcenter.org
Zora Neale Hurston Museum of Fine Arts
A museum dedicated to Eatonville’s most celebrated writer that displays an array of paintings, photography, film, sculpture and works encompassing the fine arts.
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This article appears in City Guide 2025 and City Guide (2025).