Best Of 2019

Best Dinner Theater
Photo by Jasmine Hirst

Lydia Lunch at Maxine's on Shine

Feb. 18, 2019

"Let me tell you about toxic femininity!" sneered Lydia Lunch as she unleashed her equal-parts-malevolent-and-titillating Verbal Burlesque performance on a dinnertime crowd at the intimate Maxine's. What followed was an incredible, confrontational, artful stream-of-consciousness rant from one of the most important figures in U.S. punk and No Wave, paired improbably with custom cocktails and dinner specials for the night. The personal and the political collided on this stage like a stick shift and a groin in J.G. Ballard's Crash, and of course, Lunch got up close and very personal with those seated closest to her. Choke it down, worms.

Arts & Culture: Best of Orlando 2019: Orlando's best artists, writers, comedians, museums and more

Arts & Culture: Best of Orlando 2019

Photo illustration by Adam McCabe

Arts & Culture

Best Adult Art Classes

1. Crealdé School of Art, crealde.org

2. SAK Comedy Lab, sak.com

3. Sam Flax, samflaxorlando.com

Best Arts Event or Festival

1. Orlando Fringe Festival, orlandofringe.org

2. Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival, wpsaf.org

3. Mount Dora Arts Festival, mountdoraartsfestival.org

Best Burlesque Troupe

1. Les Vixens Burlesque, facebook.com/lvburlesque

2. Corsets and Cuties, corsetsandcuties.com

3 Cherry Bomb Burlesque, cherrybombburlesque.com

Best Comedy Club or Night

1. SAK Comedy Lab, sak.com

2. Orlando Improv, theimprovorlando.com

3. Bull & Bush Shit Sandwich, bullandbushorlando.com

Best Dance Company

1. Orlando Ballet, orlandoballet.org

2. Phantasmagoria, phantasmagoriaorlando.com

3. VarieTease, thevenueorlando.com

Best Film Fest or Series

1. Florida Film Festival, floridafilmfestival.com

2. Orlando Film Festival, orlandofilmfest.com

3. FilmSlam at Enzian, facebook.com/filmslam

Best Gallery

1 CityArts, facebook.com/cityartsfactory

2 Snap! Orlando, snaporlando.com

3 Downtown Arts Collective, downtownartscollective.com

Best Literary Reading Series

1. Orlando Story Club, orlandostoryclub.com

2. Get Lit: Closed Mic, facebook.com/ncbekpoet

3. Queer Quills, facebook.com/queerquills

Best Local Actor/Actress

1. Benjamin Ptashinsky

2. Carlos Navarro, iamcarlosnavarro.com

3. Blue Star, facebook.com/babybluestar