Cover Story
Shakira makes up for missing her January date at the Amway Center this week
Shakira’s hips don’t lie and you can see so for yourself at the Amway Center on Tuesday. Yep, we went and said that overly done, though almost necessary, cliché – and we mean it, too. The Colombia-raised, multi-Grammy and Latin Grammy Award-winning artist is stopping through the City Beautiful as a part of her El…
Stonewall to bring ‘Pose’ cast members to Orlando for Pride celebrations
Stonewall is going all out for Pride with their recently announced “And the Category is Pride” event set for this October. The Latin Saturdays affair will feature three cast members from the groundbreaking FX tv series about 1980s ball culture, Pose. Cast members confirmed to appear are: Mj Rodriguez (Blanca), Billy Porter (PRay Tell), Indya Moore (Angel),…
Ellipsis Brewing throws in popcorn and a beer with tickets to their Dot Dot Dot Comedy Showcase
Ellipsis Brewing’s monthly comedy showcase offers up snacks to go along with the laughs. Big Tim Murphy hosts a selection of local comics while you enjoy “artisan” popcorn – that’s a thing now? – and your first draft is included in the ticket price. Best to get tickets in advance, as the show has sold…
Club 3Nine at Rosen Plaza hosts official Walker Stalker afterparty with celebrity hosts
After wandering around the convention center all day for Walker Stalker Orlando, wind down at Rosen Plaza’s Club 3Nine for Outbreak in Orlando. The afterparty is hosted by The Walking Dead’s Ross Marquand (also the Red Skull in Infinity War, FYI) and Michael Traynor and offers special effects makeup stations, a costume contest, a VR…
Walker Stalker gives fans of ‘The Walking Dead’ all the zombies they can handle this weekend
AMC’s The Walking Dead begins its ninth season this fall under the specter of lead Andrew Lincoln’s departure. But the show has built up such a strong supporting cast that many still expect the show to keep going for several more years. You can meet a large chunk of that cast – whether or not…
Will’s Pub brings in the midway for an actual carnival this weekend
Mills Avenue is often a circus during the evening hours, but we don’t often mean that literally – until now. Carnie-esque Will’s Pub owner Will Walker and liquor distiller William Grant & Sons have teamed up to throw an actual carnival on the 1000 block of North Mills Avenue. Hit the midway to play carnival…
Avian aficionados flock together at Central Florida Fairgrounds for an Exotic Bird Expo
If you can put up with incessant chirping, hooting and squawking to look at something beautiful, make a stop at the Exotic Bird Expo at the Central Florida Fairgrounds this week. Come see hundreds of birds gorgeously colored in all shades, plus connect directly with breeders and suppliers that can save you a buck. If you…
VINIA Wine Bar coming to Hannibal Square
A boutique wine bar will soon grace the brick-lined streets of Hannibal Square in Winter Park. Paula Gamba and her husband Fabio will open Vinia Wine Bar in the former Sugar Shoe Lounge space at 444 W. New England Ave., Suite 119, in early September (they’re shooting for a Sept. 5 opening). The pair moved…
Report finds flaws in Florida’s efforts against cancer
Florida has received failing grades from an American Cancer Society political-action committee for not taking more steps to prevent cancer and for not expanding access to health care for uninsured working adults. In the organization’s annual “How You Measure Up?” report, Florida earned passing, or green, marks in just one of nine categories —- for…
Orange County elections office says ‘no intrusion’ after Bill Nelson declares Russians breached Florida voter system
The Orange County Supervisor of Elections office says its unaware of any “unauthorized intrusion” into its system after U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson declared Wednesday that Russian operatives had “penetrated” some of Florida’s voter registration systems. Nelson made the comments Wednesday to the Tampa Bay Times. “They have already penetrated certain counties in the state and…
What’s next for Maitland’s Enzian Theater now that its expansion plans have failed?
As Orlando Weekly first reported yesterday, Maitland’s Enzian Theater, in a surprise announcement, revealed it has withdrawn its application for a long-planned expansion with the City of Maitland because of the theater’s lack of confidence in its impermanent parking agreement with Park Maitland School. Though the proposal never reached a final vote before the City Council,…
Jinya Ramen Bar is now open in Thornton Park
Orlando’s latest slurppery is now officially open in Thornton Park. After nearly a year to get off the ground, the popular noodle chain Jinya Ramen Bar debuted their first Florida location yesterday in the former Verde Cantina space at 8 N. Summerlin Ave. The new outpost is open 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday and 11…
Universal adds ‘Poltergeist’ to Halloween Horror Nights 2018
The 1982 supernatural classic Poltergeist will join the roster at this year’s Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios. Announce today, the new maze will put guests face to face with memorable characters as they experience the film’s most iconic scenes, like the spooky old television and the pool full of dead bodies. From Universal: The…
Florida House candidate Anna Eskamani featured in the ‘The Atlantic’ magazine
Anna Eskamani, a local Planned Parenthood official and Democrat running for a Florida House seat in Orlando, was featured in The Atlantic today. The story, which highlights young progressive candidates across the country, touches on how the 2018 midterms has helped harvest a new generation of leaders out of progressive groups and community organizations nationwide,…
Sales announce a homecoming show at the Social set for October
Did you manage to catch hotly-tipped local indie duo Sales at the Social last month? Odds are no, because the show sold out in short order. Not to worry, the band has added a second show just for hometown fans. The band are currently on tour behind new album Forever & After and will be…
Puerto Rican government says Hurricane María death toll estimate closer to 1,400
The Puerto Rican government admitted in a report that more than 1,400 people died in the catastrophic aftermath of Hurricane María, an estimate much higher than the official death toll of 64 fatalities. The New York Times reports the U.S. territory released that number in a draft plan to Congress requesting $139 billion in reconstruction funds.…
The Breeders announce Florida shows in October
Alt-rock legends the Breeders are reunited and rejuvenated in 2018, with the classic Last Splash lineup of Kim Deal, Kelley Deal, Josephine Wiggs and Jim Macpherson touring and releasing new songs. And the band has just announced a new run of U.S. dates set for this fall and that includes two nearby shows for Orlando fans…
Advocates march to Rick Scott’s office demanding repeal of Florida’s ‘stand your ground’ law
Joined by the longtime girlfriend of a black man who was shot dead in a dispute over a parking spot at a Clearwater convenience store, black pastors, civil rights leaders and politicians marched to Gov. Rick Scott’s office Wednesday to demand a repeal of the state’s controversial “stand your ground” law. Tensions over the July…
Orlando will likely have 50 percent fewer new apartments by the end of 2018, which is really bad
Orlando’s already overpriced rental market is about to get much worse. A recent study from national listing site RentCafe found that the Orlando area’s rental construction market is seeing a 46 percent decline in new units projected to be finished by the end of 2018. According to the report, the City of Orlando accounts for…
Putnam mocks DeSantis with a Seinfeld joke in final debate for Florida governor
In their second and final debate for the Republican nomination for governor, Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam and U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis clashed Wednesday over President Donald Trump, Florida’s water crisis and campaign contributions. Putnam, a two-term Cabinet member and former member of Congress, accused DeSantis, a three-term member of Congress, of running a campaign light…
Swap your classic slasher tapes and catch a screening of ‘Frankenhooker’ at Stardust Video & Coffee this weekend
Horror fans know that their entire fandom probably wouldn’t exist without the advent of home video; VHS allowed filmmakers to create low-budget hack-and-slashers and get them out to a wide audience for as cheap as possible. Bring your tapes to swap with other fans at Stardust this week, and stick around for a screening of…
Anime Fun Shop throws one last show with Precious Child
It was a short, frenetic burst of glam-gone-underground activity – though, sadly, it was a lengthy run in terms of DIY venue lifespans – and in that one-year-and-change, Vanessa Barros Andrade’s Anime Fun shop, fka A-Shop, hosted performers as varied as Nightspace, Kurt Fowl, Bestial Mouths, Craow and Psychic Hotline, creating this beautifully strange cognitive…
Largest body camera supplier in U.S. says facial recognition isn’t good enough yet for police work
Orlando city officials aren’t losing much sleep over their decision to experiment with Amazon’s Rekognition software as a real-time mass surveillance program. But Axon, the largest supplier of police body cameras in the U.S., says facial recognition technology is not good enough yet for law enforcement use. In a quarterly earnings call Tuesday, Axon CEO…
Relive the early years of the century at Emerald City Cabaret’s Millennium burlesque
It’s weird that “turn of the century” now means less than 20 years ago, but that’s how time works, we guess. Emerald City Cabaret cashes in on your nostalgia for the not-that-recent past with a tribute to – ahem – turn-of-the-century pop culture. Motorola Razrs, Napster, Winamp, Livejournal, Dane Cook: What do all of these…
Enzian withdraws expansion plans from consideration by the City of Maitland
In a surprising announcement this afternoon, the Enzian Theater revealed that it has withdrawn its application for a long-planned expansion with the City of Maitland. The “Enzian Forever” expansion would have added two new screens to the beloved theater, though there was vocal concern from nearby residents about the effect of the expansion on traffic…
The Orlando Magic just dropped these 30th anniversary throwback jerseys
For the franchise’s 30th anniversary, the Orlando Magic have some new duds to show off during the 2018-19 season. Using almost the exact same design as the pinstriped blue jersey the team wore during road games from 1994 until 1998, as well as a new logo, it’s sort of a fresh start for a team…
Walking Dead’s Emily Kinney to bring her music to the Dr. Phillips Center
Actress and singer Emily Kinney, best known as Beth Greene on AMC’s The Walking Dead, is heading out on her “Same Mistakes” North American tour and that includes a stop in Orlando. Kinney will be touring behind her upcoming new album Oh Jonathan, out on Aug. 24 Emily Kinney plays the Alexis & Jim Pugh Theater at…
Trump’s Mar-a-Lago friends have been acting as ‘shadow rulers’ of the VA, report says
Three of President Donald Trump’s allies who are also members of his private Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach have been acting as “shadow rulers” at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, according to a report from ProPublica. Despite having no U.S. military or government experience, this “informal council” has been quietly shaping the administration’s policies…
Despite Teresa Jacobs’ feelings on rabies, an Orange County Commissioner will build bat boxes to combat mosquitoes anyway
Orange County Commissioner Emily Bonilla says she has a plan to install 30 bat houses in her district for mosquito control, but county Mayor Teresa Jacobs says she’s more worried about the threat of rabies infections. “There has been a misunderstanding of not only the memo, but also the bats,” says Bonilla, whose district covers…
Florida cows are cops now
Officers with the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office recorded a video on Sunday of an accused car thief running from authorities through a pasture, only to be chased down by cows. In the video, the suspect can be seen getting “corralled” by a large herd of bovines, which clearly suggests that all cows in Florida should…
You have one last chance to see Orlando’s waterskiing squirrel, Twiggy, before she retires
Twiggy, a waterskiing squirrel from Orlando, is hanging up her skis for good, but not without one last rip around the heated pool. The squirrel will make two final appearances at the Orlando Boat Show on Saturday, Aug. 18, and Sunday, Aug. 19. Twiggy will “ski” on Saturday at noon, 2 p.m., 4 p.m. and…
25 free shows happening in Orlando this week
Wednesday, Aug. 8 Eugene Snowden’s Ten Pints of Truth 10 pm at Lil Indies, 1036 N. Mills Ave. The Daniel Heitz Band 10:30 pm at Tanqueray’s, 100 S. Orange Ave. Thursday, Aug. 9 Leisure Chief 10:30 pm at Tanqueray’s, 100 S. Orange Ave. Raleigh Estes and Friends 8 pm at Muldoon’s Saloon, 7439 Aloma Ave.,…
Florida waives rules to help speed up red tide cleanup
Cleanup rules are being waived for the removal of dead fish from areas of red tide in Collier, Lee, Charlotte, Sarasota, Manatee, Hillsborough and Pinellas counties. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Executive Director Eric Sutton on Tuesday announced the change to try to speed the removal of dead fish – regardless of bag, size,…
New haunted house ‘Seeds of Extinction’ coming to Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights
Universal Orlando released a few details about a new foliage-themed haunted house coming to Halloween Horror House 2018. According to Universal, “Seeds of Extinction” takes place moments after a meteor strikes Earth, resulting in a landscape covered in weird plants and super scary vines. Guests “will have no place to hide as they find a…
Bomba Estéreo break genre boundaries at the Plaza Live
Colombian party monsters Bomba Estéreo – “Stereo Bomb” was never more apt – are one of those rare outfits whose music is so catchy and immediate, yet intricate and more than a lil’ weird, that it appeals as much to the nerds at NPR as it does to Latin Grammy voters, jaded SXSW attendees and,…
Wrigley chewing gum heir sinks money into one of Florida’s medical marijuana companies
The Wrigley fortune was built on its domination of the chewing gum market, but an heir to the confectionery dynasty is investing millions in an industry that not so long ago had a far less wholesome reputation. In a transaction some construe as the normalization of the medical cannabis industry, William “Beau” Wrigley Jr. led…
Moat Cobra celebrate their first album with a night of punk and metal at Will’s Pub
Our area has plenty of good punk bands and plenty of good metal bands, but few embody the two genres with such equal conviction as Orlando’s Moat Cobra. And after several years sharpening their claws in the city’s underground opening up for heavyweights of both camps – from KEN Mode to Wolvhammer – they’re finally…
Florida Supreme Court will take up proposed greyhound racing ban
Just a day after receiving the case, the Florida Supreme Court on Tuesday unanimously agreed to take up a battle about whether a proposed ban on greyhound racing should go on the November ballot. Justices scheduled arguments in the case on Aug. 29 and set a rapid-fire series of deadlines for the parties to file…
Jeff Greene loans himself another $4.5 million for his campaign for Florida governor
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jeff Greene has poured at least $18.1 million into his campaign after entering the race in June, according to Greene’s latest finance report. Greene, a billionaire investor from Palm Beach, loaned $4.5 million to his campaign between July 21 and July 27, bringing the total to $18.1 million. He had received $1,355…
A Central Florida veteran’s wife was deported to Mexico, Publix’s sales increased despite die-in protests and more
Central Florida military family torn apart after veteran’s wife deported to Mexico: For months, Alejandra Juárez fought against federal immigration authorities who wanted to deport her to Mexico, forcing Juárez away from her husband, a U.S. Marine combat veteran, and two American daughters in Davenport. Appeal after appeal was rejected. Facing an Aug. 3 deportation…
Orange County looks to offset massive cuts to state arts funding, plus more in performing arts news
Good news for supporters of public arts funding: Orange County commissioners are increasing cultural funding by $572,742 in the upcoming fiscal year. Local leaders are dipping into the general fund to help make up for the state of Florida’s recent 94 percent reduction in arts funding. That brings the County’s contribution up to $1.3 million,…
‘American Animals’ blends fiction and documentary
One of this year’s Sundance darlings, American Animals opened the Florida Film Festival in April. The second feature from writer-director Bart Layton, Animals bombastically announces that it’s not based on a true story – it IS a true story. And thanks to its half-documentary, half-narrative-fiction format, that announcement is spot-on. Although its unique structure –…
Curry Bowl opens in Maitland, Salvatore’s Prime Sandwiches coming to Henry’s Depot, plus more in local foodie news
OPENINGS: Curry Bowl, offering Indo-Chinese fare, has opened in Maitland on the corner of South Keller Road and Fennell Street … Bawarchi Biryanis, a chain with more than 40 locations in the U.S. and Canada, will open an Orlando location Aug. 18 on International Drive across the street from the old Wet ‘n Wild ……
American Football breathe new life into their teenage anthems
Growing up in public
The best concerts coming to Orlando this week
Stranger Than Fiction Showcase of new and young Central Floridian talent with Stranger Than Fiction joined by Phantom Phunk and the Young Something. 9 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 8, at Will’s Pub, $8-$10 DK the Drummer Mutemath founder turned “drum jockey” goes all out at the Social with a solo set and a set as part of…
Ashley Eckstein, fangirl entrepreneur and voice of Ahsoka Tano on Clone Wars, has a new book out to help readers ‘dream it and do it’
A long time ago, on a playground far, far away, boys like myself reveled in reliving the Rebellion’s rout of the Empire, while Wookiee-loving young women were relegated to the sidelines. Today we’re in a whole new galaxy, with strong females at the forefront of the Star Wars resurgence. But since long before Rey or…
Spike Lee’s ‘BlacKkKlansman’ is provocative but flawed
Scorched Earth
Opening in Orlando: American Animals, A.X.L. and more
THIS WEEK: American Animals After a false alarm in these pages seven weeks ago (Sorry! Sorry!), the opening-night film of the 2018 Florida Film Festival finally returns for a full engagement at Maitland’s Enzian Theater. To find out what our Cameron Meier thought of this story of four friends who attempt a rare-book heist, check…
Savage Love: ‘Après Pill, Le Déluge’
I’m a 27-year-old woman living on the East Coast. I’ve been sexually active and on birth control since I was 16 – almost always on the pill. I recently switched to the NuvaRing, which I had a bad reaction to: I had no libido at all and extreme mood swings/bouts of depression I could not…
Gimme Shelter: Meet Buster!
Are you looking for a new furry friend? Meet Buster! Buster (A408762) is a sweet senior at 10 years old. He was brought to the shelter by his owners because they could no longer care for him. However, age is nothing but a number for Buster! Buster is very active and playful, enjoys playing fetch,…
