Garden Theatre — Attraction in Winter Garden

The play itself though very good as a written edition. I do not believe that it should have even been re written for a stage production. The book and movie were both brilliant but the attempt to turn it into a live show was done poorly. The opening gave no information to what the people sitting down while Winston was at his desk. They did not even have enough stage props to portray the whole show. They used plastic chairs and a wooden table to represent the lunch room. Winston’s office was represented solely by a desk. Being that this was a very small theatre and the funding was not as sufficient as need be, it was understandable that it was done this way. But if the inability to get proper stage pieces was not enough the acting of one of the main characters was atrocious. O’Brien performed by (Stephan Lima) was unable to speak his lines. It was full of stuttering and the horrible forgetfulness of words. During the most intense scene of the entire play Obrien said his lines as if he would have read them off paper. While the interrogation was happening, he gave no emotion, and he gave no drama to the pain and possible death that could occur to Winston Smith. The only thing that saved the show was Winston smith himself performed by (Brian Zealand) his performance was outstanding. He portrayed the character flawlessly. The broken down will and want to take down big brother was thrilling. But looking at the play as a whole. The Director of this show (Bobbie Bell) could have done a better job. I have only 5 years of theatre and acting experience and I was coming up with better ideas to display the show in a matter of minutes when he had a matter of months. The part that got me most frustrated was the scene where they are caught by big brother. They gave no say to the fact that there actually was a telescreen in the room after all. That was the tipping point of the whole play and nobody said anything about how the shop keeper betraying them. They just opened up the doors and pulled them out of the bedroom. So, for me this theatrical performance was not an accurate way to represent what George Orwell would...

I iust got out of Ragtime and I really enjoyed the production. They were as good as professional and the theater was clean and well kept. That being said, this is my first experience at this theater and I'm honestly not in a big hurry to go back as this was the RUDEST audience I have EVER experienced. I am a patron of the arts. I used to perform. I knew the words to Cats before I could read. My husband and I are members of the Dr. Phillips Center and I am a theater teacher. In the last year, I have seen at least 20 shows between our membership, various community theater productions and visiting the Great White Way itself. The Garden Theater is on the higher end of ticket prices for local productions...which I don't mind paying because I get it...theater is expensive. The production was quality and licensing, operating costs, costumes, equipment etc...it adds up. That being said, if people can afford to pay upwards of $35 a ticket, you would think that your patrons would know how UNBELIEVABLY RUDE it is to USE YOUR CELL PHONE DURING A PRODUCTION!!! I was so distracted by the constant ding and glow of cell phones during the performance that it ruined my experience. I did a personal assessment of the demographic of the audience at this performance and this was a demographic of people that should know better. This was behavior I would expect from the audience of Be More Chill or Mean Girls. While I know the theater can't EXACTLY be responsible for the behavior of their patrons, I feel this is an embarrassment to theatergoers in general. Also, I'm 40 and use my phone regularly. I love social media and play several games on my Smartphone so this isn't coming from someone against technology. The performers deserve better than this. Do...

My 7 year old daughter attended several camps here over the last few years. She had a good experience at all of them except for the last one that she attended during July of 2021. At her most recent camp, she ended up being physically bullied by another student. Specifically she mentioned that another, older student, grabbed her by the neck. This girl was also apparently ripping up her drawings.

My child is relatively timid and did not report the incident right away- we did not find out what was going on until the final day of camp. We alerted the camp on that day. The camp called us, apologized, and asked her about the incident. My child would not name the bully so there was no further follow up.

The camp instructors did seem concerned and I am sure they regret that this happened. But I am concerned about the level of supervision here that would have allowed a dangerous incident like this to happen in the first place. As much as we've enjoyed seeing her performances at this theater, we will not be returning. I do not feel that this is a safe environment...