Pinocchio is in the house. There’s also the return of “Acts of Love,” the local debut of the unusual “Small Mouth Sounds” in a pop-up production, a free day at Orlando Museum of Art and another Broadway Rave. Here’s a quick look at five special arts events in Orlando during the coming days.
PINOCCHIO: NO STRINGS: Everyone’s favorite nose-growing puppet-turned-boy has written his memoirs. And you are invited to his book signing. That’s the idea behind this new show from Joel Swanson, creator of Frogpig and other Fringe Festival faves.
Originally scheduled to be part of Orlando Fringe’s now-postponed OutFest, “Pinocchio: No Strings” will have a one-night-only performance July 26. “It’s an idea I’ve had for a long time,” says Swanson, whose latest project was the large-cast musical ““Meddlin’! The Doosical” at this year’s Fringe festival. “I’m going back to my one-man-show roots.
” Swanson says there’s a lot to explore in the story of “Pinocchio,” from father-figure trauma to “letting go of strings and other things that are holding you back” to the question of whether life is better as a human or a puppet. “As a 31-year-old person, I’ve seen that life isn’t always all it’s cracked up to be as a human,” Swanson says. In the show, like Swanson, “Pinocchio” is gay — which leads to personal questions such as “Would life have been easier if I’d stayed in the closet?” Swanson wonders.
“Am I mad at myself fo.