PHOTO VIA STEVE SCHNEIDER
Local playwright and regular Orlando Weekly contributor, Steve Schneider, is staging a public reading of “Black Wood II: The Telltale Wood,” his newest play and a sequel to his hit 2019 Orlando Fringe production, on Saturday, July 18, at New Generation Theatrical in Fashion Square Mall. The original “Black Wood” earned the Best Original Script award from Fringe critics and landed on the Sentinel’s best of festival list (article featured above).
The story is set in 1974 and follows the cast of a vampire soap opera as they attempt a comeback. “It’s 1974, and the cast of TV’s first vampire soap opera is poised for a comeback,” according to the synopsis. “But will they snatch defeat from the fangs of victory?”
The reading marks Schneider’s first play in seven years. “Imagine Dark Shadows if the people who had made it had had even less money and were even more confused,” Schneider said of the concept. “That was basically the setup of the first show. This one finds them four years after cancellation and brought back together at a sci-fi convention to do a live dramatic reading of A Christmas Carol for charity. It’s no spoiler to say things do not go well.”
Director Dave Russell returns for the sequel, along with most of the original crew. The cast includes Melanie Leon, James Honey, JD Sutton, Holland Hayes, Phran Gauci, Darren Smith, John Connon, and Katie Thayer. James Brendlinger will read the stage directions. Blue Estrella serves as stage manager and assistant director.
The event is positioned as an early kickoff to the 2026 Halloween season and will include a cash bar and complimentary gourmet sweets from Gideon’s Bakehouse. Doors open at 7:30 p.m., with the reading starting around 8 p.m. Admission is free, but advance sign-up is required. Click HERE to RSVP.
