(Judson's Live, Orlando FL) In a very intimate setting of the Judson's Live venue at Dr. Phillips, guests were treated to the beautiful vocal performance of former Prisoner #24601 in the way of Nick Cartell.
Cartell was most recently at Orlando's Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center this past June when he played the lead role of Jean Valjean in the touring production of Les Miserables. However, last night's 2-show performance at Judson's actually marked Cartell's 4th performance at Dr. Phillips. He remarked last night that he also performed here back in 2019, when during another tour with Les Miserables through Orlando, he had made his 'baby announcement'; last night, his daughter Sullivan (aka, 'baby mentioned in 2019) actually joined her dad on stage with microphone in hand. Also joining him on stage last night, was his beautiful wife Christine.
Nick joked last night that there seemed to be a new theatre within Dr. Phillips each time he visited, which actually is a pretty substantiated claim given the Center's continual expansion and development. Also speaking some more truths: Nick released his 'A Thousand Spotlights' grammy-eligible album (Best Traditional Pop-Vocal Album) this past summer.
There were actually multiple times throughout the performance that Nick would drop some personal insights amongst the crowd in between each song, which was an amazing experience.
Cartell would go on to perform some great interpretations of 'Never Enough' from Greatest Showman, Tarzan's 'You'll Be My Heart', Lin Manuel Miranda's 'You'll Be Back', an outstanding version of Phantom's 'Music of the Night', and the finale of Les Miserables' 'Bring Him Home.' Cartell's voice has a very high upper range, and I found myself looking forward to him landing each high note, having no concerns that he would potentially miss the note... he definitely landed every note without any concerns whatsoever. I was reminded quickly as to why I completed loved his interpretation of Jean Valjean last June, as he was emotive, personable, and just genuinely very likeable. He clearly demonstrated that he was easily deserving to assume any lead role in any other production, so hopefully he gets 'visit #5' to Orlando again soon and perhaps, given the popularity of Dr. Phillips and the outstanding caliber of shows and performers they are bringing in, maybe Dr. Phillips will have yet another performance venue onsite.
During this specific visit, we were able to try out some more items from the menu, and everything from the kitchen and bar are being executed very well. We enjoyed our Expresso Martini and Spicy Margarita. The mushroom flatbread has some amazingly fresh mushrooms and tasty brie cheese. My only complaint about the beef sliders was that we didn't order more, because those things and their accompanying spiced BBQ crisps were real good.
I actually hope that Dr. Phillips continues performance experiences like these where we can isolate more of these lead role vocalists and just hear them showcase their beautiful vocal instruments. This particular 9p showing went for an hour, as did the 7p showing immediately preceding it, which skillfully offered up just the right amount of time to hear the artist, but also at no point did we ever grow tired of the artist. It was really a perfect date evening setting, which offered a very different feel vs. Judson's already-wonderful 'brunch' series, which will hopefully bode well for future bookings as the venue is extremely dynamic, cozy, and just a tremendous experience to take in a very exquisite music-absorbing experience. I will comment here that their artist choices between the brunch experience and these nightly ones have been outstanding and perfectly selected.
Judson's is making all the right moves with these nightly events and you will definitely want to include this option as you're considering a 'date night'. It should be noted that there were definitely 'parties of 1' in attendance last night, so don't be shy to come alone either, because Judson's makes everyone feel quite welcome.
With this: Judson's... Nick, Christine, and Sullivan Cartell... this reviewer is greatly looking forward to seeing all of you again soon!
Bailey Guinigundo
Cartell was most recently at Orlando's Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center this past June when he played the lead role of Jean Valjean in the touring production of Les Miserables. However, last night's 2-show performance at Judson's actually marked Cartell's 4th performance at Dr. Phillips. He remarked last night that he also performed here back in 2019, when during another tour with Les Miserables through Orlando, he had made his 'baby announcement'; last night, his daughter Sullivan (aka, 'baby mentioned in 2019) actually joined her dad on stage with microphone in hand. Also joining him on stage last night, was his beautiful wife Christine.
Nick joked last night that there seemed to be a new theatre within Dr. Phillips each time he visited, which actually is a pretty substantiated claim given the Center's continual expansion and development. Also speaking some more truths: Nick released his 'A Thousand Spotlights' grammy-eligible album (Best Traditional Pop-Vocal Album) this past summer.
There were actually multiple times throughout the performance that Nick would drop some personal insights amongst the crowd in between each song, which was an amazing experience.
Cartell would go on to perform some great interpretations of 'Never Enough' from Greatest Showman, Tarzan's 'You'll Be My Heart', Lin Manuel Miranda's 'You'll Be Back', an outstanding version of Phantom's 'Music of the Night', and the finale of Les Miserables' 'Bring Him Home.' Cartell's voice has a very high upper range, and I found myself looking forward to him landing each high note, having no concerns that he would potentially miss the note... he definitely landed every note without any concerns whatsoever. I was reminded quickly as to why I completed loved his interpretation of Jean Valjean last June, as he was emotive, personable, and just genuinely very likeable. He clearly demonstrated that he was easily deserving to assume any lead role in any other production, so hopefully he gets 'visit #5' to Orlando again soon and perhaps, given the popularity of Dr. Phillips and the outstanding caliber of shows and performers they are bringing in, maybe Dr. Phillips will have yet another performance venue onsite.
During this specific visit, we were able to try out some more items from the menu, and everything from the kitchen and bar are being executed very well. We enjoyed our Expresso Martini and Spicy Margarita. The mushroom flatbread has some amazingly fresh mushrooms and tasty brie cheese. My only complaint about the beef sliders was that we didn't order more, because those things and their accompanying spiced BBQ crisps were real good.
I actually hope that Dr. Phillips continues performance experiences like these where we can isolate more of these lead role vocalists and just hear them showcase their beautiful vocal instruments. This particular 9p showing went for an hour, as did the 7p showing immediately preceding it, which skillfully offered up just the right amount of time to hear the artist, but also at no point did we ever grow tired of the artist. It was really a perfect date evening setting, which offered a very different feel vs. Judson's already-wonderful 'brunch' series, which will hopefully bode well for future bookings as the venue is extremely dynamic, cozy, and just a tremendous experience to take in a very exquisite music-absorbing experience. I will comment here that their artist choices between the brunch experience and these nightly ones have been outstanding and perfectly selected.
Judson's is making all the right moves with these nightly events and you will definitely want to include this option as you're considering a 'date night'. It should be noted that there were definitely 'parties of 1' in attendance last night, so don't be shy to come alone either, because Judson's makes everyone feel quite welcome.
With this: Judson's... Nick, Christine, and Sullivan Cartell... this reviewer is greatly looking forward to seeing all of you again soon!
Bailey Guinigundo
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