A southwest Orange County theater company has been raising funds for months to establish a home base. But although supportive community members have opened their wallets, space is proving hard to come by. And that, in turn, is slowing the nonprofit’s momentum in rapidly growing Horizon West, north of Walt Disney World.
“It’s the perfect set-up for a community that should be more arts-driven,” said Raja Jalernpan, president of Horizon West Theater Company’s board of directors. He has seen the area flourish since arriving in 2019. “It’s full of townhouses and dentist offices and restaurants. … Maybe one day there will be room for a theater.”
Since 2010, Horizon West’s population has grown by 300% to more than 60,000 residents. The theater company was formed in 2019 by a group of volunteers who had tired of driving to other locales for artistic stimulation. It remains volunteer-driven, a true community theater in which plays are produced for the love of the art, not for compensation.
The Horizon West Theater Company is a small-budget organization; for its fiscal year ending in December 2024, it reported revenue of about $28,000. So the increasing cost of renting spaces for its productions has taken a toll.
Horizon West Theater Company performed one show at the Maple Street Biscuit Company in Winter Garden after the restaurant had closed for the evening. (Courtesy Horizon West Theater Company)
The company had been using the auditorium at Horizon High School but found a week’s rental costing upward of $20,000.
“It’s a challenge,” Jalernpan said. “It’s really hard to justify doing a musical when you’re $20,000 in the hole before you start.”
In early summer, the board decided to look for a permanent space the troupe could rent and use not only for its productions, but also its children’s programming and classes. The plan was to open the doors to other community organizations who could use the building, as well.
Performers in a Horizon West Theater Company show meet at the home of a volunteer with the community theater. The nonprofit is looking for home. (Courtesy Horizon West Theater Company)
“Everybody needs flex space for community events — classes, meetings, workshops, a place to start a book club or writing club,” Jalernpan said. “The goal is to make an inclusive and affordable space for the whole community.”
Donors quickly jumped on board.
“We’ve been totally thrilled by the outpouring of support,” he said. “It has been quite overwhelming.”
In a few weeks, more than $60,000 was raised through the Act 2: Home Is on the Horizon campaign, with donors contributing $10,000 for naming rights to the future theater and its concession stand. Others pledged $3,000 to name classrooms and rehearsal rooms. (Find out more about donating at horizonwesttheatercompany.com/act2)
Horizon West Theater Company performers rehearse at People of Faith Luthern Church in Winter Garden. The nonprofit troupe is looking for a home. (Courtesy Horizon West Theater Company)
But even with the aid of a commerical Realtor, a roadblock was hit: Finding appropriate and affordable space. A warehouse that looked promising fell through when the landlord demanded a personal guarantor for a multiyear lease — a tough ask of volunteers.
Board members have considered reaching out to the city of Winter Garden about using the Garden Theatre there, although it’s farther north than they would like and has a floorplan that doesn’t match the group’s hopes for a studio and black-box theater.
The company has steadily built an audience with about 800 patrons attending its big musicals, and 700 watching youth productions. Each show is produced by about 50 volunteers, and the company had been staging between three and five each year.
While the search for a home goes on, Horizon West Theater Company has continued programming where it can. A new concert series titled “Pints and Performances” takes place monthly at the Two Bridges pub in Winter Garden; the next one is Nov. 15. A youth production of “The Addams Family” will be staged Nov. 7-8 at Illuminate Church in Kissimmee.
Horizon West Theater Company has been teaching tap dance in conference rooms at hotels in the Flamingo Crossings development. (Courtesy Horizon West Theater Company)
Tots ages 1-3 and their caregivers meet for the “Diapers and Drama” program in a conference room at the Flamingo Crossings SpringHill Suites. That hotel and the nearby TowneHill Suites provide their conference rooms for other activities, including a Thursday-night dance class in which guests might see Jalernpan rolling tap-dance boards through the lobby on a luggage cart.
“They have been kind enough to help us out as a nonprofit with decent rental rates,” he said.
But the space issue has stymied the group in planning another big musical. In the past, the organization has performed such popular shows as “The Music Man,” “Rent,” “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” and “Rock of Ages.” The companies that license such titles, though, need to know the venue up front. And renting a venue requires having specific show dates approved by the licensing company.
In Horizon West, ‘Rock of Ages’ has rockin’ star-power behind it
“So the rights are waiting for the venue, and the venue is waiting for the rights,” said Jalernpan of the Catch-22.
Local high schools, such as West Orange and Dr. Phillips, are known for their theater programs, and smaller companies with a focus on education, such as Theatre South Playhouse in the nearby Dr. Phillips neighborhood, offer several professional plays each year.
But the area from west Orange into eastern Lake County has lost major theater organizations in recent years. The nonprofit running the professional Garden Theatre in Winter Garden went out of business in October 2024. The Moonlight Players, a volunteer theater group in Clermont, left their home in 2020 and have performed only occasionally since.
“It’s been clear there’s a hunger for the arts in west Orange County,” said Jalernpan. “Once we solve the space problem, we can offer even more.”
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