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Acting on stage in New York City, the theater capital of the world, had long been a goal of
Pinecrest’s Owen Reynolds and in late November that dream came true when he starred in the world premiere of a new comedic farce, Paradise, during the New York Theater Festival. In December, his dream grew even bigger when he learned that he had been nominated by the Festival for a Best Actor Award for his performance and that the play itself had been nominated for Best Production (Show) and Best Director.
Written and Directed by Michael Stoddard, Paradise is the story of Sara and John (the character Reynolds played), a young newlywed couple that elopes to the Paradise Cove Resort in Cancun for the honeymoon of their dreams only to find that John’s cheap online travel deal has left the couple trapped inside a vacation nightmare that gets worse (and funnier) by the minute. With their new union on the rocks, a lesbian couple along with a manic hotel manager hysterically bulldoze their way into the relationship in order to resolve the conflict while also restoring the couple’s faith in love. The show’s weeklong run took place at the historic LATEA Theater in New York City along with 90 other plays during the four months long 2023 Fall/Winter New York Theater Festival , the oldest and largest such competition in North America.
Reynolds, a graduate of Miami’s Palmer Trinity School, and currently a student at Cornell
University where he’s majoring in Architecture and minoring in Theatre, found the entire
experience enchanting. “I am just so very honored and thankful” stated Owen. “I truly loved being on stage in New York, hearing the audience’s laughter every night and performing with such an incredibly talented, dedicated, cast was an amazing experience”.
In December, Owen was thrilled to learn that he and the show had been nominated for awards in every possible category and that the cast had been invited to attend the Festival’s prestigious Red-Carpet awards gala. His dream of a debut experience certainly enjoyed a happy conclusion during the gala when the Paradise cast learned that their creation had swept the awards by winning the Best Production (Show) award, the Best Director award, and the Best Actor award. “On top of the elation we enjoyed on stage each night”, gushed Reynolds, “to then learn that I was nominated for the Best Actor award in such a large Festival filled with so many talented actors and that the show went on to win every award we’d been nominated for was incredibly humbling”. The entire experience really was a dream come true”.
Although he has, for now, returned to his college studies, Owen is already dreaming about
when he’ll next take the stage and is back to being immersed in the performance arts he so
cherishes. He’s auditioning for new roles, writing and performing in the dark comedy group,
The Midnight Comedy Troupe, that he leads, composing music, and excited about plans to bring Paradise to another theater somewhere special soon.
