Events

Summer At Your Library – Melrose Pop Festival

On June 10th, the Melrose Center pays tribute to a seminal event in the history of popular music with the Melrose Pop Festival. Over a weekend in June 1967 at the County Fairgrounds in Monterey, California, organizers led by record producer Lou Adler and musician John Phillips staged the Monterey International Pop Festival. The festival brought together acts from an array of regional musical scenes, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Memphis and London. It featured memorable break out performances by Janis Joplin, Otis Redding, Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix, the Who and Ravi Shankar among others. The success of the Monterey Pop Festival led directly to the advent of subsequent large-scale music festivals, from Woodstock at the end of the 1960s right through to current-day fixtures like Glastonbury and Coachella.  

While the Melrose Pop Festival will occur in a single afternoon rather than over multiple days, the event will serve as the Melrose Center’s homage to the spirit of Monterey. It will be an afternoon of Peace Love and Music, featuring six acts with Central Florida ties.  Eugene Snowden headlines the bill with his special blend of blues and soul. Beth McKee brings her southern roots sound to the festivities with her Funky Time Band. Indie-folk singer-songwriter Hannah Stokes, winner of Orlando Weekly’s 2022 Readers Poll Best Singer-Songwriter award, will be accompanied by her full band.  The Oak Hill Drifters will lend their rockabilly western swing sensibilities to the proceedings. Milk Carton Superstars will appear with a sampling of their songs made mostly from guitar, drums and reasonable words. And making a rare in-person performance, Orlando’s longtime leading exporter of lo-fi original music, Marc With a C, will open the festival with a solo mini-set. 

Hosted by Marko Torres, the Melrose Pop Festival will take place on the newly refurbished Melrose Stage from 2:00 – 7:00 p.m. 

Summer At Your Library – Melrose Pop Festival Read More »

Improv Town Hall

The Central Florida Improv Community Town Hall is a networking and resource event. We invite improvisors of all skill levels to join us for this Town Hall on which has been created to encourage growth, provide training, and receive insight into producing opportunities for our art form. The Town Hall will extend past library open hours on January 23rd from 6p.m. – 9p.m. Attendees must arrive before 7 PM in order to join.

Attendees will be provided headshots on a first come first serve basis.

Coaching Sessions – Improv troupes interested in a feedback coaching session must email Marko Torres at torres.marko@ocls.info to register their troupe up to the day before the Town Hall event.

  • Coaches:
    • Katelyn Berrios
      • Creator of Improvengers, the annual multi day improv show at Megacon.
      • Mountain Improv Holiday Show in Mount Dora, FL
      • Featured performer in A Knight to Be Major benefit show
    • Melanie Leon
      • Melanie Leon is an improvisor, actor, and writer in Orlando, Florida. She is the CEO of The Improv Network. She has toured the country with a comedy show and continues to travel to improvise and teach at festivals and theaters. Mel also coaches, uses improv at hospitals to help better train medical professionals, teaches applied improv to companies, does corporate events, and uses improv to help train difficult leadership topics for the US military. Locally, she performs, hosts, and teaches at different places, including SAK Comedy Lab and The Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, performs with her own indie teams, and is a producer of the Orlando Fringe Festival. Her true passions in life are improv, animals, sugar, and travel.

Games Session – A breakout jam session consisting of short form games. Lead by Andrew Bond & Mallory Ertel

Femprov – A workshop on creating a respectful and inclusive environment for women to thrive in improv comedy. Presented by Halley Spencer & Emily Broker

Panelist discussion & Q&A Session – Central Florida show producers speak on the creation of their shows, obstacles and successes. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions and open discussions.

  • Our Panelists
    • Zane Ertel – The Corner Gallery Improv Show at Penguin Point
    • Dylan Miller – The Comedy Chaser presented by Subject To Change
    • Alex Streu – Nitro Theater
    • Mat Gervia – Orlando Comedy Festival
    • Gina Hunter – SAK Comedy Lab – Corporate Events and Sales Director

Improv Town Hall Read More »

Melrose Center Announces Winners of the 2022 Melrose Film Festival

Congratulations to all the winners, and to all 76 Official Selections screened during the festival! This year the Melrose Film Festival attracted more than 2,000 film submissions. For more information visit the following link: https://filmfreeway.com/MelroseFilmFestival


The Truth Within – Directors, Gaby Soto & Juan Rincon

Tales of the Life Living in the Mangrove Heartlands – Director, Sayan Sinha Roy

How Bubbles Sound, Director – Melina Andrea Dulci

Biplane Model Kit – Director, Tine Kluth

Cuckoo! – Director, Jörgen Scholtens

Daisy – Director, Jennifer East

About Melrose Film Festival

Driven by innovation and creativity the Melrose Film Festival highlights the work of imaginative filmmakers across the globe. Our annual festival is dedicated to celebrating the art of visual storytelling in short films, animation and music videos. The festival celebrates the art of filmmaking with screenings, industry panels and Q/A sessions at our main screening event at the Melrose Center in Downtown Orlando. Select films will then travel to Libraries throughout the Orange County Library System showcasing the work of each filmmaker.

Melrose Center Announces Winners of the 2022 Melrose Film Festival Read More »

The Melrose Gallery: Buildings, Lines and Reflections

The Melrose Center is pleased to present ‘Buildings, Lines and Reflections’, a photographic exhibition on the second floor of the Orlando Public Library by photographer Pedro R. Berrios.

Award-winning photographer Pedro Raphael Berrios has over thirty years of experience as an editorial and commercial photographer, specializing in Fashion, Illustration and Food photography with a style consisting of interesting and energetic imagery.

His photographs have graced the covers and been featured in such editorial and commercial entities as Imagen Magazine, Caribbean Business Newspaper, Buena Salud Magazine, El Nuevo Día Newspaper, DE MODA magazine, GO magazine, Business Puerto Rico magazine, The New York Post, Central Communications Advertising, Lintas Advertising, Miramar Advertising, Cellular One, Ponderosa Restaurants, Marubeni Caribbean, El Conquistador Hotel and Resort and Casiano Communications Publishing among others.

One of his most noted exhibitions, “People of My Country” in New York City, depicted the people and culture of Puerto Rico in 1987. His exhibition “Photography Alchemy” in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1994 featured different images of Puerto Rico through a unique visual brush texture technique. In 1999 Pedro was honored for his work by the Association of Photojournalism of Puerto Rico.

In 2003 Pedro Rafael joined the team of Central Florida’s first Hispanic daily newspaper, El Nuevo Día Orlando, leading the photography department.

Currently, Pedro is one of the Melrose Center photography instructors.

The Melrose Gallery: Buildings, Lines and Reflections Read More »

Summer at Melrose

Programming from the Melrose Center includes photo, video, maker, performing arts and digital design classes, teaching kids and teens to engage, create and innovate. Melrose Camps and Events give students a chance to explore and learn in a fun and safe environment with subject matter experts from the Dorothy Lumley Melrose Center. Registration opens May 2nd for events running June 24th to July 23rd.

Summer at Melrose Read More »

Scroll to Top