'The Animatronicans' return to Orlando for 3-night double feature

The theme park parody shows “The Animatronicans” and “The Animatronicans: Under New Management” are returning early next year for a special three-night-only double feature production.

UPDATE – 12/17/21: Per an announcement on Jeff Jones’ Instagram, the February performances of “The Animatronicans” and “The Animatronicans: Under New Management” have been canceled. No reason was shared as to why the shows would not go on as planned.

Tickets for the performances will be refunded. Jones later said in his post that “perhaps we can reschedule for later in 2022.”

At the 2016 Orlando Fringe Festival, local comedian, playwright, and performer, Jeff Jones presented “The Animatronicans,” a play that tells the story of four animatronic characters from local theme parks that live together in a Central Florida home. It carried the tagline, “See what happens after the attraction closes,” and was written by Jones and directed by Michael Wanzie. After selling out every performance in their original run, the show went on to win the Critics Choice award for Best Comedy and Patron’s Pick.

In 2019, Jones revisited the cast of animatronic characters in his follow up show, “The Animatronicans: Under New Management,” during the Orlando Fringe Festival that year. This time, the animatronic characters’ lives are turned upside down when company management assigns a red-haired woman from a popular pirate attraction to be their new roommate. Just like the original, the new show sold out every performance and won Patron’s Pick and the Critics Choice Award for Best Ensemble Performance.

And now, for just three nights in February 2022, both shows will be performed once again, back-to-back with an intermission in-between. The shows will be performed Feb. 7-9, 2022 at 7:30 p.m. each night at The Abbey in Downtown Orlando.

Tickets are on sale now for $28 each and the shows are open to all ages — though the content of the shows might not always be kid-friendly.

Click the links below to purchase tickets.