Opera Del Sol from Orlando Florida presented Heated Ribaldry: An Opera of Musical Proportions at the Orlando International Fringe Festival. The director of the show, Eric Pinder was seated in my row, so I got to see his reactions to the hilarious moments on stage. The opera was introduced by a playful video of Eric who introduced the premise as if he was enticing us all to an exotic vacation retreat.
Heated Rivalry is a TV show which was the inspiration for this opera. I haven’t seen the TV show, but I don’t think I missed many inside jokes. The opera stands well on it’s own. It was about a hockey team which had a new superstar player join it’s ranks. Two of the players became attracted to one another in a series of musical numbers. Heated Ribaldry also delivered with very strong vocals from all the performers who belted out the numbers with absolute clarity and class.
A musical dance number featured the hockey team dancing a finely tunes choreography with their hockey sticks. Jokes kept coming so fast it was hard to catch a breath between laughs. The two men who fell in love also had trophy girlfriends which would seem a necessity for the hockey club PR. Both girls knew that their men had unique passions. When the two player finally embraced and had a long passionate kiss at center stage, the theater audience went wild hooting and hollering. I love that a show that celebrates passion can be so warmly embraced in Orlando.
In short, I had a wonderful time. As Lauren Michaels said at the 2026 Tony Awards acceptance speech for Schmigadoon, “So another musical comedy, “Sometimes singing, dancing, a lot of jokes, and a happy ending is really all you need.” Heated Ribaldry delivered everything Lauren was talking about and more. Ribaldry isn’t a show for the kids, with nudity, and plenty of sexual innuendo, but the message of following your heart is universal whether it is on the ice rink or on the stage. I give Heated Ribaldry 10 very stiff hockey sticks.