<\/p>\n
When I catch up with Broadway actor\/country singer\/\u201dThe X Factor\u201d contestant Rachel Potter<\/a>, she\u2019s fresh off an album-release party in New York City.<\/p>\n It was a sold-out bash in the Big Apple, celebrating Potter\u2019s new album, \u201cStages.\u201d<\/a> But the party she\u2019s really looking forward to? That\u2019s coming up in Orlando.<\/p>\n \u201cOrlando is my home,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m so excited.\u201d<\/p>\n Potter, who starred as Peron\u2019s Mistress in \u201cEvita\u201d and as Wednesday in \u201cThe Addams Family\u201d on Broadway, is the latest singer in the Broadway at the Renaissance<\/a> series at Orlando\u2019s Renaissance Theatre<\/a>. Her performance is Aug. 25, but it will be far from a solo affair.<\/p>\n The album features Central Floridians such as Jamey Ray and E.J. Cardona of popular a cappella group Voctave<\/a>, and they\u2019ll be joining Potter onstage, along with other Orlando talent \u2014 many of whom Potter has known for decades.<\/p>\n \u201cIt will be a love fest,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Potter grew up near Tampa but made Orlando her home in the early 2000s, getting hired by Walt Disney World, where she played Ariel in the \u201cVoyage of the Little Mermaid\u201d show and Belle in the \u201cBeauty and the Beast\u201d show at what\u2019s now Disney\u2019s Hollywood Studios, among many other roles.<\/p>\n She also found time to attend Valencia College and then transfer to the University of Central Florida \u2014 although, because of academic bureaucracy, not to the theater department. Instead, she graduated with a degree in advertising and public relations and a minor in political science.<\/p>\n Still, after her success on Broadway, the theater departement \u201cclaimed me\u201d as an alumna, she jokes.<\/p>\n Television audiences will remember her as a Top 12 finalist on Season 3 of \u201cThe X Factor,\u201d and she was seen across the country on a tour of \u201cWicked,\u201d in which she went on as Glinda. Today\u2019s audiences know her for viral videos and recordings she makes with Voctave and VoicePlay<\/a>, another Orlando-based a cappella group.<\/p>\n Now living in Nashville with her husband and three children, Potter found the urge to create art once again \u2014 which led to \u201cStages.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI turned 40 last year,\u201d she says, \u201cand I was heading toward a solid midlife crisis. Instead of buying a sports car, I made a Broadway album.\u201d<\/p>\n Her busy home life meant it was difficult to find the time to record.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t regret that,\u201d she says of her commitment to her family. \u201cBut when you have an artist\u2019s heart it makes you sad when you\u2019re not doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n So she made time, carving out studio sessions while her children were at school. Among the album\u2019s songs, which the Orlando audience can expect to hear \u201calong with a few surprises\u201d: \u201cHouse of the Rising Sun,\u201d \u201cCome What May,\u201d \u201cMaybe This Time\u201d\u00a0 and \u201cFor Good,\u201d with medleys from \u201cWaitress,\u201d \u201cLes Miserables\u201d and \u201cMatilda.\u201d<\/p>\n Orlando talent on the world stage: From Lincoln Center to Edinburgh Fringe<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cNo rest for a year, but it was so fulfilling,\u201d she says. \u201cThe metaphor, of course, is that it\u2019s the story of my life in stages that were pivotal to me.\u201d<\/p>\n Among those stages were her years at Walt Disney World, where she also performed in shows such as \u201cFinding Nemo \u2014 The Musical,\u201d \u201cHigh School Musical Pep Rally\u201d \u201cthe \u201cHoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue\u201d and \u201cCandlelight Processional\u201d at Epcot, where she sang with the Voices of Liberty.<\/p>\n \u201cDisney was a huge influence in my life,\u201d says Potter, whose late brother John portrayed Peter Pan at the same time she worked there. The two were even roommates for a time.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was so beloved in the Orlando community so I know a group of his friends will be at the show,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Potter remains proud of her work at Disney, which she calls \u201cmusical-theater boot camp.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think there\u2019s always been this stigma about theme-park performers,\u201d she says. \u201cThat has to be eradicated immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n Besides talent, she recalls, stamina was critical.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d start my day at \u2018Little Mermaid,\u2019 get a call to move to \u2018High School Musical,\u2019 then swing into the 6 and 7 \u2018Beauty and the Beast,’\u201d she says. \u201cThen another call: Can you come to \u2018Hoop-Dee-Doo\u2019 tonight?\u2019 I was killing it with overtime.\u201d<\/p>\n Her work with Disney has led to unexpected benefits \u2014 such as getting a kind message from Jodi Benson, the original voice of Ariel. \u201cIt\u2019s so crazy that someone like Jodi Benson is talking to me,’\u201d Potter says.<\/p>\n She has performed at Disney\u2019s annual D23 convention and recently recorded the theme song to Fantasy Springs<\/a>, the newest land at Tokyo DisneySea.<\/p>\n \u201cThat song actually charted in Japan,\u201d where fans take their theme parks very<\/em> seriously, she says with some incredulity. \u201cMillions of streams.\u201d<\/p>\n And she still maintains a princess connection, especially to that red-headed mermaid.<\/p>\n \u201cI loved playing Belle, but Ariel will always have a special place in my heart,\u201d she says. \u201cI can\u2019t even tell you how many times I sang \u2018Part of Your World.’\u201d<\/p>\n Follow me at facebook.com\/matthew.j.palm<\/a> or email me at mpalm@orlandosentinel.com<\/a>. Find more entertainment news and reviews at orlandosentinel.com\/entertainment<\/a> or sign up to receive our weekly emailed Entertainment newsletter<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n What:<\/strong> Broadway performer sings songs from her new album alongside talented Central Florida friends<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n Where:<\/strong> Renaissance Theatre, 415 E. Princeton St. in Orlando<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n\n\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When I catch up with Broadway actor\/country singer\/\u201dThe X Factor\u201d contestant Rachel Potter, she\u2019s fresh off an album-release party in New York City. It was a sold-out bash in the Big Apple, celebrating Potter\u2019s new album, \u201cStages.\u201d But the party she\u2019s really looking forward to? That\u2019s coming up in Orlando. \u201cOrlando is my home,\u201d she […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1946120,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[349174,349176,349173,349170,349172,349175,349171],"class_list":["post-1968283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-cappella-group","tag-central-floridians","tag-orlando","tag-rachel-potter","tag-renaissance-theatre","tag-voyage-of-the-little-mermaid","tag-walt-disney-world"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Lloyd-native-nominated-for-6-IBMA-awards.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1968283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1968283"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1968283\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1946120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1968283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1968283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1968283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Rachel Potter<\/h3>\n
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