Fringe: Odyssea’s Family Tree

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Odyssea’s Family Tree produced by Project no.19 Performance Company, and sponsored by Dandelion Fitness, at the Orlando International Fringe Festival followed the journey of dancer Odyssea Siren through a series of pole dances. When the audience entered the theater all the dancers were lying in fetal positions on the stage. I started sketching immediately knowing I didn’t have much time to catch all the poses. Accuracy had to take a backstage seat to gesture. Lines of candles radiated from the center hub of the stage creating a romantic glow and spotlights illuminated quadrants of the stage as needed.

Each dancer then took turns performing on the 12 foot pole. I only tried to capture one dancer, and the challenge came from trying to capture the constant motion of dancers suspended, inverted and twirling around the pole. Between sets, the pole was vigorously wiped down.

Portraits were hung on clothing racks at the back of the stage. I didn’t know they were portraits until late in the show when the lighting allowed them to be seen. I believe the point was that the audience could see a dancer’s portrait after seeing how gracefully she moved and hearing her story.

The show, directed by Max Pinsky, featured contemporary dance and spoken-word pieces that showcased stories of generational trauma and survival. I didn’t really follow the story line; I just marveled at the athleticism of the pole dancers.

When in college, I went to 42nd street to do a series of sketches of strippers and pole dancers. Back then  42nd street was very gritty. This show elevates the pole dances to more of an art form but the uniforms of garter belts, thongs and high heals was very much the same. I would never get tired of sketching this much exposed anatomy in fluid motion. It was a thrilling show to sketch.

Fringe: Dreamwalker

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Cloud Feather Productions from Punta Gorda Florida presented Dreamwalker at the Orlando International Fringe Festival. Center stage was the largest Unity Drum in America. Most of the audience was invited on stage to beat bamboo xylophones and the huge Unity Drum. A small plush unicorn sat on a bar stool at center stage.

On the screen AI generated animations were used to tell a tale about anthropomorphic animals being warriors. I could not hear most of the narration from the animation shown because of the drumming. In general, there was a story about a Clan of the Unicorn. That story was impossible to decipher

I stopped trying to make sense of the proceedings and just went along with the flow of the mushroom fever dream. The show was written and directed by Joseph Breton on guitar, with Manuela Bass and Sarah Giustra offering back up on various instruments. So, was this a musical? Certainly not in the way Schmigadoon is a musical

Though billed for all ages, the show with its sappy AI generated animations seemed geared for grade school children who might not mind the artificially flavored imagery. The cast was warm and inviting but the choice of projected AI animation to tell the clan story missed the mark for a staged production. Heart felt narration as if told around a campfire might have better expressed the message which I think was about community, compassion, and unity though I really am not sure about the show’s intentions. When the cast was singing facing the largely empty audience bleachers, they would have their backs turned to the members of the audience on stage. The interactive aspect of the show was inspired but the staging felt fractured.

Had I chosen to bang away on a xylophone instead of sketching, I might have had a different impression of the show. My feelings about the cult like AI generated animation however were visceral. If such polished turds of animation are what we face in the future to tell stories, then humanity as a whole is in trouble, no matter how hard we try to drown it out by beating a drum.

Fringe: 110% Wizard

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Kieth Brown related that the last time he was at the Orlando International Fringe Festival, his life was changed when a talent scout approached him and Keith was given the opportunity to offer his amazing feats of magic on Norwegian and Virgin cruise ships. Though highly in demand, Keith once again returned to Orlando Fringe.

When he packed up his magic arsenal for a trip on American Airlines to get to his first cruise ship experience, the Airline managed to lose his luggage. The airlines sleight of hand disappearing act did not deter the magician; Keith had to build a show from scratch using everyday items found on the ship. He still came up with a show that managed to amaze.

Keith’s magic is small in scale but huge in its ability to amaze. The magic could be a simple a slight of hand card tricks to mentalist deductions. In one amazing trick he pulled an audience member on stage and managed to somehow have the item being sought appear inside of an unopened can which had to be cut open with tin snips. How was it done? I have no clue; it was pure magic.

I had seen Keith’s show from the 2024 Fringe, so I knew I would be amazed. The show was in the Peach venue which is a huge theater. Keith uses video to allow even people seated in the nosebleed seats to see the magic up close. This magician always delivers.

110% Wizard won Best of the Fest at the 2026 Orlando International Fringe Festival for the 4th year in a row.

Fringe: Four Dinners

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Four Dinners at the Orlando International Fringe Festival was a passionate play about two sisters, a roommate and an ex who lustfully explored their sexuality as queer women. The show was written and directed by Emmy Frederickson and Kelsey Grace Kidd.

The sexual relationships blossomed and unfolded so fast that I started to lose track of who was sleeping with who. When one relationship flickered out the ex-girlfriend of Penny (Liv Rawls) got pulled into the vortex of passion in the small apartment.

All of the passionate feelings had to be sorted out over the course of four dinners. Had this play been about men it would have been titled four dinners and a fist fight, but the woman managed to keep their impassioned conversations in check by passing around a small stuffed animal which was a sign that only the woman holding the plush could talk.

The action in the play pealed off as quickly as the clothing. When the sister of Penny, one of the roommates came over, she is seduced with surprising ease by Ynez (Marissa Rodriguez) the other roommate. I imagine the point of the play is that couples should be able to calmly discuss their feelings even when they are cheating or swapping partners. Throughout the chaos of the love triangle or quadrangle, Penny seemed to be the one person who kept a level head.

At heart all the characters were vulnerable and the quick leaps into sexual relationships may have been a hope to find some sense of belonging. Despite hurt feelings, the woman remained close. The small apartment was a tinderbox of emotions, but they managed to remain friends although rather dysfunctionaly.

Fringe: 50% Non-Verbal

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This Orlando International Fringe solo show by trombonist/dancer/actor C. Neil Parsons from Somerville, Massachusetts, was a variety act that was indeed not about long monologues. His trombone performances were on the abstract side treating the instrument as more of a folly device for making sound. The music was more of form of communication rather than a defined tune and the other form of communication was physical movement.

Neil did utilize speech and vocal play as well by describing the inner jumble of his thoughts at night.

I decided to try and sketch Neil doing his dance number. The stage felt so huge for the solo performer.

In one act, Neil played trombone while 3 volunteers walked around the stage looking at their iPhones. There was something very poetic in that musical number where the volunteers never looked up from their digital devices until the moment they came to rest.

This show was very avaunt guard and experimental. The acts were as varied as the thoughts in the performers’ mind. I was entertained and intrigued. I didn’t need to make sense of all that happened, I enjoyed it for what it was. What was it? You might ask. I am not always certain.

The show was well-received by reviewers and drew sold-out crowds.

Fringe: Big Gay Jesus

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Big Gay Jesus The Third Coming with Arthur Davis III at the Orlando International Fringe Festival promised, a sparkle soaked comedy cabaret packed with psychic readings, fashion healing, dance breaks and divine absurdity. It was to be a hilarious heart opening spectacle of self-salvation.

I didn’t feel any salvation. What I did witness was a very handsome man with long hair doing multiple costume changes. Jesus did display his dexterity with some very high kicks but any choreography wasn’t to be found.

Several audience members were brought on stage and Jesus did attempt some psychic readings by asking them leading questions in which the answer would be obvious but presented as a mysterious discovery. Jesus did have a sense of humor.

Jesus looked much like Fabio only without holding a sweaty damsel in distress. The mantra behind his  religion was that sinning is winning, clapping is mandatory and giving to his Venmo account is divine.

The show was a random mash up of ideas that managed to tie together. When Jesus waxed poetic about his trip to burning man, I was carried away with his story telling but the audience interactions felt forced. Who am I to judge how Jesus might interact with everyday humans. The bottom line is that Jesus is a fine specimen of a man to look upon, amen.

Big Gay Jesus won a coveted Patron’s Pick award, which earned the highly acclaimed, sell-out production an additional performance slot at the festival.

Pulse Remembrance Ceremony

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June 12, 2026 marked 10 years since the brutal murder of 49 people who were dancing and celebrating life at the Pulse Nightclub. The week after that massacre, I put out a Facebook invite asking artists to meet at the Falcon Bar and Gallery in Thornton Park to do 49 portraits in one night. Sixteen artists answered the call. 49 portraits were completed that night. I did four portraits so on average that is about how many each artist could have completed. Some artists lovingly completed one portrait while others did more.

The portraits were used for a play about Pulse created by David Lee called O-Town: Voices from Orlando. The play was a collection of monologues taken from firsthand accounts of survivors, first responders and volunteers. The 49 portraits hung as a backdrop for each performance. When the play’s run was complete, I was given all the portraits which I placed in my archives in the studio. They stayed there for 10 years.

With the 10-year anniversary approaching I decided that the portraits should hang around Lake Eola for the day. The shooting at Pulse began about 2am on June 12, 2016, so I decided that the portraits should go up around Lake Eola starting at 2:02am. Hannah Miller volunteered to help me in mounting the portraits to trees. I am so happy she came to help because it made the task so much more pleasurable. I feared the portraits might be torn down or vandalized considering signs of hope and acceptance are often covered over or violently opposed in today’s America. We proceeded anyway.

A lake staffer walking by let us know that it would be his task to take all the portraits down first thing in the morning. News 13 had set up a little outdoor studio on the south side of the lake. He asked if the portraits were related to what the news station was doing and we didn’t say they were not related we just said they were a memorial. As we got ready to hang the last portrait of Cory James Connell a reporter came over to ask us a few questions. The reporter, who was off camera, was choked up, which I certainly didn’t expect.

In the evening of the 10-year anniversary, I went to the United Methodist Church in downtown Orlando for a Pulse Remembrance Ceremony. I had my large clear portfolio case which I planned to use to collect the 49 portraits afterwards. I had a pair of scissors to cut mounting strings, which I hoped would not be seen as a weapon. There were police officers all around the church. Everyone was given a candle, but I refused since I knew I would be sketching. The program featured a reading of the 49 names, the church bell being rung 49 times, a performance by the Orlando Gay Chorus a poem read by poet laureate Camera Gaither and words for several family of the victims. When Miranda Bebe, the sister of Jason Benjamin Josaphat asked for action to remove high powered assault rifles from the streets there was overwhelming acceptance, but Orlando is a bubble in a deep red state that worships the blood letting in the name of gun rights. Prayers might be offered, but never solutions.

The Orlando Gay Chorus sang, “We all Have a Pulse” which absolutely floored me. I stopped sketching to let the music wash over me. It was a stellar performance and the highlight of my day. After the ceremony, which was heartwarming and overwhelming, I walked back to Lake Eola. When I got to the lake,  a huge rainbow arched from shore to shore. A fine rain was soaking the portraits and I decided they had to be collected.

Collecting the portraits was easier than putting them up. Some had been dismounted by the wind and people had re-tied them back on the trees. One portrait was missing and I chose to think someone collected it to give the family. Honestly if they had all been collected and given to family, I would be happy.

I let all the artists know via a Facebook invite that their work was hanging at Lake Eola for the one day.  I considered waiting until midnight, but I doubt I could have stayed awake that late since I had been awake all of the previous night hanging the portraits. As I was taking them down, a police man approached and asked my name. He must have thought I was stealing the portraits. Police had been informed that they must make sure the portraits remained hanging. I thought the portraits would immediately be taken down and considered vandalism, but Orlando embraced them.

Like the Queen of the Night blooms, these portraits appeared for a brief moment and then were gone.

Fringin & Flagons Presents: The Last Stand Tavern

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Michael Marinaccio and Tracy McCoy acted as the MCs setting each scene in The Last Stand Tavern which was staged at in Ten10 Brewing which was the perfect venue at the Orlando International Fringe Festival. Different guest performers are introduced at each show, adding to the chaos.

The show was built around a Roll Playing game, or TTRPG (Tabletop Role-Playing Game). I am not very familiar with roll playing games, so I had to take the show at it’s face value. I think that some of the audience reactions came from a familiarity with certain RPGs. Every scene was completely improvised often to hilarious effect.

Improv actors seated on the stage had to stand in for characters in an apocalyptic vision of the word where zombies are about to overrun a tavern. Players would roll a large die to determine the energy they might have to overcome each obstacle.

Though starting playful and light, the zombie hoards and dark lord are too much for any character to overcome. Each roll of the die resulted in an almost certain bloodbath. Perhaps that is just the way of the world. None of us will get out of this game alive. Heroes are the first to go.

The bottom line is that was a fun Fringe show with many unexpected turns and plenty of laughs.

Fringe: A Strange and Distant Manor

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This Gothic comedy Fringe show, titled A Strange and Distant Manor was a long-form improved story created along with prompts from the audience. At the show I attended, the prompts were, a cave, a Vespa and a fear of spiders.  It was a tale of family, secrets, and the supernatural. Once it was revealed that one family member, the strange uncle, was kept in a cage, that became a running gag.

A scene would play out and the other cast members, largely Sak Comedy Lab alumni, would stand in the wings watching and waiting for their moment to step into the scene. There were moments of complete comedic chaos and under it all the family dynamic played out. A prodigal son had returned and he wanted to introduce his family to his male partner. They seemed very accepting.

The caged uncle seemed to create the most drama and mayhem, but the family was clearly dysfunctional. Meeting the family of a partner is stressful enough but if they are completely insane then the task is all the more fraught with drama, laughs and spooky chills.

The story could take a dramatic turn at any moment when a cast member stepped in and introduced some unexpected twist. Watching improve is like watching tight rope walkers. I am always waiting for a slip and fall. But this cast was tightly knot and they kept each other afloat. No two shows were ever the same.

A Strange and Distant Manor by Travis Ray won the Critics’ Choice Award for Outstanding Improv Show at the 2026 Orlando International Fringe Festival. I am glad I had a chance to witness the chaos firsthand.

Fringe: Far To Heavy

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Far To Heavy was a one woman show by Melanie Bailey at this year’s Orlando International Fringe Festival. Melanie began the show with plenty of laugh out loud moments. Gradually she weaved in resurfacing memories that she has learned to live with. Those memories might surface at the most unexpected times.

This was Melanie’s first one woman. The show was genuine and offered the harsh realities of trauma mixed with lighthearted laughter. Everyday memories can become overwhelming if you can’t learn to laugh at them.

On stage were moving boxes with one labeled “Grief” in sharpie. I was getting prepared to move all my studio possessions out of storage into an apartment in downtown Orlando, so I was very familiar with a life boxed up on hold. My traumas may very well be in the remaining 3 boxes that I have yet to unpack. So many of the boxes I had to move were far to heavy. I tried to push one box and instead of it moving, my feet kept slipped on the floor boards. It wasn’t until I wedged my foot against a wall that the box reluctantly was forced forward.

On top of three boxes on stage was a bingo spinning barrel. Melanie played Trauma Lottery with the audience, and the goal was to show that the hidden pain we all have, may be what connects us all the most. For a show covering such serious topics, it didn’t ever feel overwhelming. Melanie had a great knack of mixing the trauma we all share with humor and reminding us that sharing such moments helps connect us all.

Melanie is a five-time Orlando Fringe award winner, so she has experience knowing what will resonate with an audience. We are never meant to carry all our pain in life alone. Being able to share and be honest about our experiences helps us heal. By sharing her trauma, Melanie may have helped the audience someday face their own traumas which were swept away into the recesses of their mind. The show cannot resolve the issues we all face, since we are all so unique, but by sharing her experiences, she helped us realize that we are not alone in our pain. By leaving us laughing, she offered the best medicine that there is.