The Songwriters Stage at Credo is a chance to hear local musicians originals.

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On the first Monday of every month, Downtown CREDO (706 W Smith Street Orlando, FL) becomes a venue to hear local musicians as they share original music. If you are tired of bands performing covers this is a chance to find something new. I arrives a bit early and ordered a coffee. I was surprised to find that there is no set cost, instead you pay what you can. I’m not much of a coffee drinker, so I don’t know what a chain like Starbucks must charge. I decided $5 was a good price for my cup of Joe.

 Downtown CREDO is a 501c(3) non-profit with a mission to improve the
quality of lives in our nations cities by cultivating networks of
meaning, impact and community.I saw Credo’s director, Ben Hoyer speak at a TED Talk in Winter Garden. His message of serving the community was inspiring. His CREDO…

“Life is worth living. I refuse to merely exist. I pursue a
life of meaning and purpose, fulfillment and joy. The world is not yet
as it ought to be. Neither is my city. Neither am I. Yet, I reject
apathy and despair. I engage the world, my city, and myself to make an
impact for good. I am not alone. I press through narcissism, isolation
and self-sufficiency striving to live in authentic community.”

 This isn’t your typical open mic. Performers each have ten minutes to
make the credo stage their own. Each act performs two original songs,
and a panel of judges chooses three finalists. These three are invited
back to the stage at the end of the night to perform one more song and the judges select one winner (cash prize and free recording time with Emissary Studios included!). Performers are judged in five different areas: songwriting, vocal
performance, playing ability, stage presence, and audience response.Songwriters in Central Florida to come together and create a
community of artists. There’s a lot of talent in this city and we want
to help showcase it! All levels are welcome.

Musicians slowly gathered with guitars in hand. It was a night of calming acoustic music. The music was hit or miss, but writing a good song is hard work. The most inspiring musician that night for me was Lloyd Williams. He is a musician from the band “The Cold Start.”  His music got under my skin, full of emotion and meaning. If ever I see a concert featuring “The Cold Start”, I am there. At the break, my coffee was done and so was my sketch. The music would continue much later into the night, but I decided to pack up my art kit and get back home to Terry. I have no doubt that I’ll be hearing more music from Lloyd Williams. As I left, I read CREDO’s rally cry, “Refuse to merely exist!” It is a great message for any artist or citizen to follow.

Doubt, A Parable leaves the audience questioning the truth long after the curtain dropped.

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I went to the final dress rehearsal for “Doubt, A Parable” based on a. book by John Patrick Shanley. The Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning drama follows a Catholic high school priest’s battle for truth and personal integrity.
It is produced by Beth Marshall Presents
and directed by Beth Marshall in the historic Winter Garden Theatre (160 West Plant Street, Winter Garden FL).

When the theater went dark, Father Flynn (Michael Wanzie) began his sermon in the isle at the back of the theater. He spoke about how the country pulled together after John F Kennedy was assassinated.  The moving monologue rallied the audience behind the father. He was clearly a well loved man among his parish. Michael Wanzie seemed perfectly cast for this role. I’ve seen him in past productions and he always seems to be in roles where he must question the faith he grew up with.

Sister James (Chelsey Panisch) is a young and enthusiastic teacher loves to get the children excited about history. Her superior, Sister Aloysius (Ginger Lee McDermott) is a hard edged disciplinarian. She views every situation with suspicion and doubt and advises Sister James to do the same. Eventually a situation arises in which the one black student in the school is called away for a meeting with Father Flynn. The boy returned from the meeting acting strange and he had the scent of liquor on his breath.

Sister Aloysius assumes the worst and begins a personal vendetta to expose Father Flynn as the monster she imagines he is. Her black and white view of right and wrong is greyed by the Fathers compassion and a simple straight forward explanation. He gives another sermon, this time about gossip. In this parable he has a woman cut open a down pillow on a city building roof top. Feathers fly everywhere in the wind. She is told to repair the damage and recover the feathers. That of course is impossible, the damage is done.

The play haunted me on the entire drive home. Without an admission of guilt, there is always doubt. The father was clearly a gifted orator who cared for the children in his charge. Yet sister Aloysius’s steadfast conviction at times swayed my view of the man. He clearly had human weaknesses. The show was just an hour and a half long but the questions still linger.

Mark Your Calendars!

February 6 – 22, 2015
Thursdays – Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 2pm
Industry Night: Monday, February 16 at 8pm

Tickets: $25 ($21 seniors/students)
Industry Nite Feb. 16th -$15 (post show cast meet/greet Pilars Martini) 

Garden Theatre Box Office
160 West Plant Street, Winter Garden
407-877-GRDN (4736)
gardentheatre.org

Weekend Top 6 Picks for February 7th and 8th.

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Saturday February 7, 2015

9am to Noon. Viking Challenge. Lake Eola. You
may be familiar with the Ice Bucket Challenge, the fund raising phenom
of 2014 for the cause of ALS research.  The Viking Challenge
is more than a quick cold splash.  We are challenging you do dive in,
dash, pedal, wheelchair, walk, skateboard, jog, you can choose what to
do with your family and friends.  We want you to enjoy the challenge of
fun and fitness and to remember Trinity with a gift for our
encouragement to get active. Join us, in person, to support and foster an education embracing the future, while
being rooted in a foundation of deep, lasting tradition. Trinity Lutheran School we challenges you to help us build a dynamic learning community.Funds raised will go towards the $35,000 goal. The school needs new soccer field bleachers and goals, library renovations and iPads for the K-2 curriculum.

3pm to 5pm Free.  Bach and Beer. Cask and Larder, 565 W Fairbanks Ave, Winter Park, Florida. Join the Bach Festival Society and Cask and Larder Brewmasters, Garrett Ward and Larry Foor, for the release of a limited-edition beer, Brandenburger Bock, brewed for the 80th Annual Bach Festival. Featuring German music, this event will be popular with music lovers and beer lovers alike.

Beer and Cask and Larder’s usual offerings will be available for purchase.This Cask and Larder Bock Beer comes closest to resembling the beer of Bach’s time. In the ancient bock tradition, the dark-colored craft brew is released in time for springtime celebrations. J. S. Bach enjoyed life enormously, and this certainly included beer drinking; in fact, he was often paid in beer.

Cask and Larder is a southern inspired brew pub located in Winter Park that opened its doors in early September 2012. C and L offers southern-sourced seasonal dishes, craft beers

brewed on-site, and fresh-shucked oysters from their oyster bar. Brandenburger Bock will be available to take home in to-go crowlers (canned versions of beer growlers.)

6pm to 8pm Free. Smash Entertainment Networking Party. Actors, Dancers, Singers, Models, Photographers, Directors, Writers, Make-Up Artists, Costumers, Stage Managers, Lighting Designers, Sound Designers, Editors, Cinematographers… If you love working on Theatre or Film this event is for you! Bring your head shots, resumes, demo reels, cameras, voices, and portfolios to this wonderful night of fun, food and friends.

There will be an entire Green Screen Sound Stage and fully functional A.D.R. Sound Room available! Feel free to take a few pictures or record a song! We will also be cooking plenty of food on the grill for anyone who is hungry. This event is BYOB. See all of you there!

Sunday February 8, 2015

1pm to 3pm Free. Script Reading Workshop. Sleuths Mystery Dinner Show, 8267 International Drive, Orlando, FL. Read and workshop plays.

2pm to 6pm Free. Grand Opening Celebration at Animal Healing Solutions. Animal Healing Solutions, 1117 East Altamonte Drive, Altamonte Springs, FL. Come by and see the new place, find out more about what we do, and meet Dr. Fasano with Animal Healing Solutions , Teresa with Sparkling K9s (www.SparklingK9s.com) and Cherylann with Puppy Love Therapy.

Pets Welcome! Appetizers and Drinks provided. Stop by anytime! Feel free to bring a friend or invite anyone who might be interested.

9pm to 11pm Free. Solo Acoustic Spoken Word. Natura Coffee and Tea, 12078 Collegiate Way, Orlando, FL. 407 482-5000

A Pecha Kucha rehearsal is as much fun as the main event.

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Pecha Kucha means chit chat in Japanese. The event features speakers who give fast paced presentations. Power point is used to show 20 images and the speakers have 20 seconds to talk about each slide. The slides are timed and run automatically, so there is no going back or speaking for too long. All the presentations on this night were about movies. For the rehearsal, the audience consisted of fellow presenters. They offer encouragement and notes for each presentation. They had rehearsed in past weeks, so they got to watch as their talks evolved and got better.

Kent Vanderberg gave a moving talk about video production and the need for play in the life of adults. He filmed a documentary about people from a renaissance fair here in Central Florida. He followed several characters everyday lives and compared that to their Renaissance Fair personalities.  We all need to seize every moment of every day. It is the playful and intimate moments that make life worth living. All work, and no play, makes Jack a dull boy. Worrying and rushing through life leaves little room for what really matters.

Eddie Selover, who keeps Pecha Kucha alive here in Orlando was a presenter as well. He reminisced about James Bond. Eddie, back in 1963 had a model of James Bond’s car, which could fire missiles, had bullet proof glass and many other high tech spy features. I used to have a very similar car. I also remember having a brief case that had hidden compartments and a toy knife that would detach at the tap of a button. Eddie grew up on Bond films until his parents cut him off because the films got too sexually explicit. Eddies experience with the opposite sex was very different than 007’s. Whereas Bond might confidently have a woman in every port, Eddie was surprised any time a girl noticed him. His life took a swift and exiting change when Eddie met his wife.  Life is an adventure that should be lived to its fullest. You don’t need to be a spy to recognize that.

Matt Moeller from SAK comedy lab gave a fast paced rap presentation on how to write a script. It was a real education, and hilarious at the same time. The lyrics came fast and furious and the beat stayed constant throughout. When the lyrics worked and he hit his stride, the presentation was pure magic. He followed the hero’s journey using images from Star Wars as examples.

Mark Your Calendars! Pecha Kucha, “Talking Pictures” will be on Friday February 6th at 7pm at the Orange Studio, (1121 North Mills Avenue). Tickets are $11. This show is sold out.

Miller’s Field House has so many TV’s it is hard to know where to look.

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On July 19th, Terry and I went to Miller’s Field House (7958 Via Dellagio Way, Orlando, FL) to watch the Chargers battle against the Chiefs in the playoffs. Well, Terry watched the playoffs and I sketched. Terry grew up in San Diego, so she always roots for the Chargers, even if she is the only person in the room doing so. The place was packed with fans, Many wearing the jersey of their favorite team. I ordered a burger and a beer and got to work.

The game was pretty close for a while, but by the second half, Terry was groaning far more than she was cheering. The Chargers lost which sealed their fate for the season, they would not be going to the Super Bowl. 0n my several trips to the bathroom, I realized that the bar also had seating outside, and it was just as crowded out there. People would come in shifts, watching a game and then heading out. The bar must do a brisk business since the drinks kept flowing as long as there were games and commentary.

The most authentic Oktoberfest in Orlando is at the German American Society.

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Each year I like to get to the German American Society (381 Orange Ln, Casselberry, FL) to sketch during Oktoberfest. This year, on October 24th, I was joined by a young UCF journalism student named Deanna Ferrante.I met Deanna at Artlando in Lock Haven Park and she seemed quite fascinated by what I do. She decided to use me as a subject for an article she has to research for her journalism class. So far she has interviewed my wife and several others. Since I consider my daily sketches a form of journalism, it makes sense for her to find what I do interesting.

Parking was hard to find, and for the first time I paid $5 to park at a nearby business. Getting into Oktoberfest is also $5, which gets you a wristband. Most of the action is behind the Liederkranz hall. A gazebo was set up for music and dancing in the center of the back yard. Long tables filled the yard with crowds of people drinking beer. I decided to go inside where a stage was set up in front of a huge photo of a German castle. Several accordion players and a saxophone player provided the music for traditional German dances. Tyrolean liederhosen outfits were everywhere. A small banner in front of the performers announced, “Beer is proof that God loves us.” There was a collection of different sized cow bells, but they weren’t used in the time I was sketching.

Where I sat was right next to where the teen aged dancers would congregate before they went out on the dance floor. The women wore white puffy sleeved blouses and a black bodice that cinched their wastes tight. The blue plaid dress and apron would billow out like a whirling dervish whenever they danced. The men would stomp and slap their heals as they danced. They would also help guide the women in a direction as they were spinning. One female dancer spun out of control as she exited the dance floor and she tripped on the stage. She wasn’t hurt and the adrenalin kept her spinning just as fast for the next dance.

The dancers became fascinated with my sketch and several crowded around to see what it looked like. Deanna used the opportunity to interview several of them. The main reason she stopped out was to observe first hand what a typical sketch excursion is like. She also interviewed people at my table. She didn’t ask me any questions, instead letting me work. Once in a while I would shout out a thought or two, trying to be helpful.

With the sketch finished, I decided to call it a day. The sketch opportunities were endless, but I decided to get home. I bumped into artist Leslie Silvia and her husband Jared on the way out, so I could have lingered and drank a beer, but I’m a lightweight when it comes to drinking. I get a headache the second I take a sip. Deanna said she got what she needed for the article and she headed back to UCF. I liked her approach. She gets right into the thick of the action to find the story. I’ll be curious to find out what the article turns out like.

Every Monday as the sun sets, the Audubon Community Market offers fresh local produce.

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Stardust Video and Coffee ( 1842 Winter Park Road, Orlando, FL) becomes a vibrant Community Market every Monday. When the weather is good, the parking lot fills with vendor’s tents. When it rains, the market shrinks and moves inside. On this particular Monday I sketched vendors offering fresh baked goods and holistic herbs and oils.

It turned out that the vendors son was a bit of an artist, and he sketched me as I sketched the scene. The costumer, with the green head band and purple shirt was a Disney theme park employee. I also recognized he as being a very active Fringe Festival volunteer. Shopping is only half the objective in this small intimate market. Most of the time is spent socializing and catching up with friends.

As the flow of costumers slowed at the Audubon Community Market, the Disney employee sat with the vendor and her sons behind the table. A mysterious ceremony took place where they all held hands. Perhaps there was healing involved, or a spiritual look inward. I should have asked about it when my sketch was done since I could probably use some of what was offered. Lately my body has started to revolt against my horrible diet and constant work by forcing me to slow down with splitting headaches. Doctors only offer drugs but I would rather find a more holistic approach to improving my health.

The Cameo vintage sign is burning bright again.

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A small black and white photo framed on the back wall of Snap! Orlando shows the historic Cameo Theater with its original signage. Building owner Jorge Boone applied to the Orlando City Counsel to have a replica of the original Cameo
sign put back on top of the building “to re-establish the identity of the
building and bring a sense of history and place to the area.” The
project is expected to cost around $29,000 and the city agreed to
Boone’s request for $14,000 through the facade program. The new
18-foot-long sign will use the same retro font as the original, and it
will be lit with more than 300 LED bulbs.

The Cameo Theater first opened opened on Christmas Day, 1940. It was a latecomer in Orlando’s movie theaters, and was located just a block west of the Vogue Theater. Open for only a few years (maybe less than five), the Cameo sat abandoned for years, save for an occasional booking by a evangelical group.

The building was remodeled and occupied for years by IBM. Since then it has had many occupants, and has often been vacant. The marquee still stands.

In October 2008, it was in use as a live performance space, but had closed by Summer of 2009. By early-2010, it had reopened and was available ‘For Rent’, and several groups had regular performances, primarily live music.

Today the Cameo Theater is home to Snap! Orlando, a hip gallery that is bringing cutting edge exhibits to Orlando. The owners, Patrick and Holly Kahn  also have expanded Snap into a gallery space in Miami and they seem to have finally created a gallery worthy of a top class city here in Orlando.  Nearly 1200 people came to
celebrate Snaps one year anniversary, and the lighting of the Cameo
sign on January 23, 2015. As Patrick said “Thank you to all of our partners, supporters, Snap! team members
and friends who joined us last night! Our deepest appreciation and love
to the exceptional Jorge Boone and Magdalena Dalsjo for reviving the
Cameo sign, and sponsoring the public art fence, created by Chris Scala. In 2015 Snap is planning a citywide event with pop-up art
exhibits, lectures with guest speakers, workshops, and other educational
and cultural events. Announcements soon.”

The Artlando main stage hosted amazing talents.

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I only sketched at the Artlando main stage in Lock Haven Park once. The Orlando Concert Band kicked off the event in the morning. There was a small group of people right in front of the stage while most of the artists were still setting up their tents or chatting. John Phillips Sousa marches and patriotic orchestrations got the day started. I was seated in a patch of shadow created by the stages canopy. As the sun rose, I had to keep scooting forward to stay in the shade. The small audience around me was doing the same.

As the day progressed, clouds rolled in and it rained. That didn’t stop performers from showcasing their talents on the stage. Phantasmagoria and Emotions Dance performed and I watched them without sketching. Sometimes it is nice to put the pen down and just let a performance sweep over you.  When the sun went down, a DJ took to the stage and the lawn became a dance party.

Taking down my tent was more of a challenge than setting it up. As I lowered the telescoping legs, it leaned against my neighbors tent a bit. They seemed quite annoyed with me but no damage was done. I rolled my stuff up and stored it curbside. I then hiked the half mile or so to my car and drove back to pick everything up. It turned out that award money was given to the artist picked by all the artists that day. G. Lemus was awarded $1000 and he also won a contest for painting a lion, which is the symbol of Orlando’s new soccer team. I made about $18 to $20 in card sales and finished 3 sketches, so the day wasn’t a total bust.