Phantasmagoria brings horrific tales to the Orlando Fringe.

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Phantasmagoria: Wicked Little Tales fills the Fringe Orange venue at the John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center, (812 E Rollins St, Orlando, FL) with horrific whimsical tales of horror, Phantastical dance, music, stage combat, large scale puppetry and storytelling. Before a complete run through of the show, actors practiced a sword fight that they had just learned the day before. The swords were real, so there was a true there a of danger as they parried.  Other actors on the stage had to be warned to stand clear. Though rehearsed at quarter speed, the adrenaline still pumps an they had to b coached to slow down.

The show commence with a grand flair. The whole acting troop crouched around the ring master as he enticed the audience to listen in with a grand flourish. Once a story begins it must be told until it is finished. The tales come to life and the horrors pose a real threat to the tellers. The first tale was one of my favorites, The Tell Tale Heart, by Edgar Allen Poe. To recreate the hideous beating heart, the entire (2 beat their palms on the stage floor creating a deafening thump.

Another memory tale was of the Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow. Two dancers acted as the horse with grace and style. Actors and actresses would more into the audience during the telling of a tale, and you never knew if a sinister laugh might ring behind you, sending chills down your spine.

Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein brought to life a giant skeletal figure that threatened it’s creator. The creature demanded a bride and when that hope was gone the monster turned on his creator and master. Love lost is the most horrific motivator for murder.

It was good to see this at in troupe in such a large venue. With so many act of and actresses, they easily utilize every inch of the deep space. If you have a taste for the macabre then Phantasmagoria is the show for you.

Phantasmagoria shows are on May 21, 22, 28 and 29.

Tickets are $11.

Weekend Top 6 Fringe Picks for May 21st and 22nd.

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Saturday May 21, 2016 

Noon to 1pm $11 Plus a Fringe button $10 good for all shows.  Phantasmagoria: Wicked Little Tales. Orange Venue in the Shakespeare Theater 812 E Rollins St, Orlando, FL.    The show thunders into the Fringe with its
evocative, haunting and whimsical tales of horror, Phantastical dance,
music, explosive stage combat, large scale puppetry and enthralling
storytelling.

5pm to 6:10pm $11 Livingroom Theater. Pergande home, 1314 Chichester St Orlando, FL Paths of absurdity, raw truth and love intersect as Bear, Otter and Dog
invite you into a living room to share vignettes reflecting on our
humanity. Through pensive to comical conversations, experimental
performance pieces and live instrumentals a story emerges. “A primal,
playful joy in the moment…” – analogartistdigitalworld.com

7pm to 7:15 pm $7.  21 Chump Street. Purple venue in the Shakespeare Theater 812 E Rollins St, Orlando, FL.  A high schooler falls in love with an undercover cop. 21 Chump St. An
action packed, 15 minute musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Creator of
‘Hamilton’ and ‘In The Heights’ and from NPR’s This American Life.

Sunday May 22, 2016 

12:45pm to 1:45pm $10.  A long Time Ago: The 80s Strike Back. Orange Venue in the Shakespeare Theater 812 E Rollins St, Orlando, FL. The show is a retelling of the Original
Star Wars Trilogy blended with the Neon-nougat center of the 1980’s.
Classic characters are skewered by 80’s archetypes and all the moments
are captured in 80’s song parodies. Relive the only three Star Wars
movies in a whole new way.

3:30pm to 4:10pm $10. O.K.: Physicality of Mentality. Pink Venue in the Shakespeare Theater 812 E Rollins St, Orlando, FL. Close to 1 in 5 adults suffers from a diagnosable mental health issue,
yet the subject remains taboo. In effort to raise awareness and
encourage understanding, members of Red Right Return delve into their
personal experiences with mental illness. Through contemporary dance and
spoken word, “O.K.: physicality of mentality” offers audiences glimpses
into life with depression, anxiety, OCD and addiction.

10:30pm to 11:30pm $10. Douchbags. Yellow Venue in the Shakespeare Theater 812 E Rollins St, Orlando, FL. The show is a bold new powerhouse production with bravado to spare: Step inside the
cringe-worthy lives of three American males as we explore the
inner-workings of the 21st century douchebag in their native habitat. A
shocking commentary on modern relationships, “Douchebags” is sure to
raise eyebrows and bring the laughs.

A Long Time Ago: The Eighties Strike Back.

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It is time to Fringe! The 2015 24nd Annual Orlando Fringe Theatre Festival
takes place May 13th-25th in Orlando’s Loch Haven Park. Venue locations
are within Lowndes Shakespeare Center, Orlando Rep (corner of Princeton
and Mills)-812 East Rollins Street, The Venue (Virginia Dr.), and
several site-specific location in the area. Kid’s Fringe is located at
the Menello Museum (across Princeton from Loch Haven).

100% UNCENSORED

100% UNJURIED

100% ACCESSIBLE

100% of $ from ticket sales go directly to the ARTISTS

There are more productions than can be seen, so pick your poisons wisely. Of the productions I saw in the first few days, the Star Wars music at parody written and co directed by Simon MacDonald called A Long Time Ago: The Eighties Strike Back, was my laugh out loud favorite. The classic Star War characters are re-imagined as 1980’s pop stars, and movie stars. For instance Artoo (Melina Smart) is portrayed as Olivia Newton John in Xanadu and Threepio (Lauren Anne Anderson) is portrayed as Madonna with her golden ice cream cone bra.

Singing performances by Lauren Culver as princess Leia and Melinda Smart as Artoo were particularly outstanding. The Chewbacca themed song Was hilarious and Joseph Fabian did an amazing job replicating the throaty roar. If you are a fan of the original two Star Wars movies, and you old enough to have lived through the 1980’s you will love this show. I still have “Hoth is a Battle Field” running through m head, set to y music of “Love is a Battle Field” by Pat Benatar.

The plot and characters are deeply en-grained in our minds, but this musical parody is absolutely hilarious. Don’t miss it!

Orange Venue – Orlando Shakespeare Theater 812 E. Rollins Street, Orlando, FL 32803.Shows are on May 20, 22, 24, 26, 27, and 28. Tickets are $10.

  • No Button = No show entry (no exceptions). The button costs $10 and is a one-time purchase. Button proceeds go to support Orlando Fringe.
  • No Late Entry to shows (no exceptions).
  • No refunds given for any reason other than show cancellation (no exceptions).
  • No ticket exchanges made (no exceptions).
  • No outside food or beverage is allowed inside any venue.
  • Alcoholic beverage purchased in the Green Lawn may not leave the fenced lawn area.
  • No food or drink allowed inside the Orlando REP (GREEN, SILVER, and TEEN Venues).
  • Beverages are allowed in our Lowndes Shakespeare Center venues
    (PINK, BROWN, RED, PURPLE, YELLOW, ORANGE, and BLUE) and may be
    purchased in the Darden Courtyard. Beverages are sold and allowed at the
    Venue (BLACK) and many other BYOV locations.

Sugar Crash Kids and the Forgotten Island offers family friendly fun at Fringe.

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Based on the World and Characters of Sugar Crash Kids created by Jeremiah Dunlap and Joshua Pearson, this original family friendly musical will bring a spark of fun to the Orange Venue. Imagination,
discovery, and wonder take flight when a cynical young girl, Mai (Kennedy Mason) is suddenly
thrust into a fantastic, whimsical adventure in a world she never
thought was possible.

I went to the final rehearsal at City Beautiful Church on Alden Road in Ivanhoe Village. Blue illuminated orbs were placed on the stage. Director and choreographer Holly Harris explained that they represent hope, wonder, and imagination. Mai has reached an age where anything that isn’t tangible isn’t real. She discovers that the world of the imagination is very much real.

The ensemble picked up the orbs and danced and interacted with them with fluid graceful movements. The cast must have a blast at each performance. Much of the movement is pure joyful play. Actors did somersaults, rolled over, and bumped into each other and genially had plenty of immature fun.  Cole Nesmith sang an exuberant song titled, “You’re here!” “But where’s here?” Mai asked. “Why it’s here of course!”

The show features original music, lyrics, and characters, from The Cramazingly Incredifun Sugar Crash Kids Podcast which comes to life on stage for the first time ever. The musical brings to
life a fantastic, whimsical adventure through music, movement, and large
scale puppetry.

I didn’t see the full show, but the songs I heard were amazing, and the scenes were filled with playful  joy. I have no doubt that this is a must see Fringe show. Bring the whole family!!

Tickets are $10.

Location: ORANGE Venue – Lowndes Shakespeare Center – Margeson Theater 812 E Rollins St, Orlando, FL

Performances:

Thursday, May 19 – 6:15 PM

Saturday, May 21 – 3:45 PM

Sunday, May 22 – 2:30 PM

Tuesday, May 24 – 7:15 PM

Wednesday, May 25 – 5:30 PM

Saturday, May 28 – 1:30 PM

Sunday, May 29 – 11:45 AM

A Live Urban Sketch Class at DRIP.

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I offered a Live Urban Sketch Class at DRIP (8747 International Dr #102, Orlando, FL). You enter DRIP from a loading dock giving the venue a mysterious speakeasy vibe. My eyes had to adjust to the dark black light interior. I was running about 15 minutes late thanks to rush hour traffic. There were close to a dozen artists in the bar area.

A volunteer agreed to model. She was tall and chiseled with beautiful dreadlocks. We discussed basic human proportions which I break down into four units. Half way between the head and feet is the waist. Half way between the waist and the feet are the knees, and half way between the head and the waist is the heart. I discussed how your eye line should relate to the figure and I had everyone draw this line on the page.

We did five minute poses and each time I asked student to make each drawing smaller than the last, while keeping one aspect of the models body lined up with the eye line. The result was receding figures that looked like they could be standing on the same floor plane. We then moved to longer poses where the model sat on the couch and looked at her iPhone. I encouraged everyone to include background elements.

Our model had to leave, so Jessie Sander, a DRIP dancer, took over. She offered the class plenty of action lines and gestures to work with. I came up with a new exercise in which everyone broke up the page into four panels to create thumbnail or storyboard sized panels. I had everyone just draw the background, or staging elements. They were encouraged to find interesting new angles for each sketch. Then Jessie returned to the set, and students added her to the scenes. Some really fun work came out of the exercise. I  plan to recreate the exercise for my younger Urban Sketch students today.

Finally, we went on a field trip to the parking lot next door, to sketch The Boston Lobster Feast car. It is a tiny red beetle that has a huge mean looking lobster on top of it. Anytime people entered the restaurant, the sweet buttery smell wafted outside. Every tourist walking down International Drive has to stop to take a photo of the huge lobster. The artists scattered around the monster and began to sketch. Some tourists were curious about what we were up to, so it was a good initiation for beginning artists to realize that no one ever judges your work when sketching on location. I was pleased that one artist was asked, “Are you an artist?” I’m always tempted to come up with a snarky remark, but end up responding, “Yes.”

Overall, I had fun giving the workshop and it would be fun to repeat. Jessica Mariko, DRIP’s founder suggested having the model under a sand shower or paint can chandelier while artists sketch. The possibilities for fun, wet, spontaneous sketch opportunities is endless.

Punslingers livened up SAK after the Holidays.

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Punslinges is a game show for word nerds held at SAK Comedy Lab (29 S Orange Ave, Orlando, Florida). Diana Rodriguez Portillo the theater operations manager at SAK Comedy Lab arranged to get me in to do a sketch. The audience was full of poets who I recognized from other poetry readings around town. The two hosts were soon to be married, and the coup seated in front of m snuggled during the show. 

Character and personality see just as important as slinging just the right puns. On the back wall of the stage, was a plastic gun which was the prize for the best punslinger. A pun is defined as a joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word or the
fact that there are words that sound alike but have different meanings. After the first few bouts the audience quickly warmed up with groans and laughter.

The next rodeo of Punslingers will be on Memorial Day, Monday May 30th!  Punslingers is a comedy game show where contestants come up with puns
to win the favor of the audience through laughs (and groans)! The
winners walk away with the title of Champion Punslinger and a mystery
prize!

Lovers of poetry, wordplay, Shakespeare, and
good-old-fashion ‘dad jokes’ will love it! Strap on your best western
clothes, saddle up, and be part of history at Orlando Punslingers!

Questions / Comments?
shammers@gmail.com or call (317) 426-6372

TICKETS: can be purchased at the door, or reserved online: *TICKET LINK COMING SOON*
TIME: Sign-Ups start at 7:00, show is at 7:30 so get there early!
PLACE: SAK Comedy Lab 29 S. Orange Ave. Orlando
PARKING: Bring your ticket from the Plaza Parking Garage and have it validated to bring the cost down to $4!

A Rally for Heroes in Winter Park.

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Operation American Dream officially launched in Florida, Georgia, and
Alabama on December 11, 2015.  The “Rally for the Heroes” was a salute
to military, law enforcement, and fire rescue personnel who have
sacrificed their lives in the line of duty.  The program featured
patriotic music, a 21-gun salute, speeches by Orlando Chief of Police
John Mina, Winter Park Fire Chief James White, and OAD Founder Chuck
Nadd.  Displays from local law enforcement and fire departments provided
a backdrop for the event.

On February 11, 2014, Orange County Florida Sheriff’s Deputy
Jonathan Scott Pine sacrificed his life in the line of duty while
pursuing a burglary suspect. Deputy Pine is survived by his wife and
three young children. As a native of Orange County
himself, Operation American Dream Founder Chuck Nadd felt called to
support Deputy Pine’s young family and rallied the local community
together to raise over $6,000.  Since then, Chuck has watched other
American heroes fall in the line of duty and has felt called to build
similar campaigns across the United States. This is how Operation
American Dream began.

 Operation American Dream invests in children of America’s fallen heroes. Funds are used for scholarships for the children of U.S. military, law enforcement, and
fire rescue personnel who have sacrificed their lives in the line of
duty. The organization rallies local communities around the gold-star families, reminding them that the sacrifice they have made will never be forgotten.

Ethos offers amazing vegan food and live music.

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Between sketch opportunities, I decided to have dinner at Ethos Vegan Kitchen (601 S New York Ave, Winter Park, FL.) A three piece band was setting up, so I sat at the end of the bar so that I was close enough to sketch. The bass players wife was at the bar next to me with her daughter. They had just been to the Orlando Science Center to see the Mummies Exhibit. The young girl had purchased tiny dinosaur pills that would grow when placed in water. She unwrapped the package and desperate waited for the waitress to bring her z cup of water. I of course warned her that dinosaurs are unbelievably large and it might not fit in the restaurant. The spongy dinosaur only grew to about an inch or two.

I had sketched the bass player before. He had a sheet of cardboard on the floor, and it was puncture full of holes from the bass stand. The music was in full swing, when the food arrived. I had a Sheppard’s Pie which consisted of mashed potatoes filled with vegetables in a dark gravy. It was tasty, but a bit dry. It came with extra bread which I couldn’t imagine eating since the dish was so large.

With the sketch done, I lingered a bit to hear the end of the set. The musicians then came | the bar to eat and I share the sketch. After they ate, they were going to do another set. I packed up and headed out.

Weekend Top 6 Picks for May 14th and 15th.

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Saturday May 14, 2016. 

Noon to 10pm. FREE Admission. FREE Parking. End of Days Film Festival. Gods and Monsters 5250 International Dr, Ste E8, Orlando, Florida. Screening Action, Sci-fi, Horror, and Comedy short films from around the world. View the schedule of films online.

7pm to 9pm. Free. Brewery Tour. Orlando Brewing, 1301 Atlanta Ave, Orlando, FL.

8pm to 11pm. Free but order food and drink. Jazz Saturdays. Cork and Fork American Grill5180 S. Conway Road, Belle Isle, FL. Jazz Saturdays will feature live entertainment by Jazzanova musicians.

Sunday May 15, 2016. 

10am to 4pm. Free. Lake Eola Farmer’s Market. South East Corner of Lake Eola Park.

1pm to 6pm Free. Ten10 Art Market. Ten 10 Brewing Company 1010 Virginia Dr, Orlando, Florida. Art..music..food..beer …plus other interesting things…

Every 3rd Sunday.

10pm to Midnight. Free, but get a coffee. Comedy Open Mic. Austin’s Coffee, 929 W Fairbanks Ave, Winter Park, FL. Free comedy show! Come out and; laugh, or give it a try yourself.

The Last Speakeasy.

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July 25th was the last Speakeasy at Will’s Pub. Tod Caviness has hosted this monthly drunken literary event for years. At this final edition, someone had created cardboard cut out photos of Tod’s face on Popsicle sticks to be used as masks.

A documentary was made about the speakeasy when it went the way of the Dodo when Will’s Pub closed down years ago.The speakeasy rose from the ashes like a phoenix when Will’s re-opened in it’s present location (1042 N Mills Ave, Orlando, FL).  

The Speakeasy is usually about poetry and spoken word but Tod introduced Drew who has performed his original acoustic guitar songs on the Speakeasy stage throughout the years. A Tod mask was shoved into the speaker. 

Drinks flowed and the poetry got edgier. I’ve sketched at a number of these events and sometimes the line between art and anarchy has been crossed. Some history need no be repeated. 

The Speak ease was form when there was a dis time vacuum in the Orlando Literary scene. Over the years however, spoken word events have popped up like mushrooms all over town. If only the visual arts community had a similar event to get artists out to meet and share ideas. There is a monthly artist critique, and an Artist’s Social but p true longstanding event hasn’t yet taken form.