Winter Park has installed an outdoor ice skating rink right near Central Park. I went to the opening ceremonies on Saturday. The rink is perhaps 20 yards long and 10 yards wide. It is enclosed in a party tent which protects the ice from the direct sunlight. Even so the temperature was in the 80’s so it must be quite an effort to keep the rink open in the heat. Teenagers in blue vests were always on the rink to help anyone who fell down. It was fun to watch because lets face it not many native Floridians are talented skaters. People were falling down left and right. I sat at the top of some metal bleachers that were set up on the side lines. I should note that I had no desire to skate myself. I have week ankles and that ice is slippery! Skate rentals were $10 for all day. The rink was installed as part of “Winter in the Park Holiday Festivities“.
Besides the rink itself there was an old fashioned sleigh set up with a photographer to take family pictures. In the background of my sketch you can see a group of skaters leaning against the rail who have gathered to watch an abridged performance by the Orlando Ballet School of “The Nutcracker”. A makeshift stage was erected directly behind the skating rink where sugar plume fairies and a troupe of dancers dressed like flamenco dancers performed. Everyone looks beautiful at the Ballet. I am sure the graceful dancing must have inspired the ice skaters. Most skaters however struggled just to stay upright, forget about pirouetting or standing on point.
The rink will be open Monday to Thursday 3 PM to 9 PM. Friday and Saturday, 10 AM to 10PM and Sunday Noon to 6 PM. Don’t ask me when the ice might melt.
Artist & Writers Crawl Revised
“The itch to make dark marks on white paper is shared by writers and artists.” -John Updike.
Escape the Holiday rat race by attending this FREE event hosted by Mary Ann de Stefano of MAD about Words and Thomas Thorspecken of Analog Artist Digital World. We’ve joined forces to create time and space where your poems, stories, and art can happen, where you can push yourself past your usual limits, where you can connect with other creative people.
Thanks to Tod Caviness for his help with planning our Mills 50 Neighborhood itinerary. The route is detailed in the graphic above. Join us for the whole night or any part of it. We reversed the order of the locations where we will meet. Be sure to check this post for the correct information.
Everyone is welcome! Don’t be shy! This will be a friendly, fun event!
There is no fee or registration required, but if you’re planning to come, it would be fun if you’d let us know.
Seven Deadly Sins – Sloth
The Cameo Theater on Colonial near Mills was the venue for an Emotions Dance Company event called Seven Deadly Sins. When I arrived, the first thing I saw in the theater’s plate glass windows was Brian Feldman who sat on a worn and tattered recliner staring at a TV which was showing nothing but static. Brian had a remote control, but for this 30 hour performance he was personifying Sloth so he never had the ambition to change the channel. There was also a fake aquarium with animated fish swimming about. I immediately sat on my portable stool and started to sketch. Several times people passed by that I knew so I paused for a moment to say hello. A drummer set up camp right next to me, leaned over and asked “Hey, I love your stool. Any chance I could borrow it?” I was working so I had to say “No”. He began putting out plastic buckets of varying sizes and before I knew it he was banging out a very loud beat. He must have banged on those cans for close to an hour and I found it hard to concentrate. I probably rushed this sketch a bit since I wanted to get inside away from the noise. If Brian noticed the drumming, he never showed any interest, he just stared listlessly at the static screen and ate Cheerios.
Tisse Mallon, who organized the event, came outside and said to me, “Brian is very proud of the Game of Life that is in the foreground. He replaced LIFE with SLOTH“. Feeling a bit slothful myself, I hadn’t even noticed, so I went back and added that detail to the sketch. Inside the theater, there were semi-nude dancers painted to represent the 7 deadly sins. I spent some time trying to figure out which sin each represented. They moved in slow motion constantly gesturing in an abstract sinuous ongoing performance. There were also staged acts throughout the night. This was a fun event and sketch outing.
The Trees – The Chorus Loads In
I sat back stage to watch the Chorus load into the trees. The Chorus enters the trees by 2 ramps on either side of each of the 45 foot high structures. Below this level is another staging area where the chorus enters the lowest levels of the tree structures. It sort of reminds me of the opening scenes of “Titanic” with huge crowds going up the gang planks to board the unsinkable ship.
The tree rats enter the structure via two ramps in the center. The rats are on hand to massage legs and place all the wooden boxes that make everyone look 6 feet high. The tree rats entered the tree structure first and they are not in costume. Air conditioning ducts were piped in to supply cool air inside the trees.
In order to capture this sketch I worked diligently on the perspective of the huge space when no one was around. Then when the chorus lined up I had only minutes to capture where they were in that space. I found it interesting that the chorus doesn’t wear long flowing robes but rather only the part of the robe that will be seen by the audience when they are standing in the tree. This must because of the immense heat generated by all the lights on the trees. I was surprised more people didn’t wear shorts. The woman seated on the right was the first chorus member to come out. She had two pillows that she also stood on. She is seated beside a baptism pool which is full of water.
All this backstage activity is hidden from the audience by huge white curtains that are draped behind the trees. I was glad that the fabric is rather sheer which meant that I had plenty of light to work with when the show was going on. The show itself was inspiring, uplifting and fun. I know all the tunes by heart now and I can’t help but sing them as I am working.
Show times are
December 6, 5:00 PM
December 11, 7:30 PM
December 12, 3:00 PM
December 13, 5:00 PM
Tickets range from $8 to a $42 Dinner package.
Trees – Opening Night
Opening night I arrived a little early, walked into the First Baptist Church and made a bee line for the lighting booth to see how Jeff Atkisson was doing. He seemed to feel everything was ready and in place. He had some concern about the Kabuki Drop which reveals the trees. It seems that the air conditioning was causing there to be less pressure on the inside of the drop and so the curtain was billowing inward toward the trees. He feared it might fall into the trees becoming tangled. I said hello to Aradhana Tiwari, the director, and then she had to go back stage to rally the troops. Later when she stopped back she looked a bit nervous. She offered me a better seat but I rather liked sitting behind the camera woman. I had started this sketch and needed to finish. A small family knelled down behind the pew in front of me and ushers later bought them some folding chairs. The director graciously offered her seat to a woman and child and then she turned to walk to the back of the theater. I offered my chair to the the director but I think she needed to keep moving to calm her nerves. I returned to the sketch.
I recognized the camera woman as being the same one who had taped the Caylee Marie Anthony Memorial Service earlier this year. When the Kabuki curtain dropped and the two huge trees were lit up for the first time with the music building, the little 8 year old girl sitting next to me was watching, saucer eyed, chin up, sitting on the edge of her seat rapt and unable to move. Her mother glanced at me and we both smiled. I worked quickly and often in the dark. During one of the jazzy dance numbers I suddenly realized that the young girl was paying no attention at all to the stage but was instead watching my every move as I sketched. She was again mesmerized, and later I apologized to her mom fearing I had been a distraction. The mom wasn’t upset at all but was happy that her daughter had taken such an interest. Maybe another artist was born.
Bottom line though, the show was fabulous. The pace quickened and became more up lifting with each number. By the end I wanted to dance in the isles and finally a singer came out who encouraged the audience to clap. I couldn’t help myself and I stated singing the songs out loud. I felt a warm glow for the whole cast as they danced, especially the ones I had come to know over the course of many rehearsals. I knew of many personal hardships which had been faced and overcome. Health troubles, drug side effects, caring for an aging parent, relationships eclipsed by time, all while devoting many hours to rehearsals every week since September. So much sacrifice and yet so much all out joy! Getting to this point took grit, patience and heart. Now they were giving their all and it was glorious!
The Trees – Lighting Booth
On the final day of rehearsal Jeff Atkisson worked late in the lighting booth. He looks to me like a concert pianist with the way he taps away at the lighting buttons. Just look at the reach he has on that pinky finger. He pointed out to Aradhana, the director, that they needed to get a few last minute cues locked down just before show time. Aradhana walked back and playfully acted jealous like I was paying to much attention to her lighting designer and not enough attention to the hard work being done on stage. As the rehearsal progressed she released groups of actors as they finished with the scenes they were in. Many of the tech people had to stay late for the rehearsal and she offered them Christmas cookies as an added incentive to stay.
The carousel movement in one of the dance numbers was running slow so she was encouraging the actors to pick up the pace. Trusses that represent attic roofing beans were in place and the set was now complete with some decorative woodwork paneling. For this sketch I experimented with using a small book light for the first time. It worked great and I wish I had been using it throughout the process. Jeff had to leave before I finished the sketch. He glanced at the sketch and pointed out that I had gotten the colors wrong on a couple of the console lights. I made corrections but it still isn’t totally accurate. He left the trees lit for the sake of my sketch and he showed me which leaver to pull down in order to turn the lights off when I left. I felt so powerful when I pulled the leaver and the huge 45 foot high trees went dark. After Jeff got home he decorated a small tree with his girl friend and posted a picture on facebook.
The remaining show times are:
December 4th 7:30 PM
December 5th 3:00 PM
December 6th 7:30 PM
December 11th 7:30 PM
December 12th 3:00 PM
December 13th 5:00 PM
Tickets range from $8 to a $42 Dinner package.
Trees – Full Dress Rehearsal
Back from the Florida Keys I immediately went to see how the Singing Christmas Trees had progressed. This was the first full dress rehearsal and all the elements were in place. For the first time I saw the tress with a full chorus and all the performers had vibrant costumes. The Orchestra was also on hand for the first time instead of the usual recorded click track. A TV cameraman recorded some close ups of isolated lines from the show which slowed things down a bit but overall the show flowed uninterrupted.
There was one major technical glitch when an actor walked off stage and his mic wasn’t turned off. You could hear his heavy breathing and his off stage conversation while the poor actress on stage had no mic and thus couldn’t be heard. The scene fell apart. Thank God it happened in rehearsal so corrections could be made.
This was the first time I got to see the trees light up and let me tell you it is breathtaking. Jeff Atkisson did an amazing job setting up this light show. The huge curtains behind the trees also offer an area for some interesting projections.
After the rehearsal was over I sought out Aradhana Tiwari, the director, to say good by. She was talking to the actor who had been talking off stage. This is of course a major mistake. There were other staging issues that she was quickly working out with him. She grabbed one of the costuming ladies and showed him how he should open up his staging to offer more interaction in the scene. She decided that the whole scene would have to be rehearsed again that night till it became second nature. She said to him they had to get it right or she would have to cut the scene in its entirety from the show. I didn’t stay for this added rehearsal but I am sure that with such high stakes and with show time looming things would get done, and done right. Everything depended on it. The show must go on!
Show times are:
December 3rd 7:30 PM Opening Night tonight!
December 4th 7:30 PM
December 5th 3:00 PM
December 6th 7:30 PM
December 11th 7:30 PM
December 12th 3:00 PM
December 13th 5:00 PM
Tickets range from $8 to a $42 Dinner package.
Mallory Square
We only went as far as Key West one evening to watch the sunset. Well actually I had my back to the sunset to watch the tourists. I was leaning against a chain link fence and as the sunset a crowd of tourists pressed up against me to get a better view. Many resorted to thrusting their cameras in the air trying to get a perfect shot. Two bag pipers were wailing the whole time. A mystic sat at a table offering tarot card readings. There were performers in every corner of the square. Some juggled fire while others acted like statues. This stands in stark contrast to Orlando where street performers are banned.
Dolphin Encounter Duck Key
Terry and I took a week off and went to the Keys. It was about a five hour drive from Orlando. We stayed at a place called Hawks Cay Resort on Duck Key. The room rates were surprisingly low. On the second day we went over to see the dolphin encounter which happens on property every morning. It costs $60 for the encounter on the docks but the porch overlooks the lagoon and seating is free. The dolphins did the usual tricks like wave hello, splash and jump. A hotel worker who was walking by trying to sell convention space to several prospects said “The owner considers the dolphins his best employees. They start nice and early and don’t complain.”
After the show,Terry and I went snorkeling in a small man made lagoon I like to call the Mud Puddle. There were jellyfish on the bottom and a few fish. The day before I had been stung in the face by a jelly, so I was cautious about swimming in saltwater again. Here the jellyfish stayed on the bottom belly up. Jellyfish are evil!
Black Friday – Miami
I did not head to the malls at 6AM like everyone else in the house. I was only convinced that I was missing a sketch opportunity late in the day by Margaret Nolan via facebook. I had already drawn The Miami Herald presses so I should have been satisfied. But when Terry and Elaine said they were going back for a second round of shopping, I decided to go. I thought I would be battling huge crowds but the mall was relatively quiet. The sound system piped in constant Christmas music like,”It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year”. I swear that song is haunting me.
When I started to sketch the sun had already started to set. Christmas lights started to light up on palm trees and on topiaries. Some shoppers looked exhausted while teens patrolled chatting on iPhones. Santa had set up shop in an outdoor booth behind me, but I wasn’t in a mood to face him just yet. Besides he looked nothing like the Macy’s Parade Santa so he must have been an impostor. A mall security guard came over and looked over my shoulder. My stomach muscles tensed. He said “Wow did you do that just now?” Part of me wanted to be a smart-ass, but I just replied “Yes, thanks.”