Play in a Day Tech

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After lunch the cast of The Dinner Conversation had a chance to walk through the production on stage for lighting and sound cues. Tracey Jane wrote a magnificently simple everyday family drama set in a Family Pizza Corral where you can build your own pizza. Because of this there were no complex lighting cues, making Blue Estrella‘s job fairly straight forward.

At the end of the show Jac (Jac LeDoux) and Ken (Ken Preuss) are working on a slice of pizza together. It was decided that a reference to the potter’s wheel scene in Ghost would be funny at that moment. In that scene in the movie Demi Moore it turning a pot and Patrick Swayze snuggles up  behind her and together they sensually finger the clay together. The same sensual moment was recreated only with pizza. I can’t imagine a more sensual moment. In my sketch I put Mel, (Melanie Leon) on house left. Her hilarious stage presence lit up every scene.

Tech was quick and efficient, leaving the rest of the afternoon for the actors memorize their lines before the curtain went up at 7pm.

Pineapple Pizza Deviant

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 At the Play in a Day rehearsal for The Dinner Conversation written by Tracey Jane, Jac (Jac LeDoux) and Ken (Ken Preuss) are on a date at Family Pizza Corral. Jac was opening herself to the possibility of a new relationship after being divorced for a year. The date was interrupted by the sudden unexpected arrival of Jac’s two children, Mel (Melanie Leon) and Ben (Ben Preuss).

At the Family Pizza Corral, you get to make your own custom pizza. In this sketch Ben is mashing his dough with far more brute force that is needed. He is angry to find his mom with another man. He went to college and while he was gone she got divorced. The restaurant used to be a place that the family went to, representing some of the happier memories with his father and mother together.

Mel was a bit more playful, choosing to tease her mom about her “needs.” Jac is between a rock and a hard place in hoping her children can accept Ken. Ken can’t win. When he offers Ben some sausage, Ben angrily shoots back that he is a vegetarian. When Jac defends him to her son, she explains that Ken is a good man and that they should give him a chance. Then Ken hold out a tray of Pineapple.

This is a bridge too far. Melanie shouts out PINEAPPLE does NOT belong on pizza! Jac has to agree this is one thing that everyone in the family can agree on. Jac tries to smooth over the situation by trying to get Ken to just pick another topping. She is sure that people are watching. This is a pure comic relief. All the pent up family drama dissipates as the family rallies behind this strange and unexpected pizza deviant. It was the contrast between sweet and savory. I’ve been known to want a burst of sweet even on a slice.

As Jac tries to explain that everyone has their own personal tastes, Ben suddenly shouts out that he is gay. After a pause to take in the information, Jac is caring and accepting. She then goes on to say she is proud of him because at that moment he was a man in her eyes.  It was a heart warming family moment which Ken missed as he obsessed over his very strange pie.  The warmth of the message was so powerful because is was proceeded by so many laughs. The pain of growing up was welcomed with open arms.

The Dinner Conversation

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At Play in a Day, I spend the entire day sketching the rehearsals for The Dinner Conversation by Tracey Jane. After the cold reading at the blue round table the cast moved to the main staging area, a long red table with a series of trays lined up. I loved that the long table and the round table visually created an exclamation point. Everyone still had the script in hand but director Kaitlyn Harrington stood on the opposite side of the table guiding the actors for the staging. The setting was a Family Pizza Corral. All-You-Care-to-Create Buffet. “You Make It. We Bake It!” Jac, (Jac LeDoux) was on a date with her “Special Someone” Ken (Ken Preuss). She was a recently divorced mom of two college kids who were returning home, on the brink of consummating her first new relationship after

the end of a long marriage.

Every line of their playful exchange hinted at sexual innuendo. Ken was a food critic but had never been in the Pizza Corral. He and Jac had spent time getting to know each other but this was the first night out with the possibility of desert. However Jac wanted her kids to meet Ken before “going there.” She wanted her kids to meet Ken the following night. Being a gentleman, he was fine with waiting. As they snuggle close, pressing their fingers in the dough, Jac’s kids, Ben (Bennet Preuss) and Melanie (Melanie Leon) entered the restaurant.

Melanie brought a delightful level of comedy to the awkward exchange. Woman to woman, she spoke of enjoying toppings and of courser some sausage. Melanie had learned all about men with some healthy experimentation in college. While Melanie was playful and teasing her mom, Ben was sullen and angry that his mom was out with another man a year after the divorce. At one point he shouted, “That man is definitely NOT my dad.” The irony in that statement is that Ken, in real life, off the stage, IS Ben’s father. There were so many multi layered meanings and insider jokes in this 10 minute production that made it such a delight to discover. I watched the play performed over and over all day long as they rehearsed and it never grew old. I just loved the characters more as they were fleshed out. I was lucky to have encamped myself with this clever and fun script and cast.

Play in a Day

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Play in a Day is as its name implies a fast paced day where the the plays are written and produced in just one day. The nine writers were given the theme and their individual ‘twist’ at
the beginning of a 12-hour period of their own choosing and that was their
window for creating the script for their original 10 minute play. The directors and performers knew nothing of their script until it was unveiled to them bright-and-early Saturday morning, they then had one day to produce the work by that evening’s opening curtain at 7pm.

Play in a Day 2019 had 107 participating artists, 82 of them, including every playwright, director and stage manager, were women. In addition, each production team was assigned a title under the umbrella theme “Men”. The #MeToo movement inspired a female empowered cast and crew since women are a powerful force in the Orlando theater community.

When I arrived all the actors and crew were gathered in the Lake Howell High School (4200 Dike Rd, Winter Park, FL 3279) cafeteria. There were donuts, beagles and other breakfast items. I sipped some caffeine to get my drawing hand twitching. Each production crew already seemed to be grouped together and I wondered which production team I should sketch. Since I had sketched actress Melanie Leon before in various shows around town, I asked if she could talk to her director about having an artist shadow their rehearsals for the day. The director agreed and soon I was sketching them as they performed the first reading of the play at a small round table.

The table was already a perfect setting since the play written by Tracey Jane was titled “The Dinner Conversation.” Tracy had worked remotely and couldn’t be at the rehearsals but her humor and heart felt writing, affected every scene and interaction between the characters. Around the table sat director Kaitlyn Harrington, who was open to suggestions as the actors became familiar with their parts, yet she guided them deftly. The stage manager was Destiny Sam. The actors were Ken Preuss, his son, Bennet Preuss, Melanie Leon, and Jac LeDoux. Over the course of the day I got to see the challenges overcome as the cast committed lines to memory and transformed into their characters. The tight deadline created a level of team work and support among artists that was absolutely inspiring.

100% of the proceeds from Play in a Day went
directly to the BMP Theatre Scholarship Fund and TOP TEENS. This money
allows teens to attend master class intensives on all areas of theatre,
film/TV, arts administration, activism, acting, directing, play writing,
tech, education and leadership. The artists get to study for the month
of June and then present a showcase. Scholarships are given to the
artists to use to pursue their respective areas in the arts as they
wish.

Frankie’s Birthday Dance Party

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Frankie Messina held his Birthday Dance Party at The Imperial Wine Bar and Beer Garden at Washburn Imports (1800 N Orange Ave, Orlando, Florida 32804). Each year Frankie has a sock drive where he collects new socks for the homeless. A $$$ donation of any amount at the DJ booth, would be
used to buy brand new pairs of socks for homeless citizens on our local
streets. No middle man. The new socks would be handed directly to those in need of fresh warm
clean socks. People could also donate a pack of men’s women’s or
children’s socks. This is the least
donated item to homeless shelters. At the base of his DJ mixing station a small mountain of new socks began to gather.

Friends gathered around Frankie talking to him as he mixed the tunes. Another goal for the nights was to bring everyone
together for a  good cause and help keep our individual DREAMS alive. Which is why we get up every morning. Frankie was grateful for another
year of good health, and he felt blessed to have such love around him from some
beautiful friends. 

The music flowed non-stop from 6pm till Midnight! Giving is easy to do, and it is our duty as
humans to help each other along the way when we can. No presents for no presents for Frankie, yet socks for them! The sign on the front of Frankie’s mixing station said it all, “All that is not given is lost.”

Frankie has started sharing tunes locally on 91.5FM WPRK. Stream it live wprk.org,
or load up the free TUNEIN app on your phone and smart devises. Search
for Rollins Radio WPRK 91.5. Live fun. Drive Time Wednesdays 5-7 pm!

Weekend Top 6 Picks for March 7 and 8, 2020

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Saturday March 7, 2020

8am to 1pm Free. Parramore Farmers Market. John H Jackson Community Center, 3107, 1002 W Carter St, Orlando, FL 32805. Purchase
quality, fresh and healthy food grown in your own neighborhood by local
farmers, including Fleet Farming, Growing Orlando, and other community
growers.

10am to 1pm Free. Mayor’s Jazz in the Park. 

Cypress Grove Park


290 Holden Ave., Orlando FL.

Orange County Mayor Jerry L. Demings invites you, your family and friends to attend a free evening of jazz. 

6pm to 8pm Free. Yoga Glow Festival. 

Novel Lucerne


733 Main Lane, Orlando FL. A high energy YogaFlow for all ages and levels. Glow paint and glow sticks provided.

Sunday March 8, 2020

9am to Noon Free. Fleet Farming Swarm Ride. 

East End Market


3201 Corrine Drive, Orlando FL. Visit farmlettes and learn about urban agriculture on a 1 to 2-mile farming bike ride.

2pm to 3:30pm Free. Florida’s Female Pioneers with Peggy MacDonald. 

Orange County Regional History Center


65 E. Central Blvd., Orlando FL. Historian Peggy Macdonald examines some of the notable women who have
shaped the Sunshine State, from Dr. Esther Hill Hawks, a female
physician who ran the first racially integrated free school in Florida,
to Betty Mae Tiger Jumper, the first female tribal chair of any American
Indian tribe in the nation.

 

1pm to 5pm Free. Love Fest. 

Quantum Leap Winery


1312 Wilfred Drive, Orlando FL. Block party with artists, vendors, food and more.

Elite Animation Academy Watercolor Class

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At Elite Animation Academy (8933 Conroy Windermere Rd, Orlando, FL 32835) I am instructing a watercolor class for the first time. These two sketches of City Arts Orlando (39 S Magnolia Ave, Orlando, FL 32801) were done as a lesson in capturing values. My student was instructed to paint the scene using just one or two colors. We only did a few light pencil strokes to fit the building on the page. I used a dis-guarded pallet and painted on sheets of xerox copier paper. The pallet had multiple colors but I just chose based on what value I wanted on the page. My student had quality watercolor paper to  work on. The basic premise is that any object can be painted with just three values, Dark, medium and then pure white of the page for the light value. Rather than paint the sky, the street or the sunny face of the building, they were left pure white.Towards the end of the session we added a few dark strokes that could be considered line work in the shadows of windows or the shadows of the roof overhangs.

With the first watercolor sketch complete, we then recreated the scene using a full choice of colors. We didn’t spend as much time on this painting but it went faster since we had made so man of the creative value choices in the first painting. One thing that often happens with a beginning watercolor painter is that they will start by painting the lighter areas like the sky first. Once blue paint is applied to the sky however it becomes a dark value. The building is green and again the temptation is to paint the light side of the building green first which negates the sunlight since that face then becomes dark. The goal was to repeat what was done with the one color value study by only painting the shadows and darks. On the first painting I repainted the shadow side of the building multiple times. On the color painting the shadow face of the building only has the first wash over it. Details and successive washed would be added if I had time to keep working on the painting. Another thing that happens with watercolor is that once a wash dries, it lightens up a bit. That is another reason I might hit an area of the sketch with a wash again and again.

A major lesson as well is that the watercolor sketches are not precious. There are things to like and dislike about each. The important thing is to keep dashing of studies like this. Each in turn will be better than the last although it might not feel like it at the time. It is good to be critical of your own work, as ling as it doesn’t keep you from creating more work.

Orlando Hot Air Balloon Rides

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We got up at 5:30 AM on a Sunday morning and drove down to Davenport Florida to experience an Orlando Hot Air Balloon Ride. This was a birthday present for Pam Schwartz. We often prefer experiences rather than things. We pulled up to what must have once been a Waffle House next to the highway. Inside we had to fill out releases and other paperwork. We were told that we must arrive on time, but people arrived late anyway.

Everyone then piled into the Orlando Balloon Rides van and we drove out to a a tiny dirt road that cut through a field. We got out of the truck and I immediately started to sketch a balloon being inflated next to us. We were herded like cats so I could not stray far. The balloon next to us was inflated rather quickly and efficiently. It was up in the air before our balloon was half inflated. Since the subject of that sketch had floated away, I turned my attention to our crew struggling to inflate our balloon. The flame in that sketch is actually a ripped piece of paper that came  up off the back of the opposite sketch because I closed my sketchbook before the paint was dry. I lived with the mistake and painted it yellow.

One person pulled a chord attached to the top of the balloon to keep it elongated at it was blown up. Since the balloon took so long to inflate, I had time to sketch the action. Our pilot sat in the basket keeping it weighted down and two assistants kept the mouth of the balloon open as the flame heated the air being blown in with a fan.

There were three separate compartments in the basket and each couple was assigned a quadrant to stand in. The center compartment was reserved for the pilot. Once we were all in place there was a final blast of flame which I think singed what little hair I have left. We floated towards the trees at the edge of the field and I thought for a moment that we might not clear the tree top. We slipped quietly over the highest branch clearing it by inches.

Dozens of balloons dotted the sky as the sun rose. We passed over a circus elephant refuge but non of the elephants were out and about. News footage showed the elephants are still handled with bull hooks. Fields created a crisp checkered pattern. The serine experience was interrupted periodically by loud and hot bursts of flame. We floated towards Wallaby Ranch where hang gliders were starting their morning flights. A motorized pilot plane pulled a hang glider behind it and they both lifted off into the sky. They circled together gaining height, and then the attachment wire was released leaving the hang glider to soar silently.

We were told we would land at Wallaby. The pilot specifically didn’t want to land near the air strip but that ended up being precisely where we landed. We had to de inflate the balloon as quickly as possible since gliders were waiting to take off and the morning breezes can die down as the day drags on. A tourist woman kept taking selfies and primping her hair the whole time as everyone else helped break down the balloon and load it in the van. Pam gladly pulled the weight of two men. Overall, a fun experience for locals or folks visiting Orlando.

Orlando Balloon Rides

$199 for adults and $125 for kids.

Duration:   Allow 3.5 hours from the time we meet until we return to the meeting location.

Flight Time:   You will be in the air 45-60 minutes or longer depending on weather.

Occupancy:   16 passengers max. each.

Last Train to Nibroc

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Last Train to Nibroc by Arlene Hutton and directed by Mark Edward Smith is at the Mad Cow Theater (54 W Church St, Orlando, FL 32801) through March 8, 2020. The play begins with May  (Alexandra Rose Horton) reading a book on a train on December 28, 1940 somewhere west of Chicago. A soldier named Raleigh (Dalton Hedrick) asked if he can be seated next to her. The set was spartan and simple, the train seat to house right from where I was seated, a curved bench center stage and then May’s front porch on house right.

May was a petite and powerful woman. She and Raleigh both spoke with thick and round Kentucky accents. Raleigh considered himself an author. He asked May about the book she was reading. She said it was religious, but he seemed convinced it was a romance. She had traveled across the country to visit a boyfriend who had entered the service. That trip had gone horribly, he wasn’t who she thought he was. There was a playful banter between the two who were from the same part of Kentucky. Raleigh wanted to go to the big city to start his writing career but after meeting May he decided to return to their home town. On that fated train trip he asked May if she would go with him to the Nibroc festival if he decided to stay in Kentucky.

The middle staging area had the couple meeting at a state fair. Raleigh was dressed in farmers overalls and his prospects for the future seemed dim in the back woods rural town. The friendship sparked on the train had also soured but the two though throwing jabs at each other clearly seemed to care about where life might take them. Each of them was flawed but proud. They grew on me because of their frankness and hopes for a better life. It made me wonder at the myriad of ways that my ancestors might have met and fallen in love through the centuries. This was the first of three plays in a trilogy by the Florida native author.

 Last Train to Nibroc by Arlene Hutton

Mad Cow Theater 54 W Church St, Orlando, FL 32801

Tickets: $30 – $42

Key Themes: Romance, choices, consequences

Age Recommendation: 13+

Run-time: Approx. 90 minutes with no intermission

Remaining Show Dates:

03/01/2020 03:00 PM (Sunday)

03/04/2020 08:00 PM (Wednesday)

03/05/2020 08:00 PM (Thursday)

03/06/2020 08:00 PM (Friday)

03/07/2020 08:00 PM (Saturday)

03/08/2020 03:00 PM (Sunday)

Henry IV

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Henry IV Part 1 by William Shakespeare is at the Orlando Shakes through March 21, 2020. Some back story is needed to set the stage. Henry IV (Jim Ireland) took the throne from his corrupt and indecisive eldest brother Richard II. King Henry IV’s eldest son was Prince Hal (Benjamin Bonefant). Though he should be destined to one day take his father’s throne, he instead spent his time hanging out with very fat and disorderly Falstaff (Philip Nolan). Hal spends his time drinking and womanizing and the occasional highway theft, much to his fathers annoyance.

Meanwhile Edmund Mortimer (Cameron Grey) the leader of Henry IV’s army is captured in Wales by the Welsh rebel fighter Glendower (Brandon Roberts). Hotspur (Walter Kmiec) of the Percy family helped King Henry IV overthrow Richard II. But the new king never paid his debt and for this reason, Edmund was held ransom. The king refused since he found out Edmund had turned traitor and married the rebel’s daughter. Edmund’s daughter was married to Hotspur who was a hot blooded and very angry cousin to King Henry IV.  He formed an alliance with is uncle and the rebels to overthrow king Henry IV.

On the battlefield the alliance fell apart in that the rebels and Hotspur’s own father (Rodney Lizcano) never showed up for battle, leaving them hopelessly outnumbered by King Henry IV’s forces. Hotspur’s uncle went to the king for a parley and the king offers a pardon to Hotspur. This messages was never relayed and so battle ensues. It seems like dozens of sword fight broke out on stage all at once.

The wayward son Hal joined his father and in the end saved the day. Falstaff on the other hand stayed true to his debauchery ways, hiding to avoid fighting and then taking credit for Hals handiwork. His monologues about how useless Honor is on the battlefield are for me some of the most memorable and moving accounts of what it means to be human and alive. Just keeping track of the family tree is a feat unto itself but the action and drama are universal.

The bottom line is that this was a fun evening of theater.

Tickets are $32 to 57

The remaining show times…

Wednesday, March 4, 2020 – 2:00 PM – Senior Matinee

Wednesday, March 4, 2020 – 7:30 PM

Saturday, March 7, 2020 – 7:30 PM

Sunday, March 8, 2020 – 2:00 PM – Talk back Performance

Wednesday, March 11, 2020 – 2:00 PM – Senior Matinee

Sunday, March 15, 2020 – 2:00 PM

Friday, March 20, 2020 – 7:30 PM

Saturday, March 21, 2020 – 2:00 PM

Saturday, March 21, 2020 – 7:30 PM