Juice Box Heroes at Fringe

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Kevin Burke presented Juice Box Heroes at Orlando Fringe. This straight forward show was about stay at home dads. He shared photos of his daughter and then baby photos of his son. He shared a photo of his son on a trip to the Grand Canyon and it was a shot of his son set against the grandeur of the view yet with his eyes averted to look at his cell phone. This photo sparked an Internet meme sensation and people photo shopped his son and various outlandish situations all the while lost in the digital haze of his phone.

When Kevin took his children to the playground the mothers on the sidelines wondered why this stay at home dad was spending time with his kids instead of mom. Kevin had a long history of working as a comedian and this show proved that he has the chops to keep an audience engaged and laughing while he laces his stories with sincere parenting stories.

His story of teaching his baby girl to ride a bike was heart wrenching when he was then years later teaching her to drive a car. He was basically teaching her to have independence and a life of her own. Kevin knows how to read a room and his interactions with audience members felt like the jovial exchanges one might have with relatives. This was a solid show with plenty of heart.

The Great and Powerful Tim: Who Dunnit? at Fringe

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The Great and Powerful Tim from Los Angeles presented Who Dunnit, a hilarious magic show gone wrong. I sketched a press preview and Tim Hoffman made it seem that there had been no rehearsals for this 1926 magic show in any form. At every turn the magic tricks went wrong. Tim had just flown in to Orlando and unloaded his bag of tricks moments before his press preview. On trick involved a locked box shown in the foreground of my sketch. The problem was that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) at the airport decided they had to cut the lock on his lock box for security reasons. This was just one funny mistake among the many that followed. It was the random mistakes that caused the greatest laughs.

One lucky audience member was called on to the stage to act as a world famous magician who rivaled Tim’s scatter shot attempts at magic. The volunteer was coached to die on stage and Tim as a bumbling butler was tasked with saving the show. All the technical mishaps could not have been  rehearsed. I laughed out loud the entire show because Tim and the audience knew that if anything could go wrong it would. It was an absolutely side splitting hysterical performance. It had to be the funniest show I saw this year.

Emotions Dance Auditions

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I went to an Emotions Dance audition. I have been sketching this dance company founded my Larissa Humiston for years and I am always curious to see the new talent that might joint its ranks. The Emotions Dance Studio is in a new location since the last time I had sketched there. The parking lot  in front of the large building was full so I circled around the block to search for paring. Right behind the building was a parking lot for the Sun Rail which was quite convenient. Next to the building was a sink hole filled with cat tails and many loud croaking frogs.

The dance studios were upstairs. Many pictures lines the walls of the stairwell highlighting many moments in the dance companies history. On the door Emotions was broken down into words signifying each letter. Excellence, Motivation, Opportunities, Teamwork, Individuality, Open Communication, Nurturing,and Self love. I arrived a bit early along with some dancers who were planning to audition.

The dance studio was spacious. The front wall was covered with mirrors along with black curtains which could be drawn to stop dancers from watching themselves. Larissa lead everyone in some rigorous warm ups and dance moves. She liked to joke that she is getting creaky with age, but she was demonstrating every difficult move for the new comers. Each dance move had an  exotic French name for it. I kind of wish there were French terms for sweeping fluid lines of crisp sharp and angular lines. I might make teaching art so much more exotic.

The professional dancers were also in the room so if someone needed to watch how a move was done they could watch a pro for answers. There was just one male dancer auditioning among the 20 of so dancers. I would think that raised his chances of being cast.

Everyone did very structured routines which looked exhausting. The dancers then broke up into groups to do a series of moves across the floor set to music. Mixed in to these moves were moments of improvisation. As the name of the dance company suggests the key was to express emotions through movement.

If you want to see Emotions Dance in person check out The Shift: Choreographer’s Showcase happening at Central Florida Community Arts Black box Theatre (250 SW Ivanhoe Blvd, Orlando, FL 32804) on June 18, 2019 at 6 PM.The Shift in partnership with Emotions Dance Inc, occurs three times per year throughout Central Florida and provides a “preview” of professional contemporary, modern, jazz, and ballet companies season of works. Audience members will have a chance to meet the directors and choreographers after the showcase and find out more about the abundant and diverse professional companies in the area. Audience members will also have a chance to purchase tickets to upcoming performances and events with discounts and special VIP experiences.

Featuring works from:
Emotions Dance
Crawford Jazz Project
Thomas Wilkins
Florida Dance Theatre
Coco Loupe
Ariel Clarke
Tori Sarau
CG and Dancers

Tickets are $20for adults and $15 for students and seniors.
If the 6pm show sells out, they will be adding an 8pm show. One night only!

Weekend Top 6 Picks for June 15 and 16, 2019

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Saturday June 15, 2019

9am to 2pm Free. Solar Panel Installation and Training (Energy Eco-Action). The Lamp and Shade Fair 1336 N Mills Avenue, Orlando, Florida 32803. IDEAS
will be partnering with the City of Orlando’s Commissioner Patty
Sheehan and a sustainability focused social innovation enterprise called
L.E. Rigby Innovations to pilot a solar training experience.
Together,
we plan to provide a unique, one-day opportunity for young
professionals to gain hands-on training in the solar energy industry by
physically supporting the installation of solar photovoltaic panels on
the side of this amazing local business to light up the most beautiful
Pulse mural here in Orlando.
In
addition to the installation, participants will benefit from a
one-on-one educational experience around how energy plays a critical
role in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and
the Green Works Orlando Community Action Plan.10am to 4pm Free. Commander’s Call. Museum of Military History 5210 West Irlo Bronson Hwy Kissimmee FL 34746. This
ongoing program is held on the 3rd Sat of each month is designed to
appeal to families, military memorabilia collectors, history buffs,
re-enactors & others interested in military history. In addition,
persons interested in displaying, trading or selling their military
items such as honor coins, swords, photographs, military buttons, scale
model boats & planes, military art, uniforms or other equipment
register in advance by calling the museum to reserve a spot. Re-enactors
& veterans are welcome to come in uniform to add to the history
& authenticity of the military experience. Non-military booths such
as healthcare providers, home improvement, local attractions or other
businesses are invited to be vendors for minimal donation.
INFO & Register: 407-507-3894 or to register your table space.
www.museumofmilitaryhistory.com

8:30pm to 10:30pm Free. Body//Talk x Acp Pro x Crux at Synthwave Arcade.  The Geek Easy 114 S Semoran Blvd, Ste 6, Winter Park, Florida 32792. Stranger
things are going down again this summer, with new vibes from beyond
from the upside down provided by Crux, Midnight Inspector of Body Talk,
and ACP PRO…go beyond synthwave to the retrofuture. 

Sunday June 16, 2019

10am to noon. Free. Heartfulness Relaxation and Meditation Class. University, 5200 Vineland Rd, Orlando, FL 32811. The Method of Heartfulness A simple and practical way to experience the heart’s unlimited resources. http://heartfulness.org

Noon to 1pm Free. Yoga. Lake Eola Park near Red Gazebo. Bring your own mat. 

Noon to 3pm Donation based. Music at the Casa. Brian Hayes. Casa Feliz Historic Home Museum, 656 N Park Ave, Winter Park, FL 32789. Members
of the public are invited to visit our historic home museum on a Sunday
afternoon to listen to live music and take a tour of our
historic home museum and the James Gamble Rogers II Studio by trained
docents.

90 Lies a Minute at Fringe

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Paul Strickland an Orlando Fringe veteran brought 90 lies a Minute to this year’s Fringe Festival. From the title I thought this might be a one man play about the political lies of our POTUS. Instead this hilarious comedy featured stories from relatives in the deep south.

He presented in quick witted succession three stories inherited from Uncle False, plus a song. The first story was about a cranky old family car that seemed best fueled by an endless stream of cursing. Another story had the family home straddling two time zones which allowed for family to step back in time an hour when aunt Ima passed away. Another story was about a sunken city and a politician making false promises that citizens were easily duped into believing.  It was at this point that I felt he might be making an allegory about the sad state of affairs in politics today.

Paul the pulled the strings of the story together with a solo song with his acoustic guitar to back him up. All the laughter was followed by poignant reflections in song. The tall tails seemed like family stories that might be told after a large holiday meal. Ain’t True and Uncle False could be any one of our own relatives.

Myrlande Bebe

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This post is about the shooting that took place at the Pulse Nightclub on June 12, 2016. It contains difficult content, so please do not read on if you feel you may be effected. 

This article and sketch have been posted with the express written
permission of the interviewee. Analog Artist Digital World takes the
privacy and wishes of individuals very seriously.

Myrlande Bebe is the mother of Jason Josaphat, one of the 49 people murdered at Pulse Nightclub on June 12, 2016. Chelsea, her daughter-in-law sat with her. Jason was born on August 8, 1995 and was 20 years old when he died.  Jason loved to draw. He wanted to do 3D animation and also studied photography in high school. He studied at Valencia Community College for 6 months and then went to Southern Technical School where he made the president’s list and was on his way to becoming a CPA. He planned to travel the world and some day go to Haiti, which is where Myrlande was born.

“I never heard of Pulse until that night.” Myrlande explained. On June 11, 2016 she was working a 12 hour shift. Jason is one of three brothers. They were known as the 3 Js: Jamal, Justin, and Jason. Their sister Miriam had just flown in from Arizona to visit. Her birthday was on June 13th, so they were making plans to celebrate. Myrlande called Miriam before she got home and found out that Jason had gone out. When Jamal arrived home she asked him where Jason was. He didn’t know, so he called Jason and left a message. Exhausted from a long day of work, she went to bed, but she couldn’t sleep.

In the middle of the night her phone started ringing. Miriam picked it up and heard Jason on the other side. She shouted, “Mom, Jason is in trouble! Call 911!” Myrlande took the phone, “Where are you?” she asked Jason. He was panicking. “There are a lot of dead people on the floor, call 911!” She started screaming and Jamal asked, “What is wrong? Mom calm down.” On the phone Jason explained that he was at Pulse. “I’m in the bathroom, I’m trapped and I can’t get out.” The last thing he said was, “He’s coming,” and he got off the line.

Myrlande and Jamal immediately drove to Pulse Nightclub. The call had taken place around 3:25 am and the drive was around 15 minutes. They were outside Pulse from about 3:40 am to 6 am and felt that they had seen everything. They knew Jason was trapped in the bathroom and they both wanted to rush inside to get him. Police had secured the scene making that impossible. “It felt like I was in Iraq, it was terrible.” she said. “My heart was aching.” She saw a young man crying. He said, “I lost him.” She asked him what happened. “Some crazy man just started shooting at us,” he said. Anyone she met that night, she asked, “Did you see my son?” Everyone was crying. There was blood everywhere. “We saw ambulances taking people.” She had never seen dead bodies before. They would pick them up by the two arms and two legs and haul them to a truck. It was a disaster, a nightmare.

At 6 AM police said, “If you don’t see your family member here, go to Orlando Regional Medical Center, you can claim them there.” Myrlande gave one of the nurses Jason’s name and described a tattoo he had on his chest, which he had designed himself. She gave them a picture of her son. They couldn’t find him. They asked for his medical and dental records as well. She couldn’t believe what was happening. She and Jamal had to return home without knowing where Jason was.

That night she had a dream about Jason. She was in a market place with her daughter and niece. She looked up and saw her son. He had his favorite color on, which was green. She saw him far far away. She shouted his name and ran towards him. He passed behind a pole and disappeared. She woke up feeling anxious.

The next day she went to the Beardall Center. She sat patiently waiting to find out if her son was in a coma or if he was at the hospital somewhere. Someone asked to talk to her and they delivered the news. All the records she had given them matched. She found out her daughter’s birthday that her son was dead. Her daughter said, “Mom, I will never again have another birthday.” It was a nightmare for them all. It wasn’t easy to find out that her son had gone out to have a good time, and didn’t make it back home.

Myrlande later learned that Jason fought hard for his life that night. Jason had the courage to talk to the gunman. The last bullet Jason took shielded someone else. Patience Carter had been shot in the leg and Jason helped to keep her calm. Just before the bathroom walls were breached by police, the gunman started to shoot again.  Jason covered Patience with his body and took the bullet. Myrlande was told that he died instantly and didn’t suffer.

The War: an Immersive Radio Drama at Fringe

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Phoenix Tears Productions presentted The War: an Immersive Radio Drama. I witnesses The War from afar. The Fringe audience sat on the steps of the Rep Theater as a researcher from S.C.R.O.L.L. asked them questions and sent them on a mission to seek the truth about a group of rebels and terrorists who threatened the state. Since I was sketching, Pam Schwartz joined the researches to immerse herself in the drama. Audience members were each given head phones and they wandered behind the theater to learn more about the rebels. Mallory Sabetodos Vance was the lead researcher.

With my sketch done, I joined the audience when they returned to share their discoveries. What the audience discovered defied every premise and theory that the researches had considered basic truths. The rebels were not the angry and reckless terrorists that they had thought. The rebels wanted peace as much as anyone. We traveled back in time to witness the beginnings of the war.

A strange aspect of the show is that actors interacted with the audience but they were acting without talking, instead relying on pre-recorded audio. Everything that had triggered the war was a misunderstanding. People had died for no reason. Peace was still in reach if people could put aside their political bias and band together for the common good. The choice of this audience at the end resulted in a log war that resulted in many deaths but ultimately ended the war.

Goodbye at Fringe

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Goodbye by John Mark Jernigan a new play directed by Chris Crawford with music by Anthony R. Smith. The show starred T. Robert Pigott and he was seated center stage at the start of the show. Various interpersonal dinettes spiraled around him. Two men (Brian Brammer, Jeffery Correia) began an affair. One was cautious ant the other threw himself into the relationship without a second thought. A  young mother (Lauren Culver) was overwhelmed by the responsibilities of raising a new born child. She met a young man (John Mark Jernigan) in the park and his friendship helped give her strength. He adored the child and his attention gave her moments of rest. Later as she expressed her gratitude and affection he let her know that he was gay. The last relationship was between the main character and his sister. Their relationship was  about contentious but you could tell she loved him, despite their differences.

As these scenarios played out it slowly became apparent that they were all moments from the main characters pas life. He had been impetuous and passionate. He been open to ta young mothers plight and given her hope, and his relationship with his sister had given them both strength because of the shared history.

For some reason an urn stood quietly on a stool at the back of the stage.  As I sketched I wondered what it might mean. The main character began talking about his love of scuba diving and how quiet and serine it was under water. As he sank below the shimmering surface of the ocean he began to cry. Needless to say, it is hard to breath through the air tank respirator while crying. His sister reacted with shock and dismay to a call she received.

They say your life flashes before your eyes when it is your time to die. Perhaps that is what just transpired. Though never stated implicitly we were left wondering if that vase was full of ash. The lesson learned might be that we should live life without compromise. Nothing is guaranteed. All we can do is love and support each other along the way. The smallest kindness can have a huge impact on someone else’s life.

Fury and Sound: The Séance at Fringe

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Scott Browning and Nathan Felix presented Fury and Sound. The premise of  the show was that a group of friends (Esteban Vilchez, McKenzie Jo Frazer, Christopher Baker, Amanda Lane Decker) wandered to the edge of the Orlando Fringe Festival to communicate with the dead. The actors and audience met near the Rocket Thrower statue which is at the entrance of Loch Haven Park off of Princeton Avenue. I decided to sketch the musicians and vocalists who were n a grassy knoll near the Orlando Science Center. The technician at a folding picnic table was responsible to broadcast the live performance to headphones worn by each member of the audience. I was also given head phones so I heard the show while Pam joined the crowd to experience the seance first hand. I know a Ouija board came into play.

Actors and the audience moved from location to location. They ended up at an area with a circle of rocks which acted as benches. I saw them performing with small lights or the flash light feature of their phone, off in the distance. I heard the voices of the deaf whispering in my ears. The spirits were restless.

I however remained focused on a live performance of the chamber orchestra (Symphonic Underground, led by Daniel Cortes) and choir performing the score live on an adjacent lawn. The cello, several violins and a flute added a classical mysteriousness to the proceedings in which a young murdered woman’s soul is brought back from the dead. This was the first performance of the piece at Fringe and they director gave his tech a high five being relieved that the technology had actually worked.

Church of Saint Bearer

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Church of Saint Bearer was written by Irene Pynn and directed by Robert Cunha. The audience was ushered into the theater under the premise that they were going to a worship service. The helpful hymnal advised that we should cover our cough. There are often people who cough

as they settle in at a theater but I was more aware of the coughs and even coughed myself.

Mentor Higgins (Brett P. Carson) stood behind the pulpit and asked the congregation to stand, he then lead the audience in a series of calls  and responses. I remained seated since I was sketching. Higgins said: “We pray, therefore,” “We think.” replied the congregation. Someone in the congregation coughed.

Outside the church people were getting sick. It was an epidemic. Dave (Malakai Green) a young parishioner had doubts about his faith in the face of this epidemic. Higgins gave him academic answers but as the horrors escalated he too questioned his faith. Victor stumbled in and fell to the floor. His cheek had been bitten off. Blood was everywhere. Anyone infected could turn and attack others. One parishioner stabbed another hoping to stop the spread of the infection.

Higgins had to contemplate murder to keep the peace. Blood spattered on the Japanese screen room divider and the shadow of a woman’s lifeless hand was projected on the back of the screen. Religion no longer offered serene wisdom. Only chaos and horror remained.