There was a staged reading of a new play by Aradhana Tiwari in the Orlando Shakespeare Theater, in the Goldman. The stage set consisted of a simple card table and a small smack table behind it with cereals and an assortment of snacks. The play has a fascinating premise being built around the idea that poker terms also apply to the dram unfolding in a rather dysfunctional family. The mother of the family named Sass Arlington was once “The First Lady of the Vegas Strip” but over time she became a tired hack player on a riverboat. Each scene is first narrated by Tip, the oldest son of the family and thus the man of the house. The scenes are built around the Blind, the flop
, the turn, the river and the showdown. Tip is the most stoic of the family members. He is seen most times munching on a bowl of cereal sullenly ignoring the drama that unfolds. His sister Tally tried to fill the shoes of a nagging mother but few of her commands are ever heeded. The youngest sibling is Lucky who is innocent in many ways but has just started to learn to cheat at poker.
The play takes several dark and unexpected turns as the family struggles to stay afloat. Sketching was a real challenge since the house lights were almost always off and I didn’t have a book light since it was being used for a show I would be putting on in the Shakes. Since I only got a half decent sketch, I decided to go to an Irish bar where Texas Hold ‘um is played every week. I figured life must surely imitate art in this case.
Aradhana’s play was very well written with imperfect characters that had life and breath. Sass at the end of the play is put to the test after she leaves the family to win big in Vegas. Although she might have won cash, she lost so much when she returned. Often a player will reach a point where they know they are going to loose and yet they can not help but keep betting. This was the case with her. She knew she had so much to loose because she was concerned about her family’s welfare but she couldn’t stop betting which meant she wasn’t home to keep the family on a steady track. The play is tragic on many levels. You can catch the last FREE performance of this amazing play tonight at the Shakespeare Theater (810 East Rollins Street) at 8:00PM. I intend to watch it a second time with a new cast to appreciate the play’s nuances even more.
Suzi Fox Fashion Show
I went to The Peacock Room (1321 North Mills Avenue) because I got a tip that there was going to be a fashion show. There was a $5 cover at the door and for once I decided to splurge. I almost immediately bumped into George Wallace who seemed to know what was going on. He walked me over to a pool table covered with shiny and colorful underwear. Everything looked like it was made of satin but he went on to explain that this was a new material developed by Suzi Fox. He pointed out some men’s running shorts and for a moment I was interested since I have been running in the mornings for the past few months. The running shorts were however so tight that they left nothing to the imagination. I didn’t want to look like a zealous British tourist running through my neighborhood. There was a group of women dressed in this Liquid Vinyl Clothing and they were posing for a photo while sitting on the edge of the pool table. Of course I wanted to get a sketch of this group but they were clustered in the corner and I figured that after the photo was taken they would wander off. George told me there was going to be some staged readings on the back room stage so I decided to bide my time and wait.
Michael Pierre, a local comic, got up on the small sage and introduced each performer.
Rachel Kapitan got behind the mic dressed in a provocative skin tight outfit. She started to read a poem that got hotter and racier with each stanza. I suddenly realized this wasn’t going to be the usual night of open mic poetry. She thrust her hips from side to side delicately stroking her belly as she read. The poem built to its climactic conclusion. I was glad I was sketching since it kept me a touch distracted.
Next on stage was Keri Sardone. She was dressed in a skin tight liquid blue dress and she read an account of a woman executive who got what she wanted from the young male stud in the office. Herow voice was silky and smooth – just like the clothing being modeled. According to Michael most of these accounts had been written that night at the bar with only a brief rehearsal prior to the reading on stage. He read a descriptive account and the whole time a woman dressed in a skin tight gold dress stood behind him. As he read about her exploits she clenched her fists and subtly spread her legs at just the right moments. It was a delicate use of implied erotica. As each woman read, videographer Myk Freitag, circled them recording every juicy moment.
I wasn’t too shocked by the show, because when I lived in New York City I had a gay friend who wrote all the pornographic letters to Oui Magazine. He would write one letter from a man’s perspective and then write the next letter from a woman’s view. He had a real knack for writing the hot woman’s letters. I had arrived expecting a typical fashion show but I got so much more!
Adventures with Hal
When I put out a call on Facebook to see if anyone wanted me to sketch them doing what they love in life, Hal Studholme was one of the few who responded. We scheduled a day to meet about a month out. Hal gave me his phone number and suggested we meet at a Cuban Sandwich shop on Lee Road. He said his studio was right near by. When I got to the Cuban Sandwich Shop I ordered a grilled cheese sandwich which was the cheapest item on the menu. When I went to pay I suddenly realized I didn’t have enough money in my wallet to pay for a drink as well. I tried to pay with a card but the woman explained that they only take cash. I asked her to subtract the soda from my order and gave her the last three bills in my wallet. The outdoor tables were full of customers. I had never met Hal so I had no idea what he looked like. His Facebook picture was of a cast of actors on a stage. I asked a man if he was Hal and he laughed and said no. I finally called and Hal said he was on his way.
When Hal arrived he ordered a sandwich and we started to talk. He had on a bright Hawaiian shirt and purple tinted glasses. He went on to explain that he had studied Asian Philosophy and comparative religion for years. He found that the students that seemed to understand him the most however were the visual artists. He decided to change course and study art instead. He came to Orlando because he won a full scholarship to go to UCF. However a new state law required that he be a state resident in order to get the scholarship money. Since he couldn’t afford to pay, he decided to wait a year at which point he would be a state resident. The second time he applied, the funds for the scholarship were gone.
I told him that I knew little about his art and he said he wanted to show me something. He went to his convertible and pulled out a brightly colored child’s travel case. He unzipped it and pulled open the front flap. It was like he was opening a treasure chest. I was thrilled at what I saw. Inside were thousands of post cards with collage elements and rough drawings all over them. He had a show of these cards in NYC. He explained that he is still making them and each is intended for an audience of one. As an odd twist he said many were mailed to a dog in NYC. Seeing these fractured and chaotic images, I suddenly realized that the pattern on his Hawaiian shirt made perfect sense. He said he had become a bit of a cliche, a middle aged man with a convertible and six Hawaiian shirts.
He invited me to his studio but warned me that I might be shocked by by the chaos. I knew I was in for a treat. He explained that the walls of his apartment were all bare. He finds the blank walls liberating. He opened the door to his studio and everywhere I looked there were scraps of paper. His work space consisted of his sitting on foam puzzle pieces with a pillow stuffed in the small of his back. All around him were scraps of photos and images that he would rip and cut before pasting them to a post card. He opened a book and ripped off an image of thousands of flamingos. During the course of my sketch he seemed to finish quite a few cards which he then threw into a cardboard box. He explained that they were not finished, but would later resurface to be worked on again.
Hal has a number of photos of squirrels. He gets these shots with a toy cameras while lying on his stomach and waiting for the squirrel to approach. He showed me a book about an artist named Jenny Read who was a young artist who wore her heart on her sleeve. She was murdered since her studio was in a bad neighborhood. Her friends and family then assembled this book of drawings and letters she had written. I desperately want to get a copy of this book. It was a thrill to sketch this artist who is obviously obsessed about making art. In Hal’s bathroom I found the following quote from Henri Cartier Bresson, “I am a visual man. I watch, watch, watch. I understand things through my eyes.” In the mail I got a postcard from Hal which demonstrates the uniqueness of his vision.
Adult Puppet Slam
Pinocchio’s Marionette Theater in the Altamonte Mall (451 Altamonte Dr., Altamonte Springs) hosted a single evening performance of an Adult Puppet Slam. When Terry and I arrived there was a line to get in. Jeremy Seghers arrived right after us and we all joked about how we keep bumping into each other at events. When the crowd filed in the place filled to the point where there was standing room only. At first I sat on one of the small child sized benches but then decided to use my portable chair and sit against a wall so I could sketch puppets and some of the audience. Sean Keohane, the Executive Director of Pinocchio’s, introduced the evening.
A Punch and Judy style show started off the festivities and had the audience laughing. Hannah Miller did a performance of “The Gift of the Magi.” I had sketched Hannah as she built set pieces for this show. The marionettes that she built from scratch are absolutely magical, brightly colored and sparkle with sequins. An actual alligator head is used for one character. Hannah’s boyfriend, Jack Fields had his own show as well called “The Loaf That No One Cried For.” This rather hilarious performance also featured Brian Feldman as a humanoid who is concerned for the well being of a giant puppet that he drags on stage. A gourd shaped puppet that pops up from a bright patchwork quilt offers advice and orders Feldman around. When Brian climbed into the audience, he stopped next to Sultana Ali and stuffed his mouth with bread. The audience couldn’t stop laughing during this performance.
After the Slam was over a number of us lingered. Brian and Hannah disappeared into Pinocchio’s Playland in order to look over some rather legal looking documents. They were married in February as a demonstration that a straight couple, who don’t even know each other, can get married while gay and lesbian couples who are in love and have lived together for years are denied the right to marry. As Brian and Hannah talked behind closed doors, rumors circulated about a possible annulment. The rumors remain just that, since the couple did not confirm or deny anything.
Thomas Thorspecken Sketches the Audience
This staged performance, where I sketched an audience at the Orlando Shakespeare Theater, would never have happened if friends I had met over the last year and a half of sketching had not stepped in to help. Aradhana Tiwari invited me to take over the theater for one night and Brian Feldman had the vision for this show close to a year ago. The staging consisted of me sitting in a lone spotlight facing the audience and doing what I do every day – sketch. One video camera shot the sketch I was working on and projected the image on the theater wall behind me, while another camera, operated by Brian, shot footage of the audience just as in a baseball or football game. This would be the first time my work process was ever projected bigger than life for an audience to scrutinize. At leastthree video cameras were recording the proceedings the whole time. This has to be the most documented event I have ever been a part of. The program gave the audience plenty to read and a blank page to sketch if they so liked.
73 of my sketches were hung around the theater clothesline style using fishing line, electrical tape and alligator clips. Ron and Maisy Marrs arrived early and worked tirelessly for over an hour and a half before curtain call. Tommy Wingo handled all the technical aspects of the two video cameras and all the wiring. Evan Miga lent us his digital projector and operated the video camera pointed at my sketch during the whole performance.
At first I envisioned music from “The Illusionist” soundtrack playing the whole time I sketched, but Aradhana and Brian both felt it had too dark and brooding a mood. We agreed to play some Bach performed by Yo-Yo Ma when people entered the theater and looked around at the art. The music was silenced and Brian Feldman walked out into the spotlight to offer an introduction. He mentioned how he and I met over a year ago at the Kerouac House for a performance of his called “txt.” Since that night I have documented over 25 of his performances. When the audience applauded, I walked on stage and took my seat. I couldn’t see a thing with the spotlight in my face, so I grabbed a baseball cap out of my backpack. I was a bit nervous to start and dropped a pen. I had difficulty seeing since the house lights were at half. I called out to the lighting booth, asking if she could raise the lights a bit. When I could see, the sketch started to progress. At first the room was silent, but soon people forgot about the cameras and artist recording the proceedings and the mood lightened. Ashley Gonzalez, Tommy Wingo’s fiance, walked right up on the stage and stood looking over my left shoulder. She whispered the one question I cannot stand into my ear, “Are you an artist?” I laughed and asked, “Did Terry put you up top this?” Clearly she had.
About one hour into the performance, just as I was about to finish up the pen line work, a large group of audience members decided to get up and move to the opposite side of the space so they could be in the sketch a second time. I shouted out “Anarchists!” I placed them the best I could in the new location. Then the watercolors came out and I started to work faster.
People talked and mingled. At times people joked with me and the artist and model exchange became playful. An artist named James Barone wore a kilt and sat in the front row with his wife who held an umbrella. He drew a robotic version of me sketching. Maisy drew all over her questionnaire. What was amazing about this audience as a whole was how much talent was gathered in one room. There were visual artists, authors, poets, dancers, comedians, directors and photographers all mingling in a shared creative experience. It turned out to be a fun way to meet new people while sharing my art. Life as theater, theater as life.
Red Chair Affair -Stage Right
How amazing to be sitting stage right, next to American flag in front of several thousand people waiting for the red curtain to rise. I had given Terry a ticket but she went to the Tears for Fears concert in front of City Hall instead. Several friends kept texting me from the audience and I responded back. The two sign language interpreters came out and sat next to me. I introduced myself to them. Finally a video was projected on the movie screen high above the stage. From where I was seated the image was a thin sliver since the screen was right above me.
The announcer introduced the Bach Festival Choir who sang the “Star-Spangled Banner.” I stood along with the interpreters and the entire audience faced the flag which was right beside me. The choir was amazing the song resonated in a way I have never felt it before. The signer in front of me was waving her hand like a flag and her hands sparked upwards and sprinkled down just like fireworks. Viewing the signing of this song was a new experience for me.
The next act is when I started to sketch. Jugglers from “La Nouba” by Cirque du Soleil came out and the balls were flying. I quickly caught the clownish character known as The Green Bird. According to the “La Nouba” website, “She has escaped her cage and desperately wants to fly. She can’t fly away and join the circus. She is trapped in the urban world like a marionette with tangled strings.” I was mesmerized by her quick angular movements.
As the next acts came on the stage I continued to work on this sketch. I loved a performance where Tod Caviness read poetry while Emotions Dance performed behind him. I recognized one of the dancers from having sketched several Emotions Dance rehearsals before. Sitting so close to them on the main stage was thrilling. Several times, a dancer would charge right at me diagonally across the stage and I had to move my feet to avoid a collision. As they ran off stage, they were panting audibly and I could see the sweat on their brows. These intimate details aren’t always seen from the audience.
The Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra’s Sovereign Brass performed a medley of tunes from “Chicago.” Their lively performance had the audience laughing and clapping along. The trumpeter used a cup over his bell to create the raucous sounds of a jazzy tune. The audience loved it. When the last brass note silenced, the audience burst up in a standing ovation.
Red Chair Affair – Back Stage
I got to the Bob Car Performing Arts Centre at 5:30 and entered the performers’ door. Inside, a small room was packed full of actors and there was an amazing spread of food. I was sorry I had eaten at home. I wandered through the maze of backstage hallways past all the dressing rooms, in one a guitarist was lightly strumming his guitar. I then found myself on the main stage. The curtains were down and there were row after row of tables set up with red chairs on them. I knew that my goal with this first sketch was to catch Brian Feldman, who was going to be dressed all in red and seated in one of the tiny IKEA red chairs in a performance piece called “I Am a Red Chair.”
I found the empty chair Brian was to sit in by reading all of the silent auction sheets until I found the one with his name on it. Unfortunately, his chair was sort of isolated and off on its own. I had hoped to sketch Brian in the foreground with a line of red chairs marching off into the distance. After walking around his chair and viewing from all angles, I finally decided to sit with my back against the giant main stage curtain and use the chairs on a table next to me as a foreground element in the sketch. The emotional impact of the sketch is much different than originally envisioned, but I like that he seems distant and small, isolated as the party swirls around him. VIPs had paid $225 for the privilege of viewing and bidding on the red chairs as well as sampling food from some of Orlando’s finer restaurants. A gorgeous woman in a tight red dress stood at the table in front of Brian for the longest time. I imagined she must have been arm candy for a rich young bachelor.
Margot Knight walked over to me and asked if I found it difficult to sketch in my suit. I actually did have a problem, since I placed a pen in my fake breast pocket only to find it disappeared inside the suit’s lining. I had to force it out by cutting a hole in the inside lining of my jacket. I also had placed an open pen in my shirt breast pocket and it had bled out into the fabric. Luckily my jacket covered this black wound all night. Director John DiDonna approached me when I was done with my sketch and said he had a place for me to sit on stage right. The tables full of chairs were quickly wheeled off the stage and I kept stepping out of the way of stagehands carrying chairs and tables. John walked past with a couple of chairs saying, “This is my life.”
Brian, however, was still seated. His auction item was twofold – to be a Red Chair, as pictured in this sketch, for two hours at the location of the highest bidder’s choosing, and to work with them, or whoever they named of their behalf in the marketing and creation of their very own performance piece. He said one artist kept coming up to him to see the latest bid. The artist was a bit upset that people were bidding on Brian and not bidding on his art. When the auction ended, Brian had been sold for $80.
John DiDonna pulled me aside and told me I would be in front of the main stage curtain, sitting beside the American flag. I walked on stage and stared out at the several thousand people as they were busy taking their seats. I desperately wanted to face the audience and start sketching, but I decided I should stay on task and get a sketch of the performers. I folded my hands and waited…
Thomas Thorspecken Sketches the Audience
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Red Chair Affair – Rehearsal
On the evening before the Red Chair Affair, I went in to the Bob Carr to watch and sketch the rehearsal. John DiDonna, the director of this production, welcomed me warmly and showed me around backstage. The very first person he introduced me to was Boomer Bardo who is in charge of all the sound for the show. Finding a spot backstage to set up was a challenge. I sat down and discovered I was blocking a doorway. Then I scooted over to find myself next to boxes and boxes of programs. The rehearsal was absolute pandemonium at the start. Homer would call out sound cues in his headset and then walk on stage probably to signal to the folks up in the booth at the back of the theater.
The Red Chair Project is a community service designed to increase participation in Central Florida’s arts and culture. As a collaborative campaign involving more than 300 arts and cultural organizations, it promotes and grows the arts in the region through RedChairProject.com , a website with arts and cultural events, discounted tickets, classes/workshops, and getaways. The 6th annual Red Chair Affair would kick off the 2010-2011 Central Florida arts and cultural season.
As I sketched Boomer, a large group of Orlando Repertory Theater Power Chords youth singers stood in line in front of me. They each had stunningly bright colored outfits on. They waited for their coordinator to shout out their number and then they slipped the waistband mini-microphone into a hanging shoe holder. Several of the exuberant youths bumped into me and apologized. Their performance had been high energy and spectacular. They had performed a hip upbeat version of “Lean On Me” that was a joy to listen to. Boomer asked one of the soloists from the group to stand next to him at the soundboard and he adjusted the dials as she sang.
I had one other concert I wanted to sketch this night so once I finished sketching Boomer, I packed up and headed out the stage door hoping to get to “A Time Warp” up at the Unity Church. I was running late. As I was leaving, Tod Caviness said to me, “I don’t know how you keep your hands from cramping up with all the sketching you are doing.”
Time Warp
I was sketching a rehearsal at Bob Carr Performing Arts Center and I wanted to sketch a concert at Unity Church as well. I wanted to sketch both events but I knew I would be late to Unity since my sketches take at least an hour and a half to do. Sultana Ali was to be singing at the Unity concert. I fired off a text when I finished my Red Chair Affair rehearsal sketch. She texted back that she would be singing around half way into the concert. Although the concert had already started I decided to make a dash up to the church to try and catch her performance. I texted her that she needed to slow down time a bit. When I walked into the church three women were on stage singing “The Times they Are a Changing.” I spotted Sultana and her friend near the front on the right hand side. Sultana waved me over and I sat down. She showed me the program and indicated silently that there was one more act before she went on stage. She gave me a thumbs up and I smiled.
I immediately got my sketchbook out and got to work. I had the whole composition blocked in when Sultana got on stage and then I placed her at the microphone in my sketch. She sang “Summertime“, a lazy sensuous southern tune. When she finished, the place erupted and there was a standing ovation. When she walked off the stage, the moderator, dressed in his 50’s beat costume said, “Now THAT is what I am talking about!” Sultana laughed as she sat down.
The final act caught me by surprise. Miguel and Judy Ander sang “Time to Say Goodbye.” I had met Miguel the last time I had visited the church and he left an impression. He is at least 80 years old and his face is beautifully delineated with wrinkles and the weathering of time. What immediately struck me when I shook his hand was his enthusiasm and joy. As I listened to this beautiful song I flushed and my eyes began to sting. I had to stop sketching and just listen. With this elder couple singing so beautifully, I started to think about the idea of growing old together.
This week I had just started sketching portraits of residents of a local retirement community. I had sketched Captain Pete who will be turning 101 this year. Author Mary Hill had interviewed him the entire time I sketched. His story was profound and moving. He spoke of life and death issues faced in war time, the importance of choosing friends and loved ones wisely, and he explained the spark that keeps him motivated even today. I learned so much about myself from having spent that time with him. The elder couple singing on stage seemed so in love. This is what it must be like to grow old together with faith and love. All these thoughts rushed through my head as I listened. It was useless to try and stop the flow of tears. I put the sketchbook aside. I usually find opera hard to swallow but this song on this day overwhelmed me. I stood when it was over and clapped until my hands hurt.