Encore Performing Arts presented The Hunchback of Notre Dame in Steinmetz Hall of the Dr. Phillips Center of the Performing Arts (445 S Magnolia Ave, Orlando, FL). I went to sketch the dress rehearsal and two of the performances were already sold out. Hunchback features music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and the book by Peter Parnell. It is based on the Victor Hugo novel and the songs from the Disney Feature Animated film. Since I worked on the film, the songs were well entrenched in my memory banks.

This re-imagined retelling of the Victor Hugo classic unfolds in the 2019 fire damaged Notre Dame cathedral. Drop cloths dangle from the upper balconies and scaffolding in place for the restoration. The shows theme of persecuting anyone who is different than ourselves resonates now more than ever with ICE agents kidnapping workers at their job sites. It is so easy to use fear of “others” to fuul division. There is hope in the ruins although man’s darker urges seem indomitable.

Three tiers of chorus dominated the upper balconies all dressed in dark robes. A full orchestra was on stage as well creating a wall of orchestral music. When the full chorus sang Entr’ acte at the start of act two they were illuminated in a magical aqua infused light from below. The broken round stained glass window glowed brightly high above the stag.

In many ways I preferred this stage production to the animated classic. The themes of the story were dark and rich being suited for an adult audience rather than keeping saccharine story lines for children and their parents. Quasimodo (Dante Payne)is told he is a monster by his charge Frollo (Arthur Rowan) but it is what is inside that defines a man. Compassion and empathy surface in Quasimodo while mans darker instincts take over Frollo’s mind and actions.Esmerelda (Alexis Delarosa) performed a magnificent dance with blue streamers flashing a bright blue in sinewy flowing lines.

Before a full run of the show, Dante Payne must have been testing his microphone, and he joyfully tested his vocal chords performing a series of notes and passages. The strength of his voice had me floored.

the cast of literally hundreds and the dark lighting set me up for a challenging sketch, but the bold music inspired me to keep pushing through to finish up what I had started. Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Final Performance Date: Saturday, July 26, 2025
Time: 7:30 p.m.

Orlando Urban Sketchers went to the Orlando Cat Cafe (532 Cagen Park Avenue Clermont, Florida). When I arrived, the Cat Cafe had not opened yet, so I sat down to draw the facade. There were two foot high photos of cats in all the storefront windows.

I had to work fast on the sketch because the cafe was going to open in half an hour. It turns out you have to reserve a spot to go into the Cat Cafe. Thankfully one Urban Sketcher, Hillery Geiger, had an extra reservation, so I got in.

I got to speak with Gay Geiger about my plans to sketch in Europe for 6 month following in my father’s footsteps as a 1st Lieutenant with C-Company at the end of WWII.

I learned for the first time that Gay had followed in her fathers foot steps and had been in the military herself. My trio sounds ideal on paper, but there is an amazing amount of work I still need to do over the next couple of months to put the entirety of my life i storage so I can travel for that length of time. I am also considering going up to Sweden after my travels to study at the Florence Academy of Art Atelier. I didn’t even know how to pronounce Atelier but it would be nice to slow down and develop the careful focus needed to produce gorgeous paintings. It might seem a personal challenge to go back to drawing from casts, but I understand why it is needed.

My School of Visual Arts, New York City painting experience consisted of the instructor (Gill Stone) giving us a list of paints and brushes to buy and then letting us sit at easels to figure things out for ourselves. There has ti be so much more I could learn form hundreds of years of artists experimenting with mediums and brushed. All of my brushes are hard and mangled, as if I had tortured them. It would be nice to learn how to treat my art supplies with delicate respect.

There is a cattle auction every Tuesday starting at noon at the Sumpter County farmers Market (524 North Market Boulevard Webster, Fl). The wooden enclosures were distinctive and easy to find as was the definite smell of manure. I walked along the tall wooden fencing until I came to a wooden staircase that lead to a walkway along the tops of the enclosures. This in itself was an exciting sketch opportunity, but there were no cows, just an empty maze of wooden gated pens. I passed several guys in cowboy hats and just assumed I would find the auction at some point.

I finally had to ask a cowboy walking towards me, on the narrow walkway, where I could find the auction. He pointed to a narrow alleyway, between the enclosure and a cider block building. I met a fellow who looked like he had been working the enclosures for most of his life. He pointed me in a direction. That lead me to another wooden gate with a heavy sliding medieval bolt latch. I heard cows now, but sensed that once again I was heading in the wrong direction. I took a right into a narrow alleyway with a 5 foot high wooden wall, that had multiple doors that could be opened and closed. From here I could look up at the stadium seating, but this clearly wasn’t the entrance. I was back stage in the wings. Large curved metal bars would have had to be scaled to get to the seating, so this was a dead end.

There was one metal door that had seemed locked on a previous try, but it was just jammed. With a stiff pull, it squeaked open, and I found a seat among the buyers. I made sure to not scratch my nose, or rub my bald head, fearing that I might bid on a full grown heifer by mistake. The auctioneer took a seat in a cushy leather chair above the curved bars I had found previously by mistake. Two young women kept track of the cows that were to be auctioned. They must have been running the electronic boards which showed each cows tag number, weight, bidding price and buyer. Buyers chatted to one another, waiting for the auction to begin.

Then I heard some woman shout yeahaa, yeahaaaa, git, git! I saw her waving a rag back stage and a cow clamored out with her calf. They were both terrified, turning to look at the large crowd in cowboy hats, looking down at them. A fellow was behind the wooden gate doors I had wandered into and he would open a door and slap the cow on the but with a rag on a stick. This was to get her to turn and keep moving, I suppose the point was to show that her legs worked. She never had a moment of peace. She stopped for a second to look at a cowboy in the audience and he waved a flag in her face as well.

The auctioneer chattered an a fast animated pace. I didn’t follow anything he said at first but the goal it seemed was just to keep making noise while mentioning the highest bid. Cowboys raised small cards or two raised fingers to keep the bids coming. The cow and calf sold quickly and they were shooed out through another door. Cattle kept coming into the Road Warrior style cage all morning, each reacting in its own way. One bull with long horns stomped his front feet and threatened to charge a cowboy in the front row. A quick slap n the rump turned him to threaten someone else.

I sketched quickly thinking I only had two hours to complete the sketch, but the auction kept going long after the sketch was complete. I exited when there was a pause in the auction. This time in the maze of enclosures there were plenty of cows, calf’s and bulls. They stared at me through the wooden fence as I walked past probably wondering what their fate might be. I looked onto their dark wet eyes and wondered the same thing.

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