Weekend Top 6 Picks for February 8 and 9, 2020

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Saturday February 8, 2020 

10am to 4pm Free. Paws In The Park. Lake Eola Park, 512 E Washington St, Orlando, FL 32801.

Join the Beloved Organization’s Fun-filled Festival and Fundraiser Featuring Adoptable Pets, Doggy Sports, a PAWrade Costume Contest, Food Trucks, Beer Garden, Pet-Friendly Vendors and Much More.

Following their biggest fundraising year to date raising over $2
million to support the dogs and cats of Central Florida, Pet Alliance of
Greater Orlando invites all pet lovers to join together at Orlando’s
largest pet festival and parade “Paws in the Park” returning to
beautiful Lake Eola Park on Saturday, February 8 from 10am-4pm.  Paws in
the Park supports the mission of Pet Alliance,  the region’s oldest and largest animal welfare agency, to educate, shelter, place and heal pets and their families with compassionate, responsible care, and the hugely popular event provides
aid for the more than 6,000 homeless pets who will be cared for at Pet
Alliance of Greater Orlando’s shelters and clinics this year.

 Kicking
off at 10am is the pet parade around Lake Eola, followed by this year’s
new PAWrade costume contest with celebrity judges and cash prizes
(Themes: Superheroes, Favorite Food, Binge-Worthy TV Shows). 
Participants and their furry family members can register and fund raise
online and invite their friends and family to join them for the special
walk, costume contest and festivities.  Then, all attendees and their
fur pals will enjoy a full day of both “human” and “canine” activities,
food and fun, including the famous dock diving for dogs and lure courses, beer garden, a variety food trucks and shopping, pet products and more, plus plenty of pet adoption opportunities.  Pet Alliance’s mobile vet unit will also be on site and providing free vaccines. 

 “Pet Alliance is thrilled to have adopted
out 6,601 dogs and cats, rescued 1,453 pets from shelters that would
have euthanized them and fostered 1,749 puppies and kittens last year,”
says Special Events Manager Caryn Freas.  “We are extremely grateful for the overwhelming support, and we are excited to see our
animal loving community back out at Lake Eola Park for Paws in the Park
and to kick start what we hope is another phenomenal year of fundraising
for our much-loved and deserving furry friends.”

 For
more information on Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando and Paws in the
Park, to register for the walk and make a donation, visit www.petallianceorlando.org and www.pawsinthepark.org.

Pet
Alliance of Greater Orlando was founded in 1937 as the Orlando Humane
Society.  Since then, the organization has worked hard to provide
positive and safe outcomes for pets.  Today, Pet Alliance has a
dedicated focus on the welfare and well-being of dogs and cats in
Orange, Seminole and Osceola Counties.  As the “go to” experts in
Greater Orlando, they do good things for dogs and cats and the people
who love them.  Their goal is to provide compassionate and knowledgeable
services for pets and to be leaders in innovative animal care and
veterinary medicine.  Nearly 7,000 surrendered pets and homeless animals
turn to the Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando for caring, compassion and
hope through their shelters each year.  Pet Alliance provides food,
medical care and shelter for dogs and cats until they find their new
homes.  In addition to providing housing and care, Pet Alliance works to
develop progressive and innovative programs that help keep pets and
people together.  Pet Alliance also provides low-cost spay/neuter
surgeries and animal wellness through their public veterinary clinics. 
Their shelter programs are supported entirely by donations from the
community they serve.  Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando has two pet
adoption centers (Orlando and Sanford) and three veterinary clinics
(Orlando, Sanford and Alafaya).  For more information, visit https://petallianceorlando.org/.

6:30pm to 9pm $65. Taste of Arts-Arts Gala. Mercedes-Benz of North Orlando, 1100 Rinehart Rd, Sanford, FL 32771.   

This
premiere event celebrates the arts by showcasing the visual,
performing, and culinary arts. We partner with various businesses and
artists from Seminole County including local restaurants, Seminole State
College, local visual artists, and local performing artists to put on
an evening to remember and raise money to support the arts in Seminole
county!
Event Features
A spectacular gala event celebrating the arts featuring:
Food and Wine Tastings​
Silent Auction
Visual Arts Gallery
Live Music
Performance Artists
Photo Booth
and much more!

10:30pm to 12:30am Order drinks and food.  Son Flamenco. Ceviche Tapas Orlando, 125 W Church St, Orlando, FL 32801. Hot blooded Flamenco Dancing set to acoustic guitar.

Sunday February 9, 2020

11am to 12:30pm Free. 9th Annual Dragon Parade Lunar New Year Festival. 728 North Thornton Ave Orlando Fl. This annual event, held in Orlando’s Mills 50 district near downtown,
celebrates the Lunar Year with Japanese Taiko, acrobatic performances,
cultural dances, cuisine, martial arts demonstrations and a lively
Dragon Parade. Join us as we celebrate the Lunar New Year 2020, “Year of
the Rat,” with Dragon and Lion Dance, and a parade from all your
favorite local organizations. Fun for the entire family!

1pm to 6pm Free. Vintage Valentine Market in Audubon Park. Park Ave CDs 2916 Corrine Dr, Orlando, Florida 32803. Celebrating
it’s 8th year, Orlando’s largest outdoor Vintage Market is back with
30+ Vintage Vendors selling clothing, vinyl records, furniture, jewelry,
curiosities and knickknacks and so much more! The market is hosted from
1pm-6pm in the parking lot in front of The Lovely Boutique Market, Dear
Prudence & Park Ave CDs. Food trucks will be available for your
noshing needs and Redlight Redlight will be open with craft beer!

2pm to 4pm $5 Film Slam. Enzian Theater, South Orlando Avenue, Maitland, FL. FilmSlam will usually be held on the second Sunday of each month at the Enzian. Experimental
Films, Puppet Films, Art Films, Bartenders throwing bottles, Gangsters,
a Music Video….this has to be the most amazingly eclectic line we’ve
had for all of 2012. Q&A with the filmmakers to follow screening. 

Osprey Tavern

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Pam Schwartz and I went to Osprey Tavern (4899 New Broad St, Orlando, FL 32814) for dinner. The place has a swanky vibe and service was fast to the point of hectic. I was just starting to block in the sketch when the food started to arrive so I had to juggle eating with sketching. We ordered some Brussels sprouts as an appetizer and they were well cooks and tasty. I ordered a Cider and Pam had a pumpkin themed cocktail that was really good.

My meal was a bolognese with thin noodles and a creamy sauce. In the dish were two cherry sized tomatoes that refused to be stuck by my fork. I chased them around the place endlessly and then gave up and continued to sketch. We both ordered desert as well. I had a carrot cake slice which was immense and Pam ordered a cheese board which had a smokey blue cheese that she loved.

Overall the food was good but both dishes we ordered were very similar to the dished Pam might cook on any given night at home. There was no spectacular WOW factor. One of the waiters looked like a musician I had sketched before. Apparently a lawyer for the city was having diner there as well since Pam recognized him as he made his way to the men’s room. The city sprayed cement on the paint job of Pam’s car and the city was supposed to remedy the pock marked damage but they never did. This lawyer was supposed to be the one to help.

Breakwater Hotel

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The Breakwater Hotel (940 Ocean Drive Miami Beach Fl) was built in 1939 by Anton  Skislewicz. This was the first stop on the sketch walk I hosted along with Gay Geiger. At the start she offered a quick sumation of the history of Art Deco architecture. Her talk was made a bit challenging because all the old cars parked along ocean drive for the car show drove by honking horns revving their engines.

Art Deco was born in Europe, first introduced in 1925 at “Exposition des Arts Decoratifs” in

Paris and flourished internationally from the 1920s – 30s. Its influence is derived from ancient Greek, Egyptian, and Mayan motifs. Also, by Cubist paintings and the Machine Age. In 1920s gambling, booze, and prostitution that came down came down to Miami with New York crime lords who invested in the hotels, were where illegal activities happened. A 1926 Hurricane wiped out and changed much of South Beach’s architecture from Mediterranean Revival to Art Deco. Miami took Art Deco and added Tropical and Natuical Deco Motifs. Motifs include frozen fountains (splashes of water frozen in time), eyebrows (ledges above windows brought with tech of reinforced concrete).

In the 1930s Henry Hohauser added curves and streamlining, by 40s Deco was over and the 1950 to 60s gave way to Miami Modernist (MiMo). Anything built after 1965 is considered “New Construction”.

The rooftop terrace of the Breakwater was the location of Bruce Weber’s early-1980s photo shoot for Calvin Klein Underwear which sparked world-wide interest in the Art Deco District as a backdrop for

the fashion industry. The Breakwater’s perfectly balanced A-B-A facade helps make the

central design even more pronounced. The hotel has etched plate glass windows which are done in the Floridiana style complete with flamingos, palm trees, and tropical terrain. It was purchased and refinished by Jordache Jeans in 2011.

What is great about Urban Sketching is that each artist has their own aesthetic and approach when sketching. The same subject might be interpreted by architects and artists with widely different and equally interesting results. I didn’t offer any insights or instruction except for artist who asked for feedback. I experimented and worked faster than usual since we only has an hour at each of 3 stops. Results were unexpected and fun.

Violet

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Violet with music by Jeanine Tesori and Lyrics and book by Brian Crawley is being performed at the Garden Theater (160 Plant Street Winter Garden FL) through February 9, 2020. The show is based on The Ugliest Pilgrim by Doris Betts. Violet (Holli Trisler) is plagued by the question, “What do you see when you look at me?” At 13 years of age she was struck inn the face by her father’s axe blade that came unhinged from it’s blade. The play opened with Violet getting on a bus from her hometown in the mountains of North Carolina heading to Tulsa Oklahoma where she hoped a televangelist might heal her scar to make her beautiful.

The primary theme of the play is that beauty is not skin deep. At a rest stop on the trip She played poker with a paratrooper, Monty (Brian Zealand) and black sergeant, Flick (Raleigh Mosley II) who are stunned by her talent playing poker. The three become quick friends. A server at a restaurant offered a racial slur when dealing with Flick and Violet stood up for him based on his character rather than the color of his skin. A deep friendship developed between them since they both saw each other for who they were. Monty on the other hand was looking for a possible one night stand.

When Violet finds the televangelist he turns out to be a jerk much like Oz, in the Wizard of Oz. Despite him Violets faith and beauty shine. The idea of commercialized beauty idealized by Hollywood female stars should not the the ideal any young woman should have to aspire to. From my seat in the audience I never could see Violets scar. She tended to try and hide it behind her long hair. The face is we all carry scars and they add character and beauty to each of us.

This show was an unexpected treat. The music was uplifting and downright inspired in the case of the televangelists chorus. The glorious “Bring Me to Light” sung at the end affirmed that Violet would no longer hide her beauty or talents because of a single scar.

Tickets are $25 to $37.

Wednesday, February 5, 2020 – 7:30 PM

Thursday, February 6, 2020 – 2:00 PM

Thursday, February 6, 2020 – 7:30 PM – ASL Performance

Friday, February 7, 2020 – 7:30 PM

Saturday, February 8, 2020 – 2:00 PM

Saturday, February 8, 2020 – 7:30 PM

Sunday, February 9, 2020 – 2:00 PM

South Beach Drink and Draw

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After a long day of sketching at Art Deco Weekend in South Beach Miami, the Urban Sketchers then met for a drink and draw a block away from the beach at Abuella’s Cuban Kitchen. A group of us ate dinner downstairs and then the plan was to to hold the Drink and Draw upstairs. There was some confusion with the restaurant owners who seemed unaware of the plans that had been made weeks before. The dinner we had was sub par. An 18% tip was
already in the bill and I decided to fill out the digital form to give a
20% tip instead. After seeing someone else fill out the form I realized I had
given a $20 tip rather than 20%. The waitress gave me a $20 bill back.

One sketcher came downstairs and said the space upstairs was cold and weird. That made me want to go up and see for myself. Ultimately we did all go upstairs to an outdoor patio that overlooked the street. I liked the curve linear cornice in front of which many of our group sat. It was indeed spacious and weird, I liked it.

To my right the discussion turned to mixing music as a DJ. Several of the group were into mixing beats. James Richards spoke to an artist at length and Pam spoke to James’ wife. I focused my attention on finishing this sketch for the duration.  One artist was told she would have to order something other than a water or she would have to leave. She had just paid for a very expensive tasteless diner downstairs. She stood her ground. This evening left the impression that South Beach Miami is cut throat and rude.

Locust Apartments in South Beach Miami

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The second stop on the sketch crawl I was hosting was the Locust Apartments (918 Ocean Drive South Beach Miami Fl) built in 1925 by Architect A. Frasier Rose. The sun was getting low on the horizon and we had to stare directly into the sun to look at the facade.

The building is in a Mediterranean Revival style with Gothic Revival influences. Four pilasters divide 3 bays. Thin, twisted ornamentation at at the corners and there are low relief panels at cornices. Pointed arches can be found above third floor windows. There is a highly ornamented pointed arch above primary entryway. Inside there is a large tiled fireplace with twisted columns separating arches and a molded ceiling.

I sat a bit further back so I could catch some of the tents set up for the Art Deco Weekend. One tent offered hammock chairs that people were always trying out. I was first fascinated by the crowd of people seated on top of the building to the right of the Locust Apartments. Both of my fountain pens stopped putting down lines so I started sketching with a colored pencil. It was fun working fast and furious, knowing there wasn’t time for any second guessing.

The theme of Art Deco Weekend was Sheroes, Women who Made a Difference. Pam had the idea of posing women like Susan B. Anthony, Harriet Tubman, Ida B. Wells and Mary Brickell on each of the balconies of this building as the poster. I should have followed up and created that image. It could have been a strong image evocative of Evita.

The Lion in Winter

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CFC Arts presents The Lion in Winter written by James Goldman. The play depicted the personal and political conflicts of King Henry II (David Lowe) his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, (Robin Olson) their children and their guests during Christmas 1183. Eleanor was imprisoned since 1173 but now she was home for the holidays. The gamesmanship between Eleanor and the king was such a delight to watch. Though they were always at odds there was a long standing deep rooted affection between them.

The story concerns the gamesmanship between Henry, his wife Eleanor, their three surviving sons Richard (Chris Fahmie), Geoffrey (Landon St. Gordon), and John (Jake Teixeira), and their Christmas Court guest, the King of France, Philip II (Cole Nesmith). Alais (Ashleigh-Ann Gardner) was Philip’s half-sister, who was at court since she was betrothed to Richard at age eight, but had since become Henry’s mistress. The king had many mistresses and many bastard sons.

King Henry needed an heir and Eleanor favored Richard who  seemed the most likely candidate since he was a much a war hawk as his father. He was easily the strongest and toughest of the three sons. Despite this, Henry favored his youngest, rather spoiled son John.  All three sons were just pawns in Henry and Elanor’s ceaseless scheming against one another.

Eleanor tended to dominate every scene she was in. She had a fiery temperament, and great authority and presence. Intellectually she seemed to run circles around the domineering Henry. Since all three sons seemed unworthy of being king, the fair Alais rose in the kings eyes as the possible mother of future heirs. Facing the possibility of being queen, she had to make demands and do battle with the tempestuous king. She didn’t seem as much up to the task as Eleanor.

The bottom line is that this play was an absolute delight. Alliances and enemies pivoted on a dime. Battles were as much over family love and acceptance as power and kingdoms.

The final performances are:

Sunday, February 2 – 3:00

Monday, February 3 – 7:30pm (Discount Night)

Tickets are:

$25 Premium Seating (Includes seating in the first 3 rows of the theatre and a complimentary concession item)

$18 Standard Reserved Seatin

$15 Discount Night (All Seats)

 

Waldorf Towers Hotel

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The last stop on the sketch walk I hosted was the Waldorf Towers Hotel (860 Ocean Drive Miami Beach FL) built in 1937 by architect Albert Anis. A curious and unique feature of this building is the round watchtower on the upper right hand corner. It seems like this might be a good place to look over the street scene below but the glass blocks under the tower verified that you couldn’t actually stand up there and look out the windows of the tower. It was purely decorative.

The structural system is concrete block stucco and has 44 rooms built at a cost of $75,000. The building is nearly symmetrical in it’s primary and secondary elevations. The only exception is rounded corner. The building has continuous eyebrows (horizontal banding) with a slightly projected central bay with a stepped ziggurat parapet roof line. There is vertical ribbing at corner and a central bay and fluted columns support the porch. There is multi-colored terrazzo floor designs with glass block ornamentation in lobby.

With the sketch walk finished and the sun setting we all “threw down” our drawing to see what everyone had done during the sketch walk. It is fun to see the wide variety of styles and then we all posed for photos. This walk was a collaboration between Orlando Urban Sketchers, Tampa Urban Sketchers and Miami Urban Sketchers. A few people also joined us because they heard about it during the Art Deco Weekend.

Painting the Set for Three Musketeers

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I went into the Shakes to watch as scenic painters Sarah Taylor and Izabella Cellucci working on the set of Three Musketeers. Jeff Ferree gave me a quick tour of the set in progress before I started on my sketch. The dynamic feature of this set is that the center section of the back stage can spin, offering quick set changes. A large motor with a rubber tire is used to spin the circular inset. A circular staircase will be added to the section that spins. I imagine some fancy swordplay on those steps.. The curved back wall looks like stonework but is cardboard pressed and formed to look like stone.

The floors of the set were being painted. The paint is layered in passes. Izabella, with the paint roller was applying the first pass which was a colored base coat. Sarah painnted the center elevated stage section which was getting a darker grout coloring between the ancient stonework. I loved that her paints had as much paint splatter as the stonework she was working on. Actually her pants also had a grey camouflage pattern which made her pants seem more splattered that they were. The background stage floor already had all the paint treatments applied and the stonework was deep an rich, surrounded by dark wooden beams, and all that wood grain was also painted. This was a large set with a whole lot of surfaces that needed painting.

The foreground section of floor then got the fun treatment I was hoping to see. She took buckets of paint and dipped in a large house brush and then threw the paint on each panel. She would drop down the lightest color followed by two other colors and then she let those spatters mix together organically like a molten lava flow. Seated in the front row I was a bit concerned about getting spattered myself but she had total control of her medium. She told me she got her break painting a set at the Rep and she has been painting shows ever since. I loved watching the process, it is so much like painting in watercolor where spatters are just part of the process rather than being considered mistakes. Once the puddled of paint were applied she watched as the pains swam together in unexpected ways. Large fans were then turned on to blow over, but not directly on the drying paint. If the strong fans were aimed right at the paint then streaks would develop and that was not the look they were going for.

Three Musketeers by Catherine Bush is adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas. The show runs from February 5, 2020 to March 22, 2020. It is a
story of double crossings, kidnappings, and carefully guarded secrets,
complete with lavish sword fights and sweeping romance, set in a time
when love and honor ruled the world. Get your ticket now.

Men on Boats

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Men on Boats written by Jaclyn Backhaus and directed by Rebekah Lane runs at the Mad Cow Theater through February 9, 2020. The show outlines the story of an 1869 expedition,
where a one-armed captain named John Wesley Powell (Cynthia Beckert), and a crew of insane, yet loyal volunteers, set
out to chart the course of the Colorado River. Powell was a Civil War Veteran and personal friend of President
Grant. Though he himself could not hold a paddle, he lead the  government sanctioned journey down the wild rapids leading through Colorado, Utah,
and New Mexico, and through the most dangerous waterway of all, in the
Grand Canyon. 

The ten explorers were divided among three boats.  Though historically all men, the cast was all woman, which added to the bravado as they overcame each obstetrical on this harrowing journey. As an artist I found the pace of the show dauntingly fast and furious. To simulate the ride down river the cast would crouch behind one another facing the audience and move as a unit to the rivers every ebb, flow and swell. In slow motion one of the crew might loose balance as if a ballerina and be caught by another crew member.


The canyon walls of the set had crystalline cubes set into it that seemed to have lines of text on them. I didn’t know what to make of them. The painted river on stage would be ignored when the crew were out of the boats and at camp. This involved some suspension of disbelief when crew were sitting lying or standing in the water. In general the stage was a tight fit for the full cast of 10.


On the expedition the crew grew tighter together like a band of brothers as the odds mounted. They also began to doubt one another and grow on each other’s nerves. When they suffered the loss of a boat and supplies, at Disaster Falls, they argued, postured and pretended, and to relieve   pressure they would name
mountains after themselves. When it looked like supplies would not last, three of the crew decide to split off, hoping to find a Mormon settlement rather than ride the insane rapids. The remaining seven decided to brave the dangerous rapids to reach the
other side.


At one point the entire cast stood in awe of the majestic Grand Canyon that stood as their adversary to survival. I imagined the canyon walls illuminated by the golden glow of the a setting sun. For me the comedic highlight was a rattle snake that made its way into camp. All the bravado was suddenly replaced by shrieks of terror. Considering the dire circumstances of the expedition, that snake seemed a minor thing to fear.