Tappin’ and Yappin’

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International superstar Cindy Starr took the Fringe audience on a whirlwind journey through her career in stage, film, TV, and more. The show featured stories, songs, and more from America’s beloved Tap Dance Queen. From her humble beginnings in Chicago to the triumph on the Silver Screen, Cindy and her accompanist, Johnnie Ivories, had the audience laughing and singing along with her best known hits.

John B. deHaas who plays Johnnie Ivories came up with the idea for the show. He was fascinated by tap legend Ann Miller and her larger than life persona. He knew Joy Anderson since 1999 and decided she would be perfect to play Cindy Starr. Johnnie Ivories seemed based on Liberace with his golden suit studded with sequins.

Cindy kept the jokes coming. An ongoing theme seemed to be that she was always pursuing men who had no interest in women. Several times she had audience members get on stage with her so she could teach them some steps. The results were hilarious. Andrea Canny directed the show, and at one point, she gave gummy bears to everyone in the audience. The pre-show announcements by Michael Marinaccio and George Fringe Wallace always ended with, “if you have any candy, Unwrap it Now!” It therefor became quite comical as Andrea struggled to open the large bags of candy in the back of the theater.

The show was fun and entertaining. As promised, there was plenty of tappin’ and yappin’ along with a couple of Swedish guests who mixed it up on stage.

The Secret

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Martin Dockery from Brooklyn, New York is a consummate story teller. When asked what he does, he doesn’t like to say ” storyteller” because it brings up the assumption that he tells stories to children. His stories are very adult themed. His delivery is energetic to the point of being maniacal. He sort of reminds me of the character Dennis Hopper played in Apocalypse Now,  with a touch of Kramer from the Jerry Seinfeld show. As the audience filed in, Martin sat on stage left talking to people in the front row. He explained to everyone that when the show starts, the lights would go dark and he would be standing just off stage, he would walk on stage in the dark and sit down. Only then would he bathed in light. The fourth wall was broken, artifice stripped away. It was just him telling us his story.

Martin’s Fringe show told an incredible story that showed how strange and disconnected his family could be.  About this same time Martin and his girlfriend were going through a rough patch. Martin wants a child but she wasn’t ready. In his mind, she might just not be ready to have his child. They weren’t married, he doesn’t believe in the institution so there wasn’t really any commitment. If either of them met someone else, that would be cool, at least in theory.

So anyway, Martin’s father had moved to Vietnam, a country where he had once gone to fight a war. Martin decided that a vacation with his girlfriend might smooth over their differences. His father had a secret and he let Martin know that he would tell all when they got to Vietnam. Now Martin’s brother knew the secret so they had a long drawn out conversation full of trivial small talk before Martin got to the truth. His father had married a Vietnamese girl and together they had conceived twins. Martin had a younger brother and sister he had never met. Meeting his siblings was magic. He played imaginary games with them and a bond was set in place that could never be broken. His father was impatient and argumentative and watching him deal with two small children brought back all the memories of his own childhood. He had to forgive his dad for his unchangeable faults.

Martin and his girlfriend were exploring Vietnam as tourists and they decided to heighten the experience by dropping acid. Martin became a super tourist seeing the way the sky ignited with vibrant color. He became obsessed with shooting photos of a palm tree. He explored it by shooting pictures of it from every angle. He imagined that National Geographic would marvel at the series and create a coffee table book that would be a best seller. Martin had lost track of his girlfriend. She had wandered off. He searched for her but found a native boy that he photographed obsessively.

When Martin did find his girlfriend, she was in tears. She felt that he didn’t love her the way she used to. She had found someone else, a successful theater producer.  Looking back at his photos, he realized she was in many of the shots of the palm tree. In each successive shot, she grew smaller until she became pixelated and disappeared. While one door in his heart opened, another closed.

Craig’s Lust

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Craig’s Lust performed at this year’s Fringe Festival. I had two opportunities to sketch these improv comedians at work prior to the Fringe.  On April 30th, the Comedy Death Match, held in the black box theater at the Orlando Shakes, featured 3 local groups competing against each other for pride and prize! Each group was given 20 minutes to put on their best show. Anything goes! Short form, long form, weird form, it was all acceptable. The winner of the show automatically had the option to move to be in the next show in May.

This month featured the returning champs The Third Thought from Tampa, The Pool Boys doing their wonderfully energetic and personable style, and the up-and-coming Craig’s Lust which performed a lively program about dating and sex. It was up to the audience to decide who group would be victorious.

Directly after the Comedy Death Match there was a long form presentation from a new local long form group. Then an all-play elimination style Improv Royal Rumble for anyone else who wants to get on the stage for a chance to strut their stuff.

Since I was following Craig’s Lust, I was rooting for them to win. Their comedy involved uncomfortable dating situations and people who don’t understand other peoples personal boundries. Voting involved audience members putting their ticket stub in one of the yellow buckets on stage. Craig’s Lust came in second place, and Pool Boys came in first place. Everyone in the audience won because it was an evening of non stop laughter.

True West

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The Dark Side of Saturn Productions is presenting Sam Shepard‘s True West at the Orlando Shakespeare Center. I was surprised by the intricate set by Tom Mangieri. I had just been in the Mandell Theater multiple times at Fringe and got used to seeing a bare stage. Fringe just ended two days ago, so this set was created incredibly fast. This was the first time the actors got to move around in the actual space. Director Kevin Becker was in the audience seating while Chaz Krivan who plays Austin, and Cory Volence who plays Lee sat at the breakfast nook table on stage.  Lighting levels were being adjusted, so the actors got to relax for a bit.

After all the lights were adjusted, Bill Warriner, the fight director, put the actors through the paces as they fought in the kitchen. The fight began with Austin breaking a beer bottle over Lee’s head. He then slammed Lee into the counter. As Lee lay on the floor recovering, Austin grabbed an electrical chord and wrapped it around Lee’s throat. Now, this was a rehearsal, and the action was supposed to be at 1/4 speed. The safe word for Cory was “Hold”. He called out to stop the action several times. He stopped the action when he was slammed into the refrigerator, because he was concerned it might topple over. He was concerned that Chaz was getting too aggressive. In a staged fight, both actors need to feel they are in control of the action. In the heat of the moment, the fight accelerated. There was a long moment where Austin was chocking Lee. Lee’s face was beet red as he struggled. Was he struggling to say the safe word? Was this acting, or had the fight crossed over the fourth wall? Austin said, “I could easily kill him, all I have to do is twist.” Lee’s eyes bulged in his head before he fell limp to the floor.

After the fight rehearsal, there was a full run through of the play. Tara Rewis picked up the broken glass and other refuge had to be cleaned up before the play could begin.  Dorothy Massey who did costuming, had to help Cory figure out how to use his belt. “This is why I get paid the big bucks!” she joked.

The play is about two brothers, Austin and Lee. 
Austin was writing a screenplay while he watched his mother’s home. She
was on vacation in Alaska. Lee,who is the black sheep of the family,
showed up wanting to drink beer, borrow Austin’s car and in general cause mischief. He had a knack for bullying, scheming or stealing anything that he wants. Arguments erupted
but, despite their differences, these brothers did care about each other, or they would do just about anything to steal each others lives. When Hollywood agent, Saul, played by Jim Cundiff comes to the home to check the progress on Austin’s screenplay, Lee schemed his way into convincing Saul that his true life experiences in the desert would make for a great screenplay. The brothers collaborated on writing the script outline but the writing sessions never went smoothly. When the mom, played by Barbara Blake, returned home, she found the house a mess. Her crowning moment came when she grabbed a bottle of rum off the table to spare it when the brother’s brawled.

This was a powerful drama that dives deep to explore the relationship between brothers who are polar opposites, yet united by a dark past. If you are missing the mad rush of Fringe, then head to the Shakes to see True West. Nothing beats a hangover like a nice cold beer. Don’t miss it!

The Mandell Theater
Orlando Shakespeare Center

812 E Rollins St, Orlando, FL

May 31 at 8PM
June 2, 6, 7, 8 at 8PM  

Tickets are:

$16 in Advance
$20 at Door
$15 at the Door with a Fringe Button

Weekend Top 6 Picks

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Saturday May 31, 2014 

10am to 1pm $10 Dessin de Figures. Maitland Art Center Studio 6, 231 W Packwood Ave, , Maitland, FL. This is the return of this workshop from last year. It will be an on going figure drawing session that has been offered by Steve Pi, one of the Sculpture Instructors at the Maitland Art Center and one of our members. This is part of the Orlando Artist inspiration activities that this group was founded on.

This workshop will be open to any Orlando Artist Member that wants to attend and pays the model fee . This is part of Steve’s Sculpture class with a figure model who is posing for that series of classes. Steve is the Host & moderator and will determine (First come) who can sit-in. He will also collect the model fee of $10.00 which is a discount to members.

Figure drawing session will be limited to 5-8 Artists that day, on a first come basis…..no reservations. This is a repeating session every Saturday.

No photography is allowed, cell phones included per Steve. Noncompliance to this rule you will be asked to leave. Artists to provide their own easel (some are available) and supplies. Model will be doing 1 continuous pose (this is a sculpture class). Model will break for short periods.

7pm to 1am Free. Mayloween. The Geek Easy 114 S. Semoran Blvd Suite #6, Winter Park, Fl. Celebrate the end of Free Comic Book May with an awesome FREE half way to Halloween PARTY! Halloween games, cheesy Halloween movies, and…. Everyone that comes in costume gets a FREE BAG OF COMICS/CANDY/SWAG!!!

LIVE MUSIC!

Random Encounter- Video Game Rock

Voted #1 Rock Act in Orlando 2013

Caffiends-Pop Punk P A R T Y!!!

Claire and The Potatoes-Pop

Voted #1 Pop Act in Orlando 2013 Control This-Ska/Rocksteady

Orlando’s hottest ska, rocksteady & reggae group!

7pm to 9pm Free but order a drink or two. Music Mount Dora. One Flight Up 440 N Donnelly Street, Mount Dora FL

Sunday June 1, 2014

 Noon to 3pm Free.  Music at the Casa. Shannon Caine and Beautiful Music presents Cellist, Educator, and Orchestral Musician – Beth Feeley, A delightful addition to our Paint It Black Trio, Quartet and Orchestra as well as our Beautiful Music Ensembles. Beth is a joy to perform with no matter the repertoire or event. An educator, and avid runner she has an infectious joyful spirit and sweet personality. It is a pleasure to feature Beth at our events including the Casa Feliz Music Series 2014. Beautiful Music with Shannon Caine – established in 1989, also featured as preferred partner at the Casa Feliz since prior to Grand Opening events with our musical groups. Our Spanish Guitarist and Latin Jazz Guitar Flute Duo performed for the pre -opening party and Grand opening events for this special venue. Shannon@beautifulmusic.cc

2pm to 4pm Free.  Josh Garrick presents a talk about the Parthenon. Winter Park Public Library, 460 East New England Avenue, Winter Park, FL.

3pm to 5pm Donation suggested. TAKE YOUR BLINDERS OFF Meet & Greet Fundraiser. Take Your Blinders Off, Inc. (TYBO) is a non-profit vegan/animal rights outreach organization created by Dr. Randall Cannon, a Winter Park, Fla., veterinarian, in April, 2012. Randy and other volunteers educate the public about animal-related issues with the help of his black Toyota Tundra, on which he had two large custom-made screens built and installed. They primarily display Mercy for Animals’ “Farm to Fridge” video, but also feature a broad range of images, video and messages depending on the nature of a demonstration or event.

Maintaining TYBO and its custom truck is expensive: gasoline, repairs (vehicle and screens), insurance, materials, corporate expenses, etc. To cover these costs, Randy and his friends are hosting a fundraising event at which attendees can meet the vegan vet and see & ride the TYBO truck.

Please come to this fancy affair, at which there will be cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, desserts and entertainment. Admission is whatever donation to Take Your Blinders Off, Inc. you can make.

Jem Rolls Off the Tongue

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This is Jem Rolls 93rd Fringe Festival. He hails from Edinburgh in the United Kingdom. He worked the Fringe lines hard here in Orlando pointing out to anyone who would listen that the flier’s back had an austere simplicity. It was blank. The show offered a solid hour of poetry, at times funny and at times mystifying. This wasn’t a performance that gave any linear narrative. His subjects were all over the map. His energy and enthusiasm are contagious.

One rather funny poem was titled, “We split up because the sex was too good.” He claims to be working on the sequel which will be, “We stayed together hoping the sex would get better.” In one poem he personified words that resisted his every attempt to wrangle them into a poem. He grimaced and leaned towards the audience to show how determined, selfish and difficult words can be. He recited a poem about how the British always win. “We won! We Won, Wewonwewon, we Won!” He blamed the American Revolution on the fact that Germans were doing the fighting not the British.

The poems came out so fast and furious that at times I didn’t know how to react. Bikini Katie sat across from me. Craig’s Lust had purchased ad space on her bare mid drift. Fried cheese curds had an ad on her right thigh and I believe Ship Happens had prime ad space above her cleavage. I could only squeeze a small bit of Lust into the sketch.

Reincarnation Soup

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Viet Nguyen performed all the parts in this Fringe show that a story about a family’s hardships and suffering. He hobbled onto the stage as an old man who sat silently watching a sunset. At the Fringe preview, he had performed a heart warming story about how he met an incredible girl while singing at a Vietnamese karaoke bar. Being American, he couldn’t keep up with the lyrics. The girl however filled him with confidence. Afterwards he imagined how wonderful it might be to be a tree  standing eternal vigil beside her home.

That heart warming scene was still part of the production, but it was a faint glimmer of hope among a cast of hardships. There were rapes at sea, arguments in a jail cell and a childhood game with a water pistol. Viet played so many characters, both men and women, young and old, that I lost track of who was who. With so many experiences spliced together, I wasn’t sure who I should care about. Viet’s performance was amazing but Reincarnation Soup as a whole unfortunately left me cold and indifferent.  The play ended with the old man returning to watch the sun set. I wasn’t sure if it was his experiences that I had just witnessed.

Sacco and Vanzetti

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Between shows at the Fringe Festival, I would stop on the green lawn in Lockhaven Park for a bite and a drink. The outdoor tent this year was alive with incredible acts all the time. Jessica Pauli was asked to take charge of the programing and she brought in a constant stream of talented musicians. I could have spent the entire week out there sketching the performances from some of Orlando’s best musicians. Kaleigh Baker came all the way from Portland Oregon to perform.

Sacco and Vanzetti was performing the last of their set when I sat down to do this sketch. Several of the musicians children took an interest in what I was doing and they watched every line and wash go down before they started a game of tag. I believe I sketched this group once before at an outdoor festival on Sand Lake Road. The music was lively and fun, but I was sketching so fast, I was in panic mode the whole time.  I also needed to finish before getting to the next show.

The green lawn of fabulousness was a constant party thanks to all the amazing talent that performed on the outdoor stage. I’m betting that beer and alcohol sales must have went through the roof this year at Fringe. I stuck to caffeine for my fix.

Marathon

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TJ Dawe from Vancouver, Canada presented this incredible one man Fringe show about recognizing your own blind spot and trying to address it. When the lights came up, TJ was on stage acting like he was running in slow motion. He joked that it was impossible to do that and look graceful. His show addressed the idea that people fit neatly into 3 distinct instinct types.

The first is the self preservation instinct. These are the people who are ready for anything. They plan ahead, bringing water along on a hot day or a sweater in case the air conditioning gets pumped up too high. When they pack for a vacation they bring pretty much everything in their closet, just in case. Hotels are booked ahead of time and even restaurants are reserved weeks in advance.

The second is the sexual preservation instinct. This doesn’t just mean they are sexual, it also means they are obsessed with the creative process. They love the uncertainty of beginning a creative endeavor and they are risk takers, living on the fringe.  This creative process might have seemed like a fun playful idea 9 months ago but there are pains and uncertainty as the project nears completion. Then it is released into the world, beautiful and imperfect. These people are individualists they don’t show off by writing a status on Facebook, but instead share their ideas on a more personal platform like a blog. The more TJ talked about the sexual preservation instinct, the more I felt like he was talking about me.

The third the social preservation instinct. People who have this instinct are energized by small talk at parties. They love gossip and knowing what is going on with everyone around them, even celebrities. This instinct can be a blind spot for someone with the sexual preservation instinct. Being creative, they don’t have time for empty conversations. However beneath this facade of superiority is irritation and shame. They want to feel like a part of the group but they are always an outsider, looking in. When the creative person breaks through that social barrier and actually enjoys meeting people at a bar or on the green lawn of fabulousness, they want to feel rewarded. There should be an 80’s movie montage that shows how they broke free.

All through his discussions about instincts he also talked about a high school foot race that was a defining moment in his life. Although not a jock, he began to run with a passion. This culminated in a steeple chase race against a team whose coach was named satin. At the starting line he suddenly realized satin wasn’t the coach but a runner who looked every bit like a man. Ready, set, Go! The race spread out gradually with the fastest runners breaking away, the average runners clumped together as a pack and then there was Satin followed by TJ. It became clear TJ wasn’t going to win but he decided to sprint at the end of the race to beat Satin. He reached down for that last minute reserve and discovered there was nothing there. Blind sided he stumbled across the line last.

He discovered there are no great victories as you struggle to expand your horizons and grow into a more social creature. It isn’t a sprint to we won. It is instead a life long goal, a marathon. This was a show that spoke directly to my insecurities and creative blindness. I can not recommend this show enough.

There is only one more show of Marathon today at 1:45pm to 2:45pm in the yellow venue in the Orlando Shakespeare Center (812 E Rollins St., Orlando, FL). Tickets are $11 along with the $9 Fringe button that is required for all the shows. Just GO!

Sperm Wars

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Random Samples Collective from Toronto Canada presents this Fringe show that follows the stories of millions of sperm embarking upon a high stakes suicide mission to battle a large, dangerous, and mysterious enemy deep behind the hymen. Meanwhile in the ovaries, the eggs are forced to say goodbye to one of their own as the time for their monthly sacrifice to the uterus looms on the horizon. The entire microscopic battle was presented by a single actor, Jeff Leard, in pristine white underwear, black studded arm bands and army boots. I couldn’t help but notice that his “package” loomed rather large. There was also a subtle smudge on the tip of the bulge, which caused my mind to wander. Had he fallen during a performance to smudge his pristine white visage?

If you love Star Wars and you love sex, you should love this show. The entire army of characters were tied together in this one actors performance. A rare moment of improve happened when someones cell phone went off in the audience. At first he sat down and said, “we can wait.” Then he wondered, “what is a cell phone doing in this vagina?” Another audience member blurted out “phone sex!” Everyone laughed.

At one point the inner workings of one of the Sci-Fi Sperm Wars vehicles had to be opened.  The actor mimed the machinations involved in opening the multiple panels, cylinders and digital pads with an orchestration of sound effects that he mouthed. The sequence was completed with the magical phrase “dry ice.” Which was accompanied with his hands miming the delicate clouds descent. When this long drawn out sequence of events was repeated, it got a bit old.

The horrors of battle became clear as millions of sperm perished because the vaginal canal was blocked by a diaphragm coated with spermicide. The immense ovum sat protected behind this impenetrable force field. Sperm withered and melted like the witch in the Wizard of Oz. A single sperm made it past the diaphragm and wiggled his way deep inside the wet moist humid egg. He lamented the millions lost in the assault.

There is only one more performance of Sperm Wars today,  Sunday May 25th at 4:30pm to 5:30pm in the Blue Venue at the Orlando Shakespeare Center (812 E Rollins St., Orlando, FL). Tickets are $11 along with the $9 Fringe button required to get into any show. Rated 18+.