Death Face at Fringe

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Wicked Tongue Arts of Orlando presented Death Face at Orlando Fringe. Adam McCabe wrote the show was about a killer new app of a company called BuHu that enables people to have their bad news delivered door to door. In the opening scene a courier named Kelly Kelly (Jerry Jobe Jr.) delivered bad news to a woman who was bound with a sack over her face. As he tried to confirm her identity to deliver the news, a man with a fury mask entered and shot her in the head. Having someone die while delivering news wasn’t a part of the job he was prepared for.

He spirals into depression while a new hire, Peggy (Leigh Green) tied to cheer him up. The rest of the staff envy his experience and seem intent on triggering him to keep reliving the experience. A sensual co-worker (Cassandra Heinrich) embraced the company culture and the boss (Brett McMahon) was only concerned that the couriers keep up with the growing demand for depressing bad news. One comic moment featured and old woman who didn’t give a damn about any bad news since she had already lived through a shit storm of a life.

I didn’t quite know which way the story was going. Cynical humor was mixed with a few rare moments of sincerity. However interpersonal relations seemed strained in this dark and menacing future of social media. I left the theater feeling confused and conflicted, but maybe that was the intent.

Flip at Fringe

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Local artist Adam McCabe wrote and directed Flip which is a bleak look at America’s future in which very citizen is given a bluetooth  switch at birth which can be flipped to bring about their death. The scene opened at the dinner table where the working mom, Jeanine (Janice Fisher) is trying to enjoy a glass of red wine after a hard day’s work.  Noah, (Daniel Cooksley) her second husband is jobless. Her children are Malory,
(Chelsea Talmadge), and Caleb, (Indigo Frost) a bullied middle-schooler.

No one is happy in this play. Hope is a long lost concept. This insular family is just a speck of dust in an unforgiving universe. We get to learn the most about Malory who is desperate and depressed. She clutches an urn full of her grandfathers ashes. He had flipped his own switch. Without a shred of hope it was hard to want to know the characters. They went through the motions in their senseless lives.

In a long monologue, it became clear that Malory had likely been raped. She had dropped out of college to try and recover, but the depression never left. Noah, her step dad wanted to comfort her but that desire was misguided and turned to lust. His desire to help was really a desire for a moment’s pleasure. In the fumbling and confusion it is possible he flipped his daughters switch. This point wasn’t clear. Perhaps she had flipped her own switch. The American anthem played to announce her departure and she crumpled to the floor.

Jeanine and he son Caleb returned and somehow the son knew of his dads guilt and be beat him with a bat. The son had the habit of smiling at the most inappropriate times making him a bit creepy. Once again, the switch was flipped and the American anthem played as Noah died. There wasn’t an uplifting moment in the entire show. I suppose that was the point.

Suicide in the United States has surged to the highest levels in nearly
30 years, a federal data analysis has found, with increases in every age
group. The rise was particularly steep for women.
It was also substantial among middle-aged Americans. There were over 44,000 deaths by suicide in 2016. The program listed a suicide prevention hotline…1-800-273-TALK. www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org

Little Shop of Horrors in Eustis

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Clandestine
Arts in conjunction with the Bay Street Players presents the hilariously
kooky musical favorite, “Little Shop of Horrors” as part of the State
Theatre Studio Series. Derek Critzer produced and directed the show while also taking the lead role. This was a herculean task and he pulled it off. Pam Schwartz and I rushed up to The Historic State Theater (109 N Bay St, Eustis, Florida 32726) after I had taught my weekend Urban Sketching class. We negotiated our way into seats in the very back row feeling our way in the dark. We had missed some of the first act, but I was intent on getting a sketch. The soundtrack to the musical Little Shop of Horrors with music by Howard Ashman and lyrics by Alan Mencken got me through some rough times as I struggled to survive as an artist in NYC. I always felt I was trying to escape from skid row. As an artist you are always trying to make magic happen on a shoe-string budget.

When we arrived Audrey (Savannah Pedersen) was on a date with Orin Scrivello the dentist (Robb Ross). His maniacal laughing was unnerving and abrasive. As he suffocated in his laughing gas helmet I felt claustrophobic for him. Could he get enough air in that fish bowl of a helmet? Seymour Krelborn (Derek Critzer) who raised the mysterious plant gets the girl but needs to feed the plants insatiable appetite for blood in his hope to keep her. The meek, plant shop apprentice is thrown into the public eye.

The voice of the plant (Eduardo Rivera) was silky and enticing. One trumpet player in the live orchestra kept blatting out his notes and some voices in the cast seemed worn. In some ways this was fitting for the urban grunge aesthetic, but the 3 woman chorus (Camila Camilo, Nyeshia Smith, and  Felichia Chivaughn Wright) was on point doing a stellar job.


Overall this was a fun day of theater, well worth the drive. 

Remaining show dates are today and tomorrow, 

Tickets are $21 

Saturday April 14, 2018

8:00 PM – 10:00 PM

Sunday April 15, 2018

2:00 PM – 4:00 PM

Phone: (352) 357-7777
Email: boxoffice@baystreetplayers.org
Website: http://www.baystreetplayers.org

Debbie Does Dallas at the Parliament House.

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Debbie Does Dallas, directed by Adam McCabe, choreographed by Michelle Alagna, and with

musical direction by Tim Evanicki, takes a cult classic porn film and turns it into a tongue-in-cheek musical. For some light-hearted sassy fun, this is a show perfectly suited to play at the Footlight Theatre at the Parliament House (410 N Orange Blossom Trail, Orlando, Florida 32805).

The show is the coming-of-age story of an all-American
small-town sweetheart named Debbie Benton (Takara Lee Anderson). She
is the captain of her high-school cheerleading team, but she dreams of
making it to the big time by becoming a Texas Cowgirl Cheerleader. When
Debbie receives a letter telling her she has qualified for the
professional squad, the only thing that stands between her and the
realization of her dream is bus fare to the big city of Dallas.

Debbie
enlists her teammates, Lisa (Ale Martinez), Roberta (Sarah O), Donna
(Jasha Vaughn) and Tammy (Katie Ford), to get jobs after
school and on weekends to help pay for her trip to Dallas. The girls
form a company called Teen Services and get jobs, but they quickly
realize minimum-wage jobs just don’t pay enough. Luckily, Debbie’s boss,
Mr. Greenfelt, has an idea how the girls can raise enough money in
time. Debbie tells the girls about Mr. Greenfelt’s idea, and they all
agree to try their hands at “little favors” performed with enthusiasm by
“good girls.”

If the girls “work hard for the money” through
sex, sweat and tears, could they manage to raise enough money for Debbie
to realize her dream and make it to Dallas? Also starring Tripp Karhh
and Jonathan Speagle playing multiple roles in frantic quick-change
madness, Debbie Does Dallas is a wild time at the theater.

Having never seen the cult classic film, we decided to watch the film the same evening after seeing the show. The intricate plot is followed to the letter, but the endless sex scenes are replaced by many black out scene changes and some fun musical numbers. The romp in the locker room shower was well choreographed with towels hiding the sweet bits as the actors and actresses exposed themselves to each other. All the cheer leaders did have an orgy scene that played out behind a back lit sheet that allowed the audience to imagine what the shadows implied. The funniest moment came when Debbie relents and accepts $10 cash to expose herself to her boss. He offers a bit more, and each time she goes off into her Disney style “I have a Dream” song. It was truly laugh out loud funny.

By the time you read this, Debbie will have sadly retired her pom poms. Upcoming shows at the Footlight Theater are Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at 10 pm and 12 am.  Additionally, A T-Dance Revue Show is in the Disco on
Sundays at 7 pm.

Mark Your Calendar. On December 1st – December 30th,  The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told  by Paul Rutnick and directed by Tommy Wooten will hit the Footlight stage. A stage manager, (Beth Marshall), headset and prompt book at hand, brings the house
lights to half, then dark, and cues the creation of the world.
Throughout the play, she’s in control of everything. In other words,
she’s either God, or she thinks she is. Act One recounts the major
episodes of the Old Testament, only with a twist: Instead of Adam and
Eve, our lead characters are Adam (Brett McMahon)  and Steve (Jerry Jobe), and Jane (Shanel Sparr) and Mabel (Camilla Camillo), a
lesbian couple with whom they decide to start civilization (procreation
proves to be a provocative challenge). Act One covers the Garden of
Eden, an ark, a visit with a highly rambunctious Pharaoh and finally
even the Nativity. Along the way, Mabel and Adam invent God, but Jane
and Steve are skeptical. This brings about the flood, during which Steve
has a brief affair with a rhinoceros and invents infidelity. No longer
blissful, Adam and Steve break up only to be reunited as two of the wise
men at the Nativity.

Act Two jumps to modern day Manhattan. Adam and Steve are together
again, and Steve is HIV positive. It’s Christmas Eve, and Jane is nine
months pregnant even though she always thought of herself as the butch
one. The two women want to marry and want Adam and Steve to join them in
the ceremony. A wheelchair-bound, Jewish lesbian Rabbi from cable
access TV arrives to officiate. The ceremony is interrupted as Jane
gives birth, and Steve confides to Adam that his medication isn’t
working and that he’ll probably not survive much longer. Bound by their
long life together, and the miracle of birth they’ve just witnessed, the
two men comfort each other even though they know their remaining time
together will be short. It sounds like some existential fun for the holidays.

The Toxic Avenger roars into the Shakes.

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I went to a dress rehearsal for the Central Florida premiere of The Toxic Avenger Musical!

The show featured a live rock band on stage behind the action!

Greater Orlando Actors Theatre is bringing this hilarious musical comedy to the stage.  The show has mature content and may not be appropriate for children.

Armed with superhuman strength and a heart as big as Newark, Melvin Ferd The Third (Adam McCabe) is out to save New Jersey, end global warming and woo the prettiest, blindest librarian in town. Don’t miss The Toxic Avenger live on stage! It’s like nothing you’ve ever seen before. The Toxic Avenger is based on the 1985 classic cult film from Troma Studios and features music and lyrics by David Bryan with book and lyrics by Joe DiPietro.

I’m a sucker for a musical and this show features me home state of New Jersey being slimmed by the rich and sleazy Manhattan. When Melvin is thrown in a vat of toxic green sludge, he becomes the super human but malformed Toxic Avenger. The only girl who could love this misshapen beast with an eye ball on his cheek would be the blind librarian, Sarah (Jillian Gizzi). She does an amazing job of being sexy, funny and always facing the wrong way when speaking to someone. This has to be every single guys fantasy, to be loved by a girl who is blind his flaws. In many ways, the show reminded me of “Little Shop of Horrors” with the geek suddenly getting his every desire. Though the Avenger won the love of his girl he could not let her touch him for fear that she would discover just how malformed he was.

As the show was being rehearsed, the set was still being painted. A former student of mine, Megan was busy painting a stone facade along with Julia Gagne on the stage. My favorite song had to be, “Bitch, Bitch, slut, slut, lire, lire, whore. I find myself humming that song at the most inopportune times. Being an in it in, run through in the theatre there were a few staging mishaps, but even those were so funny that they added to the shows entertainment value. There was plenty of gender bending and one sultry, hairy legged dame said to me, “Draw like one of your French girls” as she-he, walked up the aisle on a break.   This show is as entertaining as a bounce house full of kids in from of a strip club. Don’t miss it!

STARRING: Leesa Castaneda – Mayor Babs Belgoody/Ma Ferd/Nun
Adam DelMedico, White Dude
Daniel Martinez, Ethnic Dude

Director, Jay Levy
Musical Director, Theresa Leigh Smith-Levin,
Choreographer – Shawn Michael Lowe,
Producer – Paul Castaneda.

The remaining show times are January 15,19, 20, 21 and 22, 2017 at 8pm in the
Lowndes Shakespeare Complex in the Mandell Theatre (812 E Rollins St.
Orlando, Fl. 32803). For tickets go to www.goatgroup.tix.com or call
407-990-1887.

Douch Bags brings testosterone fueled date rage to the stage at Fringe.

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Douchbags, Produced and Directed by Adam McCabe steps inside the cringe-worthy lives of three American males, exploring the inner-workings of the 21st century douchebag in their native
habitat. A shocking commentary on modern relationships. Three guys meet at a bar. One has just lost his high school sweetheart to a neanderthal that looks like a shark. One guy, dressed like a yuppie convinces the jilted youth that his life has just started, that he can play the field. He has a line for every woman and is convinced he can sleep with them all. Another guy is the moral sounding board of reason. He talks of the virtue of finding on woman to wake up with every day.

Much of the dialog is filled with rage filled hate for the women who wronged them. The yuppie claims he slept with the barmaid in the bathroom, and the jilted youth considers him a idol while the other guy is disgusted. It turns out that the moral sounding board hasn’t slept with his partner in a very long time. The Yuppie had just lost his mom. All three of them are emotional wrecks without solid heart felt relationships. As the three guys get ready to go their separate ways, they realize that they don’t even know each others names.

Since my life is less than perfect, the show resonated with me. I heard that women in the audience were less pleased. It is clear the show is taking chances when there are two polar opposite reactions.  I loved the gritty offensiveness of the show.

Venue: Yellow in the John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center 812 E Rollins St, Orlando, FL

Length: 60 Min

Tickets: $10 (Disc: FA|FV)

Rating: 18 & Up – Language, Offensive Humor, Adult Themes

Remaining show times:

May 24,  10:45pm – 11:45pm

May 26,  8:30pm – 9:30pm

May 28,  11:59 pm – 1pm

May 29,  7:00pm – 8:00pm

Anne Frankenstein strikes the Orlando Fringe like lightening.

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Anne Frankenstein written by Michael Knight and directed by Adam McCabe melds the worlds of horror and 70’s grind house films. In the opening scene Dr. Sylva Steffel, (Meghan Mitchell) harnessed the power of a lightning storm to re-animate the dead body of Anne Frankenstein (Lauren Culiver). The theater lights flickered and sparked as the body twitched and then slowly sat upright. Anne was killed by Nazis in a concentration camp but she and her sister were put on ice. Anne was re-assembled using some of her sister’s body parts.

Anne was brought back to life to be a super human Nazi killing machine much like the vengeful female protagonist in “Kill Bill.” The “Igor” in this tale (Rob Mobley) explains to Anne how he helped re-build her. He shows Anne her printed diaries and she is shocked to find out millions of people have read her words. She vows to kill every living Neo-Nazi.

Heinrich Von Arschloch  (Michael Mikanite Knight) is the leader intent on finishing Hitler’s work. He incites his thugs by telling them simplistic lies about how Jews are running America. At the heart of this insane lie is Einstein Bagels. Heinrich’s daughter Pamela (Danielle Miller) is as evil if not more evil than her father. Her weapon of choice is a cinder block at the end of a bat that creates a hammer that even Thor might envy.

Anne quickly kills the Neo-Nazi thugs that are torturing an Einstein Bagels costumer.  To get to Heinrich Von Arschloch however she has to battle the imposing Pamela. The play moves at s thrilling pace. The single set piece rotates between the Neo-Nazi den and the Doctor’s laboratory for quick efficient scene changes. The tech rehearsal I sat in had many stops and starts to adjust lighting cues and sound effects. I do suspect that Anne Frankenstein will  have long lines of ticket holders waiting to see the carnage. Believe the buzz. It’s Alive!

REMAINING SHOW TIMES:
Sunday, 5/17- 10:00pm
Saturday, 5/23- 10:00pm
Sunday, 5/24- 6:00pm

LOCATION:
The Orange Venue (Margeson Theater)
Orlando Shakespeare Theater
812 E Rollins St,
Orlando, FL 32803

TICKETS are $10 w/ Orlando Fringe Button
($2 off with legal proof of Jewish heritage!)

Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson Hits the Orlando Fringe Hard

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By The Way Productions presented Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson at the Orlando Fringe Festival. Based on a book by Alex Timbers and with music and Lyrics by Michael Friedman the show was a pop rock musical that showed the bloody history often overlooked by whitewashed history book in high school. The show was produced by Ashley Willsey and directed by Adam Graham. I went to the show because I bumped into Christie Miga on the lawn of fabulousness and discovered that she created the large flag that hangs on the set. This show got an award for the most aggressive and visual marketing campaign which was designed by Ashley. Live music was provided by Hey Angeline.

This was a huge show staged in the tiny Rep black box theater. I sat in the front row and several times had to pull back my crossed legged drawing stance to keep from tripping dancers. This was an edgy high energy production that portrayed Jackson (Ross Neil) as a rock star hungry for the adoration of the American public. The female cast worshiped Jackson’s populism like crazed Beatles fans. In contrast, the narrator was a nerdy woman in a wheelchair (Anitra Pritchard) with cat eyed glasses and a stuffed pug in her lap. She reminded me of the Dr. Scott from Rocky Horror Picture Show.

While Jackson ordered the slaughter of the Indians, his popularity grew. It is possible that this Indian purge resulted in more deaths than the Nazi concentration camps. Jackson’s wife (Jacqueline Torgas) didn’t want him to go into politics and yet he couldn’t resist the adoration of the American public. The campaign ripped his wife’s reputation to shreds and she died of a heart attack before he took office. She was married to another man when she met Jackson and that fact was used by his opponents in the presidential campaign. Ambition left him loveless yet popular. Two thumbs up for such an ambitious Fringe production.

Truth or Dare with Pepe!

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As part of the Fringe Theater Festival, Pepe is performing at the Black Venue, known as The Venue (511 Virginia Drive Orlando, FL) owned by Blue Star. Pepe, played by Rob Ward, is a Fringe regular. He speaks with a gregarious, affected Miami accent and does everything with a flair. No expense was spared on the set which consisted of a bubble lamp and his signature red high heeled chair. Pepe always has guest performers and for the first show I saw, they were, Logan Donahoo, Paul Strickland, Adam McCabe, Blue Star and Lady Raptastic who was remote on Skipe.. The guests were shown slides of celebrities and asked to provide cutting commentary. Blue despises Miley Cyrus who was shown with her legs spread wide.  Logan did a hilarious job roasting Madonna.

“Yellow Shots” were offered to the entire audience. His “Shot Boy” only had his underwear on which showcased his large bulge. Pepe came up with the idea of starting a restaurant chain called “Bulges” which would be like a Hooters for gay men. It is a million dollar idea. The jello shots were actually orange but Pepe’s pronunciation changed their color. We all raised the shots as a toast and then the room went silent as everyone sucked down the shots. Consuming one of Pepe’s jello shots is a bit suggestive. You have to stick your tongue out as far as you can, and then slit the tip of your tongue all around the edge of the tiny cup to dislodge the jello from the cup. Then you have to wedge your tongue under the jello to dislodge it from the cup completely. If your tongue is long enough and your licking was thorough enough, the entire mass cap pop into your mouth. I grew self conscious half way into the process and tried to suck the jello down prematurely. The loud sucking noise that resulted was more embarrassing than if I had continues exercising my tongue. The many chunks left behind had to be dislodged with further tongue explorations anyway.

A guest from the audience was asked onto the stage and given the choice of Truth, or Dare. He chose a dare. Pepe had a stack of playing cards and the guest was asked to pick a card. The number on the card would result in the guest having to remove that number of items of clothing. He picked a card with a high number and soon he was standing buck naked with his tight cheeks facing the audience. Everyone went wild. When he turned around, Pepe put the jello shot tray over his privates.

Another performance had Fringe comedians doing improve on stage with Pepe as the MC. As one of the straight performers, Chase Padgett was offered a makeover. He stood behind a small table covered in cosmetics and Chris Dinger stood behind him to act as Chases arms. Chase put his hands in his pockets and Chris slipped his arms under Chases pits. They began by applying a powder which Pepe noted is usually the last step in a makeup regimen. Powder got on Chases T shirt and everywhere else. Red lipstick followed which resulted in a huge Bozo ring of red around Chase’s mouth and on his left nostril. The lipstick went everywhere but on his lips. Eyeliner and mascara followed which resulted in black and blue raccoon eyes. By the end of the session, he looked very much like Judy Garland minus the black gloves and high heels. Everyone was laughing so hard they were crying.

Spring Awakening

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The Greater Orlando Actors Theater is presenting “Spring Awakening” at the Orlando Shakespeare Theater through September 4th. This is a musical based on a play written in the 1892 by Frank Wedekind in Germany. Having seen the play in its original form I thought I knew what I was to expect. Entering the Mandell Theater I was surprised to find it had been turned into a theater in the round. Seating bleachers lined all four walls creating an intimate square staging area in the center of the room. A single wooden chair with a young girl’s night gown draped over its back sat in the center of the stage as the audience filed in. The house went dark and then actress Melina Countryman stood on the chair and she was bathed in a spotlight wearing only her turn of the century undergarments. I was hooked from the moment she sang “Mama Who Bore Me.” She was soon joined by a chorus of girls who stomped to the lyrics in a sensual anger. The shows over riding theme was shouted to the rafters. These were women in full bloom who had to deny their sensuality.

I resisted the urge to sketch these young actresses and instead focused on the boys in their school uniforms who were being forced to learn using rote memorization. Adam McCabe as Moritz began to doze off. When the instructor prodded him awake he came alive as an electric live wire, frenetic and disheveled. He began to sing “The Bitch of Living” and all the boys joined him as they expressed their yearning and sexuality which was repressed and as of yet only a dream. I was surprised when audience members stood and started dancing. The choreography by Jessica Mariko was driven and sensual. During the course of the show several members of the audience changed into turn of the century garb becoming part of the cast. Simple effects like using a flashlight to illuminate a singers face were beautifully understated and intimate. Sarah Villegas as Ilse reacted against the sexual abuse of her father by running off to an artist commune where she posed for artists. She was attracted to the quirky Moritz but he was to blind to see her advances. When she sang “Blue Wind” it became clear she was to beautiful for such a cruel world.

Melchior played by Anthony Pyatt Jr. wrote a long scientifically accurate and occasionally illustrated description of the sexual act for his friend Moritz who was experiencing tortured sexual dreams. When this document was discovered by authorities he was accused of warping his friends mind and hastening his suicide. I’ve been told I avoid intimacy, yet when I write, I tend to express myself without inhibition and more than once what I wrote was unearthed and used as evidence against me. Yes, I wrote that. My soul is not my own. I am “Totally Fucked.” “Lets discuss what you meant in paragraph two, sentence five.” Blah, blah… blah, blah… blah, blah, blah.

The director Paul Castaneda and assistant director Jeremy Seghers did an amazing job of bringing this show alive in such an intimate setting. Simply stated, I was bowled over by this show and the young talented cast. There are only three performances left. Friday and Saturday’s shows (Sept. 2nd & 3rd) are at 8:30pm and Sunday’s show (Sept. 4th) is at 7:30pm. GoatGroup.org for tickets or call 407 872-8451 for information.