Maxine’s on Shine

Posted on by Thor

I went to Maxine’s on Shine (337 Shine Avenue Orlando FL) of February 8th, to listen to Roger Docking on Guitar. Maxine’s is a local gem and is booked solid on weekends so reservations are strongly suggested. Since I was on my own, I found a spot 2t the bar. Maxine was at a fundraiser for the Ballet, but her husband greeted everyone warmly. I ordered an Orange Blossom beer and started sketching. For dinner I ordered the lasagna which was quite delectable.

Roger Docking recognized me. I had sketched him in the past because he was once a member of Andy Matchett and the Minx. That band performed together one last time several months ago at the cardboard art festival.  Andy explained to me that Minx was the last name of his former wife so the bands name was a bit archaic. They also used to use tons of confetti and toilet paper in their performances. Clean up after a show would be a nightmare. At a preview of my retrospective, Suzannah Gilman was talking about her recent experience watching Sting and Paul Simon in concert at the Amway Center. She had seats in the second row only a few feet from the stage. “Sting had to be the sexiest man I’ve ever seen.” She said. She pointed out how well defined his arm muscles were and his pants showed off the muscles in his legs. She then demonstrated a subtle hip gyration Sting used in the performance. It wasn’t a thrust, but more of a gentle grind. Andy practiced the move himself and I suspect it will find it’s way into his next performance.

Another performer Joe Lamy, and his daughter came in half way into the first set. He sang harmony, following Roger’s lead. I find that there is often a theme to my sketches. I pay attention to artists who are often unrecognized and perform as background ambiance. I think I identify with the artists who create beauty even if no one is listening.

My lasagna and drinks came to $28.71 and it was well worth it. The bill was enclosed in a book with a picture of the Mona Lisa on the cover. The title of the book was, “Stress, The Good and the Bad, Guilt Free Tension Control.” Sketching is my tension control but also a constant source of stress. I should have read a chapter. Perhaps it was a sign.

The Key of E Rehearsal

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The Dark Side of Saturn presents Key of E. Andy Matchett of Andy Matchett and the Minks wrote all the music for this original apocalyptic rock musical. I went to a rehearsal in a small art classroom on Colonial Drive near a sushi place. Andy welcomed me and apologized that some of the bigger effects might not happen at this rehearsal. I was happy just to listen to his amazing music. Andy began singing with Minks band members  Abraham Couch, Brandon Kalber and Randy Coole. I quickly sketched Andy and was surprised when actor Cory Violence replaced him at the mic singing “Just Can’t Wait for the Game to End“.

Cory takes on the lead roll of Ethan, a disillusioned hipster who dreams of how he might become a John Connor or Road Warrior hero if the world were to suddenly end.  As he sang of this apocalyptic bliss, his girlfriend played by Marissa Ashley interrupted to try and get him home.  She had to play the roll of annoying reason as he drank himself to oblivion. His dream  of the world’s end is suddenly realized when he is engulfed in a huge tsunami wave that leaves him stranded on a desert island.  The wave was executed with an ingenious effect with a parachute of plastic littered with garbage taking on the roll of the oceans surface. Andy stepped in as the narrator letting us know that the other characters on the survivor’s island were figments of Ethan’s imagination. 

The island had a typical bossy leader who felt he knew all about survival, sending the women to scavenge for food and clean camp. Ethan didn’t notice how this annoying character resembled himself. All the people on the island were there to help him survive and avoid his usual path of self destruction. Like the island on Lost, this place is a bit surreal. When Ethan discovers a bottle of whiskey he comes face to face with a dark red eyed demon.  His life could return to normal if only he could only put the cap back on the bottle.

Evan Miga, one of the mad scientists from Dog Powered Robot Labs devised the creature design. Right now, this show is my pick to be a sure runaway hit at Fringe. The music is hard hitting eclectic and ingenious. Cory really shines singing his way through the lead roll.  The entire cast of about 10 actors has pulled off an epic production on a shoe string budget. The Key of E is going to hit this year’s Fringe like a nuclear blast.

What:  

Key of E an Apocalyptic Rock Musical

When: 

Thursday, May 16 at 7:45PM

Saturday May 18 at 3:00PM

Sunday May 19 at 7:45PM 

Wednesday May 22 at 8:00PM

Saturday May 25th at 11:45PM

Where: 

Green Venue in the Rep

Tickets: 

$11 + a Fringe button

P.S. At 8:45PM tonight (May 16th) a certain Urban Sketcher will make a cameo appearance at Emotions Dances’ dis/CONNECTED in the Silver Venue which is in the Rep Theater. I really can not divulge details, if I told you, I’d have to kill you.

Cardboard Art Festival

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Mark Baratelli of TheDailyCity.com came up with the idea of having a Cardboard Art Festival. The opening night was Friday January 25th at the Orange Studio (1121 N Mills Ave, Orlando). I had to work till 9PM that evening, so I wasn’t even planning to go. Terry sent me a text photo of the new Dog Powered Robot techno beach buggy. She let me know that the event was open past midnight so there would be time to get there and do a sketch.  There was a line of people out the door to get in. I could see strips of Doug Rhodehamel corrugated cardboard bacon hanging from the ceiling. All of the Dog Powered Robots stood, deactivated in a corner.

The opening reception featured music and dancing with DJ Nigel and tons of cardboard sculptures filling up the space created by artists: Jessica Earley, Brendan O’Connor, Evan and Christie Miga, Adriaan Mol, Doug Rhodehamel, Nathan Selikoff. Cardboard dinosaur helmets lined the back wall created by Banjo Bob. They were just the right height where you could stand up and have your photo taken with the helmet on yet still mounted on the wall. Blue Moon beer was being served under the bacon strips and the carpeted dance floor was always full of dancers. After making the rounds with Terry, I settled in to sketch. Blue submarines and ferocious deep sea fish hovered over the dance floor. A rocket garden thrust vertically upward above a collection of mini robots. A tubular instrument resembling a pipe organ could be played by swatting the tube openings with cardboard fly swatters. A ten foot tall tube marionette stood with a tetrahedron head. People could pull chords to make him dance. I got plenty of abuse and by the end of the evening he was lying on the floor, a spent mess.

The opening night was an undeniable blow out success. The place was surreal, the music loud and the dancing furious and care free. It’s not too late to experience the madness in person.


Sunday January 27

  • 10am-11:30am for kids 7 and under
  • 12pm-1:00pm for kids 8 and above
  • Kids Matinee Sponsored and hosted by Kids Fringe and Mennello Museum of American Art $1
    admission. Kids only! Attendees will get to (1) use cardboard to build
    and decorate their very own mask, hat, or wings, (2) meet the famed Dog
    Powered Robot and (3) get a chance to tour the entire exhibit.
  • 7:30pm – 12am
  • Dog Powered Robot + Andy Matchett and the Minks, $5 admission (pay at the door, cash only), wine and beer by donation. Dog Powered Robot is a fantastic group of cardboard robots defending the world against evil via a robot powered by a Pomeranian. Andy Matchett and the Minks is a very popular and fun musical group.

House of Blues

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I heard that Andy Matchett & the Minx were performing at the House of Blues in Downtown Disney. Traffic on the Disney roads was really backed up. I’ve never seen so many cars on the road, and I worked down there for ten years.

I also heard there would be plenty of robots from Dog Powered Robot. Last year, Dog Powered Robot made a surprise visit with the band at House of Blues. Fisher, the Pomeranian who powers the robot, was unfazed by all the commotion. The stage manager at House of Blues had a fit. There is a “no pet” policy at House of Blues. There wasn’t much she could do since the crowd loved them. You couldn’t exactly have a Dog Powered Robot without the dog.

Even after breaking all the rules, the robots were back, but this time the friendly Blue Pomeranian powered robot wasn’t in the mix. The curtain opened and Andy was bound center stage, being held captive apparently by a robot with a grudge. I didn’t follow events closely, but I believe Lollybot must have saved him. I’m sure her robotic claw could have cut through the ropes. Terry was on her feet shouting, “I love you Lollybot!” She had on her Lollybot t-shirt and was as rabid as any Beatles fan. Andy Matchett & the Minx began playing and confetti canons blasted it’s colors over the crowd. Balloons and beach balls were then surfed over the crowd. People went wild. Balloons were popping everywhere and strobe lights made me dizzy as I worked on the sketch. Then, just about every robot at some point danced on stage. Ninja Noids were up on the balcony level and they wafted large hot dog shaped balloons over the crowd. A large parachute was unrolled over the crowd and Andy jumped down off the stage to join the audience as the dance under the undulating canopy. Oh yea, there was also plenty of hard driving fun rock & roll! An Andy Matchett & the Minx concert is a guaranteed good time.

Dust

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The Dog Powered Robot Fundraiser 2.0 was held at Stardust Video & Coffee (1842 E Winter Park Rd at Corrire Drive). I had donated 5 DPR prints for the fundraiser and two of the prints were sold! Whoo hooo! I was at the Dust to pick up the remaining three prints. The day of the fundraiser, there was a flurry of activity with the DPR army rushing about getting the stages ready. A projector was being hung from the rafters. Andy Matchett & the Minx were slated to play at the fundraiser, so there would be a wild time with confetti, fans and a huge parachute. Today the place was quiet in comparison.

The people seated in front of me were discussing some design work. She listened to his premise and then pulled up graphic designs that were similar in intention. The meeting went on for the whole duration of the sketch so they had a lot of ground to cover. The tables are made from old doors with a thick coating of polyurethane. Old windows were suspended in the plate glass windows. Single shoots of Mothers in Law Tongues thrust up out of old coffee cans on each table. Strings of Christmas lights and Oriental lanterns decorated the ceilings. Once in NYC, set designer James Yeomans asked me to go to Chinatown to pick up such paper lanterns for the play, “A Street Car Named Desire.” It seems a lantern is ripped down every evening in that play. So I brought several dozen large lanterns. It turns out they were too large so I was stuck as a lantern salesman for the next year to make my money back.

It had been several weeks since the fundraiser. Christie and Evan Miga were seated at several tables surrounded by DRR art. This fundraiser had been a huge success, giving them the much needed cash as they continue building more cardboard robots. One of the Dust staff was sweeping the floor and she was surprised that she was still sweeping up confetti. “Where does it keep coming from?” she asked a costumer. “It must be coming from underneath the stage.” he suggested. “It was cute at first” she confessed, “but this stuff just keeps multiplying.”

Dog Powered Fundraiser 2.0

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D-D-DOG POWERED ROBOT: UPLOAD DPR FUNDRAISER 2.0, tonight, Saturday, February 25th 2012 from 7:00pm-11:00pm. You have only minutes before the awesomeness begins at Stardust Video & Coffee (1842 East Winter Park Road.)

Dog Powered Robot is returning…and he is bringing the whole robot crew with him! To ensure mega-awesomeness, he has activated the ultimate upgrade of ANDY MATCHETT & THE MINKS! Prepare to have your mind circuits blown!

Join TEAM DPR as we celebrate and raise money for our 2012 full length Fringe show: DOG POWERED ROBOT AND THE SUBSEQUENT ADVENTURE.

Post script: Three prints of my sketches of Dog Powered Rehearsals and performances are still on display in Stardust Video and Coffee through March 15th. Prints sold help raise funds for DPR.

Andy Matchett

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A long line of actors stood in a hallway of the Orlando Repertory Theater. They were waiting to audition. Britt Daley with her boom box strutted down the hall. The cameraman used a steady cam to go down the hallway and then he backed out the stage doorway and crouched framing Andy Matchett who was strumming his guitar. Andy did a double take when Britt walked past and he involuntarily strummed a twangy wolfs call on the guitar. His T-shirt read, “Popular” and he wore a Dog Powered Robot button on the guitar strap. 0ne of the lyrics in Britt’s “One and Only” song pointed out,”You’re wearing that T again.” Andy’s hair swelled to an Elvis styled wave in front. He wore a neat little hip amplifier.

The shot was executed again and again until it felt right. One of the stage hands tested the hallway’s light levels, fortunately it was already perfectly lit. I couldn’t sketch in the hallway without getting in the shot so this doorway was my only option to sketch the scene. My back was up against some stage curtains and ropes and wires snaked all around me. Andy of course is the lead singer in Andy Matchett and the Minx. This local band puts on a show that will rock your socks off.

Andy Matchett & The Minks

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I had seen Andy Matchett & The Minks perform once before at a RIFF fundraiser at the Cameo Theater. They performed late that evening and I had put away my sketchbook. I had so much fun at that concert just dancing and jumping. It was a playful rave experience. Ever since then I have been looking for a chance to sketch this band in action. Andy told me about a concert at the Social and I leaped at the opportunity to see them again.

I had just finished an afternoon of sketching people for the Mennello Museum mural. Angela Abrusci had posed in a beautiful vintage dress as she applied lipstick and James and Jasmine Barone had me in stitches, joking and teasing as I worked. She held a parasol and he was in a kilt. When the sketches were done, I walked across the street to the Fringe festival’s green lawn of fabulousness to get some dinner. I bumped into Jeremy Seghers who was also going to see Andy Matchett & The Minks that night. He told me the group would be performing around 11pm so I had time for a Fringe show. He told me all about the show he had created called “Squatters” and it was about to begin so I rushed over to the theater. Jeremy told me the Social was on Orange Avenue just south of Colonial Drive.

I parked downtown in my usual “supersuprimo” spot and started walking towards Orange. I passed a cheesy mural which offered no inspiration. When I got to Orange I made the mistake of turning right to walk north towards a club I had been to before. After five blocks I realized I was lost. I looked up the Social address on my cell phone and went the other way. I was a sweaty mess when I got to the Social, where I was issued a green wrist band and ushered inside past the bouncer. I immediately saw Betsy Dye and Emma Kruch and my spirit lifted. Another band was performing and they were LOUD! I shouted a greeting to Betsy and she shouted out that this was a rare night out for her. Jeremy waved me over and I gave up trying to shout over the music. I found a spot where I decided to plant myself to sketch. I used the band on stage to block in where the Minks would likely be once they performed. Then I sketched the dancing crowd.

As Andy Matchett & The Minks set up, I continued to sketch. Before they played, a band member handed me some confetti. Jeremy found some seats and I joined him. The performance was pure unbridled fun. The second they started playing, confetti cannons sprayed vast clouds of heart shaped confetti over the crowd. Hair driers kept the confetti and streamers airborne through the whole show. Blowers sent streams of toilet paper into the crowd. Betsy collected the paper and wrapped herself into a fashionable cocoon. The lights flashed various colors on my sketchbook page. I imagined the Japanese animation that caused seizures in children. A parachute was unfurled over the cheering audience. Britt Daley had performed earlier that night and she introduced me to her mom, Gazelle. Jeremy kept getting bonked in the head and we laughed. Robbie Senior, a giant red robot from “Dog Powered Robot” invaded the stage. An epic laser and confetti battle followed. The crowd went wild. A wine glass crashed to the floor. A woman who had been sitting demurely all evening, was now dancing up a storm. The next day when I opened my sketchbook to see what I caught, a pink confetti heart fluttered to the floor.