After Orlando

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Margaret Nolan has worked diligently to bring “After Orlando” to the stage. Usually it takes years for a theater production to come to life. In Orlando, nerves are still raw, so Margaret felt it was important to bring After Orlando to the stage only months after the Pulse shooting. “It was a labor of love. [I’ve] been steeped in it daily since the 1st week of July and it’s taken an emotional toll….but so worth it to present these important plays and project to honor the Pulse tragedy.” Margaret wrote me. The event was sold out.

After the Pulse tragedy NYC creators Zac Kline and Blair Baker invited fellow theater artists to create short plays and poetic pieces as a response to create something with heart, and spirit.  After Orlando is now a collective of over seventy playwrights from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Uganda. Plays are being presented in venues and universities all over the work and will be published in an anthology by No Passport Press.

Margaret commissioned and curated Orlando based writers to join in the conversation. The evening consisted of 20 short plays with ten local playwrights showcasing their talents. My short film, “Finger on the Pulse” was screened right after intermission. As I entered the theater, Paul Casteneda said he was close tears watching the film at the last rehearsal. There were tech issues but they were resolved right before the opening. My favorite play was written by young playwright Rose Helsinger. Called “Albino Crocodile“. It was a monologue be young actress who witnessed a gay classmate being bullied in the school halls. The bullying centered around a mispronunciation of Albino. Albino Crocodiles have blood red eyes and beautiful white skin. When an albino goes to the watering hole all the other crocks go  “Hey what is this? We can be seen around the likes of you.” At a girls slumber party conversations turned to boy crushes. One girl confided that she had a crush on another girl. She was shunned like the albino. She however stood resolute finding a strength and joy in being herself.

A Poem by Aradhana  Tiwari called “I remember I am a Rainbow” got me choked up. The poem started showcasing a storm’s approach and violence. Despite the turbulence and darkness the rainbow emerged to explain the joyful meaning behind it’s every color. It was somewhere around the description of a yellow bird chirping happily and taking flight that I broke down. It was a dark theater. I didn’t have to wipe away the tears.

Other heart wrenching plays, had actors exchanging messages and phone calls in a desperate attempt to find out if loved ones were lost. Janine Klein had an incredibly powerful monologue as a mom getting ready for bed and seeking silence from social media. Her sleep is disturbed by phone calls and she discovers her son is among the missing. Janine grew desperate, hoping her son was alright. Her love was palpable even as she described the tattoo he loved and she hated. She faced the possibility that her son might be forever silent.

The final play, had all the actors on the stage. I imagine the final production would have 49 actors. Rebecca Fisher recited a series of joyful phrases beginning with “Today is a good day to…” Tell someone you love them, hug a stranger, to take dance lessons, to sky dive… All the statements came from the obituaries found for the 49 victims in the Orlando Sentinel. It ended the evening on a high note, reminding us all to live life to the fullest. Life is a gift that is all too short. Part of me wants to shut down, to steer dear of the pain. But compassion and hurt bubbles to the surface any time I see OrIando’s Creative community unite to answer bigotry and hate with an enlightened response. As Paul Castineda said, “I’m proud of all my fellow
artists.”

The Lines at Fringe are the key to finding good shows.

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The Fringe Festival is a well oiled machine. Shows load in and load out in close to a dozen venues every hour or so. Inside the John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center, lines form about a half hour before each show opens. Performers from other shows work the line, handing out flyers, and explaining why their show is a “must see”.

The people around you in line, often can tell you which shows ave worth seeing, and which shows are bombs. Standing in line is also a good time to check the Fringe program to see what might come next. With over 70 Shows, it is impossible to see every show.

I tend to limit my shows to the one’s that had good buzz in the lines or at the Beer Tent on the Lawn of Fabulousness. In this line, I bumped into Aradhana Tiwari who is directing at Mad Cow Theater now. When I first started this site, she allowed me to document every phase of a show she was co-directing. I haven’t had that here of access to a shows production since. A woman playing clarinet worked the line.  A mom tried to keep her energetic boys in line as they waited for the doors to open. Actors and actresses get to interact with theater patron one on one.

Tribes by Nina Raine opens at Mad Cow.

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Winner of the 2012 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play, Tribes tells the story of Billy, a young man with a comically dysfunctional family. Having been born deaf in a hearing family, Billy struggles to find his place in his own home. But when he meets a young woman who is going deaf herself, she begins to teach Billy about a whole different type of family he never knew he had. With dark humor and heartwarming sincerity, Nina Raine’s exquisite new play explores what it means to belong.

I had to find my way into the dress rehearsal by entering the back door. I took a wrong turn and found myself at a dead end at the actors dressing rooms. In the green room several people were signing to each other. It seemed awkward to ask them for directions to the stage since they might be deaf. I finally asked the woman working at a sewing machine, which way to go. I literally had to walk on the stage to get into the theater. Thankfully no actors were rehearsing at the time. I arrived just as a run through of the show was about to start. The rehearsal had two signers on house right who signed all of the dialogue. I glanced over periodically to watch their graceful interpretations.

The play started with individual family members entering the stage in the dark. When they reached their mark, a stage light flooded them in a pool of light. Light patterns moved on the back wall in sync with classical music much like the abstract animated sequence in Fantasia. Ruth (Hannah Benitez) and Daniel (Peter Travis) had just returned home to live with their parents. Billy (Michael Gordon) sat silent at the end of the table as the family argued. There were lighting tech issues to be ironed out, so I got to sketch this opening scene quite a few times.

When Billy met Sylvia (Lexi Langs) they stood face to face. Billy had
been deaf since birth and Sylvia was slowly becoming deaf. There was a
palpable chemistry between them and finally Billy leaned forward to kiss
her. After their exchange a small ball of light rose against the back
wall and it exploded into an expanding universe of stars filling the
whole stage with dancing points of light.  It was a beautiful visual
analogy about how the heart expands when it finds love.

Billy’s family, especially Daniel feels like Sylvia is taking away to join the tribe of the deaf. When she comes to dinner, the patriarch, Christopher (Mark Edward Smith) confronts her by insisting that signing is an inferior form of communication. Christopher and his wife Beth (Marty Stonerock) are both authors so they believe in the power of words. When Sylvia signs poetry, there is no denying that her graceful movements are poetic and beautiful. The direction by Aradhana Tiwari heightens the shows heart felt theme. During a family argument the sound cuts out entirely giving the audience an insight into Billy’s experience. When Sylvia performs at the piano, abstract forms and notes dance in a rhythmic projection. Sight takes place of sound to experience the music. There are subtitles as Billy and Sylvia sign to each other. This is s show about love and wanting to belong. Experience the magic for yourself at the Mad Cow.

Mad Cow Theatre 54 W Church St, Orlando, Florida

Tickets are $11

Aug 21 at 8:00pm to Sep 20 at 3:00pm

ASL-interpreted performances will be held on August 23 at 3:00pm and on September 4 and 17 at 8:00pm.

A panel discussion helped students learn about Theater.

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John DiDonna, who is the Program Chair/Artistic Director of the Theater Department at Valencia College‘s East Campus, organized a panel discussion with some of Orlando’s biggest talents. The event was held in the community area right next to the campus Black Box Theater in front of the gallery which had a show of black and white photos documenting racism in Central Florida.

Beth Marshal started off the discussion, Mike Deaven and Anastasia Stacy are integral to her production company, Beth Marshall Presents. Beth basically stressed that students should have realistic expectations if they want to get into the theater business. When I sketch at Beth’s auditions, Mike is always there to play opposite someone in scenes. He is Beth’s assistant. Anastasia is Beth’s son’s girlfriend and she has become indispensable as Beth’s Stage manager. Students who go into theater tend to think they will start making over $30,000 a year, but realistically most actors, directors and stage hands all need to have a day job to pay the bills. The only way to work your way into theater is through patience, perseverance and endless determination.

Alana McMillan Friskes is the Executive Director of the Garden Theatre. I love that historic Theater with its star studded indoor ceiling. Built in 1935, it was the first movie theater built for “talkies.” The theater underwent several renovations before closing in 1963. It was then converted into a farm supply store. The Winter Garden Heritage Foundation, restored the Garden Theatre which  reopened
in February of 2008. With over 200 events per season, has quickly
become a shining star on Plant Street. Alana has been integral in bringing live theater to the stage in Winter Garden.

James Brendlinger, who is the Chairman of the Department of Arts & Communications at Lake Howell High, School, is also the founder of Penguin Point Productions. James helped build and organize a huge expanded Costume Room which is an incredible resource for the theater community. I know that he collaborated with Beth Marshall Productions on Hoodies which was a powerful production at this year’s Orlando International Fringe Festival. The Central Florida Theater community is small and very interconnected. A strong reputation takes time to build, but a bad reputation is quickly discovered by everyone in this tight knit community.

Aradhana Tiwari spoke about how she admired the work of a director at Mad Cow Theatre. She had never done this before, but she asked to shadow the director to find out how he worked. He then left the theatre and Aradhana was promoted to the position of being Mad Cow’s resident director. John DiDonna shouted out “She is essentially the Artistic Director.” This is a fine parable about how curiosity and drive can lead to unexpected breaks in this business. I learned things about the Central Florida Theater Community, and I’ve been sketching from the sidelines for years. This must have been an eye opening experience for students just starting out in theater.

Project F experimented with the entertaining ways we interact online.

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In 2010 I was tracking the progress of a experimental Theater production called Project F. This show was about Facebook and how it affects the way people interact today. This rehearsal was held in a TV Channel 9 News studio on Orange Blossom Trail. News footage was being edited in the editing bays as I walked the hallways to find this green screen studio. It was hard to resist the urge to stop and sketch.

Project F was an experimental collaborative experiment between the actors and Director Aradhana Tiwari. At this rehearsal, the actors wrote down autobiographical details which might later be incorporated into the show. Aradhana had been given a camera for Christmas and she documented the rehearsal with photos. TV cameras, cranes and ladders cluttered the space.

After everyone had finished writing, the began a viewpoints session. Viewpoints is a trust building exercise that has the actors walk in a grid pattern on the stage. Actors become aware of each others movements and develop a 6th sense about who is near them on the stage. Aradhana gives the actors suggestions which are incorporated into their every move. Sometime the moves were slow and languorous and at other times fast and frenetic.

Project F had much promise, but it never made it to a final stages production. I feel lucky to have seen the early stages in its development. A software interface has changed the way people interact and exchange ideas. It had made it easy to reconnect with old friends and it had caused friction and rifts in other relationships. We will never be the same.

33 Variations

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On March 28th I went to The Winter Garden Theatre to see 33 Variations written by Moises Kaufman and staged by Beth Marshal Presents. I had been to a dress rehearsal and hopefully that write up generated interest for this incredible production. Though it was the second to last performance, I had to see the set and lighting to feel the shows full impact. Aradhana Tiwari directed this stellar cast in this show about Beethoven’s struggle to create late in his career as he went deaf and a modern day researcher obsessed with understanding his motives as her health also fails. The 33 variations were written by Beethoven based on music written by a lesser known composer and music publisher.

I was touched by the idea that the music researcher felt the need to travel to Vienna to see and touch Beethoven’s original sketchbooks. I wrote out every compositional idea, so the sketchbooks were a way to see his every thought. The minimalist set acted as a multi media projection space at times covered in notes and in one scene becoming a bustling subway. At one point a ghostly silhouette of Beethoven was projected walking from stage left to stage right. The sound, lighting and projections became a creative escape into two tortured minds.  Modern day events and historic Viennese events overlapped and intermingled. I was swept away.

Peg O’Keef who played Katherine Brandt, the music researcher, did an astonishing job performing with the advancing stages of sclerosis. After the show, she explained to me that she had found a series of You Tube videos made by a gregarious and vibrant man who recorded himself repeatedly as he succumbed to the muscle debilitating illness.  In one daring scene Peg disrobed for an MRI. In the nude isolation, she and Bethoven were back to back.  The magical moment wag gone in a flash.

After the show, Aradahna hooked her arm in mine and asked me to have a drink with the cast at the bar next door. I only stayed for one drink but the party was just starting. It seems sad that such an amazing show should have such a short run. But, like Beethoven, a creative life can’t last forever. The music and inspiration does last forever. There is a link above to all of the 33 Variations. I suggest you listen to it while your surfing the web or social media. They are inspiring in their entirety.

Rusty Spoon

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Paul Alexander hired me to do a sketch at The Rusty Spoon, (55 W Church St, Orlando, FL) on Saturday December 4th. A party of about 30 people were going to gather for dinner for the first time. Paul knew of my work because of a sketch I did at a City Beautiful Church concert at the Lake Eola Band shell and the kind recommendations of talents like Aradhana Tiwari, Cole Nesmith and Holly Harris.

The group gathering was known as Cru. They are an international ministry with members coming from Africa, the Netherlands, Asia, Australia and Europe.  The person that Paul most wanted me to catch was Ken who had 25 years experience leading a Cru group in Asia. Paul is in charge of Digital Strategies which utilizes social media to promote the groups message to the world.

I was the first to arrive at the rusty spoon. The woman who greeted me at the door knew what I was up to cause she said, “Oh, you must be the caricature artist.” I cringed a bit since I’m not a caricature artist, but I let it pass. She went to get the waiter, who knew more about the large group I was going to sketch. He lead me to the back of the Spoon where four tables were reserved for the party. The waiter, who also thought I was a caricature artist, let me sit in an empty booth that thankfully didn’t have a table. I had plenty of room to work. I started blocking in the perspective of the place. Raw old fashioned Edison bulbs illuminated the scene.

Paul and Anne Alexander arrived as did my wife Terry. She spoke to the couple for a while and then went to watch the football game at the bar. Paul and Anne love this restaurant, although Anne lamented that the art work never changes. I have to admit that it is a bit odd having pigs, goats and cows staring at you from the walls, especially if you eat meat. People arrived and mingled. Then as each person took a seat, I quickly placed them in the sketch.

Amazingly, the sketch was done when everyone finished dinner. Some people wandered over to see what I was up to. One jovial fellow from Africa asked where he was. He must have been way back at the fourth table because I hadn’t sketched him. He said, “Your sketch is fine, bot it is incomplete without me.” Even Paul is hidden from view since his wife is seated in front of him. I managed to keep Ken clearly in focus although a late arrival sat in the corner seat blocking my line of sight toward Ken most of the dinner. I had to move and reduce the size of this person to keep Ken visible in the sketch. It is fascinating how much can be altered and recreated while still keeping a believable document of an important event. I didn’t have time to eat or drink, but Paul told me the food at the Rusty Spoon is delicious. With the sketch done, I rushed off to the Kerouac House for a pot luck dinner.

Words As Silent Tattoos

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On December 12, I went to a rehearsal of “The Words We Wear” at the Goldman Theater in the Orlando Shakespeare Center. The theater space was pitch black when I entered. I stood behind the back row waiting for my eyes to adjust. The directors Aradhana Tiwari and Kevin Becker greeted me warmly. The Goldman is a small intimate space so I decided to sit house left near the back.

Actress Mikki Scanlon Kriekard was getting into military fatigues to perform a monologue Aradhana had written. The director asked all the other actors to clear the space. This was the first time Mikki was performing the monologue and the director didn’t want any distractions. I kept sketching and thankfully Mikki and Aradhana didn’t consider me a distraction.

It had been 192 days since the soldier had spoken. She had been stationed in Afghanistan and things had happened over their that would get under anyone’s skin. When she returned, people seemed like a sea of pages walking the streets. She felt she had been stained by silent tattoos. She came close to relating the horrors that she had seen, but she stopped short. Then she met a young girl that could read her like an open book, seeing the scars and invisible tattoos. The girl gave Mikki a slip of paper laced with hope and redemption. The room was silent and full of emotion. I didn’t know why but my face flushed and in the darkness hot tears roll down my cheeks. No one could see. Mikki, as a brave soldier managed to keep her emotions in check but when
she related how thankful she was, her throat constricted and she had to
slow down to keep from crying, for the first time she felt hope.

After the performance, there were notes from the director. I wiped my eyes and kept sketching. I began to wonder why I had been emotionally bowled over by the performance. A friend had a way of reading people and was able to heal others with a touch. She had a deep, heart felt faith. Yet she wasn’t able to heal her own invisible scars left by life.  Her boyfriend, an artist, that she had just broken up with, drove to the Grand Tetons, did a few paintings and then shot himself. I only saw her once after her boyfriends funeral. She asked me to pray for her. I didn’t pray. Several weeks later, she took her own life.  I realized that I hadn’t cried at her funeral or since. What kind of person doesn’t cry at a funeral? Instead of feeling anything, I sketched like a machine. At the time I was annoyed that the focus at the memorial service was on resurrection rather than on the suicide. The word wasn’t uttered once. She wasn’t rising from the grave. Due to red tape her body had yet to be cremated. I hadn’t seen it coming. The one word on my mind remains WHY? How could someone with so much faith take their own life? Did she find the enveloping love of God that she hoped for? I wish I could believe that. Her suicide note absolved everyone from guilt, but guilt remains. I could have been a better friend. This performance finally made all the suppressed emotions bubble up to the surface.  There is so much to live for. The sun burns bright. What choice remains, but to hope?

The second part of the rehearsal involved the whole cast removing white fabric with negative words and then picking up fabrics from the clothes line with positive words. Some actresses removed scarves, shackles, belts and blindfolds. One fiery redhead looked like Jackie Onassis with big sunglasses and the head shawl that she threw away. In one run through, Becky Lane removed her negative garment and when she picked her life affirming clothes line fabric, she smiled and daintily nestled it in her cleavage with a silent film Chaplinesque flair as she walked off stage. I was thankful for the laugh.

“The Words We Wear” will be playing tonight at the Goldman Theatre in the Orlando Shakespeare Center (812 E Rollins St, Orlando, FL).

Saturday, December 14th at 2:00 PM and 8:00 PM

Sunday, December 15th at 8:00 PM. (The Sunday performance is sold out.)

You can purchase tickets on the EpicVita website.

Words We Wear

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I bumped into Becky Lane in the Full Sail parking lot and she told me about a show she is working on called Words We Wear. Kevin Barber and Aradhana Tiwari are co-directing and Holly Harris is in charge of choreography. Becky invited me to a rehearsal at Movement Arts Studios.

Words We Wear is a 60 minute original performance piece that includes dance, acting, and mixed media. There is an ensemble of 20 female performers.

The show itself is relatively secular. It is about exchanging negative words for more positive words, but the final call to action is faith based. An organization called Epic Vita contracted Becky and the rest of the creative team and heavily influenced the content of this show. They focus on Christian Women’s Ministry.

At the rehearsal, blue tape marked a grid on the floor. The female cast were walking aggressively as if on the streets of a big city. They wove together in a tight knit pattern. If a performer got in the way then the dancer would stop, turn at a right angle and move in another direction. At one point rows of dancers had to move past one another and the squeeze was so tight they bumped shoulders. A fraction of an inch adjusted the movement and the bumping stopped.

The next sequence rehearsed involved movements related to exercise. They wanted to have a quick beat to the movements and Becky demonstrated an accelerated yoga routine where she did sun salutations and downward facing dog to a quick eight beat. The effect was both funny and awe inspiring. Aradhana chimed in, “These moves will be simplified, you can all thank me later.” Everyone applauded Becky’s performance, thankful they wouldn’t have to repeat it.

As I was finishing my sketch, the women rehearsed a routine involving the drudgery of sorting laundry. The baskets of clothes became part of a delicate angst filled dance. Performers experimented and improvised slowly allowing the routine to find it’s own form. This is what I love about sketching rehearsals, there is an open sense of childlike play that brings a piece to life.

Aradhana explained that the show was built around a quote from Maya Angelou. Aradhana explained that certain events in her own life have made the shows theme particularly relevant at this time in her life. Maya said, in an interview with Oprah Winfrey, ““Someday we will be able to measure the power of
words. I think they are things. I think they get on the walls, they get
in your wallpaper, they get in your rugs, in your upholstery, in your
clothes and finally into you.”

The show will be playing at the Goldman Theatre in the Orlando Shakespeare Center (812 E Rollins St, Orlando, FL).

Saturday, December 14th at 2:00 PM and 8:00 PM

Sunday, December 15th at 8:00 PM.

You can purchase tickets on the EpicVita website.

Searching for Beethoven

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On July 29th, Beth Marshall and Aradhana Tiwari held an audition in their ongoing quest to find the perfect actor to play Beethoven at The Venue (511 Virgina Street Orlando FL). The role is for 33 Variations written by Moises Kaufman. This play, directed by Aradahna will run March 13th through March 30th at the Garden Theater. About five actors came out for this audition. Actor Eric Pinder was stuck in traffic. The producer and director waited patiently while periodically getting text updates on Eric’s progress on the road. The conversation took a surprising turn to a cult of Satanists living in Central Florida whose bark was louder then their bite.

The roll of Ludwig van Beethoven requires an actor with a strong domineering presence. Beethoven was quite honestly a bit of an asshole, treating people around him with disdain. Which reminds me, I recently was mentioned in a venomous, anonymous letter, as someone who is an asshole, financially unsuccessful, a wimp, and not much fun. An asshole and a wimp are bipolar opposites so I can’t be both. Perhaps my opinions rub some the wrong way. My single minded drive and ambition could be perceived as not much fun. When lost in the creative process, I am occasionally interrupted by people who are curious about what I do. I’ll offer a quick joke, so they realize I am human, and then I get right back to work. If the conversation continues, I’ll keep working regardless. I suppose that can be considered rude. The narrow window I have to capture a moment requires constant observation. There is an agonizing panic in the need to finish a sketch before the moment is lost. I can identify with Beethoven’s annoyance at the shallow niceties of the Vienna social scene, the chattering crowd. Now, every time I meet someone, I wonder if they are the coward whose life is so empty that they need to write hateful letters to someone they don’t truly know.  Perhaps this is the danger of social media in that some people feel they have the right to meddle in other peoples lives. Perhaps that has always been the case. Part of me thinks I might have over stayed my welcome in Orlando. San Diego is being considered as a new city where Terry and I can set down new roots.

Eric arrived, dusted off the annoyance of unexpected traffic and quickly focused on his craft, reading his lines with a thick Bavarian accent. You have to look past the distractions and stay true to yourself in any creative endeavor. Seize the moment. Ignore and distance yourself from anyone who feels the need to bring you down. Regardless I will be around Orlando jackin’ out sketches every day.