Weekend Top 6 Picks for June 8 and 9, 2019

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Saturday June 8, 2019

11:30am to 1pm Free. Firelei Báez Artist Talk and Book Signing.  The Mennello Museum of American Art 900 E Princeton St, Orlando, Florida 32803. Artist
Firelei Báez will present a FREE talk, on the occasion of the Mennello
Museum of American Art’s new exhibit IMMERSION INTO COMPOUNDED TIME AND
THE PAINTINGS OF FIRELEI BÁEZ.
Please RSVP at bit.ly/fireleiartisttalk
Báez
is best known through her extraordinary paintings of lush
landscaped-figures, intricately patterned tignons, and otherworldly
bodies with striking eyes. Here, she considers the reality of ones
current social and the historic construction of cultural self in
America. These complex, inter sectional bodies and symbols alongside
large-scale portraits are painted in vibrant, swirling colors, which
intermingle time and character. For Báez, “identity is malleable,
negotiated,” and given strength by the female body and mythology of her
being.
IMMERSION INTO COMPOUNDED TIME AND THE PAINTINGS OF
FIRELEI BÁEZ is curated by Katherine Navarro, Mennello Museum of
American Art. A fully illustrated bilingual catalog on the exhibition
has been published, and will be available for purchase and artist
signing.
Firelei Báez was born in Santiago de los Caballeros,
Dominican Republic. She earned her BFA at The Cooper Union School of Art
in 2004, participated in The Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture
in 2008, and later earned her MFA at Hunter College in 2010. Báez
currently lives and works in New York City. She has held residencies at
The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Workspace, The Lower East Side
Print Shop and The Bronx Museum’s Artist in the Marketplace. Báez has
had solo exhibitions at Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, Pérez Art
Museum Miami, The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, and the Kemper Museum
of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, among others. Báez was included in the
2018 Berlin Biennial, the United States Biennial Prospect.3, New
Orleans, the Getty’s Pacific Standard Time’s LA>LA exhibition at the
Museum of Latin American Art, Los Angeles and at the 2017 Venice
Biennale with the Pinchuk Art Foundation’s Future Generation’s Art Prize
exhibition. Her work is in the collections of the BNY Mellon Art
Collection, Pittsburgh, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Pérez Art Museum,
Miami, Sindika Dokolo Foundation Collection, Luanda, Angola, San Jose
Museum of Art, San Jose, The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, and
Tiroche DeLeon Collection, Jaffa, Isreal. She is currently represented
by Kavi Gupta, Chicago and James Cohan, New York.

6:30 Silent Auction, 7pm Show. $20 General Admission. Play in a Day. Lake Howell High School 4200 Dike Road, Winter Park, Florida 32792.

Beth Marshall Presents PIAD 2019
This year’s PIAD features all women writers, directors and stage managers.
100 artists
78 women/22 Men
All proceeds benefit the BMP Theatre Scholarship Fund & TOP TEENS!
Sponsored by Pom Pom’s Tea House and Sandwicheria and Penguin Point Productions
Cost: VIP $25 (Front Two Rows/ Advance Seating/Raffle Tickets/First Dibs on Silent Auction)
General Audience-$20
Students-$10
*This show is asterisks for everything, so if this offends you, please take the time to leave now.
Tickets on Sale Now at BethMarshallPresents.com
PIAD PRODUCTION LEADERSHIP TEAM
Producing Artistic Direction – Beth Marshall
Production Stage Manager – Blue Estrella
Assistant Producer – Clark Levi
Assistant Production Manager – Gabriel Neil Barnert
Technical Director/Light Design – Jordan Laica
Assistant Technical Director – Dylan Molitor
Program/Logo/Projection Design – Ben Lowe
Box Office Manager – Chris Foster
Front of House/Silent Auction Manager – Jacyln Thomas
Assistant Front of House/Raffle Manger – Theresa Rogers
Website Manager – Winona Wiley
HOST
PEPE’ (In Drag as a Woman)
JUDGES
Kristen Neander
Andy Haynes
George Wallace
WRITERS/DIRECTORS/STAGE MANAGERS/ACTORS
TEAM 1
Writer: Irene L. Pynn
Director: Ashley Sox
Stage Manager: Kendall Myers
Actors: Josh Lefkowitz, Robert Cuhna, Jacoline Frank, Caiti Fallon, Alexa Carroll
TEAM 2
Writer: Katie Thayer
Director: Christine Robison-Laurence
Stage Manager: Emerson Short
Actors: Sharon Barnert, Sierra Vennes, Brenna Arden, Katie Stokes, Peri Goldberg
TEAM 3
Writer: Grace Trotta
Director: Veronica Nia Kelly
Assistant Director/Stage Manager: Kaitlyn Harrington
Actors: Alicia Salgado, Avis-Marie Barnes, Jazzlyn Whiddon, Matthew Gray
TEAM 4
Writer: Tracey Jane
Director: Roberta Emerson
Stage Manager: Olivia Winslow
Actors: Bennet Preuss, Ken Preuss, Melanie Leon, Jac Ledoux
TEAM 5
VOCI DANCE
Choreographer/Director: Genevieve Bernard
Dancers: Sarah Lockard, Katrina Soricelli, David Gabriel, Katherine Fabian
TEAM 6
Writer: Chanel Gomaa
Director: Jessica Hoehn
Stage Manager: Caitlin Eriser
Actors: Joshua Huff, Laura Powalisz, Anthony Morehead, Sarah Isola
TEAM 7
Writer: Vanessa Carmona
Director: Gail Chase
Stage Manager: Madisen Mckenzie
Actors: BeeJay Aubertin-Clinton, Noel Gates, Michelle Kurtiak, Tiffany Marie Ortiz
TEAM 8
Writer: Rose Helsinger
Director: Mackenzie Borglum
Assistant Director/Mentor: Paige Gober
Actors: Jackson Chase, Hanna Swindler, Vangeli Tsompanidis, Camryn Chiriboga
TEAM 9
Writer: Ciara Hannon
Director: Tara Kromer
Assistant Director/Stage Manager: Shonda L. Thurman
Actors: Eislinn Gracen, Bella Crider, Chloe Shaw, Delaney Polk
PRODUCTION CREWS
Stage Crew:
Leah Klasing
Dana Huss
Brooke Adragna
Justin Daniels
Quinn Hoeck
Jade Pryor
Props Crew:
David Brinkley
Meg Quiroga
Costume Crew:
Abby Lamarre
Meridith Clure
Ariana De Jesus
Isis Gonzalez
Emma Johnson
Allison Smith
Lindsea Loughlin
House Crew:
Concessions Manager/SM Swing – Destiny Sam
Usher/Raffle – Emillie Scheetz
Usher/Raffle – Faith Ridgeway
Silent Auction – Stella Maria Rodriguez-Fernandez
Silent Auction – Destiny Gonzalez
House – Nikolaj Thankski
House – Lindsea Loughlin

7:30pm to 11:30pm Welcome Potluck for Deirdre Coyle. Kerouac House 1418 Clouser Ave, Orlando, Florida 32804.

You
are invited to join us in welcoming Kerouac House Summer resident
Deirdre Coyle. This event is a potluck dinner, so please bring something
to eat and/or drink and share.
Deirdre Coyle is a writer living
in Brooklyn. Her fiction and essays have appeared in The New Republic,
Electric Literature, Literary Hub, Hobart, Joyland, and elsewhere. She
is a columnist at Unwinnable Monthly. Her website is DeirdreCoyle.com.

Sunday June 9, 2019

12:30pm to 2:30pm Free. Love and Kindness on the Lawn.  Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts 445 S Magnolia Ave, Orlando, Florida 32801.

Join the
One Orlando Alliance at the Seneff Plaza in downtown Orlando as we gather in gratitude
to celebrate community and the spirit of #OrlandoUnited!
This
free event is a time to enjoy local music, food trucks, share some hugs
and create happy memories while remembering those who continue to need
our love and support.
At 1:30 p.m., we will host our special
giant “human heart” photo opportunity, and at the close of the event,
attendees can participate in a group Loving Kindness Meditation, led by
Puja Madan of The Mindfulness Map.
Additionally, we will have
plenty of #ActLoveGive signs to fill out and take with you to help
continue spreading the message of love and kindness.
Love and
Kindness on the Lawn is part of the Orlando United: Acts of Love and
Kindness movement. Visit ActLoveGive.org for more information.

1pm to 4pm $5. Dog Day Afternoon Pup Crawl. Ten 10 Brewing 1010 Virginia Drive Orlando FL.

Pups
are welcome at the Dog Day Afternoon Pup Crawl! Adults purchase a
wristband for $5 at Ten 10 Brewing Company and receive drink specials at
11 participating bars and businesses – Conrad’s Shanty, GB’s Bottle
Shop and Tasting Bar, Green House Realty, Gotkarma, Grape and The
Grain, Nora’s Sugar Shack, Ten 10 Brewing Company, The Brass Tap – Mills
50, The Guesthouse, The Thirsty Topher and Will’s Pub! The first 100
pups accompanied by an adult will receive a complimentary bandana! All
pups will receive a few treats! 50% of the wristband sales will be
donated to Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando! Pet Alliance will be at Ten
10 Brewing Company and The Brass Tap – Mills 50 with adoptable pups!
Many thanks to our sponsor Tito’s Handmade Vodka!

1pm to 4:30pm Free. Free Family Day on the Second Sunday. The Mennello Museum of American Art, 900 East Princeton Street, Orlando, FL 32803. The
make-and-take craft table is open from noon-2:30 p.m., and docents are
available to give mini-tours of the museum. Then it’s open house in the
galleries until 4:30 p.m.

Beth Marshall Presented Wilds as part of the New Works Series

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Beth Marshall‘s new work series presented new works by playwrights. There were over 170 submissions and just two plays winners were selected from the play writing contest. The inaugural New Works Series featured workshop play readings from Top Teen actors mixed of industry professionals. Pam Schwartz I went to Class Act Studios (11561 Lake Underhill Road, Orlando, Florida 32825) to sketch the first play by author Lisa VillaMil. Wilds is a surrealist play about intolerance, whose plot draws from
social and political events of the past year, including Brexit, the
United States’ election, Poland’s attempted total-ban on abortion, and
the Syrian refugee crisis, particularly in relation to Hungary. It is
told in a series of short interwoven scenes of various plot lines.

The show was directed by Tara Kromer. Stage manager, (Jazzlyn Whiddonn) read at playwrights notes to set up each scene. The first scene that really struck a chord was an office meeting with men surrounding a conference table and Phoebe, (Arianna Aviles) as the only female employee. The boss (Nick Serino) ran the meeting and any time Phoebe offered insight, she was cut off. One of her ideas was repeated by one of the male employees and the boss praised him for the concept. They wanted to market their product to a female audience but refused to listen to any idea Phoebe offered.  After the meeting, the boss cornered her and asked why she was being so aggressive by speaking out at the meeting. She had actually been quite meek. It was clear that a woman has to work so much harder to have her voice heard. Men can act like assholes and be rewarded for their contributions but woman must stay subservient. In another scene Phoebe sat on a park bench and a man literally walked up and sat in her lap because he hadn’t seen that she was there. She was becoming invisible.

A politician (Joshua Huff ) spoke about the need to close borders to keep the unwanted out of our country. Every misguided word seemed to have already been said by our present president. An immigrant named Dinah (Alexia Correa) managed to make her way across the border but she was stopped by border patrol. Her baby was taken from her as she faced detention. She asked everyone she talked to where her baby was and no one would answer her. Childless she was finally released and she wandered the street with a photo of her child asking anyone she met if they had seen her child. Anger and frustration turned her into a wild animal.

One scene involved a character talking about having an extra cone receptor in his eyes that lets him see far more color that the average person. I had just listened to a segment on WMFE radio about these trichromats. As an artist I hope I have this extra receptor. One person referred to my use of color as garish, and I have tended to mute the pallet since. The point didn’t really forward the plot in the play however. In another scene a man played the part of a female nurse advising Phoebe to not have an abortion. Gender was blurred for effect. The play became surreal as one woman disappeared and the other turned into a wild cat.

The play resonated with political subjects we are all experiencing now in America. Everyone in the audience but a 14 year old agreed that the play should be produced for the stage. Beth Marshall is producing plays this year that are written by women or minorities. She is well aware that her primary audience is old and usually looking for simple escapist entertainment. Despite this she wants to present them with challenging contemporary works that challenge the status quo.

On Saturday June 30, 2018, at 3 p.m. Beth Marshall presents The Top Teens Showcase, featuring the acting, singing, musical, technical, and
performance art talents of select young emerging artists that are
theatrically coached and mentored or adjudicated by Beth Marshall
throughout the season. Local veteran industry professionals adjudicate
and award scholarships as well as we will be launching the BMP and
Billy Manes Arts Activism Scholarship. Scholarships provided by: Beth
Marshall Presents, Florida Theatrical Association and The Billy Manes
Society.This will be at Class Act Studios – 11561 Lake Underhill Road, Orlando, FL 32825. Tickets are $15.

Weekend Top 6 Picks for June 23rd and 24th

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Saturday June 23, 2018

3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Beth Marshall Presents New Works Series (Wilds). ClassAct Studios 11561 Lake Underhill Road, Orlando, Florida 32825.

WILDS

By Lisa VillaMil

Director: Tara Kromer

Wilds is a
surrealist play about intolerance, whose plot draws from social and
political events of the past year, including Brexit, the United States’
election, Poland’s attempted total-ban on abortion, and the Syrian
refugee crisis, particularly in relation to Hungary. It is told in a
series of short interwoven scenes of various plotlines.

Dinah – Alexia Correa

Phoebe – Arianna Aviles

Man 1 – Nick Serino

Man 2 – Joshua Huff

Boy/Stage Manager- Jazzlyn Whiddon

Post Show Talk-Back!

Visit BethMarshallPresents.com for more details and to book your tickets.

Class Act Studios is located in the Harrington Center on the backside of the building.

6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Free but get a brew. The Bloody Jug Band. The Veranda Live 111 N Summerlin Ave, Orlando, Florida 32801. Drawing inspiration from historic JUG bands of the 1920’s and 30’s as
well as the darker side of Blues and Rock n’ Roll, the BLOODY JUG Band
carves out its own niche in a genre of music that has never seen such a
bloody incarnation.

7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Beth Marshall Presents New Works Series (Stuck). ClassAct Studios 11561 Lake Underhill Road, Orlando, Florida 32825.

STUCK

By Paris Crayton lll

Director: Clark Levi

Stage Manager: Gabriel Neil Barnert

From
the writer of BMP’s HOODIES and Trayvon Martin Project’s: Worthless,
and Spare The Rod comes Stuck. The story of thirty-something, Jacob who
is struggling with the acceptance of his homosexuality later in life
while at the same time discovering his girlfriend is pregnant. He seeks
counsel from his therapist who is battling her own demons. When faced
with what to do, Jacob’s life and mind are a whirlwind of poetry and
overwhelm. How will he move forward?

Cast:

Jacob – Stelson Telfort

Whitney – Kate Murray

Patricia – Dernika David

Jessica –Lizzie Black

Mike – Coletyn Hentz

Post show talk-back!

Visit BethMarshallPresents.com for more details and to book your tickets.

Class Act Studios is located in the Harrington Center on the backside of the building.

Sunday June 24, 2018

9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.  Crealde Urban Sketching Class 1 of 6. Crealde School of Art, 600 St Andrews Blvd, Winter Park, FL 32792. Tuition $275.

Instructor: Thomas Thorspecken

Location: Main Everest Campus

Duration: 6 Weeks

Learn to sketch from subject to the environment. Classroom sessions will
focus on sketching clothed models and progress towards sketching the
model and classroom environment. Learn how to incorporate storytelling
into your sketches in our location sessions. These trips to local venues
will challenge you to use your sketchbook the way a photojournalist
uses a camera. The six-week goal is to produce finished sketches using
pencil, pen, and watercolor within two hours. Skill level: Intermediate.

2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Irish Music. Olivia’s Coffee House, 108 N Bay St, Eustis, Fl. http://www.oliviascoffeehouse.com/

10 p.m. to Midnight Free but get a drink. Comedy Open Mic. Austin’s Coffee, 929 W Fairbanks Ave, Winter Park, FL. Free comedy show! Come out and laugh, or give it a try yourself. 

The Lieutenant of Inishmore.

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The Lieutenant of Inishmore by Martin McDonagh is definitely not for the faint of heart. This is the 15th and final production by Beth Marshal Presents at the Winter Garden Theater (160 W Plant St, Winter Garden, FL 34787.) The play is a very dark comedy about extreme Irish nationalists who are willing to spill blood for the smallest cause. The playwright said of this play, “I was trying to write a play that would get me killed.” The program lists a blood specialist and a blood director, so I knew going in that things might get messy.

Padraic (Zack Lane) was a street smart and violent Lieutenant of the Irish Republican Army. His one love in life is his black cat named Wee Thomas. The cat was in the care of Davey (Joseph Fabian) and Donny (Don Fowler), two innocent well meaning fools who open act one as they inspect the mangled body of a dead black cat. Davey brought the cat back to their place on his bicycle and they both realize they are in very big trouble because of Padraic’s violent temper. In the next scene Padraic is torturing a suspected drug dealer so his ill temper is confirmed. It was quite uncomfortable watching an actor hang upside down while he is threatened with having a nipple cut off.

Davey and Donny try and gloss over the issue of the dead cat by finding another cat and using boot black to try and make the cat black. On his return, Padraic is met by Mairead (Rachel Comeau) who attracts him by being as violent and crazy as he is. When they argue he aims a gun at her and she aims her air gun right at his privates at close range. The stand off garners respect.

Davey and Donny are blindfolded and bound ready for execution by Padraic as they kneel on the living room floor. Violence is interrupted by more bloody violence. Three “splinter group” IRA foot soldiers are blinded and then shot in the head at point blank range. This was incredibly uncomfortable to watch especially after the recent high school shooting in Parkland Florida. I found myself lurching with each blast of the theatrical guns. It was surprising that many in the audience would laugh as someones brains were blown out. The death of the cat resulted in four other senseless murders. The loss of a pet is a harsh reminder of our mortality. In the last act Davey and Donny discover that Wee Tommy, was actually alive. They both point their guns at the cat ready to kill it after all the violence they had just witnessed. They can’t pull the triggers and they give Wee Thomas a nice big bowl of cat food.

The play clearly points to the futility and pointlessness of violence and killing. Yet its comedic tone is confusing. Change the Irish accents to southern drawls and the play could be set in our backyard. Perhaps only in America can we laugh at staged violence a week after 17 children are murdered in a south Florida school. The pointless violence in Ireland has been going on for decades and it is a harsh mirror to look in as we see how violent America is. Our love of guns is a joke to other nations of the world. The play resulted in a long discussion on the drive home followed by a radio broadcast about the gun legislation that died a senseless death. Among the bills that died were ones that would have banned assault weapons sales and expanded background checks.

The play runs through February 25, 2018.

Commencement at Fringe.

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Commencement written by Clay McLeod Chapman was brought to this years Orlando International Fringe Festival by Beth Marshall Presents. Beth had wanted to bring the play to past Fringe Festivals, but it was never picked in the lottery.

The play began with the mother of the shooter (Beth Marshall) seated on stage among the ephemera of youth in the children’s wing of a hospital. A teddy bear leaned innocently against a plastic crate filled with toys. A jack-in-the-box sat on a small table next to her as she spoke. She recounted the tale of her son swallowing marbles to win the favor of a popular student. He nearly choked to death but his esophagus closed up forcing him to stop. It became clear that her son had been picked on his whole life. Beth was clearly emotionally shaken and on the verge of breaking down at any moment. She said she was sequestered away from the other moms, unable to share in their grief.

The mother of a shooting victim, (Jamie Middleton) took to the stage after Beth left. Jamie had lost a daughter. She was angry and bitter. Social workers and politicians had offered condolences but their words of comfort were not for her. She just wanted her daughter back. She had gone to the school commencement ceremonies to watch the other students graduate, she felt terror when her daughter’s name was skipped over. Her daughter had written an inspired commencement speech that she could never deliver.

In stark contrast, a student school library volunteer, (Rose Helsinger) bounced onto the stage with youthful vigor. She knew the shooter better than anyone else since he was well read. He used to write notes in the margins of books and she decided to become his friend by writing notes in response in the margins herself. They had a long clandestine conversation in the margins of multiple books throughout the shelves. It was a romantic meeting of minds, but she never acknowledged him in the halls. The thrill came from the mystery of their relationship. She recounted the fateful day when she heard a series of pops as she sat in class. It could be the drum corps but the rhythm was sporadic. She was surprised to see her mystery library pen pal enter her classroom. He wasn’t in her class. She thought he might have discovered who she was. There was an innocent thrill. But then she saw the gun and students dropped to the ground around her. She realized he didn’t know who she was and then she felt a tightness in her chest.

The young girl’s mom insisted that the shooter’s mom read her daughter’s commencement speech. In tears, Beth tried to read. This play is so powerful as it hits home in a community still recovering from the Pulse Nightclub shooting. The number of students shot was never clear but one number always came to my mind. The sadness was overwhelming. The performances stellar. A sobering show like this proves that the Fringe Festival isn’t all about fun and games, it also is a showcase for inspired serious theater.

The Whale pulls at every heart string.

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The Whale, written by Samuel D. Hunter, and Produced by Beth Marshall Presents will make its Central Florida Regional Premiere on March 18th. I arrived at a dress rehearsal about an hour before the run through of the show. Director, Rob Winn Anderson, wanted to revise several scenes that had kinks to be worked out. Ellie,Rachel Comeau read a book review she had written about Moby Dick. The play is book ended by her heart felt review, and it’s significance only becomes clear as her relation ship with her father Charlie, Michael Wanzie comes to light. The stage set by Tom Mangeri, felt like a diorama on stilts. At key moments in the play, blue and green lights would flicker on beneath the stage making it seem like the set were floating above dock moorings.

Charlie is effectively eating himself to death. His marriage to Mary, Beth Marshall, fell apart when he fell in love with another man. Estranged from his daughter, he wants to get to know her at the end of his life. He bribes her to spend time with him, by offering to help her with her school work, and offering her what turns out to be a sizable inheritance since he never leaves his apartment. Ellie is strong willed, smart, vicious, and sharp tongued but bored by school and her classmates.  She created a blog in which she complains about everyone she knows. 

Liz, Jamie Middleton, is Charlie’s health aid. She also seems scarred by life, and her morose barbed dialogue offers some of the shows biggest-laughs. Elder Thomas, Anthony Pyatt Jr. a Mormon missionary enters Charlie’s apartment to give Charlie gods word. When Liz finds Thomas preaching to Charlie she rips into his beliefs. When Ellie an Thomas meet, she manages to erode his holy facade and she has him smoking weed and confessing that he isn’t exactly who he claims to be. 


Ellie’s harsh embittered view of the world is fueled be be parents divorce. Charlie teaches an online writing course, and his lessons to his students reflect what he wishes he could pass on to his daughter. He implores his students to stop editing and rewriting every sentence. Instead, he begs them to just write from the heart. This brings us back to the moment when he asks Ellie to read her book review. The paper had been given an F because it was a review of the wrong book. Ellie was furious at her father and hadn’t bothered to read the review. She cursed her father’s request to read, not because she hated him, but because she loved him and was furious at how he had let his health go. She had written the book review years before and it highlighted how the book seemed to reflect what was happening in her own life. Although she was angered by life, this paper proved that she had a heart and cared a bout everyone around her. Anyone who could write such a heartfelt review would also have the talent to share many more stories that would touch others. My eyes welled up as she read her paper. Ellie’s eyes welled up as well. For the first time, Charlie rose from his chair and he struggled to cross the room to reach out the his daughter. She was amazing, beautiful and his life’s greatest accomplishment. 


The show combines humor with absolutely heart wrenching sadness. It celebrates what it truly means to be alive, and the strong bond of family even when it is dysfunctional. Although dark and bitter, the show also exudes hope, despite all odds. This
play was nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding
New Off-Broadway Play. It won a Lucille Lortel Award for Best Play and
won a Drama Desk Special Award for Significant Contribution to Theatre.


The Whale 

March 18 to April 3, 2016

Thursday 8pm, Friday 8pm, Saturday 2pm (April 2) & 8pm, Sunday 2pm
Industry Night: Monday, March 28

Winter Garden Theatre 160 W Plant St, Winter Garden, Florida

Tickets: $21 – $28

The Whale surfaces at the Winter Garden Theater.

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On June 22, 2015, I went to the Winter Garden Theater (160 W Plant St, Winter Garden, FL) to sketch auditions for “The Whale.” March 18th will be the Central Florida Regional Premiere of this play written by Samuel D. Hunter and staged by Beth Marshal Presents. I love sketching auditions, I get to witness so many talented actors that all bring their own creative take to the characters. This isn’t a story about a great white whale, but instead an intimate look at a father daughter relationship. 

On the outskirts of
Mormon Country, Idaho, a six-hundred-pound recluse hides away in his
apartment eating himself to death. Desperate to reconnect with his
long-estranged daughter, he reaches out to her, only to find a viciously
sharp-tongued and wildly unhappy teen. In this gripping and big-hearted
drama, The Whale tells the story of a man’s last chance at redemption,
and of finding beauty in the most unexpected places. This play was
nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New
Off-Broadway Play. It won a Lucille Lortel Award for Best Play and won a
Drama Desk Special Award for Significant Contribution to Theatre.

Cast
Charlie – Michael Wanzie
Ellie – Rachel Comeau
Liz – Jamie Middleton
Elder Thomas – Anthony Pyatt Jr.
Mary – Beth Marshall

Production Team
Rob Winn Anderson – Director
Anastasia Kurtiak – Stage Manager
David Merchant – Assistant Stage Manager
Tom Mangeri – Set Design
Amy Hadley – Light Design
J.G. Lantiqua – Sound Design
Marcy Singhaus – Costume Design

Dates:  March 18 to April 3, 2016
Thursday 8pm, Friday 8pm, Saturday 2pm (April 2) & 8pm, Sunday 2pm
Industry Night: Monday, March 28 

Tickets: $21 – $28
Special pricing for opening night, Thursday performances, seniors and students.

This show contains adult language and scenes. Recommended for mature audiences.

Beatnik brings flower power to the Venue.

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This is the third year that Beth Marshall Productions has brought Beatnik to The Venue, 511 Virginia Dr, Orlando, Florida. This year the title was, Beatnik Cubed: A 60’s Flashback. This was the 3rd and final installment of the unique, audience
interactive speak-easy 60’s theme one-night only event. Whether attending
for the first time or returning, all audience members will get into the
groove of enjoying a flashback of the 60’s. Many of the regular beats,
poets, freaks, geeks and gypsy artisans of every kind will be returning
along with some new acts and surprises. Fully immersive and interactive
theatrical experience. The pre-show was full of both entertainment, and
information about past installments.

 The premise of the show is that the cast is celebrating the birthday of  the fictional proprietor of the Venue, Adrian LePeltier. In the pre-show, the black clad Beatnik chicks stood on the stairway where they read a poem. A Varie Tease dancer,  Michelina Wingerter, performed an improvised interpretive dance to the poem. In this small living room area the cast mingles with the audience. There was also a performance in front of the Venue, but I returned to the theater to finish up the sketch I had started. 

 This sweeping variety show has everything. The Beat King Host, Samuel Butcher, was a cynical but rather funny drunk whose dark insights speak to artistic integrity above all else. The cast is divided into the colorful and carefree hippies and the dark brooding beats. All of Them have a love for the Venue and what it represents. 

One of my favorite performances in the show came from the husband and wife team of Tod and Christen Caviness as the Poet Guru and his Muse. Tod recited a poem about Jack Kerouac and the striving of his generation in the late 50’s and early 60’s. Christen performed a sensual dance that perfectly expressed the longing of a generation. Since this was a rehearsal and they didn’t have a baby sitter, their young son Carlin was part of the  performance. Tod held his grinning son in his arms as he belted out the epic poem. Carlin watched his mom dance in amazement. When she danced to the far side of the stage however, she was too far away. His face crinkled and he began to cry, softly at first, and then all out. In a pause in her dance Christen’s face reflected her heart felt concern. Tod lost track the poem in 1961 but then got right back in the groove, shouting over his sons tears. later in the show, as the whole cast danced on stage to “Let the Sun Shine”, Carlin was on Christen’s hip and smiled with joy as the cast danced around him. Unfortunately Carlin will not par for in the actual show, but his moments on stage were pure unrehearsed magic. 

Brett Carson performed the Bongo Beat. Dramatic moments were often accompanied by a bongo beat followed by the snapping of fingers rather than clapping. The audience becomes part of the action when note cards are handed out. Each member of the audience with a card was asked to shout out their word when the host pointed to them. Scrawled on my card was a word that rhymes with truck. “Should I really shout this out?” I thought. Perhaps I should just make up my own word.  The host pointed to me and I shouted “F*ck!” “Oh come on!” he shouted. “F*ck me like you mean it.” “F*ck!” I yelled. Other words included Woman, War, hate, and many others. Shouted in sequence they almost made sense.  That’s beat. Or is it? Snap, sap, snap.

  

Andy Haynes read a story about breaking up with cynicism and choosing vulnerability instead. When he got off stage, he kissed Julie Snyder. The spontaneous evening came to a screeching halt when everyone learns that their beloved Venue has been sold to an Ivanhoe Development company. Julie somehow managed to secure herself a job in the new venue which features an exercise gym. She was hilarious as she struggled do push ups and do jumping jacks. In a break, she asked me to give her big muscles in the sketch, but I sadly missed that sketch opportunity. It was hard to separate the affection felt for the real cast as opposed to the drama of the fictional cast. Billy Manes as Andy Warhol entered the Venue snapping photos of the audience in the final scene. Billy is famous for reporting on the twisted inner workings of local government. Perhaps this however was his 15 minutes of fame.

Barre Bellas tones muscles with dance stretches and strength.

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I went to ‘Barre Bellas‘ at 1061 South Sun Drive Suite 1121 Lake Mary Florida to sketch Dion Leonhard as she lead a strenuous dance workout. She has classes are every Monday and Wednesday starting at 10:30am and 11:30am. She also
offers private one-on-one classes. The full class line-up with other
teachers is available on the website.She also offers a dancer, theater, student,and performer discount at $15 per class and a package of 5 classes for $50. The package is good for a year. This discount is only available for her classes, so individuals interested need to contact her on Facebook or email Dion_Christine@yahoo.com smile emoticon.

Dion is a talented dancer and actress. I first sketched her years ago when she danced for Emotions Dance and now she is part of the quirky cast of Phantasmagoria, a Gothic Steampunk group that tells tales of horror. She has always been a master of classic ballet and modern dance. After the initial stretches on the pink yoga mats, everyone lined up at the barre at the front of the classroom. Stretches, with one foot up on the barre involved both strength and dexterity. One woman’s knees started to shake as she tried to hold the pose. Although the workout seemed simple enough, it clearly pushed everyone to their limit. I later learned that the one guy in the class, Stelson Telfort, was the actor who played Hooper in Beth Marshall Presents, Hoodies. After this group was finished with their workout, an individual women came in for a one on one instruction session. What a great opportunity to get fit and toned head to head with on of Orlando’s top talents.

Cosmolyrical grappled with life’s biggest questions in poetry.

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Phil Long in association with Beth Marshal‘s husband presented Cosmolyrical at this year’s Orlando International Fringe Festival. I met Phil just before his performance outside The Venue. He is from Washougal Washington State and is an airplane pilot when he isn’t writing poetry. A niece got him started writing poetry when she asked him to write lyrics for a rap song. Being a pilot means he is well traveled and he identified with sketches I had recently posted from Sydney Australia.

Cos-mo-lyr-i-cal A deeply personal and highly engaging performance poetry composition pertaining to the branches of astronomy and philosophy dealing with the apparent origin, history, structure, dynamics, elements, laws, and characteristics, of the observable universe including space, time, causality and mind. The performance was a cabaret style autobiographical slam poetry mash up where physics meets metaphysics, ancient wisdom dabbles in modern science and religion discovers doubts. The more that science discovers, the more mysterious the world seems. As he ponders mortality, he hopes for answers in religion, but there are more questions than answers.

When his father was murdered in his youth, the poet was forced down a path that few tread. He scorned the arrogance of wealth and power, preferring to see what really matters. Did he love or was he loved as a friend?

The most fascinating premise of this poem was the idea that all of creation might just be a poem. Could fundamental particles be verbs and nouns? Could all of creation hinge on our perception of its meaning? What if it’s all poetry? Then the ancient myths might seem more real and modern science is just beginning to discover the mysterious possibilities of creation.

Sketching while listening always fractures my perceptions. At times the poet seemed to mistake poetry for religion, but I admired that his faith wasn’t blind. He sought answers and used poetry to mine for meaning in life.