Key of E Load In

Posted on by Thor

 On August 20th, I went to The Venue to see the Key of E load in for their one week run. I got there about the same time as Helen, the tech for the show. As I sketched the empty stage, Andy Matchett pulled up to the theater with a truck full of set pieces, wood, monster parts and fabric. The garage door was opened on house right and several guys in the truck helped unload. One of them was wearing a boy scout uniform and I wondered if he would earn an apocalyptic merit badge. Soon the stage was cluttered.

Since there needed to be room for the band, a platform was constructed house right that essentially extended the stage. The first order of business was to hang huge black curtains on both sides of the stage to create very small wings where actors could not be seen when off stage. The tiny wall at the back of the stage was at a quirky angle because it sloped along with a wheel chair ramp that had to be installed to comply with city codes.

A large back lit screen had to be put on top off the wall, so a plank and two by fours were needed to level off the TV platform. Chaz Krivan and Evan Miga tackled the task. Chaz actually had an iPhone app that acted as a level. All the actors gradually trickled in and Brittany Wine, the stage manager, got them busy running lines and going over dance moves. Her task was to keep everyone on task so they could do a run through of the show at 8:30pm. Corey Volence was worried that some scenes would need to be re-blocked since there was no actual backstage where actors could go when not on the stage. There are close to a dozen actors if you count the band and special effects crew. Andy decided to run one exit scene where all the actors needed to get off stage. There was a major bottle neck as actors tried to get down the wheel chair ramp. They realized that at times some actors would literally need to exit the theater. It will all work out in the end. Christie Miga asked Andy how he would rate his anxiety level. He said it had leveled off at a solid 7.

Brittany Wine was pleased that she finally appeared in one of my sketches. She asked why I put her in a garbage can. The garbage can must be a stage prop and it was just chance that she stood behind it. As I finished my sketch, the cast was ready to do a run through of the show. As I left, I heard Andy begin to sing “I Just Can’t Wait for the Game to End!” The Key of E Kickstarter fundraising drive was a success so the full cast soundtrack is available!

Get your tickets for the return of the show at The Venue (511 Virginia Drive, Orlando, FL). Mark Your Calendar! You don’t want to miss the end of the world. Show times are…

Friday: 8/23 8 PM

Saturday: 8/24 8 PM

Monday: 8/26 8 PM

Thursday: 8/29 8 PM

Friday: 8/30 8 PM

Tickets are $10 pre-sale, and $15 at the door.

iDentify

Posted on by Thor

John DiDonna Productions in collaboration with choreographers McClaine Timmerman and Jill Lockhart presents
“IDentify”
An original dance experience. I went to a rehearsal at The Venue, (511 Virginia Drive, Orlando, Florida). There were just two dancers there when I arrived, Darcy Ricciardi and Elise Frost. Brittany Wine entered and began organizing the chairs. It became obvious that this was the first time the show was being performed at The Venue. Blue Star, who owns The Venue, came in and welcomed everyone. I decided I wanted a high vantage point, so I asked Helen, The Venue’s stage manager, if I could climb up into the Tech booth. She was fine with that and even found me a stool.

The show fused elements of hip hop and modern dance, It presented a multimedia exploration of how we as individuals and as a society find, lose, transform, and express our identities as we progress through life. The performance, offered a synthesis of dance, videography, music, spoken word, and photography. It was both a lighthearted and somber commentary on the human experience. It delved deep into the question we all seek to answer:
“Who am I?”

Before the full run through of the show, McClain addressed the cast, “You should give everything you got tonight. I’ll be the only one in the audience and I am your biggest fan. I love you all and support your every effort.”  That love, support and camaraderie was felt as the cast stretched and interacted together, and it flowed through the whole show. One of the dancers, Kim Matovina, looked exactly like McClain. I kept looking back and forth doing double takes. It made me wonder, what makes McClain unique? How is it I could misidentify her?

The show began with three females in tight black dresses putting on red high heeled shoes. They read fashion magazines and a narrator explained to them how dress to catch a man. Caffeine was out and they should drink eight cups of water a day.  When they held the magazines up over their faces, it was like a mask showing the fashion model’s face replacing their own. That would be the image I’d want to catch for the show’s poster. Elise gave a hilarious hyper monologue talking to the audience at 90 miles an hour. She would try and calm herself down with quick bouts of yoga breathing. She was laugh out loud funny!

Video presented scenes of the dancer’s everyday lives, jobs, friends warmth and angst. In one clip, McClain danced freely on a foot bridge and her dog padded up to her with curiosity. Lovers lay side by side watching as the other slept. It became clear that the dancers were sharing everything, their doubts and convictions. It was heart warming to watch, even as I battled with line and color upstairs. They drew me in and warmed me.

WHEN: Only three performances remain…
Tonight, Friday April 26th- 7:30pm,
Saturday April 27th- 7:30pm,
and Sunday April 28th- 2:30pm

WHERE: The Venue, Orlando
511 Virginia Drive, Orlando, FL 32803
Ivanhoe Village
www.thevenueorlando.com

TICKETS: $15.00 general / $12.00 student and senior
For reservations please call (407) 721-3617 beginning March 2013 – cash only at door
For credit card pre-orders please use www.redchairproject.com beginning in April 2013

Phantasmagoria

Posted on by Thor

I went to a dress rehearsal for Empty Space Theater Company’s, Phantasmagoria III in the Patron’s Room at the Lowndes Shakespeare Center. The circular room was magically transformed into a circus ring. Suspended below the circular dome was a circular screen which was used for projections. The rehearsal began with a 7PM fight choreography session. Even rehearsed at 1/4 speed, the sword fight was strangely menacing in the small space.

John DiDona, the director, then circled up all the actors to hold hands before a complete run through of the show. He told the cast, “Every story is important. We are dangerous, we have seen to much.” Someone shouted, “Merde!”, or was it “Murder? The room went dark as actors took their places. Two clowns in simple black suits began wrestling with boxes in the ring to comic effect. John let me know that this was the 13 minute pre-show that went on as the audience filtered in.

The Phantasmagoria cast tells some of the classic horror stories incorporating music, dance, puppetry and drama to sinister effect. The Tell Tale Heart, by Edgar Allan Poe made great use of projections on the overhead screen with chipped wall paint patterns and then  giant eye as the narrator discussed the cold blooded, highly thought out plot to kill his neighbor, an old man. The whole cast recreated the sound of the heart with guttural verbalization. It was creepy. The Cold Embrace told the tale off an artist who fell in and out of love with a cousin. Heart broken, the cousin died and then returned to haunt the fickle artist, embracing him with her invisible cold fingers.

The dark show was filled with dancing skeletons, a giant bloodthirsty wolf and beings in the darkness that were hard to identify. The ringmaster was barefooted, because corpses are barefooted in the morgue, Brittany Wine explained. Characters at times stood behind me as they whispered their lines sending a chill down my spine. The circular room is intimate, small, with no room to escape. These were classic tales told with drama and effect. Now in it’s third year, the show keeps growing and evolving along with it’s characters, each of whom had a dark painful back-story.

When: October 12-31st,  8:30 p.m.

Venue: Lowndes Shakespeare Center, Patron’s Room

Address: 812 E. Rollins St.

Phone: (407) 328-9005

Web Site: http://www.redchairproject.com

Price: $20

Dog Powered Robot and the Subsequent Adventure.

Posted on by Thor

I arranged to meet the cast of Dog Powered Robot at the loading door of the Orange Venue at the Orlando International Fringe Festival. As I approached the green lawn of fabulousness, I realized I didn’t know where the Orange venue was. I decided to go inside the Shakes and that was a correct guess. Brittany Wine, the DPR stage manager was at the stage door in a stunning red dress. I asked about the loading door and she lead Gina Makarova and myself through a maze of hallways and back doors. Gina was using crutches and had on a temporary cast. It seems her cello had decided to wrestle her to the ground.

The DPR army gathered behind the theater along with a small mountain of cardboard robot parts and set pieces. Grace “Scully” Nolan had seen the DPR billboard on the drive over and the server saw her Blue DPR shirt and commented on how she loved Dog Powered Robot.  The servers name was Destiny which forebode a super awesome performance. Fisher was a furry bundle of energy and he barked his welcome an more people arrived. Evan Miga explained that a life sized VW van would drive across the stage Flintstones style, giving this Fringe show effects bigger than the helicopter in Miss Saigon or the Phantom’s chandelier. . The metallic garage door opened, Christie Miga picked up Fisher and the DPR Army started moving the corrugated cardboard city inside.

I thought I wanted to sketch backstage, but most of the robot parts were out on the floor of the theater. I sat in a front row theater seat, but the arms were too restrictive so I ended up sitting on my artist seat partly on stage. Brittany announced, “5 minutes to house open!” and someone shouted back “Thank you 5!” I couldn’t believe it, my sketch was barely blocked in. I would have to finish as the show progressed. Cast members in black outfits with black helmets with red miner’s lights roamed the room scanning with a long pole with a spinning light rainbow device. They muttered to each other in an alien dialect reminiscent of a Muppet’s song. The rear projection screen announced that they were Ninja Noids and were invisible. That didn’t stop the Ninja Noids from interacting with the audience as they arrived. There was playful theater magic from the start. I sketched Vic-16, (Corey Violence) and Commodore, (Zach Scot) but they only had bit parts to introduce the play.

Lolly Bot (Serafina Schiano) was delightful and she was given time to shine. Audience members were offered a $1 discount if they showed up as a robot. Her counter part, a punk purple bot, Scraperella Overdrive, played by Jennifer Guhl, added sass and attitude to the show. The villain was a grumpy old neighbor who had robotic arms played by John Moughan, and by the end of the show he had used the embigi-fication matrix to extend his reach with many giant arms. I will not give away any of the plot points other than to say that the friendly blue Dog Powered Robot saved the day. The show had the audience laughing out loud and they cheered for Fisher, the little Pomeranian at the heart of the bright blue bot. The show returned to the dreams of the big city ideals that were
endearing in the short production two years ago. It is hard to recreate the energy and surprise of that initial production. Call it destiny or call it fate, the show was a super
awesome mega win!

Show times are:

Wednesday 5/23 at 5:15PM

Thursday 5/24 at 7:45PM

Saturday 5/26 at 1:15PM

Sunday 5/27 at 3:15PM

Tickets are $11.

Limit (ed/less)

Posted on by Thor

I made my way to an industrial complex in Pinecastle where Limit (ed/less), Directed by McClaine Timmerman, was holding a rehearsal. This show will include modern dance, multi media, and spoken word exploring the limitations and limitless realities of our daily lives. What a perfect way to bring in the new year brushing away past regrets and striving towards a limitless future.

It was after dark when I arrived, and the building looked ominous and deserted. I searched for the “A” unit where the rehearsal was to take place. A black truck was running, parked in front of the entrance. As I walked around it, the brake lights went on and I was afraid it might back up into me. As I walked past the passenger door, I heard someone say my name. Brittany Wine was in the drivers seat. She let me know that McClaine hadn’t arrived yet. I sat in my artists seat, leaned against the building and took a phone call. McClaine and all the dancers seemed to arrive all at once. Inside was a typical office building. Rehearsal was held in a large empty conference room.

The show has a cast of eight with Jimmy being the only guy. The women dancers warmed up and stretched behind four movable panels of bars. What followed was a quick walk through of the show. Scenes weren’t acted out, they all were just piecing the show together paying attention to the overall flow. Then dancers changed and they began a full run of the show. This was the first time all the dancers were together. At first everyone walked on stage, questioning to themselves their lot in life. They froze in shapes of thoughtful contemplation, searching for memories. As each dancer in turn stood center stage and spoke of hope or questioned courage. Dale moved swiftly, a space eater. Two dancers performed a pained piece where they mused that perhaps, “It didn’t happen.” They didn’t ask for it to happen. The dance expressed deep regret and pain. I welled up, my mind shifting to a horrible incident that I had heard about.

I was thankful when humor flooded the next scene. The four panels enclosed the cast in a tight elevator and each persons inner dialogue played on a sound track as you could read their subtle expressions. They were uncomfortably close. Kim grimaced when Jimmy brushed her hand. Had someone not bathed? Who farted? A romantic solo dance in a blue dress with tons of tool was charming. The dancer just wanted to be wanted. There was humor in the way she expressed that she would be missed. Would she be remembered?

McClaine and Jimmy Moore sat center stage as an established couple. Tall white letters spelled “LOVE” on her black T-shirt. She wanted him to express his inner feelings to her and quite simply he didn’t get it. She felt like she was having a conversation alone. How often have I been there. They both read. She asked him to massage her knee. As he did, a tall leggy dancer in a form fitting black dress asked him for a light. She flirted and his head turned to watch her walk away. Again and again, beautiful dancers in leopard print got his attention. Looking up from her magazine McClaine asked, “Why are you sweating?”

McClaine Timmerman is a master at being able to express a universal inner yearning using modern dance and spoken word. A solo dance she performed in which she struggled against the constraints of a corset seemed to me to be the signature dance of the show. In a struggle, laces were loosened and in spoken word she mused about freedom to change and yet wanting to keep the unfailing consistency of her identity. In dance, she reached out in supplication. She threw off her period high heals but in the end, sitting like a rag doll, she reached behind her and tightened the corset back up. This is a raw honest show that pushes the limits of what can be expressed through dance.

Performance Dates:
January 13th 8pm
January 14th 8pm
January 15th 2pm

Location:
Orlando Rep Theater (The Black Box)
1001 East Princeton St
Orlando Fl 32803

Tickets:
$15 cash or check only
call or email McClaine for reservations (not required)
407-721-3617 mrougemac@me.com

Phantasmagoria

Posted on by Thor

It would be a fiendish, horrific tragedy if you didn’t get to see Phantasmagoria. Tonight is the final show starting at 8:30pm at the Orlando Shakespeare Theater’s, Mandell Theater. I arrived early and started blocking in my sketch before the audience arrived. I love these final moments as the actors stretch, warm up and joke to break the tension. The actors gathered in a circle and held hands. Director, John DiDonna said, “Lets build a bridge to next year. Make these final performances fiendishly dangerous. See you on the other side guys.” Brittany Wine shouted out, “Love you all!”

All the actors layed down on the floor and they were covered with black blankets. John warned, “We have a full house tonight with 98 people. Check your extremities, don’t leave anything sticking out.” A female voice boomed over the sound system, “Five minutes to house open.” Members of the cast shot back, “Thank you five.” The room grew deadly quiet and then the audience walked in to find their seats. One actor rose quietly, the blanket still covering him to strike a ringmasters theatrical pose. As the blankets were lifted off, the actors came to life in their costumes of blood red and black. The costumes designed by Jennifer Bonner were lavish and stunning. A scrim behind the actors often acted as a screen for projections of animations and titles.

Each of the acts were built around horrific folklore and poetry. Edgar Allen Poe’s “Masque of the Red Death” resulted in the whole cast dancing, celebrating and then succumbing to the pestilence of the red death. No one was spared. Phantasmagoria was a whimsical and horrific poem by Lewis Carol.

“Allow me to remark
That ghosts have just as good a right,
In every way to fear the light,
As men to fear the dark.”

I enjoyed “The Picture of Dorian Grey“. In this act a painter created a stunning portrait of Dorian Grey. When Dorian viewed the painting, he saw it morph, revealing his inner dark self. The picture took on a horrific visage because Dorian was morally bankrupt. In the end Dorian died taking on the horrible appearance in the portrait and the painting returned to its former splendor. A life sized skeletal puppet was used to portray his inner self to great effect.

Music of Eric Satie played during an elegant and beautiful aerial act. Tiny Gina Makarova performed on a suspended hoop while Mila Makarova and Dion Smith performed suspended in silks. Satie’s music expressed the melancholy inner yearning of the creative spirit and the women floated weightless in its ethereal embrace.

The most stunning puppet was the Jabberwocky from Alice in Wonderland. An actor on stilts acted as the hind legs of the creature and a long silver spine snaked down from head to tail. The head was immense being controlled by a strong puppeteer. A small army was needed to control the beast. I wish I had been fast enough to get a sketch. This show is the perfect Halloween treat.