Trading Soles at Fringe.

Posted on by Thor

I went to a rehearsal of Trading Soles written by Franco Colon. This show is a Bring Your Own Venue production. BYOV venues allow for more choices off of the usual Fringe lawn epicenter of the festival. The rehearsal space was off set from the road so it wasn’t easy to find. Actress Crysta Marie guided us in. The empty showroom had a two beds and several night stands. Bodies were lying on the floor.

Director Joseph Adam Gonzolez quickly explained the shows premise. BEN (Justin Cortes), an awkward freshman, meets his new roommate in college, ELI, (Franco Colon)an
arrogant, charming sophomore. BEN and ELI are complete opposites and do
not get along due to their differences. Ben has enough and tries to
move out of the dorm, but that’s when the chaos begins. Just when things
couldn’t get worse, they switch bodies. ELI sleeps
in his shoes and then they talk about walking in someones steps. They
wake up to find they are in each other’s bodies, more like trading
souls.

BEN and ELI have no choice but
to come together and figure out what in the world just happened. ELI is a closeted gay, and towards the end of the play while in his friends body, he comes out to Ben’s, mom (Crysta Marie). Her scream scared me half out of my whits. I wasn’t expecting it.

I only got to see the last few scenes of the play. I’m not sure why bodies littered the floor. The sketch was finished in a panicked flash.

TRADING SOLES remaining show times:
Thursday, May 25th, 10 PM
Saturday, May 27th, 7 PM
Sunday, May 28th, 4:30 PM

TICKET PRICING:
$10.00 Fringe Button (Sold at Breakthrough Theater 421 W Fairbanks Ave, Winter Park, FL 32789) $9.00 + $1.25 ticketing fee (ONLINE or AT FRINGE BOX OFFICE ONLY. TICKETS WILL NOT BE SOLD AT BREAKTHROUGH)

Cabaret at the Bay Street Players in Eustice.

Posted on by Thor

I had never seem Cabaret before, except for a you tube video clip of the song “Willkomen”. It was a long drive from Orlando and I arrived a few minutes late. The theater was already dark and I stood in the back of the theater to let my eyes adjust. There was no chance I would find my seat number printed on the ticket. I asked if a seat was open and I believe the director David Gerrard suggested I find a seat in the back of house left.

The story is straight forward but exotic. American Clifford Bradshaw, (Austin Langford) arrived in Berlin hoping to live cheaply and write his first novel. His landlady, Fraulein Schneider, (Terri Lea Myers) begrudgingly allowed him to rent a room for a reduced rate. Her solo, “So what?” describes  her life of pain and compromise. She was excited to get a tenant who wasn’t a prostitute. Cliff is quickly invited out by another tenant to a club where the exotic and sensual nightlife became the norm for life in the big city on the verge of World War II. At the club, Cliff met dancer and singer Sally Bowels (Gabby Brown). She quickly found her way into his life, becoming his roommate and then lover.

Sally’s title song “Cabaret” is towards the end of the show and it is filled with lost hope and longing. Gabby’s singing was inspired. Sally hit rock bottom because she was unable to see the horrors to come and escape when a window of hope opened. Though a seedy life, being a cabaret singer has the false allure of fame. Kit Cat girl Crysta Marie helped get me in for the sketch opportunity, so of course I watched her every dance move on stage. Some girls had lipstick lips painted comically large but the excess was just enough.

The shows menacing central theme surfaces when Herr Schultz (Lloyd Holder) and Fraulein Schneider have an engagement party. One party goer was a member of the Nazi Party and his intolerance and hatred broke up the festivities. The theme hit close to home because today in America hatred and divisiveness seem to the the norm.

I have to applaud choreographer Amanda Warren who worked out some sensual and inspired dance routines, which are the cornerstone of the production. The Emcee (Eduardo Rivera) gave  a sensual and playful performance. He mocked authority and delighted in the decadent.Thick stage make up and scanty outfits made him a delight to watch. When the Nazi forced the crowd to sing a German anthem, the emcee lifted his trench coat to show a huge swastika drawn on his right butt cheek. The audience gasped and laughed.

The final number, “Willkomen” was about how the club was a safe place where everyone could be themselves, playfully lewd and lascivious. Everyone was beautiful, from the dancers to the piano player (Eric Branch). This sentiment mirrored words I have heard so often about the Pulse nightclub. There people felt safe to be themselves, but hatred made its way inside. Hate in the play was symbolized by a single brick dropped to the floor that reminded us all of Krystal Nacht when German youths destroyed Jewish merchants businesses. The implied threat of violence to come, reminded me of the violence that took 49 lives in one night here in Orlando. Herr Schultz ignores the threat believing it will pass and in my gut I am screaming, “Wake up!” The ever playful and sensual emcee dropped his trench coat to the floor to reveal a tattered concentration camp outfit. In Orlando life has returned to normal for most as their life goes on. Although there have been so many signs of love and acceptance since the Pulse shooting, The GLBT community still faces hate and intolerance daily. I keep hoping Orlando is moving towards a brighter future, but it is so much easier to repeat history. Will it be a profit of doom or a celebration and escape in a cabaret?

The show runs through May 14th. Tickets are $18 to$21.

Put down the knitting, the book and the broom
It’s time for a holiday
Life is a cabaret, old chum
So come to the cabaret

Young Frankenstein at the Historic State Theater

Posted on by Thor

Only two days after the shooting at Pulse, I went to the Historic State Theater, (109 N Bay St. Eustis, FL) to see a dress rehearsal of Young Frankenstein directed by Brendon Rogers.  Crysta Marie, made the arrangements to have me come and sketch. She made me feel right at home. Brendon told me about an animated project that was still in the development stages.

I am quite familiar with the Mel Brooks, Young Frankenstein film, but had never seen the music at stage production. The set wasn’t complete, and some props were still needed, but it was a clean run of the show. In my sketch, I focused on , doctor’s sexy assistant, and then when I drew his wife, she turned out to be monstrously tall. She is as tall as the monster himself and therefor they seem a perfect match.

The Monster’s soft shoe stage routine might have made a more iconic image, but I catch what I catch in the heat of the moment.  I worked from the upper balcony which is just used for lighting equipment and storage. The riot of wires and lights would have made for another great sketch. There just wasn’t enough time. Distracted by the barrage of Pulse related vigils and fundraisers I unfortunately didn’t post this sketch in time to promote the show. Those who went most have had a fun time.Shockingly, I wrote this article on the d that Gene Wilder died at the age of 83. I didn’t know it at the time, it just showed up as I was doing other research. Rest in Peace Gene, you we a comic genius.

Triassic Paraq features singing Dinosaurs.

Posted on by Thor

Triassic Parq roars into the Brown venue inside the John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center. This is a music or about Dinosaurs. There are two dinosaur musicals at Fringe the year, so don’t mistake Triassic Parq for Dino World. All of the dinosaurs in Triassic Parq are female to avoid breeding. One dinosaur however grows a large limb between her legs. Prior to the rehearsal, [ was

with the cast in the parking lot and overheard y actress say, ” Does this deck be make my as look big?” This is a question you you might only hear at Fringe. It was hilarious watching y actress trying to navigate h way around the stage. If you sit in the front row you are very likely going to get slapped be it. To get close to another actress, she had to sling it over her shoulder.

This musical has plenty of energy and in the intimate venue, the actors did it need to wear mics. During the rehearsal they went over the choreography of severe numbers with Crysta Marie, before doing a full run through of the show. The dinosaurs live an insular life that sanctions new going beyond the fence. The lead dinosaur character wears your pie striped pants while his parents wear blue and red stripped pants. Mix blue and red and you get purple, get it?   A funny musical meditation on faith, science, and love. This show is well worth seeing.

Venue: Brown | Length: 90 Min

Price: $10 (Disc: FA)

Rating: 18 and up – Language, Strong Sexual Content

Remaining shows: 

May 28, 1pm to 2:30 pm

May 29, 11am to 2:30pm