Phantasmagoria

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This was to be Phantasmagoria‘s first live performance in about 2 years. John DiDonna the company’s founder took every imaginable precaution to keep his cast safe during rehearsals. A custom build HEPA filter with a large fan recirculated air in the rehearsal space and all the cast was vaccinated.

Performances were scheduled on a train and they were told that everyone would be masked on board. When the cast arrived they found that few were masked among the train crew and audience, so the performers had to walk.

John let me know that the theater they were performing at in Orlando required vaccination cards and photo IDs. Therefor I felt relatively safe to venture out and experience live theater again.

I knew the Shakespeare Theater required vaccination cards since I had just sketched Every Brilliant Thing. For some reason I figured Phantasmagoria was at the Shakes. When I got there the folks in the ticket booth were confused. Phantasmagoria was not at the Shakes, it was downtown at the Dr Phillips Performing Arts Center. We still had about half an hour before curtain time so Pam drove like a New York taxi driver to try and get us there on time. Downtown traffic near the Arts Center slowed to a crawl. Pam realized that it was Pride weekend and some event must be slowing things down. A car broke down in front of us and I decided to hop out into traffic and run to the theater to pick up the tickets. She managed to valet park and we met in the lobby.

I have had my vaccination card in my wallet for the past 6 months assuming someone would ask for it eventually. I gave it and my drivers license to the security in the lobby. The government in their wisdom used cheap disappearing ink on the vaccination card. It was more that a challenge to read the faint ghostly lettering. My intrepid guards checked it under a flash light and managed to pick out my name and some dates. One joked that she got to put o her Nancy Drew hat. Panting, we got to the theater entrance with moments to spare.

An usher pointed out our seats which were in the center of a row with everyone pressed shoulder to shoulder. A guy had his mask off in his lap and when asked by the usher to put it on he pointed at his drink. I suddenly realized that I wasn’t comfortable shoving my way into those seats, even if these folks were vaccinated. We stood in the aisle and debated. There was an empty row behind the one the usher wanted us to press into, so we decided to wait until the lights went down and then we sat behind the masses. We were still only a few feet from the couples in front of us but at least we were breathing down their necks rather than the other way around. Behind us was an open row. We caught our breaths behind our KN95 masks. The house was dark, so I could not see the marks I put on the page.

The performance was awesome. I was impressed by the projections that played with each macabre story. The idea behind Phantasmagoria is simple. They are a troupe of Victorian storytellers whose stories become all too real, and once a story is begun, it must be finished, regardless of the consequences. I think my favorite story was Edgar Allen Poe‘s the Fall of the House of Usher. Between stories there was dance and fire choreography. John performed as a fabulous demon barber with his outlandish outbursts of laughter. Puppetry played a part as the cast battled a huge 10 foot high Golem.

It was inspiring to see live theater again. It was so nice to get lost in the Victorian horrors to forget for a moment the everyday horrors of this pandemic.

Lottery tickets at the Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Certer.

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There are affordable tickets to the Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center. Brian Feldman a performance artist who now resides in Washington DC, returned to Orlando to surprise his parents this holiday season. The family decided to see “The Book of Mormon“. At 5:30pm there is a lottery for $25 tickets to the show. The Feldman family was at the front of the line. Names were taken and placed in one of those rotating lottery ticket cages. Perhaps 30 people stood in line.

A group of teens were playing, “Name that Sondheim Show”.  The MC knew all the shows, but her friends were Steven Sondheim illiterate. I felt like I should shout out the answers but I kept to myself. She tried to explain “Sunday in the Park with George“. “Its difficult to explain, the whole show is about this large painting of people in a park.” she explained. At 6pm the first names were drawn. Everyone crowded around the announcer hoping their name would be next. When a name was called out there would be gleeful cheers and clapping. The last name called only got a few disappointed claps. The lottery losers dispersed. None of the Feldman’s won the lottery.

Brian had wandered off to find a cash machine because lottery tickets could only be paid for with cold hard cash. I never did see him that night. His Mom, Marilyn, was in the box office in a bit of a panic. She didn’t have cash and so she couldn’t purchase fer full price ticket.  A friend offered to pay for her. Since so few people know about this lottery, your chances of winning are pretty good. As I hiked back to my car, I over heard a couple who had lost the lottery but had been offered winning tickets from another group that had won to many times.

The Bay Street Players presented Legally Blonde The Musical.

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Amanda Warren the director of Legally Blonde The Musical invited me to the historic State Theater to sketch the show. I’ve seen the movie, “Legally Blonde”, but never the musical. The theater is located in Eustis which turned out to be quite an adventurous drive north. The lobby was quite crowded when I arrived. It turned out that the computer system was down and so staff was shuffling through stacks of tickets while patrons waited. Amanda got on stage to introduce the show. I was surprised by the high cost to purchase the rights to stage the show. Thankfully the house was sold out.

The musical was fun and light hearted. Elle played by Meredith Pughe pursued her man, but in the end realized it was more important to pursue her dreams.  The multi level set designed by Tom Mangieri and Scott Fattizzi was quite impressive with an entire wall that could rotate to morph the stage into a courtroom. The upbeat musical direction was by Andy Matchett off stage. Bruiser, Katie Scarlett Baker, the tiny chihuahua seemed like a dear in the headlights while Rufus, Zoe Carpenter, the basset hound stole his scenes by exploring the stage to comic effect.

It is surprisingly easy to be swept away in this valley girl’s rise to self awareness. The music was fun and the show moved along at a fast pace. It was an incredibly ambitious production with over forty actors involved. The show proves that small community theaters are already thriving as the Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center opens its doors in downtown Orlando for the first time.

The Next Round

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On October 9, 2013 I went to the Orlando City Hall Rotunda, (400 South Orange Avenue, Orlando, FL) to attend a fundraiser that aimed to help build awareness and raise the funds necessary to preserve Orlando’s architectural history. There was a raffle, silent auction, refreshments and live entertainment.

Commissioner Patty Sheehan has been instrumental in the mission of the title sponsor of Next Round, Nils M. Schweizer Fellows – Central Florida Modern, to promote awareness and seek the preservation of Florida’s mid-century modern architecture. They are a non-profit corporation composed of design enthusiasts who have united to advance this cause.

With the Construction of the New Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center across the street from city hall, the unique round American Federal Building faces demolition. Although the building can’t be saved, they hope to preserve a unique honey comb shaped cement structure known as the Brise Soleil. They are helping to raise private funds to save the Brise Soleil and use it in other locations, thus saving a part of Downtown Orlando History.

A total of $300,000 needs to be raised to remove and preserve all the panels. The city of Orlando has agreed to match any funds donated up to $70,000. How and where they use the Brise Soleil has yet to be determined. There have been dozens of submissions from architects throughout the world offering creative ideas on how to use the panels. The Brise Soleil may be used in sections in different ways in different locations throughout the City or in one defined locale. For
instance, some or all of it could be use as a sculpture or set into the
ground as a decorative path or even as a sun screen (its originally
intended purpose).While the details are brought into focus, the fund-raising efforts must persist in order to save this piece of history, so it is not lost forever once The Round Building is demolished. Evan Miga prepared a short film that outlines the plans for the Brise Soleil.

Sarah Segal was at the fundraiser. It turns out that her father Bob Murphy had designed the Round Building which was built in 1963. Sarah that morning had been looking through letters and documents of her fathers. The round building had been a milestone for him, a turning point in his carrier and a labor of love. As she explained, “My
mother was born in Narcoossee and met my father during WWII when many
servicemen came thru Orlando. After marrying they stayed in Orlando, because Dad saw Orlando as a city of the future with room for
modern architecture. This project was a joy for my father, from concept
to completion and beyond. He regularly visited and enjoyed knowing the
people who worked in the round building.” 

The River Bottom Nightmare Band performed at the base of the stairwell in the rotunda. They performed Cajun music, even using a spoon and washboard at one point. There were seats set up but I was the only person sitting and facing the band. Everyone preferred to stand and mingle.

Food Not Bombs

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Every Wednesday at 5PM and Mondays at 8:30AM, Food Not Bombs sets up outside City Hall (400 South Orange Ave. Orlando FL), to feed the hungry. When I arrived people were going through clothes needed for warmth. The as of yet unfinished, tax payer funded, Multi-Million dollar Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts loomed behind them, the steel beams glowing orange in the setting sunlight. Two steel arches from a sculpture arched overhead. Someone asked me what time the food arrived. I must have looked like I was supervising since I was working on the sketch. I let him know that this was the first time I was at this particular feeding site.

Food Not Bombs used to set up in Lake Eola Park but some antiquated city ordinance states that you can not feed more than 25 people in a city park. Apparently people didn’t feel comfortable having homeless and hungry people gathering in the park. Food Not Bombs volunteers were arrested for feeding too many hungry people. Lawyers for the Food Not Bombs defendants argued that feeding the hungry was in their rights since it promoted their free speech and political views.  Court cases were won and lost in an endless cycle of litigation. Finally they were told they could set up at City Hall.

The feeding station was set up to my left as I sketched. The people who came were offered food quickly and efficiently. People sat on the benches and steps around me but no one sat on my bench. It was going to be a cold night but at least folks had warm healthy vegan food without any preaching.

Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center

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Rachel Steele invited me to go to the Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center construction site for a hard hat tour. Site supervisors Joe Brown and Joe Westgate met us in one of the construction site trailers. Rachel and I were issued reflective vests and hard hats. I had been instructed to wears long pants and close toed shoes. Since I always wear hiking boots, it was easy to comply.  I was read some safety instructions and then we were off.

We walked the muddy path to the Arts Center’s skeletal structure. With Isaac looming in the Caribbean, Rachel asked how the  construction cranes ride out a hurricane. Joe explained that they are loosened and allowed to swing freely in the wind like a weather vane. Two towers stood apart from the rest of the theater complex. These will one day be stair wells. A large iron grid work structure was being assembled on the ground and it would be raised up to act as a support between the stairwell and the theater entrance. One such structure was already in place. We walked to the southern edge of the site to get a view of the Disney Theater that will seat 2700 people when it is complete. The proscenium was in place but re-bar was still being placed for the seating area. A large orchestra pit was lined in cement and a few balconies were assembled at the back of the hall. This space is intended for amplified performances including concerts, children’s shows and Broadway productions.

A smaller community theater will be in the center of the complex. Seating 300 people, the Jim and Alexis Pugh Theater will have a thrust stage for more intimate productions. A third Multi-Form Music Hall has yet to be started. Seating 1700 people it is impressive in that central seating rows can literally flip over using hydraulics to open up the space and even the walls move to adjust the space. A building was just demolished where this state of the art theater will stand but construction can not begin until more funds are raised.  The city is going to issue bonds to help raise funds. Construction on the two theaters started along with an arts education area and a huge outdoor plaza is slated to be completed by April of 2014. It was exciting to be on site imagining the future. Up in the Arts Center’s offices in the round building on the corner of Anderson and Orange Avenue, I met the Arts Center mascot, a calm white bull dog named Lilly. From the top floor, I had an amazing view of the whole construction site. Dark clouds loomed slate grey behind the city hall as wind whipped sand and grit in my eyes as I leaned into the wind to get back to my car. Children’s art whipped in the wind fluttering on the fence surrounding the site.