The Explorer’s Club sweeps into the Mad Cow with hilarity.

Posted on by Thor

While walking downtown to go to The Explorer’s Club dress rehearsal at the Mad Cow Theatre, I saw a fun run poster that announced, “We bring the hilarity to charity.” This predicted the tone for the entire evening. Perhaps a dozen people sat in the audience for the dress rehearsal. Written by Nell Benjamin the show runs from January 22 through February 22.  The comedic farce debuted in NYC’s off-Broadway in 2013.

It’s a crisis in 1879 London when the members of the prestigious Explorers Club are threatened by the potential membership of…a woman! Eric Pinder as botanist Lucius Fertway is responsible for nominating the woman, who is the accomplished explorer, prim and proper Phyllida Spotte-Hume played by Heather Leonardi . She’s made an in-depth study, “NaKong Tribe of the Lost City of Pahatlabong,”.  “They have hunted nearly all the animals to extinction,” she reports,
“and are forced to subsist on a jerky made of toad. The toad is
poisonous. But most of the poison boils off when the toad is poached in
urine.”she explained. The club members are all quite impressed, but Professor Sloane (Glenn Gover), a religious fanatic, sticks his nose in the air proclaiming her discoveries are fine but she is a woman and there has never been a woman in the Explorer’s Club. When the men retire for cigars and sherry she is told she would have to wait outside.

Glen Glover, Simon Needham and Eric Pinder were all members of the cast at Walt Disney World’s Adventurers Club. This was one of my favorite spots to visit when I used to work for Disney Feature Animation. The club was crowded with objects that were found from around the world. One huge mask on the wall used to make comments about patrons at the bar. Unfortunately, the Club was closed in 2008, along with all the other nightclubs in favor of retail stores
and restaurants. When I saw the set in the Mad Cow by William Elliott, memories flooded back. The gazelles and masks in this club however remained sadly mute.

It turns out that Lucius has nominated the petite Phyllida because he has a crush on her. He went so far as to name an exotic flower after her. That attraction is mutual, but Club President Harry Percy (Simon Needham) decides that he is the brainless hulk of a man that Phyllida deserves. Although Phyllida confides in Lucius, Harry is sure that his swagger will win her over. She has brought back a member of the lost tribe who she has named Luigi (Ryan Gigliotti). He is covered in blue paint and has the annoying habit of slapping people in the face as a form of introduction. When he is brought before the queen of England, all hell breaks loose when he slaps her as well. Hilarity ensues as the intrepid explorers try to return God and country to normalcy. In their eyes, science will always win.

The director David Russell was seated a few rows behind me with his laptop. After the show he encouraged the cast to push the envelope in exploring the quirky lunacy of their parts. He seemed a bit disappointed that there wasn’t more laughter from the audience. Since there were only a few people in the test audience, the sparse laughter was understandable. When there is a full house the story could be quite different. As a disguise, Luigi posed as the club’s bartender. He mixed drinks using liquored of every imaginable color with no regard to a recipe. To serve the drink, he would shout, “Your drink sah!” and slide it quickly off the bar top. Club members had to dive to keep the drinks from crashing to the floor. David encouraged the players to avoid playing it safe. It a drink crashed to the floor it wouldn’t be the end of the world. I was seated in the front row and there were moments when I thought I might be in the splash zone.

“The Explorers Club”

• What: A comedy by Nell Benjamin

• Where: Mad Cow Theatre, 54 W. Church St., Orlando

• When: Opens Friday, Jan. 23; 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays and two Mondays, Feb. 2 and 9; 2:30 p.m. Sundays; through Feb. 22

• Cost: $24.25-$36.75; $17 on Mondays

• Call: 407-297-8788

• Online: madcowtheatre.com

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.

Gianni Schicchi

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I went to the final dress rehearsal for Florida Opera Theater‘s production of Gianni Schicchi at the home of Kathy and Steve Miller in Winter Park. The rehearsal had been moved to 8PM but when I arrived, the circular drive was already full of parked cars. Light glowed warmly from inside the mansion. The sunken living room offered a perfect set for the opera.

The actors, in costume, stood around Robin Stamper on the piano in the beginning, going over the songs. This is a very accessible opera since all the lyrics are in English. Stage director, Eric Pinder, then had the cast rehearse their final bows. Eric was very gracious about letting me sit in and sketch the rehearsal. He informed me that I had once sketched him at one of Mark Baratelli‘s early food truck gatherings.

Gene Tate sat on the bed as the cast got ready to do a full run through. He then got under the covers. I didn’t realize that he had perhaps the easiest role in Giacomo Puccini‘s comic opera, playing Buoso Donati, who has just died. Relatives of Buoso sit around the bed lamenting his death and more importantly yearning to find out the contents of his will. They savagely search everywhere for the document, throwing papers everywhere. When it is found, they are mortified to discover that everything had been left to a monastery. They then truly cry and lament their loss.

Gianni Schicci is asked to help find some loop hole and he advises them to pretend that Buoso is still alive long enough to get a new will drafted. The dead man is treated like a puppet as Gianni throws his voice, trying to convince a visiting doctor that he is alive. Gianni himself gets under the sheets to dictate the new will in which he takes everything in order to unite his daughter with her true love, Rinuccio, played by Austin Hallock. The aria,  Oh my dear papa, sung by Lauretta, Gianni’s daughter, played by Shannon Jennings, is one of Puccini’s most well known, and one of the most popular arias in opera. Opera is still alive in Orlando.

When: December 8th, 7:30 p.m., December 9th, 2 p.m.

Venue: Bishop Moore High School, 3109 Edgewater Drive, Orlando FL

Phone: (407) 718-4365

Web Site: http://www.floperatheatre.org
Tags: opera
Price: $30

All performances will be followed by a reception.

Play in a Day – Suspense

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Eric Pinder wrote a tongue in cheek suspense thriller. The two man cast consisted of John Edward Palmer and Richard Perez. The show was like a film noir detective movie in which the detective would step out of the drama and then offer a dry witty narration about the scene. Having only two actors, Richard Perez got to play many parts including the femme fatale.
As the stage hand Paula was setting up the table and chairs for this show, someone in the audience shouted out, “Get it right Paula.” She responded “I’m trying baby.” The legs of the table gave her some trouble and she said, “Son of a ___.” If it is important to you, the jealous woman was responsible for the murder. When the show was performed, all those empty theater seats were filled. I ended up sketching the detective twice just because it seemed to be the right way to balance out the picture.
My overall impression of “Play in a Day” was that it made for a fun night of unexpected theater. With such a short amount of time to rehearse, the actors had to memorize as best they could and then wing it if a detail slipped by. Having sat through the rehearsals I knew where mistakes had happened before, so I sat on the edge of my seat waiting to see if they made it through come showtime.