The Key of E Rehearsal

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The Dark Side of Saturn presents Key of E. Andy Matchett of Andy Matchett and the Minks wrote all the music for this original apocalyptic rock musical. I went to a rehearsal in a small art classroom on Colonial Drive near a sushi place. Andy welcomed me and apologized that some of the bigger effects might not happen at this rehearsal. I was happy just to listen to his amazing music. Andy began singing with Minks band members  Abraham Couch, Brandon Kalber and Randy Coole. I quickly sketched Andy and was surprised when actor Cory Violence replaced him at the mic singing “Just Can’t Wait for the Game to End“.

Cory takes on the lead roll of Ethan, a disillusioned hipster who dreams of how he might become a John Connor or Road Warrior hero if the world were to suddenly end.  As he sang of this apocalyptic bliss, his girlfriend played by Marissa Ashley interrupted to try and get him home.  She had to play the roll of annoying reason as he drank himself to oblivion. His dream  of the world’s end is suddenly realized when he is engulfed in a huge tsunami wave that leaves him stranded on a desert island.  The wave was executed with an ingenious effect with a parachute of plastic littered with garbage taking on the roll of the oceans surface. Andy stepped in as the narrator letting us know that the other characters on the survivor’s island were figments of Ethan’s imagination. 

The island had a typical bossy leader who felt he knew all about survival, sending the women to scavenge for food and clean camp. Ethan didn’t notice how this annoying character resembled himself. All the people on the island were there to help him survive and avoid his usual path of self destruction. Like the island on Lost, this place is a bit surreal. When Ethan discovers a bottle of whiskey he comes face to face with a dark red eyed demon.  His life could return to normal if only he could only put the cap back on the bottle.

Evan Miga, one of the mad scientists from Dog Powered Robot Labs devised the creature design. Right now, this show is my pick to be a sure runaway hit at Fringe. The music is hard hitting eclectic and ingenious. Cory really shines singing his way through the lead roll.  The entire cast of about 10 actors has pulled off an epic production on a shoe string budget. The Key of E is going to hit this year’s Fringe like a nuclear blast.

What:  

Key of E an Apocalyptic Rock Musical

When: 

Thursday, May 16 at 7:45PM

Saturday May 18 at 3:00PM

Sunday May 19 at 7:45PM 

Wednesday May 22 at 8:00PM

Saturday May 25th at 11:45PM

Where: 

Green Venue in the Rep

Tickets: 

$11 + a Fringe button

P.S. At 8:45PM tonight (May 16th) a certain Urban Sketcher will make a cameo appearance at Emotions Dances’ dis/CONNECTED in the Silver Venue which is in the Rep Theater. I really can not divulge details, if I told you, I’d have to kill you.

La Femme Fondue

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Christie and Evan Miga needed time off after the mad rush to bring Dog Powered Robot to Fringe last year. They had four months of extensive rehearsals and a whole cast of cardboard robots that were built. They were constantly managing people. After the show they decided to live in Paris for two months. Fisher Miga, the dog behind Dog Powered Robot went with them. Christie said that within four days they had settled into the Parisian lifestyle. Three days a week Evan freelanced for the design firm he was working for in Orlando. Though he was living in Paris, he worked Orlando hours, sharing his work via the Internet. That left the rest of the week open for the couple to explore Paris. They discovered quirky arts outlets that few tourists visit. Christie loved a tiny Museum of Magic that had rooms filled with mechanized tin toys. Right next to the Eiffel tower was a sumptuous garden that only Parisians frequent.

 When Christie Miga returned to Orlando she started a series of paintings inspired by the trip to Paris. Though abstract, the work is autobiographical as she explains with pure color how Paris inspired her. This series explodes with rich vibrant color. The blue is the exact color of the Mediterranean and the bright magenta reminds her of tight bright magenta pants that many women were wearing in Paris. Provence inspired her use of bright yellow and orange. She mixes her own water based paints and she has some idea how the paints will interact when they are poured on the canvas side by side. The word fondue is the feminine of the French verb fondre (‘to melt’). The colors seem to melt an flow together on the canvas. The paintings are abstract yet they feel like violent storm clouds on a distant planet or the delicate vibrant colors of a butterfly wing. The black dripping motif is used often and it reminded me of a piano keyboard as I tried to sketch it. Ironically, earlier that day, I had been writing about color for a Book on Urban Sketching. Christie’s bold use of fluid primary colors offered amazing insights about how colors interact. She worked to modern pop French music.

Many of the pieces have bold urban graphic elements that look like graffiti stencils. For instance one canvas has a bold image of the Eiffel Tower that then melts into vibrant dripping colors. Subtle blue lettering in French says, “This is not the Eiffel tower.” A bright splotch of moon then drips as well. Once Christie starts one of these liquid abstracts, she has to finish it while the paint remains wet. Amazingly she finished her canvas in the same amount of time it took me to do the sketch.

La Femme Fondue is being shown at the Timucua White House, (2000 South Summerlin Avenue, Orlando FL), on March 22nd starting at 7:30PM. This reception is one night only. The artwork and prints will be for sale.The White House is a fantastic venue to see Christie’s work since the spotlight literally make her canvases glow.

Cardboard Art Festival

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Saturday January 26th was the second day of the Cardboard Art Festival at the Orange Studio (1121 N Mills Ave, Orlando). This was a day for the kids to experience the exhibit and make their own cardboard creations. The carpeted area that had been the dance floor the night before  now had folding tables cluttered with the detritus of creativity. Parents were helping their kids cut the cardboard and robots began to take form.

I decided to sit back under some cardboard carnivores and sketch  Nathan Selikoff‘s tall cardboard man marionette. Kids, young and old alike, couldn’t resist pulling the strings. Having control of a giant’s movements can be addictive. Event sponsor, Mark Baratelli walked up to me and announced,  with a Marlene Dietrich flourish, “I do it all for the kids.” He then leaned against the wall and checked his cell phone for messages about the next Food Truck Bazaar happening that night. Later, he was ready to leave holding a thick stack of Food Truck Bazaar signs. He was off to his next event.

Evan and Chritie Miga helps kids into the new Dog Powered Robot dune buggy for photo ops. An old record player nestled inside a cardboard TV was playing Polkas and The Tiki Room music. The music added a surreal, playful atmosphere to the proceedings. Like in a Disney theme park, individual robots from Dog Powered Robot came out from back stage to pose for photos with the kids. Someone shouted out for a group photo and all the kids stood in front of me with their creations.

As Terry and I left, I saw Mark get back out of his car. I thought he had left some time ago. I shouted out, “You didn’t get very far!” He shouted back, “That’s the story of my life! You didn’t need to point it out.”

Cardboard Art Festival

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Mark Baratelli of TheDailyCity.com came up with the idea of having a Cardboard Art Festival. The opening night was Friday January 25th at the Orange Studio (1121 N Mills Ave, Orlando). I had to work till 9PM that evening, so I wasn’t even planning to go. Terry sent me a text photo of the new Dog Powered Robot techno beach buggy. She let me know that the event was open past midnight so there would be time to get there and do a sketch.  There was a line of people out the door to get in. I could see strips of Doug Rhodehamel corrugated cardboard bacon hanging from the ceiling. All of the Dog Powered Robots stood, deactivated in a corner.

The opening reception featured music and dancing with DJ Nigel and tons of cardboard sculptures filling up the space created by artists: Jessica Earley, Brendan O’Connor, Evan and Christie Miga, Adriaan Mol, Doug Rhodehamel, Nathan Selikoff. Cardboard dinosaur helmets lined the back wall created by Banjo Bob. They were just the right height where you could stand up and have your photo taken with the helmet on yet still mounted on the wall. Blue Moon beer was being served under the bacon strips and the carpeted dance floor was always full of dancers. After making the rounds with Terry, I settled in to sketch. Blue submarines and ferocious deep sea fish hovered over the dance floor. A rocket garden thrust vertically upward above a collection of mini robots. A tubular instrument resembling a pipe organ could be played by swatting the tube openings with cardboard fly swatters. A ten foot tall tube marionette stood with a tetrahedron head. People could pull chords to make him dance. I got plenty of abuse and by the end of the evening he was lying on the floor, a spent mess.

The opening night was an undeniable blow out success. The place was surreal, the music loud and the dancing furious and care free. It’s not too late to experience the madness in person.


Sunday January 27

  • 10am-11:30am for kids 7 and under
  • 12pm-1:00pm for kids 8 and above
  • Kids Matinee Sponsored and hosted by Kids Fringe and Mennello Museum of American Art $1
    admission. Kids only! Attendees will get to (1) use cardboard to build
    and decorate their very own mask, hat, or wings, (2) meet the famed Dog
    Powered Robot and (3) get a chance to tour the entire exhibit.
  • 7:30pm – 12am
  • Dog Powered Robot + Andy Matchett and the Minks, $5 admission (pay at the door, cash only), wine and beer by donation. Dog Powered Robot is a fantastic group of cardboard robots defending the world against evil via a robot powered by a Pomeranian. Andy Matchett and the Minks is a very popular and fun musical group.

Dog Powered Robot and the Subsequent Adventure.

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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.

Dog Powered Robot Rehearsal

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Dog Powered Robot is gearing up for action at the Orlando Fringe Festival in May. Rehearsals are happening twice a week at the Jewish Community Center. When I arrived, the cast was standing in the center of the room in a circle. There were lots of new faces indicating that the show would be bigger than ever. An actor got in the center of the circle and started acting like an orangutang. Once people started to laugh, he walked back out and stood in the circle. The person who laughed first had to stand in the middle. He acted like a giraffe, regal and slow. He looked over at an actress and started to curl his long tongue the way giraffes do. She couldn’t help but laugh. So she was next. I laughed non-stop since I was safely outside the circle.

 This evening was to be devoted to choreographing several dance and fight scenes. Darci Ricciardi was in charge of the choreography. Katie Green, the DPR director asked all the froggers to rehearse their part right after the dance scene. The scene was run multiple times without the costumes. I drew all the actors in pencil and was about to ink them in, when everyone was told to “suit up”.  Lollibot, played by Serafina, wandered bewildered. She came upon this gang of deviant froggers lead by a  frog with a large fedora and a cigar. Grace “Scully” Nolan was high above everyone else on her stilts. The head frogger entered the scene between her stilts. Part of his his costume got caught on her stilt. They had to stop the scene and untangle him. “Good to know!” Katie shouted, “That’s why we rehearse.” “I was so excited when I saw his head made it between my legs!” Scully shouted back. Everyone started laughing till they were red faced.

Christie Miga sat beside the director working non stop on a moving set piece. Evan Miga entered the scene as Dog Powered Robot when needed but he didn’t suit up. New ideas playfully sparked up throughout the rehearsal. Fisher, the dog behind Dog Powered Robot, kept track of everyone. Some robots are still being constructed and refined at the Dog Powered Robot Labs.

Dust

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The Dog Powered Robot Fundraiser 2.0 was held at Stardust Video & Coffee (1842 E Winter Park Rd at Corrire Drive). I had donated 5 DPR prints for the fundraiser and two of the prints were sold! Whoo hooo! I was at the Dust to pick up the remaining three prints. The day of the fundraiser, there was a flurry of activity with the DPR army rushing about getting the stages ready. A projector was being hung from the rafters. Andy Matchett & the Minx were slated to play at the fundraiser, so there would be a wild time with confetti, fans and a huge parachute. Today the place was quiet in comparison.

The people seated in front of me were discussing some design work. She listened to his premise and then pulled up graphic designs that were similar in intention. The meeting went on for the whole duration of the sketch so they had a lot of ground to cover. The tables are made from old doors with a thick coating of polyurethane. Old windows were suspended in the plate glass windows. Single shoots of Mothers in Law Tongues thrust up out of old coffee cans on each table. Strings of Christmas lights and Oriental lanterns decorated the ceilings. Once in NYC, set designer James Yeomans asked me to go to Chinatown to pick up such paper lanterns for the play, “A Street Car Named Desire.” It seems a lantern is ripped down every evening in that play. So I brought several dozen large lanterns. It turns out they were too large so I was stuck as a lantern salesman for the next year to make my money back.

It had been several weeks since the fundraiser. Christie and Evan Miga were seated at several tables surrounded by DRR art. This fundraiser had been a huge success, giving them the much needed cash as they continue building more cardboard robots. One of the Dust staff was sweeping the floor and she was surprised that she was still sweeping up confetti. “Where does it keep coming from?” she asked a costumer. “It must be coming from underneath the stage.” he suggested. “It was cute at first” she confessed, “but this stuff just keeps multiplying.”

Dog Powered Robot Build

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Dog Powered Robot will be returning to the Orlando Fringe Festival in 2012 with an all new adventure. After a very successful fundraiser at Stardust Video & Coffee, the crew is now busy in the robot lab building all new robots for the new show. A mockumentary was made of the DPR cast and crew and the Florida Film Festival expressed interest in screening it. The top secret DPR Robotics Lab is full of gizmos and gadgets galore.

Evan Miga showed me a schematic for the robot they were working on. It was a female robot that is the antithesis of the sweet and quaint Lollybot. This purple bot has a very angular attitude. Evan was constructing her head which featured some deep purple eyes. Christie Migawas busy deconstructing an old robot and salvaging any usable components. The laser cannon was still workable. Jeb Britt was working out the delicate geometry of the robots body and skirt. Occasionally Christie would try on the skirt and body parts to see how they fit. Cardboard boxes were stacked halfway to the ceiling in the center of the lab.

Charles Smith whipped together some robotic headphones in no time flat. Some very serious weaponry hung from the ceiling. The large laser cannon has some high tech weaponry which will shock any Fringe goer. A new red white and blue astronaut bot was already constructed. After the work session, Evan demonstrated the bot. It’s arms move in a wacky rubbery way that is hilarious. Glowing plates and neon edging make this bot a sleek and sexy addition to the cast. Fisher, the dog behind Dog Powered Robot, entered the lab several times to supervise.

CarVerations

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Mark Baratelli’s “Mobile Art Show” had a different twist this month. Usually, Mark rents a U-Haul truck and has an artist exhibit their work inside. When I arrived at the City Arts Factory this month I found Mark unloading wrappers, newspapers and assorted bottles from the backseat of his beat up 1996 Chevy Cavalier. He put a bottle of mouthwash on the dashboard and loaded everything else into the trunk. He and Brian Feldman, a local performance artist, had decided at the last minute to create an event called “CarVersations,” in which people could pay one dollar could sit in the passenger seat and have a five minute conversation with Brian.

Evan Miga showed up having heard about the event on Facebook. Mark had announced it only hours before. Evan showed me some wire that was wrapped around his backpack. At the end of the wire was a silver box with a switch. When he flipped the switch, the wire glowed a neon blue. As we spoke the neon flickered, fluctuating to the volume of our voices as we talked. He plans to use these wires to outline the corrugated robots he is creating for”Dog Powered Robot and the History of the Future” which will be in the Orlando Fringe Festival this May.He said some scenes will be in complete darkness with just the neon glow illuminating the scene. Evan wrapped the wire around the outer edge of the windshield of the car so when people spoke, the wire would glow.

Brian showed up with his portable marquee and he set it up on the roof of the car. Mark shouted to Brian through the windshield, “Three minutes to places!” For some reason, after getting in the car, Brain flipped on the windshield wipers which sent the neon wire twisting in all directions. Mark shouted, “Noooooo!” Brian couldn’t figure out how to turn off the wipers quick enough. He shouted back, “How do you turn the wipers off?” I laughed out loud. It was like watching vintage Laurel and Hardy slapstick.

Several SAK Comedy Lab volunteers came down during the event to speak to Brian in the Car. Orlando Live host Peter Murphy had an interview with Brian, which the cameraman filmed from the backseat. My wife stopped by, paid her dollar and spoke to Brian for five minutes. I am not sure I gave her a solid five minutes of my attention since I was struggling with the sketch on my digital tablet. Before I knew it, CarVersations was over. Mark drove off and I continued to throw down digital washes till I was satisfied.

Otronicon

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My Full Sail job had me working at Otronicon, helping Sam Ewing as he taught a classroom full of students the basics of Animation. The students, both young and old, paid very close attention to what Sam had to offer, and got to work developing a 24 page flip book.

The Orlando Science Center was packed. I have never seen the place so crowded. After the class was over, I wandered around watching all the kids and adults playing video games. I stopped at this area where everyone was playing the same game. They were all involved in a game called VBS2 which is a military training simulator. The military bought a commercial video game called Armor 2 and converted it into the high tech simulator seen here. All the players were working together as teams in the game. One boy shouted out, “Ha, I killed you. That was me, I killed you.” Most of the time however they stared at the screens intently focusing on the flaming oil fields and enemy tanks. Some players were situated inside virtual tanks, while others were field infantry. The creepy guy with the gas mask wandered over to mess with the kids by reaching in while they weren’t looking and pressing arbitrary keys on the keyboard.

In another area, military men wearing field fatigues were showing kids how to fire of an authentic looking M16 which would blast out a laser beam at the target. Joking around with Evan Miga later that day, he said that the military is selling military service to kids with ads that make it look like every day is a game, where they get to enjoy using high tech graphics in the field. Evan joked that if kids join today they would get an extra life. Otronicon is now over so you will have to wait till next year if you are in the mood to kill.