Les Mamelles De Tiresias at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.

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Les Mamelles De Tiresias (The Breasts of Tiresias) presented by Florida Opera Theater is a comical opera that was basically written to encourage people to go home and make more babies after the war. Therese is a housewife who is tired of her domestic life and wants the exciting life of a soldier. Her husband keeps interrupting her singing to come effect by demanding bacon. She unhooks her apron, and her breasts float away like balloons and she becomes a man. After she goes off to war, the husband puts on her apron and becomes the wife. As the wife he has to fend off the affections of a police officer who is taken in by the female attire. The improbable changes of sex seemed to ignite a heightened desire.

In the second act, the husband (wife) has given birth to more than 40,000 babies. All his children had successful careers in the arts making him a rich man. As a finale, the two large balloon creatures I sketched, floated over the audience. Phallic appendages gave the creatures a surreal appearance. Each had trap doors in their under bellies and those doors opened, raining balloon babies down on the audience. I had hoped to sketch the stage hands work in the pulleys that hoisted the balloons over the audience. I was asked to move twice and then to to leave the upper balcony by the spot light operator. Only staff were allowed. I finished the sketch on the ground floor in my assigned seat in row L.  Of course I was in a foul mood, but I managed to complete the sketch. To add insult to injury, I lost my bag of art brushes in the theater. I checked with lost and found, but they were never turned in.

General Tiresias wage war on childbirth. But her former husbands success in raising so many children thwarts her plan. There is a playful scene with dozens of children singing and playing hide and seek in a nursery. This was definitely one of the strangest Operas I have ever seen. I’m still not sure what to make of it.

Master Class at the Dr. Phillips gave insights into the mind of a Diva.

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Terrence McNally‘s Master Class presented by Florida Opera Theater showcased insights into the mind of the world renowned singer Maria Callas. Susan Neves was original cast as Callas but she got sick just days before the show’s opening. Seva Anthony stepped in to fill the lead roll having recently performed the roll this past summer at the Players Theater in Sarasota. of course, hearing this I lowered my expectations reverting back to the days I withheld respect for substitute teachers. However, the moment Seva walked on stage, she demanded respect, and she got it. She confronted several ladies in the front row, letting them know that they lacked a “look”. She shouted to stage hands that the lighting was all wrong, and the audience was plunged into darkness.

She explained that this wasn’t an evening about her. She would not be performing, and she expected no applause. She couldn’t be bothered to remember the pianist’s name, Manny, played by Austin McElwain, although she did recall that he wore a red shirt at a past workshop. Her stool was to tall so she demanded a foot stool. An elder stage hand, Larry Stallings,  humbly delivered the stool. Finally Callas was ready and the first student (victim) was called out on the stage. Soprano Eileen Vanessa Rodriguez entered wearing a short skirt and black stockings. Callas demanded that the singer block her ears. Stunned, she clasped her hands over her ears. Callas turned to the audience and said something like, “See this is what I’m talking about, she has no look.” Once she was done shredding the young singer, she shouted repeatedly for her to open her ears. As an audience member, I was rooting for the singer to impress the diva. When she sang her first luscious note, Callas shouted “Stop ! Stop! STOP!!!” confused the singer turned to her master. “What was that?!” Callas shouted. “I was just singing.” the girl responded. ” Exactly, don’t just sing!” The young singer never got to perform. She left the stage bewildered, in tears. “Tears will never get you anywhere my dear, trust me, I know.”

The next singer, soprano Janette Zillioli entered in a gorgeous purple gown. There could be no denying that she had a look! However Callas chided that she should never wear such a gown to a master class. “A gown like that should only be worn after midnight.” She demanded that the singer should enter the stage in character and she personally demonstrated how to perform the entrance. The girl rushed off stage and didn’t return. Tony, a lyric tenor, Brandon Evans, followed with some confidence. After a battle of wills, Callas demanded that he leave the stage. He stood firm and replied loudly, “No!” “Well.” Callas replied that is the first interesting thing to have said, continue.” His performance swept over Callas and she clutched her chest completely enthralled. Emotionally over whelmed she had no insights but wished him good fortune with his career. When he pressed her for advice, she said simply, “Remember the spring.”

The beautiful soprano in the purple gown returned, She had been vomiting in the bathroom. When she finally sang, Callas thought back to her own crowning achievement singing the same roll. She had married a much older man named Ari, and his fortune helped skyrocket her career. She loved him a little, but never completely. On stage however she gave herself completely to the audience. “Applause is what we live on, sometimes it is a we have.” Her husband came to resent her callous partial love. She got pregnant and wanted to have the child. It was too little, too late. He demanded that she have an abortion. She followed through, crushed. All this rushed through her as she listened to the young soprano’s performance. She hadn’t really been listening. Once again her ego managed to hurt the singers feelings. This time the singer struck back, “You want to make the world dangerous for everyone, just because it was dangerous for you!” She stormed off the stage, a stronger, more confident performer.

Calla’s best insight was, “It is hard to care about rivals when no one else can do what you do.” and, “I have to think that art makes a difference.” The performers got a well deserved standing ovation. The painting of Callas, projected above the stage was by artist Colleen Ardman from Winter Park.

Giving Tuesday raised funds for Florida Opera Theater.

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Giving Tuesday was on December 2nd an this fundraiser was at the Women’s Club of Winter Park (419 S Interlachen Ave, Winter Park, FL). The Club was founded in 1915, and is one of the oldest
not-for-profit community organizations in Winter Park, Florida. Giving Tuesday was created by the non-profit sector to establish a day of pure giving; to any cause that you support, believe in or are passionate about. It’s surrounded by the giving feeling of the holidays, so it turns out that it’s quite a successful day in the area of fundraising.

I was contacted because the organizer wanted a live painter while there were live performances throughout the evening (kind of like what the Glazier’s do at the Timucua White House). The original idea was to have patrons “add” something to this piece of art, so that it could be said that many people had a hand in creating this piece. People might add a few strokes themselves, or put their initials onto the canvas and the painter somehow include that as part of the painting.. The theme was to be “this is what the arts means to me”. I had done this type of thing at the Sonesta Hotel for a Downtown Arts District fundraiser. I did the 18 foot wide Orlando skyline sketch and patrons could essentially paint by the numbers. It was a disaster that I had no desire to repeat. It isn’t a great idea to give patrons that have been drinking wet paint. I did however decide to document the event with a sketch. Patrons still got to see a painting created live without getting their hands dirty.

The Florida Opera Theater singers were fantastic. This was a great way to warm up to the holiday season.

Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tuti appeared at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.

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Florida Opera Theater hired me to create a poster image for Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart‘s Cosi Fan Tutti. The title roughly translated means, thus do they all or more commonly, all women are like that. Two sisters are engaged to two soldiers. The soldiers meet an old philosopher in a pub and when the soldiers brag of their fiance’s faithfulness, the philosopher wagers a bet that the women aren’t as faithful as the soldiers claim.

The philosopher proclaims that the soldiers have been called away to battle. The sisters are devastated and proclaim their steadfast love.  The soldiers however return dressed as exotic Albanian bachelors and each woos the others fiance. One sister succumbs rather quickly while the other slowly falls in love. This thematic device of fiance swapping was commonly used in Mozart’s day.

This stage inside the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts was surprisingly small. The Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra had supplied a hand full of musicians who performed in the wings at stage left. Having seen several productions as I researched the poster, I was quite familiar with the story which allowed me the freedom to ignore the subtitle translations projected above the stage. Being in a crowded audience made sketching a challenge since it would be distracting to illuminate the sketch. When I squeezed one of my water brushes, it broke and became a water cannon. It shot at Terry by mistake.

Cosi was a lighthearted comic opera that is easy to digest even for a novice opera fan.

Florida Opera Theater

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Tonight is your chance to see that Opera is very much alive in Central Florida. I went to a dress rehearsal for “Opera’s Greatest Hits” and “Trouble in Tahiti” at The Venue (511 Virginia Dr, Orlando, FL). The first half of the evening was a recital of incredible music by Rossini, Mozart, Donizetti and Bizet. Robin Stamper, the music director, accompanied every song on piano. I focused in on a performance by Morgan Davis from Carmen. Terry and I used to attend every Opera production when large productions were staged at the Bob Carr. That company went bankrupt but even this small recital brought back all the grandeur of what opera could be. My book light unfortunately died, so I struggled to sketch in the darkness.

There was a short intermission which I used to start painting while the house lights were up. Trouble in Tahiti began with a smiling jazz trio singing about the perfect life in suburbia with its little white houses and perfect loving families. It was an advertiser’s ideal with Crest white cleanliness.  This musical by Leonard Bernstein centers around a couple who are not living the ideal. Every discussion becomes a drawn out argument. Dinah (Rachael Marino) suspects Sam (Gabriel Preisser) of having an affair with his secretary which he denies. They live separate lives yet long for their lost happiness.

Scene six was hilarious. Dinah (Rachael) went to the cinema alone to see “Trouble in Tahiti”. She dismissed it as sentimental drivel but as she recounted the plot, she became caught up in the South Seas romance musical number, “Island Magic.” The Greek jazz trio would back her up with their shining enthusiasm. What made me laugh out loud was the way Rachael recreated the villagers dance. She recreated their music with a nasal whining drone and waved two handkerchiefs to simulate their dance. She was hilarious! The chorus put on sailor’s caps as the saluted during the patriotic finish to the movie. Dinah, is suddenly embarrassed because she realizes she was swept away by the imagined romance. She catches herself and resumes cooking diner for Sam.

The trio sings of evenings of domestic bliss but the couples talk about their relationship once again results in an argument. Sam suggests they go see “Trouble in Tahiti” which is the movie  Dinah just saw and hated. The “bought and paid for magic” of the silver screen is a substitute for love lost. “Before there was ‘Mad Men’ there was… ‘Trouble in Tahiti.”

Mark your calendar! There are two performances TODAY, at 2pm and 5pm at The Venue (511 Virginia Dr, Orlando, FL). Tickets are $30 at the door.

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.

The Medium – Performance day.

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Kelly Medford, a plein air painter from Italy picked up the extra ticket I had to see The Medium. Italians love opera. I arrived early knowing I would like to start blocking in a view from the upstairs balcony. This “God’s eye view” seemed appropriate for the seance scene. When I arrived, the valet was quick to take my keys. Parking would be tight since this was a private residence. Admission to this rare staging was by invite only. I had my invitation in my bag but by now everyone knew me.

I rushed up the grand staircase and got to work. I leaned against a marble pillar as I sketched. Kelly arrived and I was pleasantly surprised when she pulled out her own sketchbook. She moved a folding chair to where she was working and I decided to grab one myself. I stepped on it and used my horizontal calf as a table to steady the open sketchbook. I had a book-light but realized that I didn’t need it since the afternoon sun warmed the room.

Frank McClain announced that they were going to wait a few moments for more people to arrive. Baba said something similar to her guests before the seance began in Act I. Out the top of the tall windows I could see the lake. I joked with Kelly that the delayed guests must be arriving by boat. She said, “Or they are arriving by seaplane!” Frank, seated next to me, dimmed the lights and the room grew quiet.

Monica and Toby began the act in a playful scene of fantasy. Baba interrupted their play when she entered loudly. Monica ran to her room and Toby cowered. Baba’s every movement was threatening. She was larger than life. She drank heavily and when she whipped Toby, anger rose in me. Her every frustration was unleashed on that poor adopted boy. The performance flowed effortlessly. I was surprised that I finished my sketch early so I put it away and leaned forward on the railing, looking down.

Baba, played by Susan Neves was singing about the horrors she had witnessed in her life. When she sang, “Oh God, forgive my sins, I’m old.”, I identified with her growing madness. “Old Black Swan” is my favorite aria from the show. First Monica, played by Shannon Jennings sang it then Baba sang it in the last act. It is a haunting melody. I was glad the sketchbook was tucked away. I let the music wash over me.

After the performance there was applause. I stood and clapped loudly. The audience below me was hidden. There was deserts and port in the parlor afterwards. The port came in the tiniest little glass stemware. The sweet liquid warmed my throat. I had to raise a pinky to drink it. I couldn’t have just one. I couldn’t resist swirling the alizarin crimson liquid in my cup. Unfortunately it slipped over the edges into my hand. I did that twice and then finally washed my sticky hand in the kitchen sink. I recognized many of the people in the room from the days when opera thrived in Orlando. Besides the exclusive residential productions, the show will be staged at the Orlando Repertory Theater on December 3rd at 7:30pm and December 4th at 2:30pm. You can get tickets at floperatheater.org or call 407 718-4365. Opera is back!

The Medium Rehearsal

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The Florida Opera Theater has come up with the brilliant idea of staging “The Medium” in a gorgeous Orlando mansion. This exclusive production was by invitation only. I drove around an upscale part of Winter Park in the evening searching for house numbers. My GPS on my cell phone showed where the mansion was but I drove up and down the street many times as I hunted. I finally went down a tiny unmarked one lane road that cut in towards a lake. At the end of the road was a large iron gateway and the number I was seeking was on a mail box. The long driveway lead to a circular turn around where the actors cars were parked. I opened a courtyard entry gate and walked toward the immense mansion. Warm light spilled out of the cut glass of the front door. Water cascaded down a series of steps of a fountain that ran the length of the walkway. I rang the doorbell and tested the knob. It was open. The entryway opened up into a vast vaulted ceiling where a large chandelier hung. The opera was being staged in this grand space. A second floor balcony looked down on the set. Folding chairs were set up around the edges of the room.

Director, Frank McCain, welcomed me. The last production I had seen him in was, “War of the Worlds“. Susan Neves as “Baba” and Shannon Jennings as Monica were standing near the grand piano played by Robin Stamper. Scenes were rehearsed out of order, but for once, I knew the storyline since I had done my research when I did the illustration for the program. In one scene, Baba wanted to force Toby, played by David Grindrod, to leave. Monica defended him saying he needed them. She was instructed to grab Baba’s arm in the argument. In the heat of the moment, she grabbed the wrong hand and Baba shouted in pain. This wasn’t in the opera, Susan was in real pain. A previous accident had resulted in a broken clavicle and now her twisted arm had pinched a nerve. Shannon apologized and hugged her. Luckily it was a minor incident. The show must go on. In an other scene Susan had to take a swig of alcohol and she choked because she had just been singing and it went down the wrong pipe. It wasn’t really alcohol.

Frank pulled a starter’s pistol from out of a drawer on set. He let everyone know it wasn’t real and that they wouldn’t fire the caps until the next evening’s rehearsal. He told Susan she should never point it towards the audience. It looked very real. In such an intimate setting, I could imagine people diving for the floor if she did. In a later scene she pointed the gun towards the puppet theater where Toby was hiding. She threatened to shoot and when she did, she said, “Pichoo, Pichooo!” In a dramatic moment of shock and horror, she dropped the gun to the floor. It burst into a dozen pieces. “Oh God! I’m so sorry!” she shouted. Once again real life drama seeped into the rehearsal. Frank and Bobbie Demme San-Filippo, the props master, struggled to put the gun back together.

Shannon was enchanting as she performed “Monica’s Waltz“. I knew I needed to return to sketch her as she sang “Black Swan” which was absolutely haunting and would make a great sketch. Susan Neves roll as Baba was very physical and exhausting. After a full run through she was spent. She searched for a cookie for a quick sugar rush. Samantha Barnes sang off stage as the voice of the dead. She found the best spot to sing was from was an upstairs bathroom which gave her vocals a haunted echo. Being so close to the cast as they sang and performed was exhilarating. This idea of bringing opera to intimate settings was pure genius. This promises to be a show that will make the hair stand straight up on your arms.

The Medium

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This is an illustration done for The Medium, an Opera written by Gian Carl Menotti. Florida Opera Theater is staging this opera in a private home here in Orlando several times this month. Terry and I used to attend the opera regularly. The Opera went bankrupt and closed shop several years ago. It is nice to see opera making its way back thanks to the grassroots efforts of Florida Opera Theater. Frank McClain is directing the production and I hope to sketch several rehearsals. Great art forms never die.

The opera is about a psychic medium, Madame Flora who is a fraud and drinks too much. She used her own daughter, Monica, to trick a woman into believing her is the woman’s dead child speaking from the other side. Flora took in a mute servant boy named Toby, but she is often enraged with him. Toby and Monica are attracted to each other, which becomes evident as they play a game of dress-up together. At a second seance, Flora seems to legitimately hear voices. The experience frightens her. She blames Toby and is infuriated that he doesn’t confess. As with many operas, there are tragic consequences. The fact that all the songs are in English makes the opera very accessible.

Besides the exclusive residential productions, the show will be staged at the Orlando Repertory Theater on December 3rd at 7:30pm and December 4th at 2:30pm. You can get tickets at floperatheater.org or call 407 718-4365.

Red Chair Affair

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Terry and I arrived early to the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre for the VIP main stage food, drinks and silent auction bidding before she show. Food was provided by Charley’s Steakhouse, Moonfish, Johnnie’s Hideaway, Vito’s Chop House, Fish Bones, and White Wolf Cafe. Organic draft beer was provided by Orlando Brewing. Terry headed for the food but I wasn’t hungry. I hunted for a choice sketching spot. I decided I had to draw the IKEA Red Chairs which had been decorated by different arts groups in town and were now perched on tables to be auctioned off. The lighting technicians were still testing all the stage lights and the stage and all the red chairs went black on occasion. I paused thinking I might not be able to work under such uncertain conditions. I sketched anyway and as guests arrived the stage was bathed in a warm red light. Most women wore sleek red gowns. I struggled to keep my tie from getting in the paint.

I focused on the chairs. My favorite chair was decorated by the Winter Garden Theater like the plant from Little Shop of Horrors. I’m thinking it would make a great toilet bowl seat. The plush red plant lips would be a pleasure to sit on. I might just remove the sharp teeth from the design. Another chair had an entire doll house built around it. Fairwinds Broadway Across America had an Adams Family chair that was built like an electric chair with “Thing” perched on the seat.

When the sketch was finished, Terry and I were the first in the Theater and we found a group of seven seats just behind the VIP seats. Sarah Austin and Wendy Wallenburg had won tickets by answering an Orlando Cultural Arts question online. The question was, “Who is the artistic director of Voci Dance?” The answer was Genevieve Bernard. I guarded the seats while Terry searched for our friends in the lobby.

15 different arts groups performed. The Florida Opera Theater performed a hilarious “Complete History of Opera (Abridged)”. They began with a guttural caveman grunting and quickly moved to a Renaissance harmonizing. All the subtle shades of operatic romance were sung to hilarious effect. My favorite performance was “I love you, I can’t live without you although I might kill you.” All sung in classic Italian. Since Terry and I used to attend the opera all the time before it went bankrupt, we were laughing out loud at this tongue in cheek irreverent view of opera history. Frank McClain the company’s Artistic Director has helped raise the phoenix from the flames.

The Orlando School of Cultural Dance had the packed theater clapping in unison as they danced to the African beat. Orlando Aerial Arts featured three beautiful women who climbed way up near the stage lights, wrapping themselves in the white silky material and then spinning down like yo-yos. I was to nervous to enjoy the performance. There were no safety nets or guy wires. The evening ended with the Power Chords singing “I got the music in me!” 16 energetic youthful singers danced and sang their hearts out causing a standing ovation. All of the performers crowded on to the stage for one final bow.

Back stage VIP’s and performers mingled behind the closed curtains enjoying cupcakes provided by Sugerbuzz Desert Company and Barnies Coffee. The crowd dissipated fairly quickly except our group, who had to be chased out with the flickering of lights. We decided to go to the Imperial bar behind Washburn Imports for after show drinks. I left the sketchbook in the truck and laughed and talked with friends until we were the last to leave the bar. I love the Red Chair Affair because it introduced to me some new and exiting new arts groups that I hope to visit for more sketch opportunities.