Nick Paul’s Impossible Feats of Fake Magic offered comedy and Magic.

Posted on by Thor

Nick Paul’s Impossible Feats of Fake Magic in the Fringe bronze venue inside the Orlando Museum of Art was a highly entertaining hour of magic. Nick is an Orlando native and this was the first time I had to sketch his act. A helium balloon was suspended in the middle of the stage. Nick eyed the balloon and with a flourish decided to cut the ribbon that held the balloon to the stage. Amazingly the balloon remained hovering where it was rather than floating to the ceiling. He then waved his hands around the balloon to show that there were no rods or supports holding the balloon in place. Next he tried to move the balloon by pushing and pulling it with no effect. I actually used to show a YouTube clip to my Full Sail students in which a mime tried to move a helium balloon. Darko Cesar, a former Disney Animator turned me on to this entertaining piece. We used it to show students how an animators job is to imply stress and strain by using exaggerated poses. When done right the unbelievable becomes plausible.

Nick asked an audience member to pick out a long word in the Fringe program. An envelope taped to the back of the trunk was opened and somehow that work was written on the sheet of paper inside. I tried to figure out the trick but in the end enjoyed simply being amazed. Nick’s wife joined him at the end of the show and somehow she was quickly transported inside a small box when behind a curtain for a minute. Her hand waved from a small hole in the box and that was the end of the show. People didn’t know if they should leave. At the exit several audience members approached Nick, concerned that his wife was still locked away in the box.  I don’t know if she ever got out. Of course all magic is fake, but Nicks physical comedy and audience participation made it a fun and entertaining show. He performs magic regularly at Walt Disney World where magic is expected.

Venue: Bronze

Length: 50 minutes

Rating: 13+

Tickets: $10 (+service charge)

Remaining Show Times:

Wednesday May 20, 2015  5:30pm to 6:20pm

Sunday May 24, 2015        8:15pm to 9:05pm

Valence explores the psycology of touch through dance.

Posted on by Thor

I thought I had sketched every dance company in town, but Explore Theatre and Dance Company from Winter Park presenting Valence at this year’s Orlando International Fringe Festival was new on my radar. The show began with the entire line of dancers walking in slow motion towards the audience, then an elegant and solidly built female dancer pivoted at a 90 degree angle to the stage grid. What followed was dancers balancing and supporting each other in a slow abstract choreography. Bonds seemed to form and then break apart.

Between scenes audio recordings would showcase a dancers insecurities, doubts and accomplishments. I kind of dreaded these audio prologues since I couldn’t sketch in the dark and I didn’t have anything for my hungry eyes to soak in. When the lights came up, each dance was fluid and focused on relationships and isolation. It seems like isolation always won in the end. I loved that not all the dancers where thin. Every imaginable body shape and size moves in fluid elegant ways. Even the dance company’s founder,  Chris Gonzalez, is a solid brick of a man who is willing to experiment and take chances. I love sketching dance despite the challenges, so I was a kid in a candy shop. You might notice that sitting in an audience is not my MO. I like being on the outside looking in, a voyeur to the whole theatrical experience. Perhaps that is why I identify with the theme of isolation in the show.

Remaining Show Times:

Thursday May 21  7:00pm

Thursday May 24, 7:00pm

Run Time:

60 minutes

Venue: 

Red  (behind the Shakes, 2nd floor)

Rating:

13+

Tickets: $7 (+ service charge)

Lay Ms parodies Le Miserables set in the swinging 60s.

Posted on by Thor

Lay Ms written by Paul C Tugwell and lyrics by Brian Rewis used the songs from Les Miserables and changed the lyrics to tell the story of BDSM, porn and gay rights in the 60s. It followed the story of a young girl who decided she needed the money that a strip club could offer. The club lead to her downfall but her child found a protector. Trying to compress the plot of the epic Les Miserables into 90 minutes resulted in a somewhat rushed production. Set changes came at a break neck pace after every song. Each time the theater went black, I had to stop sketching. Having only seen the movie version of Les Miserables, I had a hard time assimilating the characters French names. I would have kept better track with Dick, Jane and Harry. The premise of Lay Ms is genius and at times I did sympathize with the plight of gay and transgender characters who were not treated as equals.  Gay bashing is sadly still prevalent in America.  The songs resulted in several inspired performances but the off stage synthesizer didn’t offer much in the way of back up.

One scene involved actress and director Tara Rewis as Eponine a lesbian who is forced by her scheming parents to star in a heterosexual porn film. A bartender, who was a long time friend offered to help out. The scene featured the only nudity in the show and her performance singing the song, flat on her back and her head leaning over the edge of the bed was admirable. She tolerated the heterosexual sex while trying to imagine her female lover. When she straddled him, she took her bra and placed it over his breasts and then cupped his breasts in her hands with eyes closed. It was an inspired and hilarious scene.

When the revolution culminated in the Stonewall Riots the crowd sang the battle cry in unison with flags waving and protest posters highlighting the continued inequality. Marriage equality now exists in 37 states. 13 states remain in the dark ages. 40% of gay youths commit suicide. Changing attitudes takes time so the battle rages on. I found myself humming the tune for the rest of the day although I didn’t remember the lyrics. The show had some rough edges which is to be expected since this was a rehearsal. Some of the dialogue seemed forced as if to rush the plot along to get to the next song. The overall premise is fun and the music kept me thinking about the battle for equality long after the show was over.

Remaining Performances:
Saturday, May 16 – 12:30 PM — 2:00 PM
Monday, May 18 – 8:45 PM — 10:15 PM
Tuesday, May 19 – 7:00 PM — 8:30 PM
Friday, May 22 – 10:00 PM — 11:30 PM
Saturday, May 23 – 4:00 PM — 5:30 PM
Sunday, May 24 – 8:00 PM — 9:30 PM

Length: 90
Venue: Silver in the REP
Price: $9 (+service charge) and Fringe Button!
Rating: 18+ – Nudity|Language|Adult Content|Some Violence

Restrictions:
All Patrons Over Age 13 Must Have a Fringe Button
No Late Entry Show-All Shows Start on Time
No Re-entry Into Any Venue
No Refunds or Exchanges
100% Of All Ticket Sales Are Returned to Artists

Poe follows the last days of the master of the macabre.

Posted on by Thor

This year’s Orlando International Fringe Theatre Festival
has just begun. If you haven’t been before, you are missing thirteen days of non-stop theater at venues all around Lock Haven Park. Fringe plays are selected by lottery.Fringe is… 100% UNCENSORED, 100% UNJURIED, 100% ACCESSIBLE, 100% of $ from ticket sales go directly to the ARTISTS. Anyone can Fringe.

I went to a rehearsal for Poe presented by Theater Downtown in the Green Venue which is in the black box theater of the Rep. It seemed fitting that Poe, Written by Stephen Most and directed by Frank Hilgenberg, should be staged in a black box. The play follows the final tormented days of the author of “The Raven” and “The Tell Tale Heart”. Chris Prueitt breathed life into the tortured poet.  Before the rehearsal started cast members joked and wrestled playfully. It is a shame some of that playfulness never seemed to play a part of Poe’s life. His pompous airs didn’t impress towns folk and as he recites one of his poems he is beaten and robbed. His father considered him a lazy vagrant. Their contentious relationship comes to a head as Edgar imagines himself murdering his dad and hiding the corpse below the floor boards.

Biographical fact mixed with fiction is retold through the authors own tales. Darci Ricciardi did the shows choreography. Before the rehearsal, she welcomed me dressed in a whispy white dress that made her look just like Marilyn Monroe, all that was missing was a subway grate. The dress made sense when she and three other dancers moved in mystical fluid motion around the fallen poet. Bawdy prostitutes and violent thugs haunted the poets life. Family life offered little solace.

Poe fell madly in love with a young cousin played by Jolie Hart. Their happiness was quickly cut short when illness struck and Jolie lay motionless on a platform like Sleeping Beauty. The poet couldn’t accept her death, believing she would return to him. Had she been buried alive? She ultimately did return in dreams wearing a white expressionless mask. Darci and the dancers also wore white masks and black gowns and danced in a scene that managed to make my skin crawl. The show has it’s horrors, it’s tortured misgivings. If darkness you seek, it might be quite thrilling.

Tickets $11 plus required Orlando Fringe button (available at Fringe box office).

Green Venue – The Orlando REP (Black Box theatre to the left of The Rep main stage)
1001 East Princeton Street, Orlando, FL.

Thursday 5/14     9:00pm
Saturday 5/16     10:30pm
Monday 5/18      9:00pm
Wednesday 5/20 5:30pm
Thursday 5/21     7:30pm
Saturday 5/23      8:45pm
Sunday 5/24        11:30am

Bookmark It celebrated Florida Bookstore Day at East End Market.

Posted on by Thor

In conjunction with Florida Bookstore Day’s statewide celebration of
Florida writers and independent bookstores, Bookmark It is (3201 Corrine Drive, Suite 201, Orlando, Florida) delivered a free day-long program featuring nationally published Central
Florida authors, along with three creative writing workshops. Between 10
a.m. to 4 p.m., authors took to the Courtyard stage for casual
readings, Question and answer sessions, and book signings. Three 2-hour workshops were offered to those wanting to engage their creative writing
skills.

When I arrived,  David James Poissant was reading some of his award winning essays and short story’s. His debut short story collection, The Heaven of Animals, has garnered national attention. His second book, a novel, is due out this spring. The writing was crisp and personal describing a relationship that was stretched to its limits. Across the street, there were tree trimmers with chain saws hacking down branches and then shredding them to mulch in a loud chipper. David had to read over the weekend warrior war zone noises.

The next author to read was Lynn Waddell. Her non-fiction book was, “Fringe Florida: Travels Among Mud Boggers, Furries, Ufologists, Nudists and Other Lovers of Unconventional Lifestyles” was the winner for National Book of the Year (bronze- travel essays). I liked her journalistic approach. She sought out Florida’s unique and quirky side. An article about The Holy Land Experience theme park was hilarious. It pointed out that the actor playing Christ could easily double as the model Fabio on dime store romance novels. When young girls talked of surrendering their souls to him, there was more than a hint of sexual innuendo. Lynn’s research lead her to Cassadega, a town devoted to psychic mediums, and somehow she convinced her husband to join her at a nudist colony. I don’t know if I’d sacrifice my clothing for the sake of a sketch and an article, but her humerus writing made me think twice.