Moulin Rouge Gala- A Show Extravaganza

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I went to the Winter Park Community Center, (721 West New England Ave. Winter Park), on December 2nd to the Moulin Rouge Gala. I felt it was important that an artist be at the Gala. Toulouse Lautrec wouldn’t have passed on the opportunity. Every two years Le Salon Zizou works with a local charity and other participates to put together a combination of hair, fashion and entertainment to raise money for charity. This year they worked with the Disability Wellness Center in Sanford to help raise money for the EKSO suit for paraplegics. There are ONLY 20 world wide and this will be HUGE for Central Florida to have the first EKSO suit used for physical therapy when the other 20 are used for studies.

When I arrived, the dancers from Emotions Dance got on stage to loosen up and get used to the size of the stage. Larissa Humiston stood in front of the stage to let them know what worked and what didn’t. After them, a woman performed solo with Hula hoops and large geometric forms that she spun above her head. The ceiling was rather low which resulted in her crashing the huge cube shape into the ceiling beam. A singer discussed her song with the DJ. People in wheel chairs took to the stage. Blinking lights were on the chairs making for quite a display. Then negotiated the stage in a pre-planned choreography.

The twenty or so models arrived with outlandish hair stylings. I noticed model Jenny Coyle, from Sketchy Broads, with her hair bundled up in three huge Princess Lea buns. Le Salon Zizou, in association with the West Orlando Rotary Club, presented their 3rd annual Charity Hair Spectacular.  The real highlight of the evening came when Sarah Anderson got on stage with her wheel chair. With an assistant to spot her, she strapped herself into the EKSO Suit. As she did so, she talked about the day in 2003 when she lost her ability to walk. She was skiing that day and for whatever reason, she had an ominous feeling that she shouldn’t be on the mountain that day. Regardless, a horrible fall on the slope resulted in her becoming a paraplegic. Doctors told her that she would never walk again. She leaned forward and raised herself from the wheel chair.  She walked across the stage as the servos, gyros and computerized pistons responded to her weight shifts allowing each step in succession. Sarah stood onstage during the auction and the bidding got heated. “Never say never!”

Orange, White and Blue Gala

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Devin Dominguez invited Terry and I to Evening in the Grove, was an Orange, White and Blue Gala honoring the Orlando Magic with proceeds benefiting the Art and History Museums of Maitland. I wore a blue and white striped shit,with a blue tie and jacket. The event was at the Sheraton Orlando North Hotel in Maitland. I had sketched a wedding reception here once. As soon as guests entered the hotel. they were greeted by Ashley and Amy, two of the Orlando Magic dancers. I wandered around the lobby looking at all the silent auction items but I couldn’t find a spot to sketch. Dawn Schreiner was doing quick portraits for anyone who wanted to sit for a bit. There were several Orlando Magic players, Bo Outlaw and Nick Anderson, sitting by themselves but they
looked bored and so I decided that the chipper dancers were my best bet for a decent sketch during the cocktail hour. They posed with people and waited patiently between photo shoots. They didn’t quite know shat to make of me and they peeked at the sketch in its early stages.

They wandered off and I debated about abandoning the sketch. I figured they were creeped out by the loony with the sketchbook. I decided to focus on features of the room and before long, the dancers were back. Amy peeked again and said, “Moving on the ink, this is getting serious.” This time I nailed down the dancers slender proportions. Raffle tickets were being sold by the arm length. Bidding on the silent auction items involved downloading a program on the smart phone where bids stacked up digitally, and you were even warned if someone outbid you. I tried to limit my palette to blue, white and orange. When I finished the sketch, I found my way to the dining area. The salads had just been served, so my timing was perfect. Speed painter, Tony Corbitt was on stage doing a painting of Paul McCartney of the Beetles. Tony usually takes his shirt off when he paints but event organizers insisted he keep his shirt on. I’m always impressed with the speed in which he nails a celebrity face using just white paint on a black board.

The live auction was lively with one of Tony’s paintings bringing in over $300. Henry Maldonado,  president of thee Enzian Theater, acted as the Emcee. Speakers pointed out that the Orlando Magic Youth Fund had distributed over $17 million dollars through the Orlando Magic Youth Fund. Programs like, Journey to the Arts, help bring culture to at risk youth who might never get that experience otherwise. A young woman named  Mercedes Beaudoin got behind the mic to talk about her experience as an intern working for the Maitland Art and History Museums. She spoke of how much she learned and how grateful she was. The arts offered a long lasting meaningful purpose. Then she choked up as she said, “especially since my mother died recently.” The room grew quiet as she regained her composure and spoke about how important the arts are in our lives. Everyone stood and clapped as she left the stage. The evening brought in a net total of $48,200. All monies raised will support art and history programming at the Art and History Museums of Maitlnd.

CFHLA Gala

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The Central Florida Hotel & Lodging Association Gala was held this year at the Brand new Peabody Hotel right near the Convention Center. As Terry and I drove up to the Hotel, we saw a sign for free parking on the right so we took a right turn into the entry and dropped of the keys with a valet. The new hotel’s lobby is immense. It has the feeling of a space station with it’s tall glass facade and curved oak panels. At first the event didn’t seem well attended but when we rounded a corner the crowd of black tuxedos and ballgowns suddenly appeared. People milled around the bars and the tables full of silent auction items. Terry placed a bid on a leather hand bag but was thankfully outbid. There were the usual suspects, a signed basketball, gift baskets and a few art prints.

Elegantly dressed stilt walkers wandered among the crowd. I envied them thinking it would be the perfect angle to sketch the crowd from. Hal Studholme compared the event to a party thrown by Salvidor Dali’s wife. While Terry was being a social butterfly finding her friends from the Philharmonic, I agonized about what I should sketch. There was an upper level which would have given me a good overview, but Terry pointed out that the dining room doors would be opening in half an hour. Not enough time for a detailed overview. I bit the inside of my mouth and waited. She had made the right call because only moments later the doors swept open and the stilt walkers tried to convince people to go inside.

We sat at the table with the Friends of the Philharmonic. Dinner was decent. I ate quickly and started this sketch in the pauses between courses. Everyone at the table knew of this blog and that they might end up in the sketch. A member of our group joked that I should sketch the woman seated at the table behind us. She had on a tight shear dress and was busty. He said my site would get twice as many hits. I didn’t sketch her. On stage there was a billboard sized check to the Orlando Philharmonic for $10,000.

A Beatles cover band performed as we were getting desert. Then a scrim lifted and the Orlando Philharmonic was there as back up. Soon the dancing started but I had a cold so I wandered back out to the lobby thinking I might try a second sketch. I didn’t have it in me. I lounged on a large couch and watched a group of 6 or so stilt walkers dressed in 60’s rainbow flavored suits as they danced and vogued.

We went up to a friends room upstairs and marveled at the TV inside the bathroom mirror and neon lights under the dresser which were motion activated. Down at the valet we found out parking was actually $10. We were Shang hai’d! My head was ready to explode and I just wanted to rest.