Fringe: Hollywood Horror Story

Posted on by Thor

Ingrid Garner from Hollywood California presented A Hollywood Horror Story at the Orlando International Film Festival. This show was about Vampira, the first host of horror movies on TV. Vampira was a legend before her time. She created the character on her own with costuming she had on hand. She built her persona before punk or goth was a fashion trend. She based her look on the evil queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Ingrid’s performance as the Horror goddess was sultry and enticing. She managed to bring the mistress of the dark back to life. The show was both funny and very sad. Vampira’s popularity was brief yet her legacy lives on to this day.

The actress, Maila Nurmi who created Vampira, moved to Hollywood with the hope of becoming an actress. She got several small roles she then went on to create the Vampira character. She hosted a TV series called simply, The Vampira Show, from 1955 to 1955 on KABC-TV. When the show was canceled, she retained the rights to the character.

She later appeared in Plan 9 from Outer Space directed by Ed Wood. That low budget film is now considered a classic because of how campy it is. Tim Burton made a film to celebrate Ed Woods Campy universe.

Maila’s intimate relationship with young actor James Dean was something I wasn’t aware of. She understood him in a way few others did but in the end she was unable to protect him from himself. She claimed to have had an affair with Orson Wells and she had his child, which she gave up after birth.

She appeared in a few other films after Vampira was canceled but she had to fall back on laying linoleum to bring in cash. She then opened a boutique shop where she sold handmade jewelry and clothing.

In 1981 KHJ-TV wanted to revive the Vampira character for Television. She worked with the producers as an executive producer. Then she left the project after the station cast a comedic actress, Cassandre Peterson, that she felt was just not right for the part. The TV station could no longer use the Vampira name so Cassandra became Elvira. Elvira used the same sultry black dress and used all the same graveyard puns. Vampira sued for copyright infringement but lost. The court felt the likeness was simply a close resemblance. Elvira went on to become a massive cult hit in the 1980’s. The show reached millions of viewers every weekend in dozens of markets nationwide. A film was made built around the character called Elvira Mistress of the Dark. Elvira’s legacy has proven timeless and she remains popular at horror conventions, and she retains rabid fans to this day.

My mother’s name was Elvira but she died a decade before the name gained its goth horror cult notoriety.

I love any show that introduced me to someone who deserves to be recognized for her creativity. I left feeling that Vampira should have received royalties or a lump sum buy out for having created the character that Cassandra imitated.

Orlando Fringe: Eleanore’s Story, Life After the War

Posted on by Thor

Ingrid Garner is such a dynamic force as a story teller. Actually she is more than a storyteller, she is a cast of thousands.

Eleanore’s Story: Life After the War follows a show I got to experience and sketch back in 2018. In that show we followed the life of an American family who were stuck in Germany as World War II broke out because one member could not return to America.

In this sequel we got to feel the relief as the family prepared to get out of the largely leveled Berlin which had been carpet bombed into oblivion. Somehow every member of the family had survived.

However the United States would not pay for Eleanore’s mom to return. The family agonized but her mom insisted they go and she would find a way out later.

The steamer trunk was packed and the family left with mom still in Berlin. The view of the statue of Liberty brought tears to the eyes of every one. Americans were so different that the Germans they left behind. They were well fed and moved with drive an purpose.

In the American high school the bell announcing the change of classes reminded the young girl of bomb warning sirens. Flashbacks happened in quick succession. I might have drawn Ingrid in a quiet moment as she face the audience but se was in constant motion, reenacting every horror and joy.  A kiss from an American boy brought back a memory of Soviet soldiers kicking in the front door and making themselves at home. Every woman knew what would happen. Eleanore tried to avoid the possibility by looking sickly. Her mother on the other hand, took pride in her beauty. When the inevitable moment came her mother shouted that they were all Americans. Amazingly the threat of raping American allies, diffused the situation.

The show is based on a published memoir by her grandmother. I really want to read it now to learn more.

Eleanor’s Story: An American Girl in Hitler’s Germany

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Eleanor Ramrath Garner wrote an award winning memoir about her youth, surviving WWII as an American trapped in Nazi Berlin. GLAM, Global Arts Management from Fullerton California presented the show at this years Orlando Fringe Festival. In the play, the young Ingrid Garner pays tribute to her grandmother by telling her story as a one person historical drama.

In 1939 her grandfather decided he would move his family from New Jersey to Germany to pursue a lucrative job offer. On the boat trip over, war breaks out in Europe. By the time they dock, it is to late to turn back. The family became trapped for seven years in Hitler’s Germany. The young girl tries to blend into the new society even wanting to join the Hitler Youth. When teachers find out she is American she is punished for no good reason.

The actress did an incredible job of making air raids terrifying and visceral. Photos of the actual basements and bunkers mad the scenes even more real. The most terrifying moments came when Russian soldiers swept through her neighborhood at night. She could her women screaming as they were raped. She woke up feeling herself being pulled down towards the foot of the bed. A man loomed over her pulling at her bed clothes. Her mom screamed entering the room and waving their American passports. The Russians held the documents upside down, confused and indifferent, but decided to move on to easier prey.

The play is dark, showing the worst of humanity in times of war, but in the end there is hope for survival and a chance to rebuild. This was the most powerful drama I saw at this years Fringe Festival. It was the show I recommended any time a friend would ask for my recommendations.