Control of the Dirt

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Control of the Dirt by Louise Schwarz will run from March 29 – April 7 2024 at The Marchall Ellis Performing Arts Center (1300 LaQuinta Drive Orlando Fl.) It is presented by Playwrights Round Table.

I went to sketch a dress rehearsal of the show. As I walked to the theater entrance, Jac LeDoux, the director, was laughing and delighted. They had found a living room lounge chair on the drive to the theater. That chair was now part of the set. It didn’t smell. I had passed a chair on the drive to the theater as well but had decided to let it sit. I would be moving in a couple of days and didn’t need another item to haul.

The set was simple with three flats which could be rotated if needed. There were quite a few set changes as scenes jumped form one setting to another. The stage would go dark with faint blue light as stage hands moved furniture into place.

The first few moments of the show had me laughing out loud as Susan Woodbury  as Selina, performed an awkward and hilarious interpretive dance for her iPhone. She was a social media influencer in theory. he claimed to have many hot pokers in fires but they seemed to be false leads. She was staying with her sister in law but had overstayed her welcome.

In another story line a very intelligent high school student played by Hafsa Zuberi shared her concerns about her father with her counselor Vanessa, played by Taylor Byerly. It turns out her middle aged father had fallen for the Selina. The father performed by Tom Leahy, was much older than the Selina but she needed a place to land since she was being evicted. The concern was that she only was interested in him for his money. Selina had a tendency to exaggerate truth to make herself look good. Though her confident airs were fun to watch it became clear she manipulates people and she lies.

The characters must live in a small town, because all of the separate story lines suddenly converge towards the end of the play. Tensions flared. At one point there was an argument about funeral ashes possibly being laundry detergent. The ashes were thrown and the fine dust lingered in the air for a good 10 or 15 minutes drifting through the theater space. It wasn’t clear if it was detergent or ashes. It would be in character for Selina to get confused. The lingering dust in the air was a fine visual demonstration of aerosolized spread and I was glad I had my N95 on. I didn’t notice any HEPA air filters in the theater.

This dark comedy is a world premiere about grief, empathy, breaking points, and suspended libidos. I love dark comedies and I enjoyed this show. Tickets are $20.

 

Play in a Day Tech

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After lunch the cast of The Dinner Conversation had a chance to walk through the production on stage for lighting and sound cues. Tracey Jane wrote a magnificently simple everyday family drama set in a Family Pizza Corral where you can build your own pizza. Because of this there were no complex lighting cues, making Blue Estrella‘s job fairly straight forward.

At the end of the show Jac (Jac LeDoux) and Ken (Ken Preuss) are working on a slice of pizza together. It was decided that a reference to the potter’s wheel scene in Ghost would be funny at that moment. In that scene in the movie Demi Moore it turning a pot and Patrick Swayze snuggles up  behind her and together they sensually finger the clay together. The same sensual moment was recreated only with pizza. I can’t imagine a more sensual moment. In my sketch I put Mel, (Melanie Leon) on house left. Her hilarious stage presence lit up every scene.

Tech was quick and efficient, leaving the rest of the afternoon for the actors memorize their lines before the curtain went up at 7pm.

Pineapple Pizza Deviant

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 At the Play in a Day rehearsal for The Dinner Conversation written by Tracey Jane, Jac (Jac LeDoux) and Ken (Ken Preuss) are on a date at Family Pizza Corral. Jac was opening herself to the possibility of a new relationship after being divorced for a year. The date was interrupted by the sudden unexpected arrival of Jac’s two children, Mel (Melanie Leon) and Ben (Ben Preuss).

At the Family Pizza Corral, you get to make your own custom pizza. In this sketch Ben is mashing his dough with far more brute force that is needed. He is angry to find his mom with another man. He went to college and while he was gone she got divorced. The restaurant used to be a place that the family went to, representing some of the happier memories with his father and mother together.

Mel was a bit more playful, choosing to tease her mom about her “needs.” Jac is between a rock and a hard place in hoping her children can accept Ken. Ken can’t win. When he offers Ben some sausage, Ben angrily shoots back that he is a vegetarian. When Jac defends him to her son, she explains that Ken is a good man and that they should give him a chance. Then Ken hold out a tray of Pineapple.

This is a bridge too far. Melanie shouts out PINEAPPLE does NOT belong on pizza! Jac has to agree this is one thing that everyone in the family can agree on. Jac tries to smooth over the situation by trying to get Ken to just pick another topping. She is sure that people are watching. This is a pure comic relief. All the pent up family drama dissipates as the family rallies behind this strange and unexpected pizza deviant. It was the contrast between sweet and savory. I’ve been known to want a burst of sweet even on a slice.

As Jac tries to explain that everyone has their own personal tastes, Ben suddenly shouts out that he is gay. After a pause to take in the information, Jac is caring and accepting. She then goes on to say she is proud of him because at that moment he was a man in her eyes.  It was a heart warming family moment which Ken missed as he obsessed over his very strange pie.  The warmth of the message was so powerful because is was proceeded by so many laughs. The pain of growing up was welcomed with open arms.

The Dinner Conversation

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At Play in a Day, I spend the entire day sketching the rehearsals for The Dinner Conversation by Tracey Jane. After the cold reading at the blue round table the cast moved to the main staging area, a long red table with a series of trays lined up. I loved that the long table and the round table visually created an exclamation point. Everyone still had the script in hand but director Kaitlyn Harrington stood on the opposite side of the table guiding the actors for the staging. The setting was a Family Pizza Corral. All-You-Care-to-Create Buffet. “You Make It. We Bake It!” Jac, (Jac LeDoux) was on a date with her “Special Someone” Ken (Ken Preuss). She was a recently divorced mom of two college kids who were returning home, on the brink of consummating her first new relationship after

the end of a long marriage.

Every line of their playful exchange hinted at sexual innuendo. Ken was a food critic but had never been in the Pizza Corral. He and Jac had spent time getting to know each other but this was the first night out with the possibility of desert. However Jac wanted her kids to meet Ken before “going there.” She wanted her kids to meet Ken the following night. Being a gentleman, he was fine with waiting. As they snuggle close, pressing their fingers in the dough, Jac’s kids, Ben (Bennet Preuss) and Melanie (Melanie Leon) entered the restaurant.

Melanie brought a delightful level of comedy to the awkward exchange. Woman to woman, she spoke of enjoying toppings and of courser some sausage. Melanie had learned all about men with some healthy experimentation in college. While Melanie was playful and teasing her mom, Ben was sullen and angry that his mom was out with another man a year after the divorce. At one point he shouted, “That man is definitely NOT my dad.” The irony in that statement is that Ken, in real life, off the stage, IS Ben’s father. There were so many multi layered meanings and insider jokes in this 10 minute production that made it such a delight to discover. I watched the play performed over and over all day long as they rehearsed and it never grew old. I just loved the characters more as they were fleshed out. I was lucky to have encamped myself with this clever and fun script and cast.

Play in a Day

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Play in a Day is as its name implies a fast paced day where the the plays are written and produced in just one day. The nine writers were given the theme and their individual ‘twist’ at
the beginning of a 12-hour period of their own choosing and that was their
window for creating the script for their original 10 minute play. The directors and performers knew nothing of their script until it was unveiled to them bright-and-early Saturday morning, they then had one day to produce the work by that evening’s opening curtain at 7pm.

Play in a Day 2019 had 107 participating artists, 82 of them, including every playwright, director and stage manager, were women. In addition, each production team was assigned a title under the umbrella theme “Men”. The #MeToo movement inspired a female empowered cast and crew since women are a powerful force in the Orlando theater community.

When I arrived all the actors and crew were gathered in the Lake Howell High School (4200 Dike Rd, Winter Park, FL 3279) cafeteria. There were donuts, beagles and other breakfast items. I sipped some caffeine to get my drawing hand twitching. Each production crew already seemed to be grouped together and I wondered which production team I should sketch. Since I had sketched actress Melanie Leon before in various shows around town, I asked if she could talk to her director about having an artist shadow their rehearsals for the day. The director agreed and soon I was sketching them as they performed the first reading of the play at a small round table.

The table was already a perfect setting since the play written by Tracey Jane was titled “The Dinner Conversation.” Tracy had worked remotely and couldn’t be at the rehearsals but her humor and heart felt writing, affected every scene and interaction between the characters. Around the table sat director Kaitlyn Harrington, who was open to suggestions as the actors became familiar with their parts, yet she guided them deftly. The stage manager was Destiny Sam. The actors were Ken Preuss, his son, Bennet Preuss, Melanie Leon, and Jac LeDoux. Over the course of the day I got to see the challenges overcome as the cast committed lines to memory and transformed into their characters. The tight deadline created a level of team work and support among artists that was absolutely inspiring.

100% of the proceeds from Play in a Day went
directly to the BMP Theatre Scholarship Fund and TOP TEENS. This money
allows teens to attend master class intensives on all areas of theatre,
film/TV, arts administration, activism, acting, directing, play writing,
tech, education and leadership. The artists get to study for the month
of June and then present a showcase. Scholarships are given to the
artists to use to pursue their respective areas in the arts as they
wish.

The Spitfire Grill

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I went to a dress rehearsal for The Spitfire Grill at Mad Cow Theater. The show is based on the film by Lee David Zlotoff. The music and book are by James Valcq with Fred Alley on lyrics and writing. The wonderful thing about a rehearsal is that the actors have fewer worries since they are not in front of an audience. I  am used to hearing actors exercising their voices with scales and vocal calisthenics. For this run, a loud burp echoes from back stage. The mood was set for a classy Midwestern musical.

A Stage hand was working on the moon made of wooden planks cut into  a circle. He called out to director David Lee to see of it was straight. David asked Pam Schwartz and I if we thought it was straight. I had just drawn the moon and the slats in my sketch were straight, so I shouted back, “Yep perfectly straight.” David then called back to the stage hand saying “I just asked a straight couple and they should know.” David explained that his lead singer Kari had been
the understudy for Evita at the Shakes and she had to take on the lead roll
twice in one day with just 45 minutes notice.Actors in the show also doubled as the band performing on banjo

The play opened with Percy Talbot (Kari Ringer) sitting on her suitcase. She had just been released from prison and was hoping to start life over. Based on a page from an old travel book, she ended up in the small town of Gilead, Wisconsin. Kari’s singing voice immediately dominated and the song of hope for new beginnings certainly resonated with me. The local sheriff, Joe Sutter (Sean Powell) who was also Percy’s parole officer, found
her a job at Hannah’s Spitfire Grill, the only eatery in the
struggling town.

It turned out that Pecy wasn’t much of a cook and the town gossip Effy (Leesa Castaneda) talked about her behind her back. Shelby Thorp (Brittany Halen) stepped in to also help out at the grill. Her husband, Caleb (Jason Blackwater) a quarry Foreman, however felt a woman’s place is in the home. She had to fight for the independence needed to work outside the home.

Hannah (Jac LeDoux) had wanted to sell the Spitfire Grill for years. But with no interested buyers, her two worker bees talk her into raffling it off. Entry fees were $100, and the best essay on why you want the Grill wins. Percy, a feisty parolee, winds up in Wisconsin and lands a job at the Grill. Soon, things start heating up as mail arrives by the wheelbarrow-full.

I loved every gruff Midwestern character and lost soul hoping to find home. They reminded me of the big hearted but callous and cautious people I come across when traveling to Iowa. The Spitfire Grill is an inspiring celebration of fresh starts and positive influence of any one person. It was a fabulous uplifting show and a great way to kick off the holiday season. “Say what you want, say what you will, somethings cooking at the Spitfire grill.”

The show runs through December 29, 2019. Tickets are $20 to $42.

Second Saturday Matinee: Saturday, Dec. 14, 2019 at 2:30 p.m.

Discounted Monday Nights: Monday, Dec. 16 and Monday, Dec. 23, 2019 at 7:30 p.m.

Ken Carpenter Talk backs: Take place after
each regular Thursday and Sunday performance. Talk backs are free to
audience members and are open to the public at no extra cost.

Group Discounts: Save 20% off full-price tickets with parties of 10 or more.