My Pal Bette at Fringe

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Tammy Kopko returns as Bette Davis, the chain-smoking, tough-talking, Hollywood DIVA and unlikely guardian angel and mentor to awkward 5 year-old Tommy Klein, (Rhyse Silvestro) in the this special anniversary production of the Fringe and NYC hit comedy by John Ryan.

Tommy, smothered by his needy mom, (Janine Klein) finds he needs more guidance as her grows up and he finds it in Bette Davis. Tammy’s performance as Bette is spot on, her every nuance is inspired by the ballsy disdain of this Hollywood DIVA. She is truly a force to be reckoned with. Her mission is to earn her wings guiding the young Tommy towards adulthood. Demonic puppets act as the young boy’s inner demons but they fall flat as guiding voices.

A date goes horribly wrong when an attention starved girl (Melanie Leon) throws herself at the young boy. Her performance is wide eyed, manic and over the top funny. As she freezes in mid kiss, Tommy gets up from the couch and turns to his diva for advice. She advises him to follow his inner voice and that doesn’t lead him to want to pursue women.

The young Tommy grows into a teen, (Clark Levi) ready for college. He ends up rooming with a misogynistic dude as a roommate and Bette earns her wings when the sensitive Tommy stands up for himself. As she says, she gets her wings any time a frat boy screams.

Tammy Kopko as Bette Davis was fabulous. Every moment she was on stage was pure gold. This was a fun romp and the few moments that fall short are easily forgiven for just one more moment of the DIVA’s attitude. Look no further for your next Fringe Crush.

Tickets are $12 plus a $10 Fringe button needed to get into any Fringe show. The show is in the Gold venue inside the Orlando Museum of Art, 2416 N Mills Ave, Orlando, FL 32803.

Remaining show dates are:

8:45 PM 

10:15 PM 

5:00 PM

Spotlight Cabaret Series featuring Janine Klein.

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 Janine Klein returns to the Winter Park Playhouse Spotlight Cabaret Series
premiering her latest solo cabaret, “Nobody Does It Better.” From “Dr.
No” to “Spectre,” James Bond films have given us some of the most iconic
movie themes of the past 50 years. Janine takes her audience through an
evening of popular Bond theme songs and stories that will definitely cause some laughs.

Pam Schwartz and I went to a rehearsal. It turned out that it was Janine Klein’s birthday. She put on a gorgeous sequin gown and had Christopher Leavy, the musical director at Playhouse Theater, zip her up. He was wearing an orange t-shirt and asked me to sketch him in a dress shirt. He then discovered that he had a dress shirt in his office. In theater you always have to be ready with a change of costume.

Janine gave a hilarious and irreverent performance. She gave a hilarious list of some of the Bond Girls, like Pussy Galore, Plenty O’Toole, Holly Goodhead, Xenia Onatopp and her favorite Octo Pussy. She was at ease and the show became largely a comedy as she lambasted the Bond mystique. She might reign in the irreverent jokes when there is a full house, but I hope not. The microphone was only a prop. It wasn’t live, so for some numbers she spared her voice. Even as she glossed over the difficult passages she was always entertaining. She was even more entertaining as she growled out some lyrics and held the microphone provocatively.

The cabaret
showcases a different professional singer each month up front in the
beautiful lobby bar. A truly “New York-style” cabaret, each performance
is approximately 55 minutes in length with no intermission. Shows are September 27th and 28th at 7:30pm. Doors open
at 6:30pm for General Seating. Tickets are $20 for general seating.

After Orlando

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Margaret Nolan has worked diligently to bring “After Orlando” to the stage. Usually it takes years for a theater production to come to life. In Orlando, nerves are still raw, so Margaret felt it was important to bring After Orlando to the stage only months after the Pulse shooting. “It was a labor of love. [I’ve] been steeped in it daily since the 1st week of July and it’s taken an emotional toll….but so worth it to present these important plays and project to honor the Pulse tragedy.” Margaret wrote me. The event was sold out.

After the Pulse tragedy NYC creators Zac Kline and Blair Baker invited fellow theater artists to create short plays and poetic pieces as a response to create something with heart, and spirit.  After Orlando is now a collective of over seventy playwrights from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Uganda. Plays are being presented in venues and universities all over the work and will be published in an anthology by No Passport Press.

Margaret commissioned and curated Orlando based writers to join in the conversation. The evening consisted of 20 short plays with ten local playwrights showcasing their talents. My short film, “Finger on the Pulse” was screened right after intermission. As I entered the theater, Paul Casteneda said he was close tears watching the film at the last rehearsal. There were tech issues but they were resolved right before the opening. My favorite play was written by young playwright Rose Helsinger. Called “Albino Crocodile“. It was a monologue be young actress who witnessed a gay classmate being bullied in the school halls. The bullying centered around a mispronunciation of Albino. Albino Crocodiles have blood red eyes and beautiful white skin. When an albino goes to the watering hole all the other crocks go  “Hey what is this? We can be seen around the likes of you.” At a girls slumber party conversations turned to boy crushes. One girl confided that she had a crush on another girl. She was shunned like the albino. She however stood resolute finding a strength and joy in being herself.

A Poem by Aradhana  Tiwari called “I remember I am a Rainbow” got me choked up. The poem started showcasing a storm’s approach and violence. Despite the turbulence and darkness the rainbow emerged to explain the joyful meaning behind it’s every color. It was somewhere around the description of a yellow bird chirping happily and taking flight that I broke down. It was a dark theater. I didn’t have to wipe away the tears.

Other heart wrenching plays, had actors exchanging messages and phone calls in a desperate attempt to find out if loved ones were lost. Janine Klein had an incredibly powerful monologue as a mom getting ready for bed and seeking silence from social media. Her sleep is disturbed by phone calls and she discovers her son is among the missing. Janine grew desperate, hoping her son was alright. Her love was palpable even as she described the tattoo he loved and she hated. She faced the possibility that her son might be forever silent.

The final play, had all the actors on the stage. I imagine the final production would have 49 actors. Rebecca Fisher recited a series of joyful phrases beginning with “Today is a good day to…” Tell someone you love them, hug a stranger, to take dance lessons, to sky dive… All the statements came from the obituaries found for the 49 victims in the Orlando Sentinel. It ended the evening on a high note, reminding us all to live life to the fullest. Life is a gift that is all too short. Part of me wants to shut down, to steer dear of the pain. But compassion and hurt bubbles to the surface any time I see OrIando’s Creative community unite to answer bigotry and hate with an enlightened response. As Paul Castineda said, “I’m proud of all my fellow
artists.”

Hedwig and the Angry Inch

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Jeremy Seghers invited me to sketch the dress rehearsal for Hedwig and the Angry Inch at the Abbey. I was excited because Joshua Eads-Brown who plays Hedwig had agreed to let me sketch as he put on his make up. When I entered the Abbey, a rock band was warming up on stage. I didn’t know where the dressing room was but, I assumed it had to be back stage. When I tentatively peaked around the back curtain, I practically ran into Joshua who was wearing a knit cap over his hair and not much else. His whole body seemed to be covered with a white dust. The stage manager took me back to the dressing room.

Janine Klein who plays Yitzhak was working on getting her hair tied up. She was dressed as a man. The dressing room was cramped. I stood right behind Janine as I sketched Joshua’s metamorphosis from a man to a woman. He had a bright pink zebra patterned makeup case and open pans of color were scattered on the counter before him. The face makeup was applied thickly. He darkened under his jaw line and boldly accentuated his cheeks with Alizarin Crimson. He put crimson and blue around his eyes then bright red lips outlined in black. His lips and eyes sparkled. The fingers of white gloves draped over the counter’s edge. Janine was getting into a leather jacket and Joshua delicately used an eyeliner brush to give her a mustache and goatee. She became handsome and rugged while he became gorgeous. Large fake eyelashes, the wig and a red white and blue gown finished the transformation. She slipped on the star shaped sun glasses and went on stage.

The dress rehearsal was delayed because a guitar player hadn’t arrived yet. I used the time to block in a second sketch. Hedwig came out wearing a large red white and blue cape. He raised his arms and on the inside of the cape, the words, “Yankee Go Home”, “With Me!” was emblazoned.

The show is staged as Hedwig’s musical act in which he tells his life’s story. He was born in the divided city of East Berlin. A U.S. Soldier falls in love with Hedwig. To get out of East Berlin, a sex change was needed. As he put it, “You must give up part of yourself for love.” The operation is botched leaving an “Angry Inch.” The soldier leaves Hedwig after a year for a man. Recovering from separation she form a rock band called, “The Angry Inch”. She meets Tommy Speck and they write music together. Tommy never accepted Hedwig and he leaves her taking all the songs becoming a very successful pop star.

Yitzhak was a cross dresser. Hedwig insisted he must never again wear woman’s clothes if they were to be together. He would have to give up that part of himself. All her life Hedwig searched for her other half. She couldn’t find anyone who could make her whole. The revelation is that she needed to accept herself. Once she did that she was whole again. We can’t fall back on others to complete ourselves. In the final scene Yitzak came out on stage dressed in a gorgeous black gown with a slit reveling her left leg. She was resplendent and whole. The audience went wild.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch is being performed at the Abbey through January 23rd. Check the website for dates and times. This musical will blow your socks off!