Jett Backpack and the Battle at the End of the Universe

Posted on by Thor

I went to the Jett Backpack tech rehearsal to see the cast in costume. I was impressed by the backpack itself which was built with cardboard tubes and the ends of liter soda bottles along with tubing snaking from component to component, all of this was anchored to a roll along suitcase and worn, the backpack looked like it might work.

Dancers rehearsed the opening scene in which they held planets that zoomed down the isles and onto the stage narrowly missing Jennifer Guhl as she flew a pretend shuttle through space. Dorothy Massey was busey cutting a foam tail for a reptilian villain named Dr. Saurian played by Stephen Lima. When the tail was secured with a belt she and the cast had a good laugh. Later the reptile was fighting Jett Backpack, played by John Bateman, and the tail struck Jett in the balls immobilizing him. In a second rehearsal of the same fight, Jett’s knees came together when he was struck and the tail snapped off remaining between his clenched knees. It was a hilarious mistake.

This Fringe show was campy and fun offering rolls where local actors could cut loose and be silly. Sadly the show’s run is over and yesterday I saw the cast relaxing over beers in the beer tent. The earth itself was saved from certain doom so it was time to down some ale and admit the battle was now part on Intergalactic history.

This show won TheDailyCity.com’s Audience Choice Award for the best show in the yellow venue.

Jett Backpack Rehearsal

Posted on by Thor

On April 29th, I went to Dancer’s Edge Studio (7351 Aloma Ave, Winter Park, FL) to sketch a rehearsal for Jett Backpack and the Battle at the End of the Universe, which will appear at the upcoming Fringe Theater Festival in May. It was raining like a banshee  on the drive to the theater, but the cast trickled into the dance studio lobby one at a time at first and then in a deluge. The dance studio had mirrors on three walls and the actors performed towards the fourth wall.

Much of the action took place on an intergalactic space craft with John Bateman playing a cocky and somewhat incompetent captain with Jennifer Guhl playing his salty number 1.  The play was written by Josh Geohagen and he sat on the floor pouring over the script. At this rehearsal just two scenes were blocked with Kevin G. Becker directing. Before getting to work, the cast assembled in a circle and switched places with a point and command. Another exercise involved everyone walking the room and reciting the alphabet. If two actors said the same letter at the same time, they had to begin again at A. I’m always amazed at how a cast can pull together and become keenly aware of each other working almost like a flock.

Often the crew of the star ship would be looking at an imaginary view screen which they decided was the blue cork paneling on the wall. They all would crane their heads to look up at it. Several clones perished in gruesome ways and where whisked off to air locks. Dorothy Massey played a sultry Princess Positronic who was attracted to the captain. Trenell Mooring is sort of the face of Fringe this year since she is pictured on the Fringe poster along with her son. Her eyes are set apart wide on her face giving her an exotic chiseled look. She plays the part of an alien helmsman on the ship speaking an alien dialect. This tongue in cheek comedy was consistently hilarious. I can’t wait to see the cast in costume. Since only two scenes were rehearsed, I’m left wondering how the adventure will play out.

Where: The show will be in the yellow venue which is the Mandell Theater in the Lowndes Shakespeare Center.

How much: You need a Fringe button plus tickets are $10.

Show times:

Thu 5/16 7:30PM

Sat 5/18 9:45PM

Sun 5/19 11:15PM

Tue 5/21 7:15PM

Thurs 5/23 5:45PM

Fri 5/24 6:30PM

Sat 5/25 1:00PM

Dog Powered Robot and the Subsequent Adventure.

Posted on by Thor

I arranged to meet the cast of Dog Powered Robot at the loading door of the Orange Venue at the Orlando International Fringe Festival. As I approached the green lawn of fabulousness, I realized I didn’t know where the Orange venue was. I decided to go inside the Shakes and that was a correct guess. Brittany Wine, the DPR stage manager was at the stage door in a stunning red dress. I asked about the loading door and she lead Gina Makarova and myself through a maze of hallways and back doors. Gina was using crutches and had on a temporary cast. It seems her cello had decided to wrestle her to the ground.

The DPR army gathered behind the theater along with a small mountain of cardboard robot parts and set pieces. Grace “Scully” Nolan had seen the DPR billboard on the drive over and the server saw her Blue DPR shirt and commented on how she loved Dog Powered Robot.  The servers name was Destiny which forebode a super awesome performance. Fisher was a furry bundle of energy and he barked his welcome an more people arrived. Evan Miga explained that a life sized VW van would drive across the stage Flintstones style, giving this Fringe show effects bigger than the helicopter in Miss Saigon or the Phantom’s chandelier. . The metallic garage door opened, Christie Miga picked up Fisher and the DPR Army started moving the corrugated cardboard city inside.

I thought I wanted to sketch backstage, but most of the robot parts were out on the floor of the theater. I sat in a front row theater seat, but the arms were too restrictive so I ended up sitting on my artist seat partly on stage. Brittany announced, “5 minutes to house open!” and someone shouted back “Thank you 5!” I couldn’t believe it, my sketch was barely blocked in. I would have to finish as the show progressed. Cast members in black outfits with black helmets with red miner’s lights roamed the room scanning with a long pole with a spinning light rainbow device. They muttered to each other in an alien dialect reminiscent of a Muppet’s song. The rear projection screen announced that they were Ninja Noids and were invisible. That didn’t stop the Ninja Noids from interacting with the audience as they arrived. There was playful theater magic from the start. I sketched Vic-16, (Corey Violence) and Commodore, (Zach Scot) but they only had bit parts to introduce the play.

Lolly Bot (Serafina Schiano) was delightful and she was given time to shine. Audience members were offered a $1 discount if they showed up as a robot. Her counter part, a punk purple bot, Scraperella Overdrive, played by Jennifer Guhl, added sass and attitude to the show. The villain was a grumpy old neighbor who had robotic arms played by John Moughan, and by the end of the show he had used the embigi-fication matrix to extend his reach with many giant arms. I will not give away any of the plot points other than to say that the friendly blue Dog Powered Robot saved the day. The show had the audience laughing out loud and they cheered for Fisher, the little Pomeranian at the heart of the bright blue bot. The show returned to the dreams of the big city ideals that were
endearing in the short production two years ago. It is hard to recreate the energy and surprise of that initial production. Call it destiny or call it fate, the show was a super
awesome mega win!

Show times are:

Wednesday 5/23 at 5:15PM

Thursday 5/24 at 7:45PM

Saturday 5/26 at 1:15PM

Sunday 5/27 at 3:15PM

Tickets are $11.