Phantasmagoria VIII “The Chains of Fire” at the Shakes.

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Phantasmagoria
Orlando and DiDonna Productions is proud to present the eighth all new installment in their critically acclaimed “Whimsically Macabre”
Halloween Celebration at the John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center
(812 E. Rollins St, Orlando, Florida 32803). 

The brand new PHANTASMAGORIA VIII “Chains of Fire” thunders on to the Mandell Theater with all new stories of
terror! Live performers, “Phantastical” dance, explosive stage combat,
large scale puppetry, aerial performance, and haunting storytelling
combine to create a tapestry of macabre and whimsical horror!

Phantasmagoria’s evocative troupe of storytellers, dancers, and
chorus embark on their newest, and perhaps darkest journeys yet ,
through literary tales of terror, and horrific folk stories, legends,
and myths. Enter with us into dark tales from the likes of Edgar Allan
Poe, H.G. Wells, Robert Browning, Lord Byron, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman
among many others – all to set the tone for a truly Phantasmagorical
Halloween season!

I went to a dress rehearsal which had a fairly clean run thru of the show. Using the iPad meant I could see what I was working on throughout the performance. I am really enjoying the ability to zoom in when sketching performers. The digital sketchbook is becoming my preferred medium when sketching in a dark theater. This was indeed a darker and more sinister show. Strangulation and death haunted the cast though most every story. Once they begin a tale it must be told to completion. The hitch is that they live the tale intimately to the point of near death. The cast seems immortal however having told the stories for centuries. 

One of my favorite moments came after the run thru. John DiDonna was giving a note on how to dramatically stage a strangulation. He said, “Here allow me to show you by strangling my wife.” He grabbed Dion Leonhard DiDonna by the neck and arched her backwards as he leaned over her. Being a ballerina, she made even the gruesome moment look graceful.

After the run thru, the cast did a whimsical and comically relaxed rendition of the story, “Captain Murderer”. The cast ran out into the audience often getting face to face with the audience as they told the tale with absolute delight. They are at their best when mixing the macabre with the whimsical.
 

Special VIP Experience – Arrive by 7:20 on Select Nights

New this year, the VIP show will occur BEFORE the main stage show on select nights only
(Fri/Sat nights and Halloween) as they introduce their “Phantasticaly
Phantabulous Sideshow Extravaganza!” Specialty acts, special guests, and
appearances by members of the Phantasmagoria troupe weave together to
start the evening off in the best and darkest of ways! This year all VIP
seating can be RESERVED (for the first time) upon coming to the door to
ensure prime seating for all our VIP guests. At the end of the show,
the VIP audience member will also be treated to a final encore
especially designed for them! VIP also includes a glass of wine or soft
drink, a take home gift and more!

Information and Ticketing can be found beginning in September on the website or on their Facebook page.
 

WHO:
Phantasmagoria/DiDonna Productions
WHAT:
Phantasmagoria VIII “The Chains of Fire”
WHEN:
Oct 13th – Nov 4th 2017
All evening performances at 8:00pm (Box opens at 7:00pm/
VIP Show experience at 7:20 / VIP Theater Entrance at 7:50 followed by General Admission seating)
Oct 13, 14, 20, 21, 22, 23, 27. 28. 29. 30. 31, Nov 3, 4
Special MONDAY Performance on October 30th @ 9:00pm only
NOTE: VIP Show Experience only available Friday/Saturday nights and Halloween MUST arrive early for 7:20-ish start
General Admission and Student/Senior/Military available on all nights.
WHERE:
The Mandell Theatre, John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center – Loch Haven Park, Orlando, FL
PARKING:
Lot on site, additional lots and street parking in close proximity
TICKETS:
Student/Senior/Military Admission – $15.00 / General admission – $25.00
Student/Senior/Military VIP Admission – $30.00 / General VIP Admission – $40.00

(VIP Admission includes Pre Reserved Seating, VIP SideShow performance,
wine or soft drink, a take home surprise, and more! – Available only
Friday/Saturday and Halloween nights)
TO PURCHASE TICKETS:
WILL CALL/CASH ONLY AT DOOR reserve by calling our hotline at 407-476-5121

(Leave name/number/date of performance and number in party – you will
be called back only if there is a problem with your reservation)
CREDIT CARD PREPURCHASE

Rattlesnakes at Valencia College.

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Directed by John DiDonna, ‘Rattlesnakes’ had its Central Florida premiere from British playwright Graham Farrow at the black box theater in Valencia College. The play explores the theme of retribution, and the fall-out from infidelity in marriage.

In ‘Rattlesnakes‘, a vigilante group of husbands seeks retribution on the seedy gigolo giving satisfaction to their bored wives. This is a hard-hitting study of betrayal and personal failure.

The play was unnervingly violent, taking place in the hotel room where the gigolo was about to meet one of the wives. Instead, five working class husbands show up all at the same time. A baseball bat, rope and the threat of a knife set a dim future for the cornered well dressed seducer.

Extract:

McQueen (The Gigolo)  
Well, if it’s confession time tonight . . . if it’s truth you want . . . if it’s truth we all want, then why not? It’s why you’re here. ‘S what you said. It was the first question . . . ‘Why are you fucking my wife?’

Jarrett 
My wife’s dead. She’s lying in the bath home with a shower-cord wrapped around her neck. Funny, but I thought you knew that . . . thought Richie told you when you first sat down.
McQueen
Okay, why did I fuck your wife?

Jarrett 
That’s better. 

McQueen 

You wanna know?

Jarrett  

If it’ll help you. Personally, I couldn’t give a

shit, but it seems to make your balls grow a bit
bigger.

Though cornered and beaten, McQueen manages to get under each husbands skin showing them how they failed in their marriages and are to balm for the wives need for companionship.

Phantasmagoria’s Wickedest Tales of All at Fringe.

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Phantasmagoria: Wickedest Tales of All will hit the Orlando International Fringe Festival with a vengeance. I sat in on a  tech rehearsal in the Orange Venue (Margeson Theater) inside the Orlando Shakespeare Theater. I sat in the top row of the theater. The huge cast was rehearsing a waltz. With so many actors on stage, the challenge was to keep couples from bumping into each other.  Once the dance was worked out, the actors were released to go back stage, and get into make up and finish their elaborate costuming. John DiDonna came up to the back row to say hi and offer me a chance to sketch the back stage chaos. However, I had to run in order to get to another show.

Stage hands started sweeping the stage and then someone discovered a quarter sized hole in the stage floor. It was fun to watch actors, stage hands, the tech and director all standing around the hole to figure out how to patch it up. should a performer’s heel get stuck it could be a tragic moment. The fight choreographer stuck his finger in and said, “This will seal it up, I’m sort of like the Dutch boy.” Someone else suggested that they should get an actor to stick their finger in and then rip it off leaving it behind in the hole. Corks were considered and of course Duct Tape fixes anything. I didn’t stick around to find out how the mysterious hole was eventually patched.

The driving premise behind the show is that any story that is old must be told until it is complete. Some stories are so horrific that the cast can find themselves in mortal danger. There was a drone perched on on of the boxes, so I am left wondering how it might come into play.

Steam Machine, a Steampunk Event.

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The Orlando Museum of  Art hosts a monthly exhibit for local artists on the first Thursday of every month. They rang in the new year with a Steampunk themed evening. Intricate steampunk sculptures and costumes dominated the 1st Thursday gallery that is to the left of the rotunda as you enter the museum. Outside the entrance, a series of blank panels were set up so that patrons could use the supplied spray paint cans to get their graffiti on. Actors from Phantasmagoria dressed in Victorian black and blood-red costumes circulated in the crowd, building the excitement with their turn- of-the century British accents.

 The most exciting performance of the evening came when the Phantasmagoria troupe took over the least populated end of the 1st Thursday gallery. John DiDonna stood on the circus-like, steampunk-themed barrel and shouted to gain patrons’ attention. He would make any sideshow hawker proud. The crowning act was a woman who could swallow a sword. Members of the audience crowded close and John asked several to test the blade to verify its authenticity and sharpness. She swallowed the sword with ease. A second time she swallowed the sword and bent forward at the waist to take a bow. A woman was picked from the audience to extricate the sword. John shouted that the sword was resting on the actress’s heart. The woman gingerly removed the sword, uncertain and then delighted like a child when she held the heavy blade. She ran back into the audience wide-eyed and beaming.

I chatted with Logan Anderson and tried to convince him to create a poem written on the sidewalk inside one of Orlando’s 27 blue busking boxes. He explained that there is a paint that is invisible when dry and can only be seen when the pavement gets wet with rain. I told him to do it for the Blue Box Initiative and put out a tip jar as he worked. “The streets are paved with gold!” I shouted. Of course I’ve never made a dime sketching, but I don’t put out a tip jar. He told me that for Art in Odd Places, an artist used gold leaf to fill cracks in the sidewalks in a certain spot downtown. The gold leaf has since washed away, but all the drains downtown send water to Lake Eola. It stands to reason that there must be gold in the lake basin. It is time to get those gold pans out and step into the lake to find that mother lode.

A Phantasmagoria Fire Dance to Ring in the New Year.

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John DiDonna the producer of the Steam punk horror story telling group Phantasmagoria invited me to his home in Sanford for New Year’s Eve. I of course expected lots of actors and actresses and was intent on sketching the midnight fire dance. House numbers were impossible to see at night, so we parked in the general facility and walked the neighborhood in search of the party. We walked past this state historic mansion even they I heard voices in the back yard. By process of elimination I finally decided that this had to be it. I heard John laughing in the backyard, so I walked across the lawn toward a gate on the side of the house. Of course most normal guest would knock on the front door, but I walked towards voices and then tried to open a stubborn old side gate. John saw me struggling and he came over to help me force the gate open. Bricks were piled everywhere and a garden hose slithered in all directions across the path. Guests were relaxing around a fire pit in the back yard. I shook hands with Seth Kubursky and hugged his wife Genevieve Bernard.

I was carrying a cold bottle of Prosecco and needed to drop it off in the kitchen. Dion Leonhard greeted us in the doorway. She grabbed the bottle and whisked us inside. She immediately started giving us a tour of the home. John and Dion had recent purchased the historic home from someone who had lost his partner and wanted to escape the memories. The price was a steal. An inspector working for John expected to find dry rot and structural problems, but after several hours, he pulled John aside and said “You have to buy this home.” The original floor plans are hung in the entry hall and a giant staircase was decorated with dozens of framed theater posters. Dion pointed out what looked like a trap door in the floor. This is just on of six houses in Seminole county that has a basement. She opened the basement door, and I could see a skeleton reclined on a basement shelf. Original cabinetry, historic wallpaper and a giant four post bed really made the place feel like it had stepped back in time. The restoration is an ongoing project. Dion was very excited about a room at the top of the stairs that will soon be her dance studio.

The home has a ghost. The upstairs guest bedroom is where Minerva’s body had been reclined for two weeks. It was a strangely long time to leave her lying there. It is believed that she still wanders the halls. It was getting close to midnight and Dion had to get ready for the fire dance. Guests gathered in front of the home  and the Phantasmagoria fire dancers used the sidewalk as a stage. I decided that the best view was “backstage'” across the street. My friend was confused by my choice and she huddled together with the rest of the theater audience on the front lawn. The count down began… 10, 9, 8, 7, . . . A midnight everyone cheered and the flames ignited. Each performer had a torch candelabra with four or fire flames in each hand. A car driving by honked its approval. Fireworks were exploding all around the neighborhood. It felt like I was sketching war zone. Hours later I would learn that a terrorist attack happened at Reina nightclub as hundreds of revelers marked the new year. In the report I read, 39 had died. That number has likely risen. It felt like June 12th all over again. At the Orlando Tournament of Roses Parade a float with a giant dove and rose pedal rainbow reminded us all of the senseless loss at Pulse.  New Year’s Eve should be about new beginnings but madness prevails.

50 Angels in the Dr. Phillips Plaza.

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Original SOLD, 1 of 5 Prints SOLD

After the “Beautiful Together” Pulse Memorial Concert, John DiDonna directed a moving tribute to the victims by having 50 angel’s wings made at the Orlando Shakespeare scenic shop out of white fabric and PVC. Similar wings had been used by a hateful out of town Baptist group that planned to protest at victim’s funerals claiming that the shooter was sent by god. Hundreds of locals went to funerals where the Baptists might protest to keep the hate mongers from disrupting a families peace of mind as they had to grieve the loss of a son or daughter. Unfortunately passing cars honked their support for the loving counter protesters, which in itself became a disruption.

I left the concert early to start the sketch. Two silent lines of 25 angels each walked to the plaza from behind the Performing Arts Center. They encircled the plaza which was now full of candles, banners flowers and grieving messages of support from around the country and around the world. A light drizzle began to fall. John quickly staged the angel so that they formed an even phalanx around the plaza. Each held a candle. The 50th angel was to honor “The Voice” singer Christina Grimme who was shot days before the Pulse Tragedy at the Plaza Live in Orlando. I sketched from under my umbrella. As if on cue, the rain stopped as the huge audience flowed out of the theater and into the plaza.

The silent vigil moved so many to tears. One reader thanked me for being a witness to all that has been happening these past weeks. Her sincere gratitude finally caused me to start crying. Betsy Brabandt was in tears as she stopped to say hello. I think it was impossible to experience this outpouring of love and grief without being overwhelmed. Wendy Wallenberg did her best, joking with me and even joking with  two women who were crying in front of a large rainbow colored flower display. She managed to make them chuckle even as they cried. “Life is like that,” she said. “It keeps coming at you from all angles.”

City Commission Patty Sheehan spoke with Wendy explaining that the loss of a partner and other losses had helped prepare her for the incredible losses felt this week. She has been an emotional rock and voice of reason through out the week. A woman in tears came up to Patty and hugged her, thanking he for all she has done. I looked away, trying to keep from once again breaking down. There were 49 wreaths in the City Hall lobby and the flowers are now dead. Patty was going there after the concert to pick the flowers to use in 49 shadow boxes being prepared for the grieving families. She did this task alone, another silent and lonely vigil for those who had died.

I joined Wendy and several of her friends at the Grand Bohemian for drinks afterwards. Due to a waitress mix up, I ended up with a second drink on the house. I needed it. I usually rush back to my studio to do a write up before midnight. I couldn’t do it. I needed to numb some of these feelings if only for a moment. We all have so much grief, some of it unrelated to the tragedy, but it all bubbles up to the surface to be faced during evenings like this.

Dickens by Candlelight rehearsal.

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This Dickens by Candlelight rehearsal took place at a gorgeous home in Belle Isle Florida. I almost wanted to sketch outside because large illuminated candy canes lined the walkway to the front door and every eave was lined with icicle lights. Only white lights illuminated the house which made the place feel like a refined crystal palace bed and breakfast.

Having been performed since
1997 at locations such as the the Dr. Phillips Center on Lake Ivanhoe,
the Dr. Phillips Victorian Mansion, the Whispering Heaven Tea Room, and
in private homes, it is once again returning to the John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare
Center, 812 E Rollins St, Orlando, Florida. The interactive show providing
theater-goers with a delightfully unique opportunity to experience A
Christmas Carol the way it was intended to be told: as a Ghost Story.

The tale cleverly envelops the audience as the characters move through
and around the guests who are seated at treat-laden tables. John
DiDonna, Morgan Russell, and Monica Long Tamborello,
three talented Orlando actors, portray all of the roles and artfully
transform themselves from character to character and stave to stave. Seeing the tale told in a private home was perfect. John as the giddy transformed Scrooge hugged my bald head in delight. Since the show is small and intimate, you will find yourself very much a part of the story.

The best way to witness visits from the Ghosts of Christmas Past,
Present and Future is while enjoying homemade cookies and a pot of
freshly-brewed hot tea. The cast and crew is often available before the
show for a steaming cup of wassail and caroling. Opening Night this year
includes a full dinner before the show. For tickets or more
information, call 407-222-7669; or click DickensbyCandlelight@gmail.com to send an email request.
To order by credit card, check out Orlando at Play.

Shows are December 11 – December 22.

SPECIAL OPENING NIGHT MEAL AND PERFORMANCE

Fri, December 11

Crachit Christmas Feast begins at 6:45 pm

Performance begins at 8:00 pm

Tickets $75

TRADITIONAL  DICKENS BY CANDLELIGHT PERFORMANCES

Sat, December 12, 8:00 pm 

Sun, December 13, 2:30pm  

Fri, December 18, 8:00 pm

Sat, December 19, 4:00 & 8:00 pm

Sun, December 20, 2:30 pm

Mon, December 21, 8:00 pm

Tue, December 22, 8:00 pm

All tickets for Traditional Performances $35

Group rates available

No refunds or exchanges

All performances at the

Lowndes Shakespeare Center

in the Patron’s Room

at Loch Haven Park

812 East Rollins Street

Orlando, Florida

A Public Reading of an Unproduced Screeplay about the Death of Walt Disney.

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 I went to a rehearsal for A Public Reading of an Unproduced Screenplay about the Death of Walt Disney written by Lucas Hnath who once lived in Orlando. John DiDonna plays the part of Walt Disney and the rehearsal was in the living room of his South Sanford home.

Cut to. . . A dark Prius arriving on a suburban street at night. The headlights cut off.

Cut to… An artist searching for house numbers illuminating mailboxes with an iPhone.

Cut to… An artist noticing a white car that is empty but has the interior light on. “This must be an actors car.” he thinks.  

Cut To… A house with four or five cars parked in the driveway.

The camera dollies into the scene following the artist who enters the front door without knocking.

I’m late. John DiDonna is well into the script  that he
as Walt wrote. It’s about his last days on earth. It’s about a city he’s going
to build that’s going to change the world. And it’s about his brother.
It’s about everyone who loves him so much, and it’s about how sad
they’re going to be when he’s gone. Right? I mean, how can they live
without him? 

The play reminded me often of the Film “Citizen Kane“. It is about a giant public figure the demands the love of the public, but can not find true love in his own family.   Walt doesn’t even refer to his wife or daughter, played by Jenny Ornstein, by name. He is however very sure everyone should know his name.


Ron Miller, Adam Del
Medico, Disney’s brother in law is a bit of a  sycophant who adores
Walt. He is the only member of the family who feels that way.  But Ron is a jock and represents everything that Walt despises. 

Cut to… A meeting between Walt and Roy, Tommy Keesling, about the city of the future that Walt wants to build in Orlando. Roy explains that if the project is considered a township, then they have free reign to build what they want. Finally Walt will have a fiefdom that he is the supreme dictator of. He just has to live long enough to see it become a reality. Roy and the Disney board however see this project as just another theme park. 

Walt’s fast fading health is covered in a quick series of snippets of conversation with his daughter. It becomes clear that his vision will never become a reality. His strength and domineering will can’t put off the inevitable. Dreams of returning from a frozen stasis trigger rumors that exist to this day that Walt’s brain is preserved in Cinderella’s Castle running the huge theme part complex. This is an incredibly insightful and irreverent look at Walt’s final days. The humor and humanity creep up on you and take you by surprise. The show flows at a breakneck pace and the audience has to keep up with Walt’s furious pace.

When: Four Performances Only. November 20 – 23, 2015. Friday, Saturday and Monday 8:00 pm Sun 3:00 pm. Join cast members for a chat back immediately following the Sunday matinee. 

Where: Lowndes Shakespeare Center Dr. Phillips Patron’s Room 812 E. Rollins St., Orlando, FL,

Tickets: $10 advance (Paypal) $15 day of the show.  For tickets and information, email deathofdisney@gmail.com

Phantasmagoria gets even better with age.

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Phantasmagoria Orlando and DiDonna Productions, present the first ever “Tour Version” of the Critically Acclaimed Victorian Horror Troupe, featuring the “BEST of” the Last Five Years of Phantasmagoria.

Phantasmagoria “Wicked Little Tales” will have a limited engagement
weekend of only 3 performances at the Mandell Theater of the John and
Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center, July 24th, 25th, and 26th before
leaving for its first ever Atlanta Performances. Performances are
Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings at 8:00pm.

I went to a dress rehearsal in the Mandell Theater. John told me that the theater had sat quiet for several months with only the ghost light illuminating center stage. A popular theater superstition, every theater has a ghost, and a ghost light is meant to appease the ghosts. The theater had been struck by lightning and the theater was black when Phantasmagoria arrived. At that first rehearsal, the speakers died for no apparent reason. As the actors warmed up on stage, one said, “That ghost is a jerk.” Another replied, “Yes, especially with the speakers.”

At this dress rehearsal the ghosts gave the performers free reign. During the pre-show the entire cast stood on stage frozen while video of past performances was projected behind them. Each character was introduced in turn in mysterious oozing credits. Two macabre clowns performed among the frozen cast until one was stabbed by accident which animated the troupe as they moved towards the blood.. The ring master standing on a box shouted out with glorious aplomb that the show had begun.  In the opening tale, the cast moved towards the audience menacingly, even climbing over chairs to get face to face. The fourth wall was broken and I was unnerved as the beautiful Aurora (Kim Hough) almost touched my neck as if she were ready to take my life.

Edger Allen Poe‘s “The Raven” started off the tales of horror. A beautiful animation of black wings in flight made a perfect back drop for an actress whose out stretched arms and bird like mannerisms complimented the motion. Another tale from a far continent had haunting hints of voodoo and impending death. “Captain Murderer” was told with a fiendish sense of humor. John DiDonna, playing the Captain played the part over the top which offered much needed laughter. This delightful humor saturated the entire show. The actors are so seasoned that they understand that there is a tongue in cheek humor in even the darkest tale. Other tales included “Varney the Vampire” and “The Feast of Blood”.

The young Pandora (Gina Markarova) naively asked to hear the tale of Lewis Carroll’s “Jabberwocky”. One a tale is begun it must be finished. Alice (Sara Costello) had to be protected from the beast and then she defended herself with a shield and sword. As in Jumangi, the fierce Jabberwocky burst to life threatening the lives of everyone in the cast. Puppetry brought the creature to life and everyone defended themselves with knives and swords. At this rehearsal the fight was run at a quarter speed and still the sharp blades seemed to fly far too close to flesh. This touring edition of Phantasmagoria combines humor and horror in a steampunk, goth production that shines.

Ticket prices are $15.00 for
students and $20.00 for general admission with a $5.00 per ticket add on for VIP guests. Phantasmagoria “Wicked Little Tales” remaining shows are July 25-26 at the John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center (812 E Rollins St, Orlando, Florida) it then goes to Atlanta Georgia on July 31 to August 2.

The Art and Horror of ‘Phantasmagoria’ was at Valencia College.

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A multi-media art exhibit brought the spirit of a Victorian-era, Steampunk-influenced Halloween opened at Valencia College’s East Campus on Oct. 3 for a one-week run.

“The Art and Horror of ‘Phantasmagoria’: Puppetry, Photography, Costumes, Props and Video” offered an inside peek at the magic behind “Phantasmagoria,” a critically-acclaimed stage production that director John DiDonna describes as “a graphic novel come to life.”

Five years ago, “Phantasmagoria” began as an evening of horror stories told by local actors dressed in clothing from the late 1880s. Today, the production has evolved into a sort of Gothic soap opera, with recurring characters who appear year after year.

The exhibit also included Phantasmagoria-related works by prominent local and international artists, including paintings by Thomas Thorspecken and photographs by Kristen Wheeler and Beaureguarde Von Hoffman.

The exhibit was on display at Valencia’s Anita S. Wooten Gallery.I went to the opening reception and was immediately drawn to the Punch and Judy styled puppets on display. Some people at the opening were dressed in Victorian Steampunk fashions and they weren’t even part of the Phantasmagoria cast. Members of the cast did mingle mysteriously at the opening and then they waltzed to music that only they could hear. Giant skulls and bones hung from the ceiling and a ghostly figure hoovered in the corner.