I went to Cypress Grove Park, 290 Holden Ave., Orlando Florida to sketch the auditions for Chess Match at Orlando Renaissance Festival. The show, produced by Lance was a stage combat production which was the headline show in the Orlando Renaissance Festival, and was comprised of over 20 roles (both combat and non-combat oriented) that will brought the epic lore of the Grimm Brother’s Fairy-tales to life in a Living Chess Match. No experience was required.
The rehearsal took place on a scenic lake side spot at the edge of a forest. Groups of actors were selected to go through scenes together. I got to watch various actors go through the same scenes and I fell in love with certain performances. It was a fun and inspiring morning.
Pam came with me with her two pups and walked them around the park while I worked. One actor had his pup with him as they watched the rehearsal. By the time Pam returned I was finishing up the sketch. My challenge was to catch the ever changing crowd of actors as the moved around the open field performing.
The Orlando Renaissance Festival announced that the 2020 Orlando Renaissance Festival has been cancelled. This decision was not been made lightly, and was made with the safety of guests, participants, and workers in mind. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, they closely monitored the situation, and they do not believe that we would be able to operate safely this year and in full compliance with local ordinances.
They will be returning in December of 2021! They were prepared to open a second week of operation in honor of the 5th anniversary, and they do plan to move forward with that in 2021. Our dates for 2021 are December 4-5, 10-12, 2021.
This year, (2020) they plan to premiere a virtual event on Zoom and Facebook Live on December 5-6, 2020. The event is free of charge to participants and patrons, and is their way of offering an opportunity for all to come together and experience the magic of the festival.