Ophelia Pre-Show at Fringe Art Space

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Mallory Sabetodos Vance founded Phoenix Tears Productions, a local acting troupe that experiments with interactive theater. I have been sketching their quirky shows for years. They are now staging Ophelia, an original musical about Hamlets amore.

It was pouring as Pam and I drove to the theater. We honestly thought we might be the only people willing to go out in such insane weather. We got to the theater an hour early to be able to see the pre-show in the lobby of the new Fringe Art Space. Sure enough we were the only people in the lobby.

Mallory came out and explained that the show would be starting late because of the weather. Apparently the drummer could not get off from work. With time to kill Pam and I looked around. The show has a well designed and illustrated poster. The poster artist also had her thick impasto floral paintings on display outside the bathrooms.

Originally I had not planned to sketch the pre-show but with an hour and a half to kill I decided there was plenty of time to get a sketch done of the lobby and ensuing frivolity.

The actresses began to trickle out and interact with the gathering crowd. Combine,  in a peach colored dress (Emily Sheetz) kept dusting all the surfaces in the room. She asked the couple next to us to get up so she could dust their seats. Thankfully she left me to sketch in peace. Violet, (Carson Holley), in a light purple dress came over. welcomed us and offered her hand which I delicately shook. In Hamlet’s day a gentleman would have stood and kissed her hand, but I was busy sketching.

There was an Ophelia backdrop where people could have their pictures taken. Violet was gleefully encouraging people to pose. In contrast, Rue (Lex Bently) lurked nearby all in black exuding her goth menace. Fennel (Ashley Vogt) in her bright pink stippers outfit and fabulous white leather boots with massive heels, made her way into the sketch.

Carnival of Wonder

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I went to a dress rehearsal for Carnival of Wonder which is an interactive spectacle unlike any other, an immersive murder mystery produced by Phoenix Tears Productions. The audience is invited to attend Madam Mystique’s Carnival of Wonder, a place full of games, fun, magic, and on this August night in 1938, a murder! It’s up to each audience member to watch the suspects and solve the mystery.

A bright pop corn machine at the entrance set the carnival mood. The wall to the left was lined with carnival style games. People were invited to knock  over tin cans, for a prize of jelly beans. I was surprised that no one managed to knock them all over. A magnet might have been involved. Other games included flipping a ring on bottle necks and some game involving a fish bowl.

I was mostly fascinated by the Saoirse the Fae Fortune Teller, (Leanna Bailey) who was illuminated in a faint purple glow. She would read peoples fortunes from Cleromancy or the casing of lots. Between clients she spoke with the Dragon Handler, Tarran Rhodes, (Jason Laramee) and things got heated. Charlie (Melissa Riggins) had been demoted to being a game handler. I wondered what had caused her fall. Roulette: Mistress of Blades, (Madison Payne) gently entertained the rubes by juggling colorful silks. Mallory Sabetodos Vance, Jade Roberts and Vex Batchelder ran the games and kept the rubes in line. Elaine Pechacek of Dragonfly Studios also acted as the consummate hostess.

Madame Mystique (Kathy Romero) in a top hat ran the carnies with an iron fist. Late in the evening the Masked Magician (Kate Murray) entered and was much loved in comparison. A hula hoop performance on the main stage by Lil Red (Jacquelynn Allene Powers) gathered the crowd for what would ultimately be the main event. I went in anticipating a murder and had a suspect in mind from the first moments when I began the sketch. Though a wild guess my artist instinct was correct. The person who guesses the killer correctly got to keep the computer 3D printed murder weapon as a prize.

The last show of Carnival of Wonders is Saturday August 24th at 8 PM

Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 at the door.

Dragonfly Studio & Productions

133 W Mckey St., Ocoee, Florida 34761

The War: an Immersive Radio Drama at Fringe

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Phoenix Tears Productions presentted The War: an Immersive Radio Drama. I witnesses The War from afar. The Fringe audience sat on the steps of the Rep Theater as a researcher from S.C.R.O.L.L. asked them questions and sent them on a mission to seek the truth about a group of rebels and terrorists who threatened the state. Since I was sketching, Pam Schwartz joined the researches to immerse herself in the drama. Audience members were each given head phones and they wandered behind the theater to learn more about the rebels. Mallory Sabetodos Vance was the lead researcher.

With my sketch done, I joined the audience when they returned to share their discoveries. What the audience discovered defied every premise and theory that the researches had considered basic truths. The rebels were not the angry and reckless terrorists that they had thought. The rebels wanted peace as much as anyone. We traveled back in time to witness the beginnings of the war.

A strange aspect of the show is that actors interacted with the audience but they were acting without talking, instead relying on pre-recorded audio. Everything that had triggered the war was a misunderstanding. People had died for no reason. Peace was still in reach if people could put aside their political bias and band together for the common good. The choice of this audience at the end resulted in a log war that resulted in many deaths but ultimately ended the war.

Patron’s Pick for Murder at Fringe

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Mallory Sabetodos Vance produced Patron’s Pick for Murder which was a truly interactive “who done it” at the 2018 Fringe Festival. Patrons met outside the Firehouse Museum behind the Shakes and it was in this pre-show quay that the cast mingled with patrons. The mystery was already a foot. Michelle Papaycik played the part of an actress in a show called “Michelle and Lars go to Mars“. This was clearly a spoof of some of the Fringe’s worst possible shows. Rabid fringe fans mingled with actresses and self appointed theater critics. A simple 2 by 4 door frame was the entrance to the main staging area up on a slight hill under a huge live oak tree. I focused my attention on the line of patrons as they mingled with the cast.

Bikini Katie was the guest star for this press preview and she played up the part of being a true diva. A sip from her water bottle resulted in her immediate demise from poison. After this the patrons could interact with the cast asking questions to try and surmise who had killed Katie. Strangely enough you could even ask the corpse for her thoughts, which is a real luxury for a detective to have. As I was sketching, Pam Schwartz was working the crime scene to try and solve the mystery. She is a born detective, but she was not able to solve this crime. The final motive when reveled was quite simple, but I will keep it to myself should you ever have a chance to experience this show for yourself. The show becomes more exciting when you ask the right people the right questions. You would get out of the show what you put into it.