10 Minute Tuesdays

Posted on by Thor

I drove to the Turpin Garage Theater for 10 Minute Tuesdays presented by Phoenix Tears Productions. I love this idea. Spot lights were strung up all around a suburban garage, illuminating a mini set inside the garage. The theater opened at 7:30pm. Tickets are just $2 at the garage door. Meg
had created some adorable buttons and other merchandise from past
scripts. There were four rows of Dick’s lawn chairs set up in front of the garage for the audience. 10 Minute Tuesdays happens on the first Tuesday of every month featuring plays in a set theme. This month’s plays celebrated all things pink and red with a plethora of love and murder. I decided to sit in the back row to get an overall view of the garage theater set up. In most theaters the seats are set up on a ramp that rises towards the back of the theater. A driveway on the other hand slops down towards the street.

My favorite play of the night was the first in the line up of three. Called, Misfortune by Mark Harvey Levine and directed by Madison Payne, the show featured two women who sat in a Chinese restaurant having just finished dinner. The waitress with chop sticks in her hair served them fortune cookies. One woman (Melissa Riggins) read her fortune which was bland, sweet and reassuring. Then her friend (Kira Silverman) read her fortune which said something like, “You will be murdered tonight.” In a furor she called over the waitress, read her the fortune, and insisting on getting another cookie. Each time the one woman got a soothing and uplifting fortune while the other got a menacing premonition of certain death. The waitress was just as surprised as the couple and she stayed at the table curious to hear each reading of the fortunes.

If your fortune is so set in stone then it must be true, and perhaps there would be now way to escape your fate. The woman who had been getting the reassuring fortunes began to believe that there might just be a reason her friend might need to be murdered. She picked a sharp knife off the table and questioned her friend about possible affairs as she paced around the table. A mistake by the waitress changed the fortunes of this distressed couple.

A guest performer, (Mathew Stephens) followed with a monologue and then a reenactment of a planned murder of Batman (Vex Batchelder). Outlandish humor was added by Harlequin (Michelle Papaycik) playing a weird tune on a kazoo. Her amazing costume and acting stole the scene.

The final play was, Played for A Sap by Rex McGregor directed by Jade Roberts. In it, a couple having an affair tried to extort money from the woman’s husband. The show featured murder, money and mayhem with affections that turned on a dime. A guy sat in front of me wearing a cowboy hat, so I really didn’t see anything house left for the entire final show, but I was busy painting anyway. With only 10 minutes remaining, I had to rush. By the end of the night, every seat in the driveway was full.

This 10 Minute Tuesday at Turpin Garage Theater is such a fun concept. I was laughing out loud at very twist and turn. When you have a theater full of actors and supporters, you are in for some fun and enthusiastic audience reactions.

Here is a full listing of upcoming productions of 10 Minute Tuesdays.

March 3, 2020        Ladies Night

April 7, 2020          Shakespeare

May 5, 2020           Shows about Show Biz

June 2, 2020           TMT with Pride

July 7, 2020            Christmas in July

August 4, 2020       Come Away with TMT

September 1, 2020  Get Back to Hogwarts

October 6, 2020      Spooky Sendoff

Carnival of Wonder

Posted on by Thor

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