Head Over Heels

Posted on by Thor

Encore is presenting Head over Heels which is being performed at the John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center (812 E Rollins St, Orlando, FL) from through June 13, 2021. This was my first sketch inside a theater since the pandemic began in March of 2020.

This was a dress rehearsal so the audience was very scarce. Performers who were vaccinated went without masks and the dancers always wore clear masks. Thankfully everyone in the audience wore masks.

This was a musical set in Arcadia which resembled a medieval utopia. I must say the costuming in this show by the late A.J. Garcia was stellar. A live band was on the upper level and and they were a bit overbearing at the start of the show. However this musical was a delight and the show started with a high energy dance number set to We Got The Beat. The songs are contemporary so if you liked the Moulin Rouge movie I bet you will have a fun time seeing this show.

The heart of the show is a love story between a sheep herder and a princess. The king denies the match and the herder only can get close to the princess dressed as a Amazon warrior. An oracle who was first a snake later appeared as an owl in fabulous drag. The kings anger and close minded view of his subjects and his family is eventually overpowered by love. This is a great show to run during Pride week since acceptance and discovering our true self are at the core of the show.

The actor playing the shepherd, Michael Angelini Jr.,did a hilarious job jumping back and forth between his male and female roles. Lillie Eliza Thomas was regal as the queen and Laurel Hatfield was heart warming as the plane princess Phiolclea. The bottom line is that this is a fun and exciting night of theater and for someone who once sketched shows every night this was a breath of fresh air. Tickets are $39.

 

La Maschera Goes Parisian Ooh La La!

Posted on by Thor

La Maschera was presented by Goose Island: Madame Rose, Sofie, Matilda and Pere Jacques. Guests enjoyed a journey back to Paris in the 1890s, when impressionist artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec created his most famous works of art. How could I resist the temptation to sketch in the Abbey, turned into the Moulin Rouge, the birthplace of the modern Can-Can dance? The Montmartre neighborhood is the symbol of creativity, pleasure, beauty, and celebration.

People dressed up for an evening of live entertainment, dancing,
a silent auction,
gourmet food, beer
and wine.
Proceeds from this event benefited the Downtown Arts District. I wanted to play the part of Toulouse, but I’m just too tall. My only option to dress a bit French was to wear a striped shirt. During the course of the evening, however, I found out that the stripes were in the wrong direction. French stripes are horizontal, but mine were vertical.

I sketched the band and the lovers seated together. Rather than do a third sketch, I sat with friends and sipped a glass of wine. The dance floor was full. Maxine Earhart was a hurricane of social activity and I was swept up and seated strategically. The evening’s laughter cemented the start of a new friendship. The promise of a complimentary bottle of wine and dinner was interrupted by Hurricane Matthew, which blew apart my social plans by shutting down Orlando, yet creating a common bond in the face of danger. Lawn furniture was secured and every imaginable lawn missile was placed in the garage. We were told not to sleep, so the TV announced the storm’s progress while we watched the animated swirling storm maps. I finally went to bed the next morning knowing the worst of the winds had passed. There was no damage, but returning life to normal would take time.