The Stories of Christmas

Posted on by Thor

After a radio interview, Joshua Vickery invited me to a dress rehearsal for The Stories of Christmas, at Central Florida Community Arts
(250 SW Ivanhoe Blvd, Orlando, Florida 32804).  

This holiday season, the 300 voice
CFCArts Community Choir and members of the CFCArts Symphony Orchestra will perform their rendition of The Stories of Christmas. This year, the show
will share family traditions, childhood memories, personal stories and
much more through their favorite Christmas songs, as well as the
incorporation of “Noel: The Carols of Christmas”, the retelling of the
Christmas story through traditional Christmas hymns. Don’t miss this
fantastic holiday production as only CFCArts can present.

The
Stories of Christmas will be held on Thursday, December 8th and Friday,
December 9th at 7:30pm at Northland Church, (530 Dog Track Rd, Longwood
FL, 32750). They are offering the convenience
of assigned seating for this event! That’s right, you will be able to
CHOOSE YOUR SEATS when you order your tickets. All seats in the
auditorium will be assigned and will not be first come, first served. So
buy your tickets now! Tickets are $10 each for advance sale ($15 at the
door), Priority Seating tickets are $25 each, and tickets for Premium
seating (which also includes a CFCArts Cookbook and Autographed Poster)
are $50 each.

Please note that tickets will NOT be available
for walk up purchase at Northland at any time prior to the night of the
show. Tickets may be purchased online or by calling the CFCArts Box
Office at 407-937-1800 x 710.

Balcony seating is not
handicapped accessible. For handicapped accessible seating, please call
the CFCArts Box Office at 407-937-1800 x 710. Children ages 3 and under
will be admitted for free. For those parents wishing for their 3 and
under child to have his/her own seat, a free ticket will be available
for reservation. Doors will open at approximately 7 p.m. Nature’s Table
Cafe will be open at 5:30pm both evenings – come early and join us for
dinner!

Ticketing problems or questions? Contact the CFCArts Box Office: (407) 937-1800 ext. 710 or boxoffice@cfcommunityarts.com

Oklahoma!

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On September 6th I went to the final performance of Oklahoma at the Northland Church (530 Dog Track Road Longwood FL). Since I had already sketched the huge stage, I rushed up for a front row seat on stage right. As people continued to filter in, I started sketching in the stage. I knew how the opening act would unfold so I had a good idea where the actors would be staged. There was also a lone stool onstage which became the scenes anchor. A mother and her little girl sat to my right. I apologized to her that I’d be sketching for much of the show. She didn’t mind. As a matter of fact, her little girl was scribbling much of the time as well.

Aunt Eller played by Alice Smetheram sat in the stool.  The romance between Curly and Laurey played by Wes Miller and Cassidy Tompkins, became obvious though they jokingly tease each other. Their teasing turns to an argument and Aunt Eller shouts out “Why don’t you just kiss her?” 
Curly asked Laurey to go to a box social dance with him that night, but she refuses, feeling that Curly
had waited too long. He attempts to persuade her by telling her that he
will take her in the finest carriage money can buy, “The Surrey with the Fringe on Top“,
but she teases him about it until he says he made it up to get back at
her, and Laurey flounces off, not realizing that Curly really has rented
such a rig.

A lonely farm hand named Jud, played by Tim Evanicki, becomes obsessed with Laurey and he asks her to the dance. She accepts to spite Curly although she is terrified of Jud.  Tim’s performance was amazing. He must have operatic training and he was always a menacing presence. The Orlando Ballet collaborated with Central Florida Community Arts to bring about a graceful dream ballet as Laurey as she lamented her choice of suitors.

The production was painfully long and I discovered that my choice in seats meant staring at backsides during the more crowded scenes at the box social. With an army of performers however, it was easy to get swept away by the music. Mark your Calendar! On September 20 and 21 at 7:30 and September 22 at 6:30 CFC Arts will be presenting The Music of Rogers & Hammerstein at the Orlando Shakespeare Theater. Tickets are $10 at the door. The Orlando Ballet 2013 season will kick off with “Tribute” on October 18-20th at the Bob Carr.

Oklahoma!

Posted on by Thor

Oklahoma written by Oscar Hammerstein and music by Richard Rodgers  was performed as a semi-staged concert on September 5th and 6th by Central Florida Community Arts. I went to the final dress rehearsal on September 4th at Northland, A Church Distributed (530 Dog Track Road, Longwood, Fl). The interior of this church is absolutely cavernous. Some volunteers were busy placing inserts in the programs. The concert would benefit victims of the Oklahoma tornadoes There was a 300 voice choir, 70 performers along with a 100 member orchestra. Most performers were volunteers. The guest conductor was Clay Price.

Joshua Vickery, the co-founder and executive director of CFC Arts welcomed me. This organization had set up its first headquarters in the Dr. Phillips Center for Performing Arts (1111 N. Orange Ave. Orlando Fl ) a building it shares with the Orlando Ballet. They had to move out recently because the building is plagued with a mold problem. The building is set right across the street from Lake Ivanhoe and it’s foundation is actually below lake level. Any time it rains, the ground floor floods. I’ve seen the flooding myself several times when I’ve sketched at the building. Now CFC Arts and the Ballet need a new home.

The scenes played out on the arched stage the pushed out towards the audience. The musical began with Curley, played by Wes Miller and Aunt Eller, played by Alice Smetheram, singing “Oh what a beautiful morning” at Laurey’s farmhouse.  That was the moment I decided to sketch. When the entire cast sang “Oklahoma!” the shear scale of the concert became clear. It had been a long time since I saw the movie production so I followed the plot with interest. The production was surprisingly long. When I finished the sketch Act II had not yet begun. The cast was given a break and I decided to call it a night. I would have to see the ending at a performance.

Mark Your Calendar! CFC Arts will be presenting “The Music of Rogers & Hammerstein” on September 20 at 7:30pm, September 21 at 7:30pm and September 22nd at 6:30pm. tickets are $12 for advanced online reserved seating or $10 at the door. Performances will be at the Orlando Repertory Theatre, (1001 E Princeton Street, Orlando, FL).

Spores

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At the Earth Day Festival at Lake Eola I decided to get a Vegan Lunch. The food court was at the South east entrance to the park under a huge Live Oak. I decided to get a carrot hot dog at Spork Cafe‘s booth. Tisse Mallon and her sister Joyce were working hard to keep up with orders. Joyce was at the barbecue grill searing the carrots over the coals. For a drink, I went to Midtown Eco Village for a berry smoothy. I ate lunch back at the Analog Artist Digital World tent. The hot dog was delicious although quit messy. A big splooge of mustard fell on my pants.

Journalist, Curtis Franklin had taken several photos as I sketched earlier in the day. He stopped by my tent to interview me. It was a fun talk and it turned out we have quite a lot in common.  Whenever he visits a new city, he walks the streets with a camera and a tape recorder to capture the city’s story.

My next door neighbor was Doug Rhodehamel, one of his art projects is “The SPORE Project” he makes paper bag mushrooms out of used paper bags that would usually end up in a landfill. The SPORE Project was
created in 2005 to promote support for art in schools and to illustrate
the importance of creativity in everyday life. He supplied paint and brushes so the kids could paint their own mushroom. Doug worked with a volunteer from Northland
Church and Hope4Orphans. This summer he hopes to to help send a few volunteers to
Ukraine and Russia. Through several week long summer camps, they will be
providing arts and crafts and paper bag mushrooms to hundreds of
orphans.

Doug’s spores are slowly taking over the world.  He stood next to me and laughed like a mad scientist. Parents and their kids would march through my tent to plant their spore and begin painting. There wasn’t much in my tent so it made the perfect garden gateway. I was glad, cause it meant more people would see my sketchbooks. I had the framed books hanging from the tent upper supports above children’s heads. Parents ended up banging their heads on my frames so I just had to plant a seat below the sketchbook so people knew to walk around.

Patti Matchett and her husband Andy joined me for the afternoon. I can’t thank them enough. With all the merchandise sold out, there wasn’t much to do other than hand out business cards and talk to people about the blog’s sketch a day mission.  Two Japanese culinary students wanted to buy the sketchbook suspended over my head. I tried to explain that it was an entire sketchbook but they could buy a print for $200. Language was a barrier but I have their contact information so maybe there is still hope to close the sale.

Christmas at the Movies

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For the second half of the choral concert at Northland Church, (530 Dogtrack Road, Longwood FL), I sat as high as I could so my book light wouldn’t disturb anyone around me. There was a Sleigh Ride Medley, a White Christmas Medley and plenty of dancers with hyper Disney pep in their steps. I identified best with the deep throated baritones singing, You’re a Mean One Mr. Grinch. From my elevated perch, I looked down on all the Who’s in Whoville singing on the stage. Even my jaded heart gave a subtle twitch.

The last Central Florida Community Arts Concert I saw in this venue had beach balls that floated down on the crowd from the rafters.  Beach balls might not be appropriate for Christmas. Then I wondered why no one ever created giant inflatable snow flakes. I just might have to put that on my to-do list. There were projections of snowflakes on the screen behind the singers and sometimes on the walls of the hall.

I really liked the quick paced performance by Jimmy Moore and Melissa Mason Braillard when the presented “Christmas Story” in three minutes or less. When Melissa acted as Ralphie helping his dad change a tire, it was extra funny when she dropped the lug nuts shouting F—! Jimmy clapped his hand over her mouth just in time before she soiled the sanctuary. Later they presented “Christmas Vacation” in three minutes or less, but many of the references were lost on me since I didn’t know the movie as well.

Christmas Tree

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I live vicariously through other people’s trees. This tree was found at Northland, A Church Distributed (530 Dog Track Road, Longwood, Florida). I was invited here to see, Christmas at the Movies, a choral concert on December 6th. Sharon Hegedus advised me to just sit and enjoy the concert. As people lined up to enter the hall however, I couldn’t resist sketching the tree. Northland’s lobby is a cavernous space and this tree towered 15 feet tall. It was decorated with red and gold ornaments in various sizes. There were pine cones and ribbons giving it a traditional feel. A large painting depicting the prodigal son parable was hung above the hall entrance.

As I sketched, the doors to the hall were opened and everyone filed in. I could hear the first songs sung by the 220 person strong Central Florida Community Choir. Christmas Time is Here, Pure Imagination and a Polar Express Medley were performed as I stubbornly finished my sketch.  The show was directed by Joshua Vickery, backed by a live orchestra and with participation from the Central Florida Community Dance Team. When I did go in the hall, I had to pause to let my eyes adjust to the dark. A man seated in the back row with his son, gave me his program. This unrequested act of generosity took me by surprise. I couldn’t resist the notion of finding a perfect angle to sketch from. I sat on the house right and relaxed. O Holy Night welled up bringing the show to the intermission. I decided to change my seat and I walked up towards the balcony seating. The balcony was blocked off, so I sat in the last row right before the balcony. I got my book light out and started a second sketch.

The HeART of Theater

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0n May 10th and 11th, Central Florida Community Arts presented, “The HeART of Theater, An Evening on Broadway.” The event featured the Central Florida Community Choir, orchestra and Dance Team, at the Northland Church (530 Dog Track Road). When I pulled into the church parking lot, I saw a mini van unloading seniors in front of the venue. My NYC snobbery kicked in and I expected to experience an amateurish production. Most folks waiting in the lobby did have grey hair but I had to do a reality check, so do I.  The worship center was huge and the large crowd in the lobby filled maybe a third of the available seats. I sat midway back so I could capture the immensity of the space.

Joshua Vickery, the founder and Executive Director introduced the evening. He stressed that Central Florida Community Arts positively influenced the community by connecting, serving and performing. The group has a vision to make the performing arts more accessible and to help local charities achieve their missions. This volunteer singing group has performed for the Coalition of the Homeless, Runway to Hope, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Hope for the Nations, Florida Hospital and many other great local organizations.

The ongoing theme to the Broadway Musical numbers performed, was how the arts inspire and enrich the artists who perform. Staged scenes, and dance numbers punctuated the evening between choral performances. I was swept along by the shear power and enthusiasm of the performances. This was an energetic evening of music that far exceeded my expectations. The last piece called “You Can’t Stop the Beat“, had everyone standing, clapping and singing along. Beach balls floated down from the catwalks high over head and the audience batted them about. This was an energetic, wild evening, with CFCA splashing on the Orlando Arts scene like a tidal wave reaffirming the creative spirit. I’m indebted to Sharon Hegedus, who first introduced me to this amazing group.

Upcoming performances include, American Pops on May 19th, The Classical Music of John Rutter on August 11th and a choral concert version of the musical, Titanic on September 7th to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the sinking. On August 4th there is The Heart of the Arts Gala, held at the Gaylord Palms, which will raise funds to help CFCA impact the community where we work and live.

Central Florida Community Arts

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I went to a Central Florida Community Arts rehearsal at Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church (1655 Peel Ave). This was a combined rehearsal with all 200 singers. Sharon Hegedus, the Director of Community Involvement for CFCA had suggested I come to the rehearsal to get a sketch. When I arrived, the parking lot was already crowded with two volunteers helping guide cars to the few remaining open spots behind the church. Listening, I walked towards the sound of people kibitzing in the entry to the church hall. Two tables were set up with name tags the singers. The woman asked my name and I had to explain that I was just there to sketch.

Dianne Sheets stood at the front of the church to welcome everybody. She is a voice coach who works with Christian Singers and has branched out to coach country western singers as well. She has started traveling to LA and NYC to meet up with her clients. She was in charge of warming the singers up. She had everyone stand and face left and everyone massaged the shoulders of the person next to them. Darn, I should have sat closer! Everyone then faced right and returned the favor. Dianne asked for a volunteer with a nice long neck. “I have a long neck” I thought. She grabbed a guy from the second row and told him, “I’m going to put my hands around your throat.” Everyone laughed. She demonstrated how to further loosen up the neck and vocal chords.

A children’s choir gathered in the back of the church then assembled at the front of the church.After their song, someone shouted, “Aren’t they adorable!” There was a standing ovation. Joshua Vickery took over, directing the rest of the rehearsal with a chipper Disney attitude. Half way through, he said, “I’m going to get I’m trouble for saying this, but, this is the best choir in town!” Much of the rehearsal centered around the song, “You can’t Stop the Beat!” At one point everyone laughed when the harmony was lost and they scattered, loosing the beat. The rallied on the next pass. Sections of the choir would stand and sing just their part before all the voices were combined in harmony. The chorus was on fire as they sang “This is the Moment.”

The chorus has a performance coming up on May 10th and 11th titled “The HeART of Theater, an Evening on Broadway.” Performances are at 7:30pm at the Northland Church (530 Dog Track Road, Longwood). Tickets are $10.