Mr. Harley entertained at Kids Fringe.

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On May 23rd, Mr. Harley was the first act at the Kid’s Fringe tent at the Mennello Museum. My mural, “Whose line is it anyway?” was at my back as I sketched. It offered a colorful backdrop and it was nice to see it with so much vibrant activity around it.

Mr. Harley played light hearted music for the kids. This sketch was a quick demo for my student on how to use a few quick blocks of color to cover the whole sketch. The Kids Fringe tent was the perfect spot to start each day’s Sketch Tour since the kids would do early morning stretches to start their morning. While they were stretching it made sense to get sketching. The green lawn of fabulousness in Lock Haven park is very quiet in the morning. This is probably because it rocked so hard the night before.

 Since I was hosting the Sketch Tour, I was able to do far more Fringe Sketches than I usually would. I’ve trained myself to just get one sketch a day at any event I go to so that I can have some kind of home life as well. There are so many free acts at the outdoor stages so you could spend a whole day at the Fringe without paying to go to a theatrical production. The Shakes, Rep,Orlando Museum of Art and the Venue all have air conditioning however, so the temptation to sit inside a cool theater eventually takes hold.

As part of the Sketch Tour package, I offered Fringe buttons so it made sense to eventually introduce the idea of sketching the shows themselves. Sketching in a theater has it’s challenges and I pointed out my tips and tricks to get a sketch even when the house lights go black.

The 11 O’Clock Number presented an Improvised Musical at this year’s Fringe.

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Grindstone Theater from Edmonton Canada presented The 11 O’clock Number at this year’s Orlando International Fringe Festival. They managed to stage a fully improvised musical built around a prompt from the audience. From our audience they decided to use an entertainment lawyer who liked working from the beach. What made it even more funny is that the actress playing the part of the entertainment lawyer really had no idea what an entertainment lawyer actually did. It became an ongoing joke as she guessed about her role.

The plot centered around a spoiled child star and her sister who felt she could be a star as well if she were only given a chance. The villain was a scheming producer who wanted to have the kid sign her life away.  Every song was heart felt and yet hilarious. There is some major talent involved in making up lyrics on the fly. The music must have been established in rehearsals with the piano accompaniment, but the new lyrics were amazing. The result was a solid hour of laughter. This was entertaining improv at it’s best.

Robyn Da Hood was hilarious at Fringe.

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SAK Theater Company of Orlando presented Robyn Da Hood – A Rap Musical at this years Orlando International Fringe Festival. I made the mistake of sitting in one of the balcony boxes. It turned out that the box would be used by several of the actors during the show. My student and I had to scramble to find new seats. The show is a mash up of the classic story told through hip hop beats. Set pieces were elegantly created out of corrugated cardboard.

The show swaps gender roles with Robyn Hood being played by Chelsea Hilend. Her merry band are also all women. Sheriff of Nottingham (Mike Carr) is a villainous sexist pig who thinks he can defeat Robyn by seducing her and keeping her bare foot in his kitchen. Lil’ John (DeMarlon Vega) is the only person in the show who is dressed as a Rap singer. His only line in the show is “YAY-ah!” “Oh-KAY!” This caused a loud laugh from the audience every time but I’m just not hip enough to get the reference. Every song had witty, hilarious lyrics and the show galloped forward at a break neck pace.

One member of the audience got to play the part of the King. He was given a paper crown and a corrugated cardboard frame that came complete with a mustache and beard. One of the Merry Maids took a seat right in front of me for the archery tournament. Prince John, (Chris Dinger) was hilarious as an inept childish prince.

The show managed to entertain on every level. The cheap set pieces actually helped sell the campy and fun flavor of the show. For instance as Robyn escapes from the castle, a photo of her is clothes pinned to a line between cardboard buttresses and she cranked across to safety, all while the sheriff gloats in his success. I have always associated Sak with improv comedy but now I see it as a place where great theater is incubated and born. Robyn Da Hood won the Critics Choice Award for Best Book Musical at the Fringe and it is well deserved.

Sugar Crush Kids performed at Fringe.

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During the Fringe Sketch Tour, I did a quick sketch of Sugar Crush Kids as they performed in the outdoor stage at the Orlando International Fringe Festival. This was essentially a demonstration to show how to cover a sketch quickly with large bold washes. Sugar Crush performed a high energy set that was over before the sketch was complete. Musical sets seem to fly by when you are trying to capture the moment with a sketch.

After this, we decided to break for lunch and then head inside to sketch a show, and get out of the heat. Food vendors are all around the green lawn and I decided to get some BBQ. The vendor wasn’t very efficient so it took a long time to get my food. Another fun aspect of Fringe is that you get to meet the performers on the lawn. A performer might be seated right beside you as you eat lunch, so you get to rub shoulders with some amazing talent.

Kids Fringe proved that anyone can Fringe.

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On the weekend of May 24th and 25th I held a sketch tour at the Orlando International Fringe Festival. Artist Gay Geiger joined me on those two days to sketch as many aspects of the Fringe as we could. We started at the Kids Fringe each morning. At the main stage, Voci Dancers would lead the kids in stretches to start out the day. It was a perfect opportunity to do quick gestural drawings to start out the day. Beth Marshall‘s son Darth was working the tech for the stage.

Dave Rocker’s Barnyard Jam was the first act up after the morning stretches. The cloth fence of course hid the puppeteers.  Before the show, several children were introduced to the puppets and it was charming to see their looks of wide eyed shock, surprise and wonder. The one puppet that is hidden behind a curtain in my sketch was a goat. The songs were light hearted and fun and the kids loved every minute.

Besides doing my own sketch, I also gave Gay as many notes as I could. With just one student I was able to give her tons of tips as we worked. When you sketch you are thinking a thousand thoughts and I just verbalized that inner dialogue. It was fun having a student along to share the experience with and I ended up doing far more sketches than I usually would.

Wedding Whorrer Story was a fun hot mess.

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Shock Shack Entertainment presented The PeeVira Chronicles: Wedding Whorrer Story in the Red Venue at this year’s Orlando International Fringe Festival. The show was written, produced and directed by AJ Prats with associate direction by Kim Matovina. The show was built around a goth cross-dressed wedding between PeeVira, the Peevish Voodoo Mistress (AJ Prats), and the groom (Jonathan Randolph). The play opened with mysterious monastery music and a hooded monk who paused for the longest time in front of me. I was afraid he might be judging my sketch which I had just started.

Between scenes, Josephina the cleaning lady (Sheli Nathan-Miller) interacted with the audience and got plenty of laughs. There must have been some complex costume changes going on back stage, and she did a great job keeping the audience engaged. PeeVira, although clearly a guy, looked divine in her wedding gown with Minnie Mouse pink bow in her hair and carrying black roses. Her huge white high heel boots peeked out occasionally from below her dress. The grooms pants are at his ankles because PeeVira has an infatuation with male anatomy. Later in the show, the groom got to play the part of a six foot high dancing dick. I had to sketch the maid of honor (Danielle Organ) since there were few females in the cast.

Other characters included, a slut driver girl, demons, pig cops and sperm clouds. A plot seems redundant with such a strange cast of characters. After the show the cast danced on stage and members of the audience got up to dance as well. I put the sketch away and danced. I can now proudly say that I have danced with a life sized dick. I still don’t know how to pronounce “Whorrer” however.

The Bloody Jug band was a rip roaring good time.

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The Bloody Jug Band performed at the outdoor stage at this year’s Orlando International Fringe Festival. I’ve wanted to catch a performance by them for quite some time. I usually go to the venue they will be performing at, and end up sketching an earlier act. They usually perform past my bed time. Their music draws inspiration from historic JUG bands of the 1920’s and 30’s as well as the darker side of
Blues and Rock n’ Roll, they carved out its own niche in a genre of music that has
never seen such a bloody incarnation.

Members of the band include,  Cragmire Peace on Vocals and Scratch, Stormy Jean on Vocals and Untimely Percussion, Brian Shredder on Acoustic Guitar and Mandolin, Steevil on Electric Guitar and Banjo, Bloody Rick Lane on Harmonica, Seth Funky on Washtub and Uke Bass, Big Daddy Jerm on JUG and Percussion, and Baby Dingo on Cajon and Spoons. As you can see this is a small bloody army of talent. When I sat down to sketch, Jessie Sander who is a dancer for Drip dance leaned over to say hi. Her boyfriend was center stage banging on a wooden box as percussion. One song loosely based on Johnny Cash’s Boy Named Sue had everyone up and dancing revival style. Of course Jessie and her friends couldn’t resist the urge to dance.

The sheer voracity of the music kept my lines dancing. I didn’t have to think or analyze what I did, I just let the tidal wave carry me along. I kind of wish I could listen to their music every time I sketched, to amp up my nerves to go with the flow.  If you ever see The Bloody Jug Band performing, be sure to go, you will have a great time. Someone took several photos of this sketch in progress and on Facebook, band members debated why a few performers couldn’t be seen. I know that the lead singer blocked my view of a performed in the back corner of the stage, although I put a faint squiggle down to indicate that he wore a bowler hat. The drummer is also just a loose indication behind everyone else center stage.

The free outdoor stage featured more talent than ever at this year’s Orlando Fringe.

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 I believe Jessica Pauli was responsible for wrangling all the incredible acts that performed at the outdoor stage.
One day on the weekend featured Swamp Sisters La La which had all
female performers. Sunday was Southern Fried Sunday with a line up of
local acts.

The Mudflappers performed at the outdoor tent at this year’s Orlando International Fringe Festival. Their lively music hearkens back to a simpler time. I’ve seen them perform before, so I knew I was in for a fun time. Colored spotlights illuminated the performers different colors. For the final number people got up to dance frantically. I tried to throw lines and washes onto the page with the same frantic energy.

The Mudflappers music has it’s roots in Folk, Country, Swing, and Roots Music. The band members are, George Moore Jr. on Guitar and Lead Vocals,

Sarah Elizabeth Patrick on Violin and Lead Vocals,

Paul Tugwell on Tenor Banjo,

Jake Williams on Bass,

Marc Lingle on Piano, and
Mikey Bulko on Drums.

S&M as entertainment in Deviant Behaviors.

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Dangerous Theatre of Denver Colorado presented Deviant Behaviors at this year’s Orlando International Fringe Festival. I went into the show with no per-conceptions. This was a one woman show in which Winnie Wenglewick explains how she discovered sadomasochism. As a small child she discovered her dads porn stash underneath a dresser drawer. The only way to get at the porn was to pull the drawer completely out. She was almost caught by her father, but she manged to fling the magazines under his bed as he walked into the bedroom. She began to cry an in his efforts to comfort her, he never stopped to ask what she was doing.

She discovered sexual pleasure at a very early age but also felt guilt. Much of the show involved explaining masochism. She felt that most peoples view of masochism is skewed the the tepid Fifty Shades of Gray book and movie. Masochism is the tendency to derive pleasure, especially sexual gratification, from one’s own pain or humiliation. She lead a rather normal life, getting married and having kids. Later in life however, a man introduced her to masochism and she was hooked. Experiencing pain in a safe environment could help her forget the many responsibilities she had. Eventually, she went on to found her own dungeon.  She will be moving back to Orlando later this summer. Orlando now has a dungeon called The Woodshed. She will be
opening another Dangerous Theatre in Orlando.

Towards the end of the show an older man with long blonde hair walked onto the stage holding leather whips. He whipped Winnie’s back, softly at first and then harder with each thrash.  She verbalized her many complaints as she was being whipped. This was certainly one of the strangest theatrical experience I’ve had. I learned quite a bit about an alternate lifestyle. If there are dungeons in Orlando, I just might get off on sketching people in pain. Perhaps this could be defined as sketch masochism.

Clink featured acrobatics behind bars at Fringe.

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Circus Arts and PB and J Theater Factory of Winter Park collaborated to bring Clink to this year’s Orlando International Theater Festival. The program described the show as”a captivating look behind the bars of a most exceptional and enthralling prison.

Brandon Roberts played one of the prison guards. Any time he is in a show, I know that there will be laughs. Acrobats were prisoners. The guards tried to keep chaos to a minimum, but any time they turned their backs the prisoners would express their inner freedom by performing acrobatics. After an impressive display of strength and grace by the acrobats, a prison guard tentatively climbed on a platform to keep a look out. The platform shook every time the guard moved, and it was hilarious how he struggled to stay balanced when prisoners could do somersaults, back flips and amazing aerial feats.

In one of the shows, a male acrobat tore a muscle. The next show had to be canceled. Two stage hands had to step in and perform safer acrobatic moves to fill in for the lost performer. They did an amazing job filling in because I didn’t notice that the show had been modified. In a scene where prison guards vaulted over a wall, Brandon flailed his limbs for a laugh as he hurled through space. Perhaps some of that wide eyed fear was legitimate.

Because of the canceled show a fundraiser was set up to help the injured performer’s medical expenses. I talked to someone who was in the audience the night of the injury. She said that it was clear that he was in pain but he kept right on performing. The show must go on.  The next morning he had to have surgery to repair a torn pectoral
ligament that had pulled from his humerus bone. He is looking at a
recovery time of 4-6 months.