Phantasmagoria

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It would be a fiendish, horrific tragedy if you didn’t get to see Phantasmagoria. Tonight is the final show starting at 8:30pm at the Orlando Shakespeare Theater’s, Mandell Theater. I arrived early and started blocking in my sketch before the audience arrived. I love these final moments as the actors stretch, warm up and joke to break the tension. The actors gathered in a circle and held hands. Director, John DiDonna said, “Lets build a bridge to next year. Make these final performances fiendishly dangerous. See you on the other side guys.” Brittany Wine shouted out, “Love you all!”

All the actors layed down on the floor and they were covered with black blankets. John warned, “We have a full house tonight with 98 people. Check your extremities, don’t leave anything sticking out.” A female voice boomed over the sound system, “Five minutes to house open.” Members of the cast shot back, “Thank you five.” The room grew deadly quiet and then the audience walked in to find their seats. One actor rose quietly, the blanket still covering him to strike a ringmasters theatrical pose. As the blankets were lifted off, the actors came to life in their costumes of blood red and black. The costumes designed by Jennifer Bonner were lavish and stunning. A scrim behind the actors often acted as a screen for projections of animations and titles.

Each of the acts were built around horrific folklore and poetry. Edgar Allen Poe’s “Masque of the Red Death” resulted in the whole cast dancing, celebrating and then succumbing to the pestilence of the red death. No one was spared. Phantasmagoria was a whimsical and horrific poem by Lewis Carol.

“Allow me to remark
That ghosts have just as good a right,
In every way to fear the light,
As men to fear the dark.”

I enjoyed “The Picture of Dorian Grey“. In this act a painter created a stunning portrait of Dorian Grey. When Dorian viewed the painting, he saw it morph, revealing his inner dark self. The picture took on a horrific visage because Dorian was morally bankrupt. In the end Dorian died taking on the horrible appearance in the portrait and the painting returned to its former splendor. A life sized skeletal puppet was used to portray his inner self to great effect.

Music of Eric Satie played during an elegant and beautiful aerial act. Tiny Gina Makarova performed on a suspended hoop while Mila Makarova and Dion Smith performed suspended in silks. Satie’s music expressed the melancholy inner yearning of the creative spirit and the women floated weightless in its ethereal embrace.

The most stunning puppet was the Jabberwocky from Alice in Wonderland. An actor on stilts acted as the hind legs of the creature and a long silver spine snaked down from head to tail. The head was immense being controlled by a strong puppeteer. A small army was needed to control the beast. I wish I had been fast enough to get a sketch. This show is the perfect Halloween treat.

Painting the Set

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I stopped into the Orlando Shakespeare Theater’s scenic shop to see the progress on the set for “The Importance of Being Earnest.” Things move fast in the scenic shop the entire set facade was build and ready to be painted in three pieces. Jeff Ferree and Adam were painting when I arrived. Robbin Watts was in the theater itself painting the floors. She created an impressive speckled marble effect with the paint. Another woman slapped the floor with a long rag. This was a painting technique that was new to me.

I got to see the completed set a few nights later at the Shakespeare Fundraising Gala. The impressive Victorian architecture helped set the mood for the scene that was previewed. Gwendolyn and Cecily met in an outdoor garden. They were instant, affable, eternal friends. As Gwendolyn said, “Something tells me that we are going to be great friends. I like you already more than I can say. My first impressions of people are never wrong.” Cecily responded, “How nice of you to like me so much after we have known each other such a comparatively short time.” I see this sort of flippant instant friendships all the time in this age of social networks. What makes the scene so endearing and funny is how these two women politely turn against each other when they discover they might be engaged to the same man. Gwendolyn had a turn of heart, “From the moment I saw you I distrusted you. I felt that you were false and deceitful. I am never deceived in such matters. My first impressions of people are invariably right.” I rely on my first impressions, usually gained over the course of a sketch to guide me on my daily travels.

I had painted the Mennello Museum mural all day. Libby Rosenthal let me know there was a shower in the museums basement so I spruced up only moments before the gala and then drove right across the street. The shower was divine after working in the hot parking lot all day. Then, I couldn’t turn off the hot water in the shower. The knob was stuck. I dressed quickly and ran to my truck for a screwdriver. My glasses fogged up as I struggled with the knob and my dress shirt got soaked. Thankfully, I finally managed to fix the knob. Even taking a simple refreshing shower is a drama in my struggle of a life.

At the Gala, I got to rub shoulders with Orlando’s rarefied socialites. Terry declared the evening an official date night, and I wasn’t on assignment, so for the sake of marital bliss, I kept my sketchbook tucked away. My fingers itched but I resisted temptation. My bag of art supplies rested heavily on my shoulder just in case. Though physically exhausted, I followed as Terry flitted about the room, a social butterfly. Art isn’t easy.

The Importance of Being Earnest runs through October 9th.

Orlando Shakes Scenic Shop

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Jeff Ferree suggested I stop by the Orlando Shakespeare Theater’s scenic shop. I wasn’t sure exactly where it was so I asked a woman at the ticket booth where it might be. She seemed unsure but suggested it might be behind the Goldman Theater. I wandered around a bit until I saw a woman whose clothing was spattered with paint. I asked her and she walked me back. Jeff was working on some wooden columns. Jeff introduced me to the other folks in the shop.

Work was being done to assemble the set for “The Importance of Being Earnest“. Jeff showed me the blue prints. The set resembled a British country estate with a quaint outdoor garden patio. I believe the set would allow for interior and exterior scenes. The play, written by Oscar Wild will run from September 14th through October 9th. The Red Chair Affair had a scene from the play where Ernest is asking a matronly British woman if he can marry her daughter. The matron was played by a man in an ostentatious red gown. He, she held a notebook checking items off her list as she interrogated the suitor about his credentials. Things seemed to go well until he reveled that he had been found in a basket at a railway station. Shocked, she advised him to find a family immediately. The scene was hilarious, pointing out the silly notion that your family name is the only thing of importance when establishing ones station in life.

Ron was at a large work table and he mounted a router blade to the machine. Large boards needed a slot routered down the center. Jeff showed me where to get ear plugs since the shop was going to get loud. The ear plugs had flames printed on them. When the router fired up I stuffed the plugs in my ears and started sketching.

Spring Awakening

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The Greater Orlando Actors Theater is presenting “Spring Awakening” at the Orlando Shakespeare Theater through September 4th. This is a musical based on a play written in the 1892 by Frank Wedekind in Germany. Having seen the play in its original form I thought I knew what I was to expect. Entering the Mandell Theater I was surprised to find it had been turned into a theater in the round. Seating bleachers lined all four walls creating an intimate square staging area in the center of the room. A single wooden chair with a young girl’s night gown draped over its back sat in the center of the stage as the audience filed in. The house went dark and then actress Melina Countryman stood on the chair and she was bathed in a spotlight wearing only her turn of the century undergarments. I was hooked from the moment she sang “Mama Who Bore Me.” She was soon joined by a chorus of girls who stomped to the lyrics in a sensual anger. The shows over riding theme was shouted to the rafters. These were women in full bloom who had to deny their sensuality.

I resisted the urge to sketch these young actresses and instead focused on the boys in their school uniforms who were being forced to learn using rote memorization. Adam McCabe as Moritz began to doze off. When the instructor prodded him awake he came alive as an electric live wire, frenetic and disheveled. He began to sing “The Bitch of Living” and all the boys joined him as they expressed their yearning and sexuality which was repressed and as of yet only a dream. I was surprised when audience members stood and started dancing. The choreography by Jessica Mariko was driven and sensual. During the course of the show several members of the audience changed into turn of the century garb becoming part of the cast. Simple effects like using a flashlight to illuminate a singers face were beautifully understated and intimate. Sarah Villegas as Ilse reacted against the sexual abuse of her father by running off to an artist commune where she posed for artists. She was attracted to the quirky Moritz but he was to blind to see her advances. When she sang “Blue Wind” it became clear she was to beautiful for such a cruel world.

Melchior played by Anthony Pyatt Jr. wrote a long scientifically accurate and occasionally illustrated description of the sexual act for his friend Moritz who was experiencing tortured sexual dreams. When this document was discovered by authorities he was accused of warping his friends mind and hastening his suicide. I’ve been told I avoid intimacy, yet when I write, I tend to express myself without inhibition and more than once what I wrote was unearthed and used as evidence against me. Yes, I wrote that. My soul is not my own. I am “Totally Fucked.” “Lets discuss what you meant in paragraph two, sentence five.” Blah, blah… blah, blah… blah, blah, blah.

The director Paul Castaneda and assistant director Jeremy Seghers did an amazing job of bringing this show alive in such an intimate setting. Simply stated, I was bowled over by this show and the young talented cast. There are only three performances left. Friday and Saturday’s shows (Sept. 2nd & 3rd) are at 8:30pm and Sunday’s show (Sept. 4th) is at 7:30pm. GoatGroup.org for tickets or call 407 872-8451 for information.

Spring Awakening Auditions

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Jeremy Seghers invited me to the Orlando Shakespeare Theater a while back to sketch young actors as they gathered to audition for “Spring Awakening“. A woman at a folding table had the actors and actresses fill out a form. Then they waited nervously in the hall. When actors gather for an audition it is like a reunion. The hallway filled with exited conversation. I had seen one production of Spring Awakening produced by Jeremy Seghers that stayed true to the original script. The play followed the lives of students in a turn of the century German University as they discovered their sexuality. A mother stumbled awkwardly as she tried to relate the facts of life to her daughter. She was unsuccessful. The daughter then ends up getting pregnant. Serious issues of rape and homosexuality are dealt with. I’m curious to see how music of Duncan Sheik and the lyrics of Steven Sater might ignite this story.

Since this production was based on the Broadway musical, each actor and actress came prepared to sing. The accompanist was late, so actors who came with a music CD to sing to got to go first. An actress went into the women’s room where she started singing. When she was called into the Goldman, she turned to her friends and said, “Wish me luck”. Behind the closed doors of the Goldman Theater I could hear her muffled singing. Actors who impressed the director, Paul Castaneda, would be called back another day for another audition.

Spring Awakening runs through September 4th at the Shakespeare Theater. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8:30pm and Sundays at 7:30pm. Tickets are $18 and $15 for students and seniors. Call 407-872-8451.

My Pal Izzy

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I met Melanie Galle, the actress from My Pal Izzy, on the green lawn of fabulousness. She was handing out flyers to her show and when I told her I needed models for the Mennello Museum mural she was glad to help. She handed out more flyers and then met me to head across the street to the museum. As I sketched her outside she was enchanted with all the lizards that scurried among the leaves. She had a constant childish delight that made for a fun sketching experience.

Melanie channeled that delight in her performance as Rebecca Rosenstein, a childhood friend of Irving Berlin. She related details from Irving Berlin’s early career as she also related details of her career as a show girl. She dressed conservatively in the beginning of the show, keeping herself wrapped in an elegant purple kimono. When she sang “If you don’t want my Peaches” she let the kimono slip open showing her vibrant yellow dress. She shook her shoulders and sang, “you better stop shakin’ my tree!” Most of the Irving Berlin songs had this fun playful spirit.

Dorothy Goetz was a young singer who approached Irving Berlin with the hopes of singing his next hit. Another singer was there and the two women brawled over the sheet music. Izzy quickly fell in love. His romance with Dorothy Goetz however ended tragically when Dorothy died when she was just 20 years old. In his grief he was unable to write. Friends finally pulled him aside to convince him that he had to go on. The song he wrote next, called “When I lost you” was heart wrenching.

My Pal Izzy was a a nostalgic look back at the heart felt joys and sorrow of a great songwriter. Melanie’s well trained voice delivered the songs with warmth and humor. The performance combined fact and fiction to unravel the secrets of an amazing talent. The music is still fresh and vibrant today.

Squatters

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Squatters was conceived by Jeremy Seghers. This was one of the few improvised shows at Fringe this year. Jeremy built the idea around the premise that a sitcom about people living through hard times can be funny. I arrived a little early and blocked in the set in my sketchbook since I knew the show was only half an hour. Logan Donahue was a guest star. Every performance of Squatters at Fringe would be unique. Jeremy said he had given prompts and suggestions the evening before in a prior performance and he suspected the actors had too much time to over think the possibilities. On the evening I sketched the actors were given prompts just moments before they went on stage.

I found myself doing improv once when director Aradhana Tiwari insisted I join her group of actors. I was way out of my comfort zone yet the thrill of scenes taking on a life of their own is a thrill. Therefore I was rooting for the cast with every quirky turn.

The show started with a stage hand wearing a head set came who out to announce the beginning of the show. We were the studio audience. The set consisted of an ugly lime green rug and furniture that looked like it was from the 60’s. Hints that the family was squatting were subtle, like when Cody Bush bragged that he had landed a job at Walmart. Logan added a real spark when he entered as a new age guru with a purple mask painted on his face. Scenes where he seduced Ashli Conrad were inspired.

There were plenty of laugh out loud moments and some outright strange surreal moments that were so campy I had to laugh. The laugh track added another layer to the humor. I must say, I had fun and this show took many chances many of which paid off. This is what Fringe is all about.

The Attendant

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As one of his 11 performances at this year’s Fringe Festival, performance artist Brian Feldman, decided to pose as a bathroom attendant. He set up shop in the Orlando Shakespeare Theater’s men’s and women’s room. When I arrived at the men’s room, Tisse Mallon was acting as an attendant in Brian’s place since he was running late. He ran in with a rental tux slung over his shoulder and went to change in the handicap stall. Tisse helped him with his bow tie and cumber-bun. There was a large tip bowl and plenty of manly items for sale. Some items like Q- tips were complimentary. If you wanted baked beans, a pickle, condom or the latest copy of Jet magazine, there was a price list.

I had only sketched in a public bathroom once before. That time, the bathroom wasn’t in use. This time men came and went frequently. Several men must have eaten something nasty from the vendors outside because there were some wet noisy gastric explosions. I suggested that perhaps there should be a quaint fountain sound track in case anyone was unable to concentrate on the task at hand. Some men turned away thinking there must be a line since some people stood around and gawked. I suppose having an artist sketch you while you pee could be distracting. Mark Baratelli came in and snapped pictures. Then he tried to coach Brian on how an attendant should interact with patrons. His examples were hysterical. When someone reached for soap he would thrust his arm in the way and say, “let me get that for you.”

There were DVD’s for sale as well like Mannequins 2, and films starring Silvester Stallone. I was surprised when one of the five hour energy drinks was sold. I erased it from my sketch. The oddest item was a crusty sea captain sculpture. Ear plugs seemed appropriate should a show be too loud and Advil would help the resulting headache. Tisse offered a tour of the women’s room and I stopped my sketch to follow her. In the women’s room there was a pregnancy test kit, stockings and an even wider assortment of goodies. It was an odd feeling being in there as women squeezed by to get to the stalls. As I was leaving a women was coming in. Her eyes widened when she saw me and she asked, “Am I in the right place.” I said, “Yep, you’re at the Fringe.”

I rushed off to a show I had been invited to attend by the writers. It was pouring outside. Terry entered the lobby drenched. Through a series of volunteer mistakes and blunders, we were then turned away from the theater, our tickets given away to others in a completely sold out house. If anything can go wrong, it will go wrong. Terry was furious at me for spending so much time in the men’s room and not getting into the show I promised her we would see. I think I’m Fringe fried.

0il change?

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As one of the eleven performance pieces Brian Feldman is doing at this year’s Orlando Fringe Festival, he promoted an event where he would change the oil in Beth Marshall’s car. When I arrived Brian’s mom, Marilyn, was there to greet me in front of the Shakespeare Theater. She stood near an old beat up Ford Ranger. Parked in front of the pickup was a sleek new black Mustang. Brian arrived dressed in blue mechanic’s overalls. He announced that the performance was sponsored by Harriet Lake. I sat on top of a retaining wall next to Beth.

Brian had recruited his Uncle, Gary Wattman, to supervise since Brian had never changed a car’s oil in his life. Brian crawled under the truck to find the oil drain plug while his uncle coached him. When the plug was found, Gary handed Brian a wrench to get it off. A small bowl was in place to catch the old oil. Brian groaned and strained in an effort to loosen the plug. He continued to groan for perhaps ten minutes. Beth shouted, “It sounds like you’re giving birth under there!” Gary gave Brian a two foot length of lead pipe to slip over the wrench handle to gain some leverage. He couldn’t get that plug off.

Then someone suggested they drive the front end of the truck up onto the curb to give him more room to work. The front wheels wouldn’t drive over the curb. Fringe patrons continued to walk by. If the truck lunged up someone could get hurt. Beth called off the curb idea. They then considered using a curb closer to the museum. Before they got there Brian called off the oil change, conceding defeat. He decided to park the truck back at the original staging point. Instead of changing the oil he simply topped it off.

Beth was asked why Brian was working on her husband’s pickup rather than her sporty Mustang. “Are you kidding me? This car is new and he has no idea what he is doing. He might break something. We are thinking of getting rid of the pickup soon anyway.” she said.

Brian Feldman Reads the Fringe Program in its Entirety

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Brian Feldman read the Fringe program in its entirety. A small makeshift stage was set up outside the Shakespeare Theater and his signature marquee sign sat at the foot of the stage. Two LED theatrical spot lights were on the ground but their purple light was hardly needed in the bright Florida sunshine. There were two rows of folding chairs set up in front of the stage and Beth Marshall was in the skeletal audience. There were several video cameras set up recording every minute of the reading. Tommy Wingo operated one camera and Tisse Mallon operated the other.

Beth was enjoying the performance. Periodically she would shout out, “I wrote that!” A few curious people stopped to try and figure out what was going on but they seldom sat and lingered. Brian read, “No alcoholic beverages are allowed outside the lawn of fabulousness. Beth laughed loudly and took a sip from her cup. A giant penguin sat in the front row holding a program in its flippers so it could follow along. After perhaps ten minutes the penguin got up to leave. But then it realized there were video cameras running and it did a silly dance in front of the stage. Brian laughed as he tried to continue to read. What does it all mean?