Shotgun, written by John Biguenet, and directed by David Karl Lee, is without a doubt the best play I have seen this year. The play was in the intimate Goldman Theater inside the Lowndes Shakespeare Center as part of PlayFest! The Harriett Lake Festival of New Plays. Dennis Neal, who plays Dexter, gave tickets to Mary Hill, his former wife, and I went along to do a sketch.The play takes place in New Orleans after the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina. Beau, a white middle class plumber, and his teenage son rent an apartment in a shotgun duplex from Mattie, an African American woman, and her father, Dexter. Dexter is a bit like a black version of Archie Bunker, not liking the idea of renting to white tenants. He is however under his daughters care so he has to toe the line.
The set for this show is fascinating to watch. When a scene switches from the porch to the apartment inside, the walls fold back creating the side walls of the interior room. The first time it happened, I let out an Ooooh, just like I was watching fireworks. This effect became a bit distracting however since the scenes kept switching form the porch to the interior. The most gut-wrenching scene comes about at the end of act one when Beau, played by Rus Blackwell, and Mattie, played by Chantel Jean-Pierre, are sitting at the kitchen table in his apartment sharing a bottle of liquor. Mattie asks him what happened to his wife and he tells the long painful tale of how she died days after the hurricane from injuries she sustained trying to get out of the house from a jagged hole he had cut in the roof using an ax. He sobs uncontrollably since it was his decision to stay in his home. Mattie consoles him. This scene had me in tears.
Love blossoms between Mattie and Beau and this causes racial tensions for both families. Beau’s son Eugene, played by Brandon Peters, suddenly lets out a racial slur when he sees Mattie come out of his dad’s bedroom. Willie blames his dad for his mom’s death and refuses to forgive him. In the end, the racial divide it too great and Beau moves back with his son to the devastated white suburban neighborhood where they start building their life again from scratch. Love does not always triumph.
Play in a Day
Having a bad day. My truck was rear ended and the guy said he had to run because he was picking someone up at the airport, so there was no police report. I looked at my cell phone only to find the battery dead. We did exchange insurance info. People need to slow down and relax. A friend sketched a peace sign into the dirt on the back of my truck. When I got home after the accident I rubbed it out thinking it might have been a bulls eye for the road raged Daytona driver that hit me.
Play in a day is hosted by Beth Marshall at the Orlando Shakespeare Theater. Six groups of Orlando’s most talented actors and playwrights had just 24 hours to put together their consecutive plays. Writers were given a theme and certain ideas that had to be in the play. They then wrote late into the night some of them all night long for the production starting the next day.
When I arrived Beth Marshall was directing a musical political satire written by Margot Knight. Margot explained her process a bit and it was fascination. She had a long list of free associated ideas that she jotted down in quick succession. No ideas were rejected and many ended up in the final production. She said she even was writing as she drove which is a practice I have started following her example. The fact that I had a fender bender this morning is an entirely unrelated event. I was rear ended and I wasn’t writing at the time. Margot’s production was a fun romp about health care reform. The political quagmire was best represented by using Alice in Wonderland as the vehicle to start the production. At one point Alice tries to read the legal document of the health care reform bill and she is rightfully confused by the language where up is down and down is up.
Britni Leslie had the lead roll as Alice. She had several song numbers to sing and Beth was concerned that her voice might not carry well enough in the theater. Beth arranged to get a wireless mic. The rehearsal was fast and furious with tech setting up lights and sound cues on the fly. I am amazed as how the actors could retain so much dialogue so fast. When it came time to present the play in front of an audience, I felt it went rather well. watching rehearsals I knew where a few blunders and slip ups had happened, but when there was an audience the adrenaline and focus kicked in making everything flow smoothly.
Project F – Vocals
This was the second Project F rehearsal I was able to attend and sketch. When I arrived at the Shakespeare Theater there were only a few actors gathered in the space. Aradhana Tiwari, the director, explained to the actors gathered that this night they would begin with a viewpoints session and then move on to vocalizations for the first time. After more actors trickled in, Aradhana turned off the house lights leaving only the Ghost lamp to illuminate the stage. The actors began to walk the grid. Viewpoints is an acting regiment in which actors explore tempo, shape, duration, line, and form. When Aradhana described the process it was as if she was describing the creation of a beautiful canvas using actors and their creative spirits as the medium. She just returned from a month long viewpoints training session in NYC and her intentions and purpose were strong and clear. She often jumped up on the stage to join the actors and affect the session. My favorite quote which came up in the evenings review was, “Art is intention.” The actors were asked to do everything on the stage with a strong clear intention.
After a break. The actors were asked to sit on the stage and review some status updates that had been typed out by the director. All of the updates began with the ubiquitous Facebook “is”.
_____ is wishing and hoping.
_____ is work…again!
_____ is popping Advil like their Tic Tacs.
_____ is sending out healing energy, joy & swirling peas. Namaste ya’ll.
In the next view-pointing exercise, Aradhana divided the actors into 2 groups. When one group moved, the other group would remain still. Actors were asked to only move when they had a status to vocalize. Some fascinating things happened as one group would move in and around the other groups architecture. Sarah Lockhard lead one group and she moved frantically around the stage crouched and peering about as if she was being followed. She said, “Sarah has 534 friends.” The other actors echoed “534 friends” while mimicking her movements. At one point Dennis Neal stood still on one corner of the stage and all the other actors gathered around him. The moment became all about him.
Aradhana said she wants to explore archetypes. She asked the actors to consider what archetypes need to be in the show and how they can be represented through rhythm, melody and movement. She wants the actors to capture a persons signature through movement.
Natalie Peterson expressed the concern that she actually felt scared at one point in the session. Themes of voyeurism and exhibitionism were surfacing and they want to explore the extremes of those ideas. Dennis pointed out that everyone in the room is an exhibitionist, on some level. Aradhana pointed out that shy people can become exhibitionists on Facebook. Mary Hill pointed out that at times she could tell when an actor was reciting a line and when they were speaking from the heart from a personal space. Mary was bought into the cast because she has never been on Facebook. She honestly has no idea what most of the cast was talking about as they spoke of “pokes”, “likes” and “followers.”. She wandered the grid as an outsider.
There was some discussion on how Facebook promotes “revolving door relationships.” Just as in NYC where so many people are in constant close proximity, friendships and relationships can often be short and intense, then people move on. Facebook has the effect of throwing everyone into close proximity, knowing intimate details of people who barely know each other and perhaps have never met in person. This play has limitless potential and I’m excited by the possibilities.
Fab Fringe Fundraiser
Beth Marshall suggested I stop down to the Fab Fringe Fundraiser that was held at the Orlando Shakespeare Theater. I had to attend a Bella Fleck concert later that night so I knew my time to sketch was limited. I arrived straight from downtown where I dropped off several of my prints to a client. I was a bit early and I decided to sketch, Carla Davis, the woman who sells the tickets to the event. Pricilla who had attended the Fringe eight times, was at the next table selling Fringe tee shirts and buttons. Within minutes the first Fringe button was sold kicking off this years Fringe festivities. There were three or four photographers buzzing about the event and every one of them wanted to get pictures of me at work. I am getting used to the mild distractions of the sounds of shutters clicking as I sketch. When I finished this sketch I wandered into the Patrons room where tables lined the walls of the circular room with various auction items waiting for bids. I took the business cards of any artists whose work interested me, so I might contact them and see if they were interested in allowing me to visit their studios to sketch.
Tisse Mallon found me and said I had to experience “Theater in a box”. Theater in a box was a small fabric box just big enough to seat two people. A woman had just entered the theater so Tisse suggested I get some food and come back. I loaded my plate and then Tisse told me the theater was waiting. I ducked down and entered the totally dark cave sitting in the empty seat. Jeff Wirth who was sitting opposite me turned on a small pen light which was dangling from the ceiling. As my eyes adjusted, he looked around nervously wringing his hands. Finally he said, “I don’t know how we will get out of here alive.” Slowly our precarious situation was discussed. We were lost on a cave spelunking expedition. This improve drama required that I join in the drama offering my feeble attempts to comfort Jeff, and find a way back to the surface. We had left no trail and there were hundreds of passageways and turns. Outside our dark shelter, I could hear the crowd gathering to enter the theater, but that just reminded me of how desperate the situation was. I realized suddenly that I had bought the Fringe food into the enclosure so I reminded Jeff that at least we had some food. He pointed out that it would not last long. My only way to put a positive spin on the situation was through humor. Then the thought dawned on me, park rangers would certainly send a search team after us when we did not check back in at the end of the day. I also told Jeff that they most likely would have search dogs who would be able to sniff out the food. Jeff took two small pinches off of my roll on the plate. He gave me one pinch of bread. We toasted by tapping the two crumbs together as he said, “here is to survival”.
Project F – First meeting
Project F will explore the many facets of social networking and community on the Internet through the lens of Facebook using a theatrical microscope. At this first meeting, Aradhana Tiwari, the director, asked all the actors who were in the circular patrons room at the Shakespeare Theater to read a commitment contract. Actors would each read a sentence in turn when they felt inspired to do so. Sometimes several actors would jump in and read the line together…
I promise to be an artistic adventurer. I will navigate this process with the wonder of a child and the wisdom of an old soul.
I will strive to stretch myself outside of my comfort zone and expand my range of artistic identity. I will always try my best, give my all and share my utmost.
When I enter the space I will leave the baggage and stresses of the day at the door. I will breath in the energy of a blank canvas and look to paint upon it.
I will believe in the process…even when it’s hard, even when I am tired, even when I have doubt.
I will embrace collaboration as a gift and tend to it with grace, patience and respect. I will be honest about my point of view while opening myself up to other’s viewpoints.
I will always try. I will fail. I will try again. I will succeed. I will understand that succeeding is to try.
I will respect my fellow artisans by honoring our work with my steadfast, and punctual attendance. I will make discoveries about my artistic self and attempt to grow in ways I don’t expect.
Aradhana asked the actors to split up into groups of four or five. Then she gave each group packets with 5 statuses written in chalk on black paper and assorted objects. Within one minute the actors were asked to create a scene using the props and statuses. The groups then performed each in turn as the rest of the actors sat in the audience and watched. The perfomances were fun, unexpected and at times bizarre.
Afterwards, she asked the actors what they found frustrating about the process. Actors found the time constrain rather tight and the props obscure. One actor said he was always second guessing himself. When asked if the emerged a leader within the groups, no one wanted to admit that a leader ever emerged. Perhaps there was not enough time.
Aradhana then asked the actors to walk in a grid pattern on a stage area she had set up with four chairs in a Viewpoints session. First she asked the actors to consider their tempo, how fast or slow they moved. Then they explored duration, how long they might stay in a particular speed. They were asked to explore stopping and stopping. Then they explored kinesthetic response, the physical reaction to movement outside of themselves. She asked the actors to allow everything to affect them and to be open and listen and react through their bodies. They were asked to open themselves to surprise encounters. At this point Michael Sloan and Sarah Lockhard found themselves back to back locked together like puzzle pieces. Sarah smiled and leaned her head back. I wish I had sketched fast enough to catch that moment.
Newcomers Meet the Arts at the Shakespeare Theater
This informational meeting to introduce people to the arts was held at 8Am at the Shakespeare Theater so people could stop in and then head off to work. John Thiesen the campaign manager introduced the event and explained that representatives from six Arts organizations would talk about what they offer the artistic community. First Sharon Lasic of the Orlando Shakespeare Theater gave a brief history of the building in which we were meeting. The building was for many years the Science Center and History Center of Orlando. After the New Science Center was built, the building was almost torn down to make room for more green area in Lock haven Park. A petition was passed around and the building saved. The Shakespeare Theater started in 1989 at the Lake Eola Bandshell and performances happened outdoors for many years.
Corry Warren from United Arts talked about Arts Fest which will be happening next month. This ten day festival is going on from February fifth to the fourteenth. It is a way to experience theater for FREE although some events have limited seating. Tickets will be available in advance starting at 10 AM on Tuesday February second. Be sure to check the Arts Fest Schedule and get a jump on this amazing opportunity! My calendar is already stuffed full of all the places I plan to go sketch.
Henry Maldinado talked about the offerings at the Enzian Movie Theater. The Enzian is unique in the country in that it is a fantastic place to have dinner and a movie. The Enzian is home to the internationally acclaimed Florida Film Festival as well. I also found out that the Enzina is showing old classic movie on the big screen. This is the one place where you could see Casablanca with Humphry Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. When you experience a movie like that on the big screen you realize why it is a classic.
Suzan Bright talked about the Orlando Philharmonic and how they are helping keep Opera alive by offering limited staged operas with the Philharmonic no longer in the pit, but up on the stage right behind the singers. This new Opera series will include Carmen, and Porgy and Bess. Carmen will be performed February 26th at 8PM and February 28th at 2PM. Porgy and Bess will be performed on April 9th at 8PM and April 11th at 2PM. As usual I dream of sketching these shows from the wings. Get tickets early.
Scott Evans talked about the importance of keeping Arts Education alive and well in the Orlando School System. In a study, the students that took arts classes achieved higher grades than students who didn’t take arts classes. Autumn Schafer spoke about the Red Chair Project which offers ways to save on tickets year round. Red Chair offers such amazing deal as two for one tickets and a $99 Arts Sampler which offers a ticket to each of the following, Orlando Ballet, a Broadway Musical, The Orlando Museum of Art, the Philharmonic, Shakespeare Theater, and the Orlando Rep. With so much going on, I can’t understand why anyone would want to be a couch potato at home.
After each person spoke an item was raffled off and I won a United Arts Card which offers discounts to arts events all over town. Whooo Hoo! Look like I will be covering alot more arts events in 2010!
Driving Miss Daisy Auditions
Beth Marshall Presents will bring “Driving Miss Daisy” to the Winter Garden Theater February 12th to the 28th. I sat in on the auditions for this show. Seated at the table are Aradhana Tiwari, the Director, and Beth Marshall the Producer. This auditions process stood in stark contrast to the auditions for Crimes of the Heart. Crimes took 2 agonizing days for the cast to be solidified but this auditions process was fast and painless taking only about 3 hours with about a dozen actors and actresses auditioning.
One actress with a bit of a haughty attitude who reminded me of Sheila in Chorus Line, entered the room and when she greeted the director she wouldn’t let go of her hand. The actresses head shot was from about 20 years ago. After doing the reading she demanded to read another section of the play. Beth said that would be fine and she could come back in after the next set of actors had finished their audition. The actress said emphatically “I should say so”. After a long pause, Beth said, “You know what, lets not waist your time or mine, you can leave.” Beth felt bad for the actor who had auditioned with this actress. She could see that he was embarrassed by the exchange.
Another actress who auditioned for the roll of Daisy was about 30 or 40 years to young for the part. She walked in wearing a black dress with a white lace collar and a gray haired wig. She reminded me of Norman Bates Mother in “Psycho”. Beth glanced over at me and smiled. I was smiling as well. There is something charming about an actress going for a role which is so out of reach.
When I sketched the auditions I tried to pick the actors that I felt were best for the rolls to go in my sketch. At this audition I hit a home run and sketched Elizabeth Murff who will play Daisy and Michael Mormon who will play Hoke. I had met Elizabeth once before at Beth Marshall’s Halloween Party. Elizabeth had won for the best costume as a Cougar. Michael who is 60 had played the roll of Hoke 20 years ago. He has a natural ease and seems very comfortable in the role. Elizabeth brings a humor and honesty to the part of Daisy that is endearing. When she said “Hoke, you are my best friend” the sincerity of this unlikely friendship warmed me, even in this early reading.
As they were packing up to leave, Beth remarked to Aradhana, “Now I had experienced the most difficult and the easiest auditions ever with you.”
Crimes of the Heart Callbacks
This sketch shows Kylie Kusco and Heather Leonardi on stage with Beth Marshall and Aradhana Tiwari watching. Some monologues from the auditions were quite memorable. One fellow had a monologue about being strip searched. The whole time he was talking he was angrily throwing items of clothing on the floor, first his shoes, his socks then his belt. I stopped hearing what he was saying and started to wonder just how far he would go to get the part. The director put her hand over her face in amusement and embarrassment. Another actor rather than recite lines from a play started talking about how he ended up in Orlando after a student work exchange program for Disney and about his first love. I enjoy hearing slices of life like that but I don’t think it got him a part.
Actors who made it to callbacks were in serious consideration for a part. They would pair up and act out scenes from the play. Some scenes I must have heard close to a dozen times yet certain performances had me laughing out loud or swept away in the romantic drama while some left me unmoved offering me time to focus on the sketch.
Any time actors would leave the stage Beth and Aradhana would turn to each other and discuss how certain actors really worked well together or how several actors bought different energies to a particular role. I do not know how they would ever decide since every actor bought something new to the table.
One actress named Kylie Kusco, really stepped up to the plate and she was asked to perform an exercise where she and Beth could only say two lines “Their is not enough time” and “their is enough time”. Each actress had to convince the other she was right using body language and raw emotion. It was like watching two matadors in a ring each circling and moving in for another emotional exchange. The director let the exercise go for a long time and I thought the performances were some of the best I had witnessed that day. There is magic in moments like this.
Near the end of the day Beth and Aradhana placed all the photos out on the table and began to organize them into groupings of possible cast scenarios. They talked about the possibilities for the longest time. I’m reminded of a line from the play Sunday in the Park with George “a blank page or canvas, so many possibilities”. I finished my sketch and packed up to leave. As I left the endless discussion continued and all the actors who had made it through the day were coming back at 5 PM to continue the process. I had to go out to Sanford to do a sketch For Orlando Home and Leisure. Here is the final cast and cheers to what should be a great show!
Crimes of the Heart Auditions
I went into the “Crimes of the Heart” auditions not even knowing the story of the play. I hoped to discover the story through the actors constant readings . I arrived at the Lowndes Shakespeare Theater at 11 Am and only the Stage Manager Chasmin Hallyburton and the Director Aradhana Tiwari were on hand. Aradhana was busy reading a stack of papers in front of her so I just sat in the front row of the theater and started sketching the stage. I figured I could draw the stage and then just draw in the auditioning actors when they arrived. I was a bit disappointed since I had hoped to find a long line of aspiring actors all waiting for a chance to be in the play. The morning started off slow.
Beth Marshall showed up and she told me the rough outline of the story. Crimes is the story of 3 sisters in Mississippi. One sister has sacrificed her life to take care of the father and the family estate. Meg is the black sheep of the family and she is a force of nature and larger than life. The third sister is a bit of a socialite and is concerned with her reputation. The play revolves about these women coming to terms with their fathers death and coming of age. The women’s names are Babe, Meg and Lennie. There is also a cousin named Chick.
Slowly actors began to arrive and each would enter the theater and then present a short monologue. If this monologue was good enough, the director then asked the actor to go in the hallway and rehearse a scene from the play. When they returned Jason Horne would often read along with the them so there could be some interaction. Jason would even read the female parts if needed, which was quite humerus. In this sketch Jason is reading with Britni Leslie. She had on light southern summer dress and looked the part. She was ultimately cast as Babe and Jason was cast as Barnett.
War of the Worlds – Its a Wrap
At the War of the Worlds Wrap party, Chantry Banks complained that in all the copy I had written about the show, I had never mentioned his name. So to satisfy his ego, here is a post lovingly dedicated to Chantry.
Whenever there was a break in rehearsals Chantry would pick up his knitting needles and start knitting. Erika who had to knit on stage while listening to the radio broadcast consulted with Chantry to get her up to speed. During every rehearsal Chantry would say something that would get everyone in the cast laughing. Sometimes after one of these outbreaks an actor would try and say a serious line and would end up cracking up and start laughing for no apparent reason. Chantry is a true professional however and often volunteered to read the Mercury Theater broadcast parts when it would help in the Public’s independent rehearsals. If there was any doubt about what would motivate his character, Chantry would never shy away from clarifying the point with the directors.
While doing this sketch I was intrigued by Chantry’s focus, his hands moved with sure deft precision. Did I mention Chantry? Chantry, Chantry. Chantry.
The play had its final performance two days ago. I am going through a bit of withdrawal. It is hard to say goodbye to such an amazing cast. I miss them all. Hopefully I will see some of them again if I sketch at other show rehearsals.