Julie Bunny Must Die!

Posted on by Thor

This Fringe show in the Pink venue was a fun comical musical. A graphic artist and comic named Adam Chase, played by Bert Rodriguez, grapples with the superficial and insignificant nature of living as a freelance artist. His one true love is a comic character he created as a child named Julie Bunny. The bunny is an international spy whose arch nemesis is an evil Chef, played by Michael Colavolpe. As an artist I am enthralled by the idea of this musical. Some of the lyrics fell a little short but on a whole the songs were fun and creative. While trying to please a corporate ad executive Adam finds himself overworked with insane tight deadlines. With so much work on his plate he can not find the time to write his beloved comic. The comic characters unite and try to write their own back story on their own. Penny a blond bombshell, is consistently ignored every time she opens her mouth. Her song, where she laments people never taking her seriously is a highlight of the show. It turns out she had all the answers all along.

Adams girlfriend, played by Stefanie Clouse, doesn’t understand his obsession with the comic character while a fan who dresses in furry costumes to go to comic conventions understands perhaps too well. The girlfriend tries to convince Adam to take the safe graphic arts jobs which pay far better than an underground comic. Julie bunny, played by Laura Hodos is on stage as the girlfriend is looking at the comic. When the girlfriend utters, “Its not exactly your best work.” The bunny raises her toy gun and shouts “I will cut you bitch!” I laughed out loud and my watercolor wash splashed across the page in the wrong direction.

This was a really fun show don’t miss it!

Tuesday, May 25th 10:25 PM

Friday, May 28th 9:50 PM

Saturday, May 29th 4:45 PM

Sunday, May 30th 4:40 PM

Fringe of Nature

Posted on by Thor

I had camped out with Sultana Fatima Ali at the Orlando Fringe box office in order to get a ticket to go on Brian Feldman’s overnight primitive camping trip, “Fringe of Nature.” Sultana got the first ticket and I managed to get the second ticket. I was going to join Brian and Sultana on the first night, but Terry decided she would like to come along for the camping trip so we changed the date to my birthday, May 22. Only two people are suppose to go out on the hike each night, and only 10 tickets are available to this unique Fringe performance. On the trip to the Shakespeare Theater Terry stopped at a Publix and got a coconut frosted birthday cake. I thought this was a strange item to try and bring on a 3.5 mile hike into the woods. We sat down in the patrons room and waited for Brian to arrive. Terry cut up the cake and set all the pieces out on paper plates. Sultana stopped by with her mom, Mary Beth, who is an artist herself. We kept offering cake to people who walked past our table and soon Dewey Chaffee, Douglas McGeoch, and Anna McCambridge, Sultana, Mary Beth and Terry were all singing “Happy Birthday.” Their voices resonated and echoed in the patrons room and this workaday song suddenly sounded angelic. When I hear this song in a public restaurant I always let out a groan. But when the song has my name in it, the song is suddenly beautiful. At home, the amazing number of Facebook birthday greetings left me humbled wanting to cry.

Outside, Brian drove up in a brand new 2010 MINI Cooper Clubman which had been supplied by Orlando MINI for the project. Matt Simantov joined our group and we soon had everything packed and set off into the wild unknown. I knew the drive was only maybe 45 minutes so I rushed to get the sketch of Brian driving. His hat hid his eyes and he said, “This is the first time I get to look like Beetle Bailey.” I really like the circular flowing lines of the MINI Cooper. Since my Xterra is starting to age less than gracefully, I need to start thinking of a more fuel efficient alternative.

When we all arrived at Wekiwa Springs State Park, we parked the MINI Cooper and Matt’s car in the parking lot. There was a restroom but it was way in the distance, about a quarter mile away. We arrived at about six or so and it was still very hot. A small dirt service road soon branched off into a narrow path through palmettos and shrub. Matt and Terry joked about walking through the deserts of Tatooine from Star Wars. Terry started singing, “I’m happy when I’m hiking, pack upon my back…” This was an old Girl Scouts song and none of the three guys knew it. At one point, a large animal made plenty of noise as it rushed into the palmettos. We shouted and tried to look big, which is advice given if you should startle a bear.

The sun was starting to turn orange and was very low on the horizon when we reached “Camp Cozy.” Brian and I set up the six person tent and Matt and Terry started gathering wood for a campfire. I managed to light the fire using maybe six matches. A large log which had been eaten by termites offered a nice starter. Matt and Brian put headlamps on and I had a cheap one which stopped working after half an hour. We didn’t cook anything but just ate sandwiches we had bought at Publix. Then we roasted square vegan marshmallows.

Matt kept using a huge bowie knife he had strapped to his leg to cut up a log which helped keep the fire burning. I sliced open my left thumb by tugging at a dry palmetto frond. The palmetto stem had jagged edges; thank god I had my Jesus bandages, which had been a gift from the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. I also bought along a very flat LED light which Brian placed inside the portable marquee which allowed it to illuminate at night since we couldn’t find a darn plug. Brian had a package of square vegan marshmallows and I tried one. It didn’t burn like a regular marshmallow and I took my time waving it in the open flames until it was a perfect golden brown. It actually tasted really good. It was as good as the real thing without the animal by-products.

As I sketched, I heard the high pitched whine of millions of mosquitoes all circling around me and waiting to find an opening in the insect repellent that covered every inch of my body. I was the first to get in the tent for the night. At three in the morning, I ventured out and marveled at the bright half moon with pitch black pine trees sweeping up to meet it. In the distance, a mist made the far trees a subtle blue gray and the stars were bright and clear. I understood why Van Gogh painted Starry Night.

 At sunrise, I convinced Brian to join me for an eight minute run along the trail. The sun was just piercing the verticals of the trees and the path weaved left and right. Huge dew covered spider webs would cross the path forcing us to duck in order to avoid them. Running along a tight path with trees flying by makes it feel like you are running a lot faster than you are. We all agreed to go to the springs when the camp was broken down. On the hike back, Brian lost patience with the slow pace of the person at the end of the hiking column. He named this hiker iPod, since the hiker never went a moment without listening to and sometimes singing along to the songs on their iPod playlist. Brian marched out at a quick pace. I stayed with the slower hiker and suddenly the three of us were faced with a fork in the trail. There were no trail blazes on either trail. I called Brian using my cell and got his answering message. I said simply, “Left or Right?” A few minutes later Brian called back and said, “Left.” The parking lost was less than a quarter mile down that path. A parking lot never looked so enticing. The air conditioning in the MINI was delicious.

On the drive to the springs, a beautiful deer silently strutted across the road in front of the MINI Cooper. Brian stopped to watch her and she tilted her head to the side to look over her shoulder at us. The silent staring contest lasted just a moment before she quietly walked into the woods. At the springs, the water was a refreshing 72 degrees and I was in within minutes. I swam across the springs once and then got out to do a quick sketch. Brian and Matt floated around in the middle of the springs for a long time talking. There are two more chances to experience this unique Fringe show for yourself. Get a ticket before they are all gone.

Thursday May 27, 5:30 PM

Friday May 28, 5:30 PM

Visual Fringe

Posted on by Thor

This is the second year I have exhibited work in Visual Fringe. There was a $20 entry fee that I had forgotten about, but I gladly paid to be part of this amazing event. Anna McCambridge and Jeremy Seghers were behind the table to take my work and welcome me to Fringe. A year ago I started sketching at the Fringe and I felt like a bit of an outsider. This year, attending Fringe feels like going home and every day brings fun reunions with people I have sketched and admired over the year. Just as I did last year. I settled back and did a sketch of the Visual Fringe reception table as art work filtered in. I picked up my Fringe button and Fringe lanyard and was told by Anna to return for the Fringe Gala in a few days. This year since I am a performer in the “Creative Mind Experiment“, I find I can go into any show at any time so long as it isn’t sold out. It looks like I will be doing twice as many sketches of actual shows this year. Fringe this year should be a wild non-stop sketch marathon, so strap in and enjoy the ride!

The first show I had to get a ticket for was Brian Feldman’s “Fringe of Nature.” Sultana Fatima Ali had set up a camping chair in the box office and planned to sit from 4PM when the box office opened till 11PM when Brian planned to sell the first of the $10 tickets. I decided to sit with Sultana with my camping chair and we joked around and watched as the Fringe Festival swirled and accelerated to a fevered pitch. Large lines of people would gather at the theaters and then go in leaving the space quiet again. I wandered off and did a sketch and saw my first show which was “Goblin Party Interactive” put on by Heather Henson and her crew at IBEX Puppetry. “Goblin Party Interactive” was a really fun interactive show and I plan to return to sketch. When I joined Sultana again at about quarter to eleven, she was still the only person in line for “Fringe of Nature.” I joked that she might be in the wrong line and that Brian probably wouldn’t have people stand in a traditional line. There was a large group of people standing in a circle and I rationalized that Brian might expect people to stand in a circular line. Any time I spotted a person with hiking boots or any item of clothing that gave a hint of the great outdoors, I let Sultana know that they might be trying to cut in line. Brian finally did show up and sell the tickets, which were gorgeous, encased in lucite ticket holders, and nice enough to hang on a wall. I will be camping with Brian on my birthday, May 22nd; my wife Terry will be joining me.

Play in a Day – Suspense

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Eric Pinder wrote a tongue in cheek suspense thriller. The two man cast consisted of John Edward Palmer and Richard Perez. The show was like a film noir detective movie in which the detective would step out of the drama and then offer a dry witty narration about the scene. Having only two actors, Richard Perez got to play many parts including the femme fatale.
As the stage hand Paula was setting up the table and chairs for this show, someone in the audience shouted out, “Get it right Paula.” She responded “I’m trying baby.” The legs of the table gave her some trouble and she said, “Son of a ___.” If it is important to you, the jealous woman was responsible for the murder. When the show was performed, all those empty theater seats were filled. I ended up sketching the detective twice just because it seemed to be the right way to balance out the picture.
My overall impression of “Play in a Day” was that it made for a fun night of unexpected theater. With such a short amount of time to rehearse, the actors had to memorize as best they could and then wing it if a detail slipped by. Having sat through the rehearsals I knew where mistakes had happened before, so I sat on the edge of my seat waiting to see if they made it through come showtime.

Play in a Day – Showtime!

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After a solid day of rehearsing, Beth Marshall called all the writers, actors and directors into the Margeson Theater for a last minute prep talk. Everyone had worked hard all day to to get these six productions up and running. Lindsay Cohen had written a piece about high school girls getting locked in a bathroom during a high school prom. In this piece, Sarah Lockhard played a drugged out youth and she was hilarious. She spun on the floor and used toilet paper to play a game of “He Loves Me, He Loves Me not.” At one point, she put her ear to the floor on one of the colorful circles and started pounding her fist, screaming “Get us out of here!” My favorite line of all the shows was screamed out by Sarah, “ROYGBIV your a beautiful freaking genius!” This was particularly funny because of the colorful 70’s themed “School House Rock!” set.
The night before Lindsay had gone with fellow writer Tod Caviness to the Drunken Monkey Coffee Bar to try and write. The plan backfired when a guy kept hitting on her. He just wouldn’t take the hint that she had work to do. Her play started as a Unabomber dance party, but gradually was reworked into the high school prom bathroom drama we saw. Lindsay wrote all night, and finished at 6:50am and before running over to the Shakes to hand off the script to Laurel Clark, the play’s director.
A production that was like a 70’s sitcom similar to “Sanford and Son”, looked to me like it was going to crash and burn based on the rehearsal I saw. Marty Stonerock, the lead actress in that piece, looked at me while Beth was talking to the assembled group, and she took her scarf and made a gesture like she was being hung, sticking her tongue out comically. In this play, the lead actor, Barry White, craves a drink from his trusted bottle of ripple that he keeps under the desk. Marty had taken the ripple off stage by mistake. As the helpless actor searched for the now missing bottle, Marty finally rolled the bottle into the theater and it got the loudest laugh of the night.

Shotgun

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.