Terry DiCarlo

Posted on by Thor

 This post discusses the shooting that took place at the Pulse
Nightclub on June 12, 2016. It contains difficult content, so please do
not read on if you feel you may be effected. 

This article and sketch have been posted with the express written
permission of the interviewees. Analog Artist Digital World takes the
privacy and wishes of individuals very seriously. 

Terry DiCarlo had been in the HIV diagnosis business for over 30 years. He was the director at The Center at the time of the Pulse shooting. The Center is the largest tester for HIV in Florida. They do 500 to 600 tests a month for HIV.  Orlando is fifth in the nation for the most newly diagnosed cases. Just before the shooting Terry had been offered a Director’s position at AIDs Health Foundation (AHF) which is a Los Angeles based global nonprofit provider of HIV prevention services, testing, and
healthcare for HIV patients. AHF currently claims to provide medical
care and services to more than 1 million individuals in 43 countries
worldwide. He was offered twice the salary that he was making at the Center. His start date was to be August 1, 2016 and July 16th was going to be his last day at the center. All the paperwork was done. He was packing up his office and then June 12 happened, the day of the Pulse massacre. AHF pushed off his start date to September but by mid August he realized in his heart would not let him leave Orlando.

There were between 300 and 600 people working in the tiny space
inside the Center. It got hot in there in with the smoldering June heat.
Someone donated several large mobile air conditioners to help. With the back
doors always open taking in donations, the heat kept flowing in. On the third day after the shooting that took 49 lives, Terry decided he had to close the Center at 6pm. Had he kept the Center open 24 yours, the volunteers would have stayed for 24 hours. They had been working 12 to 14 your days for three days straight. They were ordered to go home and rest. Terry started turning off lights to shut the Center down.

At 5:45pm he got a call, letting him know that Florida Governor Rick Scott was planning to visit and wanted to enter by the back door so as not to draw attention. All the lights went back on. The governor banned all press and anyone in the Center would have to turn off their cell phones. Terry grew angry. His Orlando community had just been hurt, and this as their house. He called every news station and let them know that they had 5-10 minutes to get to the Center. The news trucks were all close by.

Three black SUVs pulled up behind the Center. The governor and his entourage entered via the back door and the press poured in the front door. The governor was shocked, but put on a plastic smile. Then Terry invited everyone in the Center to take out their cell phones of a photo op. This was supposed to be a private photo op for the governor since he had his personal photographer in tow. It was a chance for him to brag that he had been to the Center and the photo would imply that he cared. It was all self serving PR.

He never said the word LGBT. He never said “I’m sorry for what you are going through.” He looked at Bill, Terry’s husband, who had a tattoo and asked, “Did that hurt?” Bill responded, “Is that really all you have to say?” The governor shook Bills hand who wiped his hand off on his pants as the governor walked away. He seemed to have no idea what the Center was or why there were 600 people there. He asked nothing about all the donations or where they were going.

Down at Pulse, Marco Rubio showed up and started talking to the media about The danger of Islam, terrorists and hate. He was spewing false information. Terry shouted out that this wasn’t about hate and division. All the cameras turned towards him. He always spoke from the heart. He tended to stand on the side lines while Patty Sheehan, Mayor Buddy Dyer and Police Chief Mina walked to and from the Command Center for updates. Then while they stood talking to media Chief Mina signaled to Terry that he should join them to help relay information to the world. This would become his role in the months and years to follow. One New York Times reporter had Terry’s name on file with the initials GTG beside his name. That meant “go to gay.” Terry would always offer honest opinions when asked.

The Angel Action Wings were created at the Shakespeare Theater with the help of Jim Helsinger. They were donated to the Center after Terry explained that they would be respected and used at proper events to honor the 49 lives lost. No one ever sees the angels getting ready. When they appear at Pulse, the fire station down the street lets them get set up in the parking lot behind the station. When they appear at Lake Eola, a condo association across the street allows them to get ready in the ballroom. Bill created an 8 foot high PVC pole that held several white flags. This helps in letting people know that the angels are coming and it helps part the crowd. The angels were originally intended to protect against hate and now they have become a signal of hope and of love. People just come up to the angels and hug them.

In time, Terry had to step down from being the director at the Center, taking a communications director position instead. In the months after Pulse he was pulled in so many directions, that something had to give. He has talked to survivors who are going through a lot. For the first year, survivors were being flown around the world to Pride events and fundraisers. After one year that attention disappeared. They felt lost. One survivor, a nurse said she can not get a job. At interviews she holds back not wanting anyone to know she was at Pulse that night. She suspects she might be sabotaging herself.

The current administration is promoting hate and division and that trickles down. The love and unity we experienced is being torn apart. People seem unable to see through the smoke screen. We can not let people forget. Orlando stood as one, united in not letting hate win. Orlando reacted with love and the world saw that and stood beside us. For a few days, hate stood still.

On January 27, 2020, Terry DiCarlo died of Cancer at the age of 57.

Three Musketeers

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Three Musketeers written by Catherine Bush and adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas is a
witty and action packed swashbuckler following the friendship of
young d’Artagnan (Benjamin Bonenfant) and his band of Musketeers as they fight to protect the
ones they love from the evil Cardinal Richelieu (Anne Hering) it is story of double crossings, kidnappings, and carefully guarded secrets, complete with lavish sword fights and sweeping romance, set in a time when love and honor ruled the world. It is playing at the Orlando Shakespeare Theater (812 E Rollins St Orlando, FL 32803) through March 22, 2020.

The Three Musketeers, Porthos (Rodney Lizcano), Anthos (Timothy Williams) and Aramis (Walter Kmiec) at first seem irresponsible by getting into a drunken brawl, but d’Artagnan added a blush of romance and camaraderie to the group when he assisted them in a sword fight. Monsieur de Treville (Phillip Nolan) was responsible for keeping the Musketeers in line and his assistant Planchet (Brandon Roberts) added comic relief to every scene he was in.

The spiral staircase center stage rotates creating a wide a variety of scene changes. At one point there is a sword fight on the stairs as they rotated which was visually thrilling. I had to commit to one setting for my sketch, ignoring the staircase when it moved or disappeared altogether.

It turned out that one of the Musketeers X wife, Milady De Winter (Tracy Lane) was the most deadly villain in the show. She could be sweet and cultured and then stab you in the heart while offering a kiss. The show kept a fevered pace and was a delight to watch.

Here are the remaining show dates…

Tickets are $27 to $36.

Saturday, February 8, 2020 – 2:00 PM

Saturday, February 8, 2020 – 7:30 PM

Sunday, February 9, 2020 – 2:00 PM

Wednesday, February 12, 2020 – 2:00 PM – Senior Matinee

Wednesday, February 12, 2020 – 7:30 PM

Thursday, February 13, 2020 – 7:30 PM

Wednesday, February 26, 2020 – 2:00 PM – Senior Matinee

Wednesday, February 26, 2020 – 7:30 PM

Saturday, February 29, 2020 – 7:30 PM

Sunday, March 1, 2020 – 2:00 PM – Talk back Performance

Thursday, March 5, 2020 – 7:30 PM

Friday, March 6, 2020 – 7:30 PM

Friday, March 13, 2020 – 7:30 PM

Saturday, March 14, 2020 – 2:00 PM

Saturday, March 14, 2020 – 7:30 PM

Wednesday, March 18, 2020 – 2:00 PM – Senior Matinee

Thursday, March 19, 2020 – 7:30 PM

Sunday, March 22, 2020 – 2:00 PM

Striking the Set

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After Man of La Mancha closed at the Orlando Shakespeare Theater, I went in to sketch as the set was struck to make way for the next show. La Mancha was a theater in the round so bleachers had been set up where the back of the stage usually would have been. Subtlety isn’t needed when striking a set, things get hammered banged and kicked in any way to break things down. As I sketched, the set disappeared. The set had a circular central platform that turned and a trap door.

A drill would remove screws and a hammer might bang out nails, but safety was always the first concern. Stage hands looked out for each other assisting each other as needed. I enjoyed sketching the progress. According to Ivan Klima, “To destroy is easier than to create.” Yet these folks seemed to be working mighty hard while I was sitting and just scratching the page with a pen.

Now through April 28, Richard the II by William Shakespeare is at the Shakes. Tickets are $25 to $32. Convinced of his divine right to rule, King Richard II never expected
to be undone by his own maladroit mortal wrongs. By brashly putting his
own vanity before the needs of his kingdom, he creates the perfect
opening for Henry Bolingbroke to seize the throne. Shakespeare’s deeply
moving and insightful retelling reveals how one man’s bumbling mistakes
can shape a nation’s political landscape and change the course of
history.

Smallest Gallery in Orlando

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Trevor Fraser, an entertainment reporter for the Orlando Sentinel put out a call for artists on Facebook for what he called the Smallest Gallery in Orlando. The gallery consisted of a small strip of wall between two doors. I decided to incorporate my 12th Night Orlando Shakespeare Theater sketch to fill the space and my submission was approved.

Trevor and his wife Lindsay Fraser decided to host a party where guests could paint in the sketch. I arrived about an hour early and projected my sketch on the wall and then painted in the dark line work. I Did a bit of painting on the central Shakespearean actor and then relaxed along with Pam and watched as people finished the painting. f course everyone had their own style so the disparate areas didn’t entirely tie in together but that is part of the charm.

All the food served was part of a “Beet Off” between he and Lauren Delgato. Everything had beets in it, Beet hummus, beet salad, beet cupcakes. It is amazing the variety of tastes you can get from a humble beet. It was a fun afternoon.

This little mural wasn’t quite finished by the end of the party, so I am not sure if it ever was completed. There was some talk of using this sketch in the Orlando Sentinel for an article about the gallery, but there was no budget so I saved it for this site. The Noor Salman trial was just beginning and unfortunately the Sentinel also didn’t buy any of the 70 or so courtroom sketches I did for that trial. Only CNN, Channel 9 and Channel 6 and the Orlando Weekly used some of those sketches. March was a crazy month.

For Love Sir: Letters of Life, Love, and Sacrifice

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Mikael A. Duffy of Bent Book Productions wrote For Love Sir: Letters of Life, Love, and Sacrifice and she invited me to a rehearsal at Dragonfly Studio and Productions, (133 W McKey St, Ocoee, FL 3476.) This Fringe Production was built around real letters home from service men and women.  “For Love, Sir” is a beautiful and poignant piece following the lives of
three service members and their families as they experience the
hardships and lifestyle of active duty. This story is inspired by real soldiers
and their families over the course of American History.

Two young lovers have to separate as he goes off to service, a mother has to leave her daughter behind and a son leaves his loving mother. Their stories unfold as they write home. Ideals turn to the gritty reality of the senseless violence to the point where the son can no longer write the truth of his new reality. Though staged in modern day fatigues and uniforms, the language has the romantic flair that existed when people wrote letters rather than 140 character tweets. Only at the end of the play does it become clear that these letters were written during the civil war, World War I and Vietnam. It became clear that the overriding themes of love and loss never change with time. The sacrifices remain the same.

When the mother and daughter tearfully ran towards each other to be reunited, a chair got in their way and they couldn’t decide which way to get around the obstacle to embrace. It was a funny but very real accident of staging that I hope remains in the final run through. Being an early rehearsal there were a few kinks yet to be worked out. But it was was very clear that this production has heart.

Tickets are $12 along with the purchase of a Fringe button which is needed to get in any play during this 13 day festival that runs from May 15th to May 28th. For Love Sir: Letters of Life, Love, and Sacrifice is in the Red Venue inside the Orlando Shakespeare Theater (812 East Rollins Street
Suite 300 Orlando, FL 32803).

The remaining show dates are:

1:00 PM 

8:00 PM 

8:00 PM 

8:45 PM 

6:30 PM

Do you Fringe? If so, I will see you on the Loch Haven park Lawn of Fabulousness. Let me know which shows I absolutely HAVE to sketch.

Juggling Spaghettti in Box 10.

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27 Blue Boxes are painted on sidewalks in Downtown Orlando. These boxes are for panhandlers and buskers. Busking is possible only during day light hours. Although set up for panhandlers, police often insist street performers must be confined to the blue boxes. Performing outside the boxes can result in 60 days in jail and a $500 fine. Using a map of the Downtown Core District, I am documenting each blue box with some of Orlando’s most unique performers.

Blue Box 10 on the corner of Orange Avenue and Robinson Street no longer show any signs of the original blue dotted lines that define the boxes. It must have been spray washed clean. The city ordinance however states that a performer can use the blue box even if the lines can not be seen.

Jeff Ferree who works at the Orlando Shakespeare Theater volunteered to juggle. He deftly juggled bowling pins but the crowning act came when he juggled spaghetti. He placed a message on Facebook announcing his performance and several of his friends showed up to watch. Drivers passing by also got to witness this spectacular performance. Juggling cooked spaghetti is a challenge, because you can wad the noodles up into balls to start, but those balls break apart in mid-flight becoming a sloppy mess of wet strands. Jeff tried wrapping the noodles around juggling balls but the same chaos ensued. The joy in the performance wasn’t his success, but the chaos and slop in the attempts.

This area where Jeff juggled has a nice grass covered empty lot and I have heard that food trucks might be able to set up shop there soon.This is only rumor however. I looked up the City’s policies on food trucks downtown, and it is not likely downtown workers will be offered the variety that food truck vendors would offer.

Which areas prohibit mobile food vending?

The City of Orlando cannot approve vending along International Drive or Semoran Boulevard; there are special zoning overlays that prohibit vendors.

The City prohibits the selling food or merchandise on city streets and sidewalks (Sec. 54.27).

The City prohibits sales of food and drink within public parks, recreation areas and facilities, except under concession agreement approved by the city council; these are requested at the City’s discretion.

The City prohibits vending, services and sales of goods on any public or private street, public parking lot or public property.

Special events with an 18A permit approved by the Police Department may include food vendors ancillary to events.

I did not find any city ordinance that prohibits the juggling of spaghetti.

The Dishwasher.

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Brian Feldman’s first-ever job was as an actor with Orlando
Shakespeare Theater. His second was as a dishwasher at a fast-food restaurant
chain in Winter Springs.

Award-winning performance artist Brian Feldman brought his
one-of-a-kind “Dishwasher” performance back to Orange County.

This performance, which I sketched, was at Flying Horse Editions (500 W. Livingston Street,

Orlando, FL 32801)

at the downtown UCF Center of Emerging Media building across from the future site of the Creative Village. 

Brian hand-washed the dirty dishes in the print shop’s sink
using the hottest water he could endure. A friend of Brian stood behind him to keep a close eye on his dish washing techniques. 

Once completed, he was given
a monologue by Sarah Segal which he cold read on the spot for the small audience gathered at the print shop.
Finally, Brian asked a simple question of the audience: “Am I a better actor or
dishwasher?” After receiving the answer, he posted the verdict on social media. His friends were rather harsh on his performance saying be was a better dishwasher, but everyone else in the audience decided he was a better actor. 

The Top 10 Posts of 2017.

Posted on by Thor

Results are based on Google Analytic highest number of page views.  

1.   September 28, 2017.

Story Club at the Abbey. 

2.  February 13, 2017.  

10th Annual Russel Bowl Parade of Bands. 

 3.   December 6, 2017.  

It’s a Wonderful Life at Shakespeare Theater.   

 4.  November 28, 2017.  

Pecha Kucha at the Dr Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.  

 5.  July 2, 2017.  

Pulse Memorial and Candlelight Vigil.  

 6.  July 22, 2017.  

 Hair Spray at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.  

 7.  May 17, 2017.   

O-Town: Voices from Orlando.  

 8.  February 2, 2017. 

 Memorial for Master Sargent Debra Clayton, shot January 9, 2017.  

 9.  August 28, 2017.  

 George Wilson discusses his Photojournalism following the Pulse Nightclub Shooting.   

 10.  February 25, 2017.  

New York City Urban Sketching Workshop.   

Weekend Top 6 Picks for December 9th and 10th.

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Saturday December 9, 2017

11 AM to 5 PM – Free.  Santa Con 2017! (Thornton Park District, 617 E Central Blvd, Orlando, Florida 32801).  Santa Con is celebrated all over the country and is simply a gathering of
people dressed as Santa that go as a group from restaurant and bars
celebrating the Holiday Season with some tasty adult libations!

This year they are again encouraging participants to bring musical
instruments, Example: Tambourines, Harmonicas, Guitars what ever you
have to bang, play on, and make some joyous noise!

5:30 PM to 7:30 PM – $10.  Orlando Cringe IX – The Holiday Show.  (SAK Comedy Lab, 29 S Orange, Orlando, FL 32801).  For their last show of 2017, they’re teaming up with SAK Comedy Lab for a
very special Cringemas Show! They’ll be bringing back a very special
reader from Cringe and SAK’s amazing team will be performing
improvised scenes completely based on their personal journals. They also have other surprises, so naughty or nice, it’s going to be a
great show!

7 PM to 9 PM – Free.  The 5th Annual “Violectric Holiday Show.”  (Walt Disney Amphitheatre at Lake Eola Park, 99 N Rosalind Avenue, Orlando, Florida 32801). Rock Into The Holiday Season with Violectric, Central Florida’s Top Strings Rock Group.   This is a fun and free LIVE concert featuring classic holiday tunes with a twist and more.

Bring a pet supply, donation and your furry friend to support Pet
Alliance of Greater Orlando.

Sunday December 10, 2017

11 AM to 5 PM – Free.  Day 2 of Santa Con. (Thornton Park District 617 E Central Blvd, Orlando, Florida 32801).   Santa Con is celebrated all over the country and is simply a gathering of
people dressed as Santa that go as a group from restaurant and bars
celebrating the holiday season with some tasty adult libations!  This year we are again encouraging participants to bring musical
instruments, Example: Tambourines, harmonicas, guitars what ever you
have to bang, play on, and make some joyous noise!

7:30 PM to 9:30 PM – $30.   An Evening with Anna Deavere Smith.  (Orlando Shakespeare Theater, 812 E Rollins St, Orlando, FL 32803).  Best known to television audiences as Nancy McNally on The West Wing and Gloria Akalitus on Nurse Jackie, Anna Deavere Smith’s theater work has become an inspirational source for civil discourse. Through a short performance and interview, audiences will hear about the process of combining a passion for social causes with documentary style theatre making.  Ms. Smith seeks to “discern the American character and to capture its politics.” The discussion will focus on how she finds the authentic voice of the people she interviews and then creates on stage.

7:30 PM to 9:30 PM – Free.  A Picture Perfect Christmas.  (Maitland Presbyterian Church, 341 N Orlando Ave, Maitland, FL 32751).  Performing Arts of Maitland sponsors the Maitland Symphony Orchestra’s
Holiday Concert: “A Picture Perfect Christmas”. Guest performer Joshua
Messick is a National Hammered Dulcimer Champion performing premier
selections with the MSO: “The First Snowfall” and “Blue Ridge Sunrise”.
MSO also performs “Parade of the Wooden Soldiers” by Jessel, “Maltese
Winter” by Hayen and more.

The Hound of the Baskervillesat at Shakes.

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The Hound of the Baskerrvilles, written by Sir Conan Doyle was adapted for the stage by Steven Canny and John Nicholson. The 19 parts are played by just three actors. Steven Lane played Sherlock Holmes and I grew anxious since he didn’t play the part of Sherlock very often. This hilarious  production at times involved the actors breaking character and talking to the audience one on one. They poked jabs at each other for the past productions they had done. Dr. John Watson, (Simon Needham) was a natural at the British accent since he comes form England. The other actors joked that he is taking good paying actors work from American actors. Chris Crawford played Sir Henry Baskerville among other roles. The production involved many very quick costume changes.

After the first act there was an intermission and the second act began with Steven Lane reading a note form an audience member in the center section. It stated that his acting was lackluster and sluggish. The response was for the cast to re-act the entire first act at an insanely accelerated pace. This time costumes were often only half assembled as the actors ran around the stage to hit their marks. This was hilarious and impressive at the same time.

The Baskerville family suffered from a curse that began when a young woman was imprisoned at their Devonshire estate. A huge and vicious hound then attacked the guilty abductor. Since that date the family carried the curse. Each generation would suffer from the attack of a devilish red eyed  hound. The recent death of a Sir Charles Baskerville rekindled the story of the cure and brought in Holmes and Watson on the case. Holmes was busy but sent Watson to the estate to investigate.

There is an escaped convict on the moor and mysterious candle messaged sent at night. Sherlock takes multiple disguises to watch the activity of the state from afar. His several attempts to reveal himself to Watson, are hilarious since Watson is blinded by theater blindness that allows for a costume change to be an absolute disguise.  Myth and mystery eventually give way to thought and reason and the suspect is discovered.

We were seated in the back row of house left which was a great vantage point when the actors left the stage and wandered into the audience. I almost tripped an actor as he rushed out the fire escape door setting off the alarm. I highly recommend the show for a light hearted evening of theater.

The Hound of the Baskervilles.

Orlando Shakespeare Theater, The Goldman

812 E Rollins St, Orlando, FL 32803

Tickets are $13 to $50.

Remaining show dates:

Wednesday, November 8, 2017 – 2:00 PM

Wednesday, November 8, 2017 – 7:30 PM

Sold out! There are no tickets available.

Thursday, November 9, 2017 – 7:30 PM

Friday, November 10, 2017 – 7:30 PM

Saturday, November 11, 2017 – 7:30 PM

Sunday, November 12, 2017 – 2:00 PM

Sunday, November 12, 2017 – 7:30 PM

Tuesday, November 14, 2017 – 7:30 PM

Thursday, November 16, 2017 – 7:30 PM

Friday, November 17, 2017 – 7:30 PM

Saturday, November 18, 2017 – 7:30 PM

Sunday, November 19, 2017 – 2:00 PM

Sunday, November 19, 2017 – 7:30 PM