A Big Day for Baseball: Poster Evolution

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The first poster I did for A Big Day for Baseball: A Magic Tree House Adventure was rather documentary in nature. I wanted to re-create what the day looked like when Jackie Robinson walked onto the field in 1947 as the first African American athlete. Some fans were thrilled while others were not. Jackie focused on what he knew best, which was playing baseball.

At this point I didn’t know much about the book series on which the play was based. I was just batting ideas around. The title itself changed while I was working on the posters to A Big Day for Jackie Robinson: A Magic Tree House Adventure. Eventually the team name of Dodgers was removed form the art, probably for legal reasons. I don’t mind small changes like that, the big problem is finding just the right image to tell the story.

Jack and Annie are back in this musical journey, based on the book A Big Day for Baseball from the acclaimed Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne! The Magic Tree House whisks the siblings away to a baseball game in 1947 Brooklyn, New York, where they meet baseball pioneer Jackie Robinson and must figure out what’s so special about this specific game – in under nine innings!

The show continues to run through March 18, 2023 at the Orlando Shakespeare Theater (812 E Rollins St
Orlando, FL 32803).

A Big Day for Baseball: Poster Evolution, Final

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A Big Day for Baseball: A Magic Tree House Adventure is playing at the Orlando Shakespeare Theater through March 18, 2023. This poster is closely based on the book designs of the very popular Magic Tree House series. I did multiple designs based on the Jackie Robinson story, but those tended to look more like they were for adults. Returning t the leaf and acorn design motif lightened the mood of the poster.

I read the script and it should be a very fun play about kids being able to be on the field for a very historic baseball game. Jackie Robibnson was the the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB). Robinson made his debut in a Dodgers uniform wearing number 42 on April 11, 1947, in a preseason exhibition game against the New York Yankees at Ebbets Field with 24,237 in attendance. These two lucky kids get to experience the day as a bat boy and girl from the field. It should be an exciting day of theater.

The Fantastiks: Final Poster design

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This is the final poster design I did for The Fantastiks. The show run ended February 26, 2022 at the Orlando Shakespeare Theater.

The Fantastiks featured Broadway legend Davis Gaines as the narrator El Gallo, The show chronicled a timeless coming of age story about the peaks and valleys of young love through breathtaking poetry and subtle theatrical sophistication. In a world of magic and moonlight, a young couple find their way back together, despite everything trying to keep them apart.

The longest-running musical in world history has been refreshed for the new century and is the perfect celebration of theatre and the eternal power of love. Featuring an award winning score including breakout songs like “Try to Remember,” and “Soon It’s Gonna Rain” and many more.

This sheet lit by a glowing moon was achieved after much experimentation with previous sketches for the poster.

My first pass was more of a long shot since the notes asked for two houses separated by a clothes line. I realized that drawing both houses would create a rather horizontal image, so I filled the rest of the poster with the star filled sky. I liked the design but the couple was rather small.

The second design moved in closer to the couple. I felt I needed at least one roof line to support the clothes line. The sheets are rather opaque with the couples silhouettes a light blue. It works but the triangular shape of the roof rally didn’t add anything to the look of the poster. The young boy and girl were both simplified blobs without much detail as well. So I needed to refine their silhouettes some more. Having a huge moon filling the night sky also didn’t seem to be needed. I decided to start slipping it down behind the sheets. The best look was achieved when it was completely hidden behind the sheets along with the couple. I went back to the drawing board.

The next version moved in even closer. The sheets are still opaque and the boy and girl are each hidden behind their own sheet. This multiple sheet idea wasn’t needed. They could hide behind the same sheet. The final image came about as I played with the blending modes in my digital painting program. That is when the magical glow jumped out at me and I accentuated it further. Sometimes a look is achieved through trail and error. I get the obvious out of the way and then massage the magic with each new pass.

I am sorry I missed sketching this production on the stage. Right now I am designing another set of posters and I am lost in the process. reading new scripts and having a blast designing posters for another season.

Terry DiCarlo

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 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.