The Little Merman from the Black Lagoon

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I had sketched a rehearsal of The Little Merman from the Black Lagoon written and directed by Christian Kelty. I was happy I then got a chance to see the production live at Stonewall Bar Orlando (741 W Church St, Orlando, Florida 32805.) Karaoke was going on downstairs and I had to ask  the bar maid where I could find the Merman. She directed me to the upstairs bar. I ordered a beer and started sketching the bar and a palm tree covered swamp scene which I assumed was the backdrop for the adventure to follow. I met someone I had sketched meditating at Veg Fest. I am always happy when people introduce themselves since I tend to blend into the woodwork as I sketch.

A three piece band was set up complete with a theremin which is that science-fiction sounding instrument that is played by just waving our hands over it. The slithering sound began and the show began. The Little Merman from the Black Lagoon is a mash up of the 1950s horror film Creature from the Black Lagoon and the Disney animated classic The Little Mermaid. The discovery of an aquatic human hand lead researchers, Julie (Jenn Gannon) and Richard (Scottie Campbell) to explore the Black Lagoon thanks to the funding of (Timmy Walczak) who was the chauvinistic financial backer of the trip. The boat’s captain, navigated the treacherous waters thanks to a boat wheel that thrust out of his pelvis like a phallus.

At rehearsal I had only seen the first half of the show. I was shocked by how the violent conclusion of the show. The Merman eventually got his legs but had to give up his voice. That resulted in a huge monster of a green man who sounded like the Frankenstein monster. He was truly menacing when he grunted and his long awaited interactions with humans didn’t go as he had imagined.

The staging was tight being between two rows of patrons seated at the bar and along the windows. But the cast used this narrow walkway of a stage to great advantage. The folks across from me where smiling ear to ear and so was I. This was a fun premise and very entertaining.

The show run had been completed, but there is one more encore performance happening on Sunday May 5, 2019 at 1pm at Stonewall Bar Orlando (741 W Church St, Orlando, Florida 32805.)

Tickets are:

$20 in advance

$25 at the door

Doors open 30 minutes prior to showtime.

Seating is extremely limited for each show.

The Little Merman from the Black Lagoon

Posted on by Thor

Written and directed by Christian Kelty, The Little Merman from the Black Lagoon is a mash up of the 1950’s horror film and a classic cartoon fairy tale. A group of scientists travel the Amazon in search of the legendary “Gill-Man,” and come face to face with Ethyl the Merman and his friends from “under the lagoon”. Christain himself took on the role of the Merman who is curious about life with legs.

Julie (Jenn Gannon) and Richard (Scottie Campbell) were the scientist couple who discovered a merman’s hand and wanted to find the evolutionary missing link. Salty was  the captain who steered their course with a tiny ship wheel that conveniently thrust out from his groin. The fourth member on the expedition (Timmy Walczak) was the chauvinistic financial backer of the trip. He was always  putting Richard down and jockeying for dominance. He was most comfortable when holding a weapon. He wasn’t interested in research but in manly trophies.

A second story line developed under the lagoon, with the Little Merman, Ethyl, collecting human art and trinkets and arguing with his father. Butch a jerk of a shrimp acted as his conscience, siding with is father’s wishes while Angie the angler fish encouraged the merman’s more refined and creative wishes with his counsel. The Merman sang much of Part of your World with lyrics reflecting the idea that though life above water has its problems it has to be better than life in the lagoon. Certainly up there they don’t reprimand their sons.

I didn’t get to see the entirety of the show in this rehearsal but I have to believe that the Merman will one day walk on two legs and I suspect he will meet the researchers. The chauvinist, using a harpoon forced Salty to turn the boat around. I liked the staging of this scene because the actors rotated around Salty as the boat turned making it seem like we all were turning with them. I don’t know what path followed. I’ll have to see the show to find out.

Later that day I was taking to Pam Schwartz about the names of the characters of the show. ‘When I am lost in sketching, I don’t always catch such details. She explained that the Merman was named Ethyl. What a strange name for a merman we both thought and then the light bulb went off for us both. Oooooo. Ethyl Merman was a huge Broadway star. There is no business like show business!

Original Art and Set Design by Alexa Busnot and Sam Hazell

Original Puppets Designed and created by David Jordan

Original Score by Atif Shariff

PERFORMANCES DATES-

Fri     4/5/2019     6:30pm doors – 7pm Show

Sun   4/7/2019     12:30pm doors- 1pm Show

Thu   4/11/2019   7:30pm doors- 8pm Show

Sun   4/14/2019   12pm doors- 1pm Show

Thu   4/18/2019   7:30pm doors- 8pm Show

Fri     4/19/2019   6:30pm doors- 7pm Show

Mon  4/22/2019   8:30pm doors- 9pm Show (Industry Night)

Thu   4/25/2019   8:30pm doors- 9pm Show

Tickets are:

$20 in advance

$25 at the door

$10 for Monday APRIL 22nd

Doors open 30 minutes prior to showtime.

Seating is extremely limited for each show.

The performances will take place in the upstairs bar Stonewall Bar Orlando (741 W Church St, Orlando, Florida 32805.)

Story Corps at the Orlando Public Library

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The Orlando Public Library is hosting Story Corps for three days at the Downtown Branch. I was asked to come in to document the process with my sketches. I couldn’t actually sit in on the actual interviews but instead I met people as they arrived. I spent most of my time sketching in what would be considered the green room. Story Corps has two people speak to the interviewer which results in something closer to a conversation between friends rather than an oral history or straight on interview.

Because the interview room was off limits I didn’t really get to learn much about the people who came in. Will Jones was the first to arrive and he has used the public library for years. He was very pleased to have been invited to participate. He was waiting for his friend Jeanine who was running a bit late because of congestion on the highway. When she arrived, the the Story Corp staff, Jhaley and Morgan explained the process. First, they wanted to know how much each of them knew about Story Corps. The project started in Grand Central Station in NYC, where people could record their stories. The project has been going strong ever since.

Scottie Campbell was working on his laptop promoting the project and managing social media. Cynthia and ___ at the end of the table were there to video record people telling about the project after the interview was done. Cynthia has worked at the library for seven years. They would escort people down to the recording studio in the Melrose Center. My goal was to sketch each couple being interviewed. I found out that I had to work insanely fast. The introduction process probably took less than 15 minutes which means the lines had to be thrown down without a second thought. I found that this panicked immediacy actually helped me in getting more spontaneous sketches and there wasn’t enough time to worry if the subject would like the results.

A Fringe mural dies.

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Last year Scottie Campbell contacted me about doing a mural on the facade of the Fringe offices. The building had been painted black which made it a heat magnet. I had done a sketch of Orlando for a mural that was later painted by drunk patrons of a Downtown Orlando Arts event. Needless to say, that painting didn’t turn out as expected. It hung in the lobby of the hotel for a while and then disappeared. I decided to resurrect that sketch for the Fringe facade.

My plan was to paint the wall white and reproduce the sketch with only the sky as a painted element. That assured that the mural would be as bright as possible reflecting away any heat. The problem was that the Fringe had no budget for the mural. United Arts of Central Florida has a crowd sourced fundraising page called Power2Give which is similar to Kickstarter. The advantage of Power2Give is that funds go to the arts organization even if 100% of the funds are not raised. The disadvantage is that United Arts takes 12% of the funds. A page was set up to raise $5000 for the mural’s creation. I set up a progress chart that showed the funds raised. At the end of the campaign only half the funds had been raised. Then came the nail in the coffin, a developer plans to demolish the Fringe offices, the Thursty Topher and several other buildings to make room for a high rise condo.

George Fringe Wallace, executive director of the Fringe, asked me to hold off on reporting the condo debacle until the deal was public knowledge. About a year from now, all the warehouses along Alden Road will be
demolished to make way for a mixed-use development with 585 apartments
and buildings as tall as nine stories. Developers said that they want to honor the area’s roots by incorporating art
studios, performance space and an industrial feel into its design. Artists in the area however doubt they will find a home in the new development plan.  I am not sure yet where the Fringe offices will relocate after they make way for the wrecking ball.  I’m thankful work never started on the mural because it would be hard to see my work destroyed. Murals are only as permanent as the walls they are painted on. Hopefully the several thousand dollars raised will be used by the Fringe to continue bringing cutting edge and sometimes weird theater to Orlando. At least the Fringe building has been painted white which means a cooler summer as the Fringe searches for a new home. Thank you to everyone who contributed to the mural. My proposed mural depicting sky rises will be replaced by  actual highrises.

Orlando Soup helps fund creative ideas in Orlando.

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Orlando SOUP was modeled after the successful Detroit
SOUP, a micro-granting dinner celebrating and supporting creative
projects in Orlando. For a donation of $10, attendees receive soup (made
by Edible Orlando using fresh, local ingredients), salad and bread.
Before dinner is served, attendees will listen to four short community
project proposals covering a range of topics such as art, urban
agriculture, social justice, social entrepreneurship, education,
technology, and more. During dinner, attendees cast a vote for their
favorite project and, at the end of the night, the project that receives
the most votes is funded by $7 from each attendees’ donation. Winners
appear at future SOUP dinners to report their project’s progress.

I went to the Soup crowd funding event on August 13th 2014at East End Market. (3201 Corrine Dr, Orlando, FL). The walls were still covered with my framed sketches. It was great to see so many people in the community room sharing creative ideas. The room buzzed with excitement. I had been asked to work on a mural to cover the front facade of the Fringe offices in the Ivanhoe Village district. Scottie Campbell set up an online crowd source page to try and raise the money to pay me for the project. About $2000 had been raised for the proposed project, but that was less than half of what was needed. Scottie decided to pitch the idea at the Orlando Soup event to make more people aware of the project and raise more funds. His pitch was eloquent and exciting and it helped that my work was visible on every wall. Oddly, though I was in the room sketching, I was never called up to the mic since Scottie covered every base.

Another presentation this evening was by Cole Nesmith who was raising money for The Creative City Project which featured live performances throughout downtown Orlando by local and international arts groups. Cole wants to pay the artists involved but raising the funds needed is a full time job. I wanted to do life sized interactive portraits on the street as my contribution. Unfortunately I was in Australia when the Creative City Project became a reality, so I didn’t get a chance to experience or sketch any aspect of it.  For this Orlando Soup presentation, Cole made a tactical error when he gave everyone in the room a tiny battery and light. The audience became so involved in trying to get the light to work, that they must have missed Cole’s underlying message that it takes everyone’s involvement to light up Orlando with creativity.

Pat Greene gave a presentation about his Transit Interpretation Project (TrIP) and exhibition. He had photographers ride the new Sun Rail trains to take photos of fellow commuters. He needed funds to help hang the exhibit which was at the Gallery at Avalon Island  (39 South Magnolia Avenue, Orlando, FL). This show happened while I was away as well. Patrick got the most votes to help fund the TrIP Project show.

Mark your calendar. The next Orlando Soup is January 20, 2015 from 6:30pm to 8:30pm at East End Market. (3201 Corrine Dr, Orlando, FL). The community room is upstairs. It is a great way to see what creative projects are brewing in Orlando.

Proposed Mural for the Ivanhoe Village Offices

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Scottie Campbell the Executive Director of the Ivanhoe Village District asked me to consider doing a mural on the facade of the Fringe and Ivanhoe Village offices. The building was painted black which makes the offices a furnace in the summer. I created this composite sketch to suggest an overview of downtown on the facade. There wasn’t a working budget for the project, so George Fringe Wallace created a Power2Give fundraising page to raise the $5000 for the mural’s creation.

I like the idea that anyone in the community can contribute a small amount to make this idea a reality. As of this writing 2% of the needed funds have been raised. In 80 or so days I find out if this project will become a reality. Donor benefits include…

$1-99, a personal thank you on the Orlando Fringe and Ivanhoe Village Facebook pages.

$100-249, a digital photograph of the mural once it is completed (plus the above benefits)

$250-499,
an invitation to the public unveiling of the mural, including a meet
and greet with Fringe  and Ivanhoe Village Executives and the artist
himself, Thomas Thorspecken. (plus the above benefits)

$500 or more, a plaque at the site of the mural with your name on it as a donor (plus the above benefits)

Happy Ho

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Scottie Campbell, the Executive Director of Ivanhoe Village, tipped me off about the restoration of a neon sign which has been out of commission for twenty years. On November 7th, I went to the Historic Ivanhoe Building (1111 North Orange Ave. Orlando FL) to see the installation of a neon sign for the Holidays. These neon letters were restored this year by AC Signs. Tom Connery of the City of Orlando arranged for the restoration.

The Ivanhoe Building is where the ballet’s offices are housed but it was recently vacated because of mold problems. I noticed one dancer walking down the sidewalk, so maybe the mold issue has been resolved.

As I sketched, more letters arrived by truck. The black crane was used to lift the letters up to the roof. A spotter stood in the grass holding two ropes to keep the letter from spinning in the breeze. The last few feet were the most difficult. If the neon hit the roof’s edge too hard, it could break thus destroying all the restoration work.

A woman got off at the bus stop behind me. She shouted into her cell phone, “I hate you, I absolutely hate you!” I guess someone was going to pick her up, but they didn’t. She was having a bad day. The workmen came off the roof for a break and they looked over my shoulder as I worked. The neon in each of the signs letters was tested one at a time. Everything seemed to work.

Mark Your Calendar!  November 22nd at 6PM, at the Historic Ivanhoe Building (1111 North Orange Ave. Orlando FL),  Mayor Buddy Dyer will throw the switch re-lighting the Happy Holidays/Happy New Year neon
sign on top of the the historic Ivanhoe building. It will be the first
time the sign has been lit in two decades!,  A reception will follow at The Hammered Lamb (1235 N Orange Ave, Orlando, FL.)

Ivanhoe Trivia Night

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0n Tuesday August 27th, Ivahhoe Trivia Night kicked off at The Hammered Lamb. Each week the event will help raise money for Ivanhoe Village and there are prizes for the winners. It’s easy to play; you just need to put your thinking cap on.

HOT TIP: Each Monday an answer to one question will appear on the Ivanhoe Village Facebook page and Twitter (@IvanhoeVillage). So be sure you’re liking and following!

Arrive early, stay late! Happy Hour is 4:00 PM-7:00 PM. Then after Ivanhoe Trivia Night, plan to stick around for open mic night!

Ivanhoe Village Manager, Scottie Campbell, was the MC firing off the trivia questions. The bar was full and the competition fierce. Some contestants took to bold posturing to intimidate the competition.  Here are a few of the questions from the premiere event. See how you do. I’ll list answers in the comment section over the weekend. No Googling the answers.

1. What country has the most patent applications?

2. Mount Thor has the greatest purely vertical drop. What country is Mount Thor in?

3. Who was the first person inaugurated into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1936?

4. The song “Walk this Way” by Aerosmith was written after seeing which 1974 film?

5. Who wrote the book, “Ivanhoe”?

6. What is the name of the park across the street from the Hammered Lamb?

7. Word Jumble… NAAJNEFDO.

8. What president was in office when Marilyn Monroe died?

9. What country drinks the most alcohol?

A train rumbled by and everyone had free shots on the house. It tasted a bit like grapefruit. Mark Your Calendar! Get your trivia fix every Tuesday night 6pm to 8pm at the Hammered Lamb (1235 N Orange Ave, Orlando, FL).

TEDx The Creative Spark

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I was invited to the TEDx event held at the Winter Garden Theatre by Jenny Zoe Casey. I had seen several TED videos on YouTube so I had some idea of what to expect. I sat in the back row of the theater because I love to watch camera men at work. Tiny lights sparkled like stars on the ceiling as the house lights dimmed. I found out during the introduction that TED stood for Technology, Entertainment and Design. The Theater was jam packed with creative people from all over Central Florida. Upstairs between sessions everyone was encouraged to socialize and discuss the talks. Mark Baratelli of thedailycity.com was there along with Scottie Campbell from the Orlando Opera. Anna McCambridge and her husband Marabou Thomas said hello as we shuffled off to the next session. As I was considering a sketch, a young female artist introduced herself. She used to work at Universal as a caricature artist. We talked about art and how caricatures are often watered down in the parks so people can accept it as a likeness. She loved being able to truly exaggerate features but if a costumer said, “My nose isn’t that large!” She would be in trouble. She had to walk a fine line to “nail” each sketch. It was thrilling to discuss my own sketches to an artist that shared the same challenges.

After the introductions a video was shown which I had seen before. The video featured Eric Whitachre who orchestrated a virtual choir, 2000 voices strong. What was astounding was that voices from around the globe were brought together. People have an innate need to reach out to each other. People from truly isolated places found connection to the project as well as urban dwellers. The internet is truly a new creative frontier. I was equally inspired by the way creatives from all over Central Florida gathered to share stories of their creative spark. People were connecting, sharing and inspiring each other. Creativity isn’t something only found in the isolation of an artists studio. It is found in conversation and the simple human desire to share. One persons creative spark can inspire others.

Play in a Day

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Beth Marshall invited me down to the Orlando Shakes on November 3rd to experience the creative process of Play in a Day. Play in a Day kicked off the festivities for Playfest, the Harriet Lake Festival of New Plays which ran from November 3-6. When I entered the Shakes, actors were already divided into six groups and they were doing the initial read throughs of of the scripts. Play authors had been given the theme of unexpected transitions and a twist, no props allowed, the previous day. Most scripts had been written overnight right up to the moment they had been turned in at 7am. There was then a thirty minute pow wow between the writer, director and actors. Then the writers were asked to leave to avoid endless re-writes. I decided to sketch actors Sarah Lockhard, John Connon and Steve Middleton who were reading and laughing. The play was short, only about seven minutes, but it was fun. Someone in the lower lobby shouted, “I don’t know what’s going on, but it’s funny!” Beth Marshal who had just sat down said “That is the perfect review.” Rob Ward had also stopped in to read the part of Michael Wanzie. He did a hilarious, spot on impersonation.

The short play, titled, “Family Road Trip” was about a family road trip to Orlando. Sarah was the daughter riding in the back seat and John played the mom while Stephen was the dad behind the wheel. David Lee the author now lives in NYC but he had a long history at the Orlando Shakes. Beth explained the piece to the actors, “David writes for the audience, the whole thing is a poem. He’s not Anton Chekhov.” She asked the actors to try a read through with British accents which she didn’t like, then Southern accents which worked better. When they pointed out specific Orlando venues, like the Orlando Science Center, the Orlando Rep and the Orlando Museum of Art, she asked them to loose the accent. Stephen asked for some clarification so he could better memorize the lines. Much of the dialogue centered around groupings of three.

David Lee texted Beth from NYC, “Do they like the skit?” Beth texted back, “Steven found all the deep meaning, Sarah is playing Veruka Salt and John is playing me! “When asked to describe the short play she was directing, Beth said, ” It is HA-Larious!” I decided to stick with this group of actors and see how the rehearsal progressed. They would have to be ready to perform at 7pm that night.