A Long Time Ago: The Eighties Strike Back.

Posted on by Thor

It is time to Fringe! The 2015 24nd Annual Orlando Fringe Theatre Festival
takes place May 13th-25th in Orlando’s Loch Haven Park. Venue locations
are within Lowndes Shakespeare Center, Orlando Rep (corner of Princeton
and Mills)-812 East Rollins Street, The Venue (Virginia Dr.), and
several site-specific location in the area. Kid’s Fringe is located at
the Menello Museum (across Princeton from Loch Haven).

100% UNCENSORED

100% UNJURIED

100% ACCESSIBLE

100% of $ from ticket sales go directly to the ARTISTS

There are more productions than can be seen, so pick your poisons wisely. Of the productions I saw in the first few days, the Star Wars music at parody written and co directed by Simon MacDonald called A Long Time Ago: The Eighties Strike Back, was my laugh out loud favorite. The classic Star War characters are re-imagined as 1980’s pop stars, and movie stars. For instance Artoo (Melina Smart) is portrayed as Olivia Newton John in Xanadu and Threepio (Lauren Anne Anderson) is portrayed as Madonna with her golden ice cream cone bra.

Singing performances by Lauren Culver as princess Leia and Melinda Smart as Artoo were particularly outstanding. The Chewbacca themed song Was hilarious and Joseph Fabian did an amazing job replicating the throaty roar. If you are a fan of the original two Star Wars movies, and you old enough to have lived through the 1980’s you will love this show. I still have “Hoth is a Battle Field” running through m head, set to y music of “Love is a Battle Field” by Pat Benatar.

The plot and characters are deeply en-grained in our minds, but this musical parody is absolutely hilarious. Don’t miss it!

Orange Venue – Orlando Shakespeare Theater 812 E. Rollins Street, Orlando, FL 32803.Shows are on May 20, 22, 24, 26, 27, and 28. Tickets are $10.

  • No Button = No show entry (no exceptions). The button costs $10 and is a one-time purchase. Button proceeds go to support Orlando Fringe.
  • No Late Entry to shows (no exceptions).
  • No refunds given for any reason other than show cancellation (no exceptions).
  • No ticket exchanges made (no exceptions).
  • No outside food or beverage is allowed inside any venue.
  • Alcoholic beverage purchased in the Green Lawn may not leave the fenced lawn area.
  • No food or drink allowed inside the Orlando REP (GREEN, SILVER, and TEEN Venues).
  • Beverages are allowed in our Lowndes Shakespeare Center venues
    (PINK, BROWN, RED, PURPLE, YELLOW, ORANGE, and BLUE) and may be
    purchased in the Darden Courtyard. Beverages are sold and allowed at the
    Venue (BLACK) and many other BYOV locations.

The Eighties Strike Back

Posted on by Thor

Imagine if the original Star Wars trilogy took place in the 1980′s – and it was a musical! That’s what this Fringe stage production is all about. The lyric from some of the most memorable songs from the eighties were changed up to re-tell, in detail, one of the most known and beloved stories of modern times. I first learned of this production when I took a required course at Full Sail called “Using Improve in the Classroom.” Simon MacDonald was one of the instructors and the class was a blast. Simon is directing “The Eighties Strike Back.”

A dress rehearsal was held at Lake Howell High School. It poured on the drive over. I ran under awnings and started searching the hallways for the auditorium.  A student finally lead me there. A band concert was going on and the audience was full of adoring parents. Trumpet solos blasted notes off tune but still the audience went wild. I started to think I was in the wrong place but then the concert ended. I watched the mad shuffle to move orchestra chairs and music stands. Then the stage stood empty with only a few students still posing for photos in the isles. Cody Donaldson stepped out on the stage dressed all in gold with a golden Frisbee on his chest. There could be no denying that he was an 80’s version of C3PO. Kelly Dunn Lowenberg skated on stage as a roller derby version of R2D2.

The cast assembled and then they did a full run through of the show. The production certainly pulled out the Star Wars geek in me. Richard Barados rendition of Chewie in one of the musical numbers had me laughing out loud. Emily Cutting added some new dance moves to one of the numbers and as Leia, she will earn any fan boy’s attention. Matthew Mendel as Luke was dressed as Marty McFly from “Back to the Future.” He wanted to be sure I captured his hair wave accurately in the sketch. Adam Bellas had a fun rebel punk attitude as Vader and Simon was particularly hilarious as Yoda. I was bobbing my head and ended up singing along as I sketched. They get my vote for a super awesome, fun, Fringe show!

Show times are:

Saturday, May 19th, 11:15 am

Sunday, May 20th, 3:00 pm

Wednesday, May 23rd, 7:30 pm

Friday, May 25th, 5:00 pm

Saturday, May 26th, 7:45 pm

Sunday, May 27th, 1:45 pm

Tickets are available on the Orlando Fringe website. Prices are $10 per show and there is a $1
handling cost. (If you are a card carrying member of the 501st or Rebel
Legion you get a $1 discount.) It is also required that in order to see
a Fringe performance that you have a Fringe button which is $8. All information is available on the Orlando Fringe Website.

Improv at Full Sail

Posted on by Thor

As part of my continuing education at Full Sail I took a two hour workshop that taught the basic principles behind improvisational performance, and how to use the hidden communication framework within improv to connect with students.Ten to fifteen Full Sail instructors and staff gradually filtered into the classroom. Adam Bellis and Simon MacDonald, both SAK comedians were at the front of the classroom. They asked people to sign in as they arrived. They had a few power point slides but from the start it was obvious that participation would be needed from everyone. Everyone was asked to stand in a circle to participate in an acting warm up exercise.

The game was called GO! The premise was simple, you must point to someone in the circle. They would say “Go” and then you would walk to take their place. They would then point, seeking permission from someone else. It was surprising how tricky this was. You really had to listen. There was a sense that decisions and permissions were rushed. In another pass the verbal, “Go” was replaced with a simple nod. Being a visual person I found this easier yet following the flow sometimes left me glancing around aimlessly. Was I making a fool of myself? Was everyone thinking the same thing?

The next exercise was called, “The Name Game” or Johnathan’s alliteration. You had to state your name and then add a descriptive action while acting it out. Everyone in the group had to repeat the name and action. I think I said something like, “Thor is thirsty” as I acted like I was sipping tea. What was I thinking? Everyone repeated the action raising their pinkies delicately. By the end, I felt I knew the people around me. This was a perfect ice breaker.

Adam and Simon then conducted an improv where they were puppets being manipulated by audience members. I volunteered and controlled Adam. It was fun raising his arms to gesture as he spoke. They worked together building a sacred bridge of trust. They validated each other and forwarded the story by creating new options. It is easier to tear down a bridge than to build it. Everyone in the room was free to openly express themselves which was a good environment to communicate and learn in.

It turned out that Simon is producing a Fringe show this year which is a Star Wars musical. I love the premise and I hope to sketch rehearsals as it develops.