Classically Demented

Posted on by Thor

Yow Dance brought Classically Demented: A Darkened Fable of Storybook Characters You Thought You Knew to the silver venue at the Orlando Fringe Festival. Several days before the Fringe opened, I went to the Rep Theater to watch the Tech rehearsal and several run-throughs of the show. Eric Yow was half way back in the theater seating counting out the beat as dancers went through the blocking. The dance company presented classic storybook characters, like Snow White, Cinderella, Bo Peep and many others in a darkened vision of the fairy-tales.

Mother goose was spry and graceful.  In one twisted dance number, a dancer cloaked in black entered holding an egg. The egg was split open over a bassinet dripping blood inside. At the foot of the stage there was a black board that was used to keep track of the casualties. Dancers collapsed  and were dragged off stage by their feet. The death tole rose. The costuming for all the dancers was elegant and beautiful. A dancer cut her toe on an exposed nail on stage. It was hammered down and taped over.

When it came time for the full run through, Eric shouted, “Have a great run dancers, Merde.” I had never heard that term before. Apparently back in the early days of ballet, the
companies used to use live animals in performances. Well, whenever one
of the animals would dump on stage, someone would yell “MERDE!” from
stage to let the dancers know to watch out so that they wouldn’t slip!
And I suppose that they said it so much that it just came to mean good
luck! Addicted to Love  played behind one of my favorite dance numbers. Who wouldn’t want to see zombie princesses devouring each other as they hunt for love? Eric himself performed as the evil queen. Michael Marinaccio, the Fringe producer stopped over to say hello before the second run through. He had his child with him and wanted to be sure the show was family friendly. I assured him there was nothing risque. As the dance began I began to wonder if a child would be upset by this darkened fable… Nah.

Show times:

Today, Saturday May 26th at 3:00PM

Sunday May 27th at 8:45PM

The show is in the Silver Venue at the Rep. Tickets are $10.

Mysterious Skin

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Mysterious Skin is a play by Prince Gomolvilas based on a novel by Scott Heim. This Fringe production was directed by Jeremy Seghers and produced by James Brendlinger. The show’s promotional materials left plenty to the imagination showing a black and white photo of a mans naked belly. When I ran into Jeremy, I shouted “I’m ready for some Skin!” He laughed and said “Calm down.”

The show follows Brian Lackey, (played by Anthony Pyatt Jr.) as he seeks the truth behind a childhood memory that forever haunts him.  In the opening scene, he sat center stage withdrawn and introverted. His mannerisms vividly reminded me of a nephew of mine who committed suicide. I was mesmerized. Avalyn Friesen (Marcie Schwalm) sat on her bed talking to him. She was a firm believer that aliens had abducted her when she was a child. Brian began to believe this might explain the memories of his past.

Neil McCormick,  (Michael Martin) New York City found himself draw to gay men and began to “turn tricks” which it turned out is a dangerous, and ego crushing way to make money. After seeing an old little league photo, Brian realizes that Michael played a part in the fractured memory of his child hood. Brian eventually finds Michael. Brian is awakened to the truth that he wasn’t abducted by aliens when Michael shows him their baseball coaches abandoned home. The image triggered a flood of memories. In a moving scene near the end of the play Avalyn wrote Brian to describe her abduction. Her intense recreation made it seem that she and Brian had experienced a similar fate. When Brian finally faces the truth, his legs give out.

There is no clean resolution or moral to the story. The characters and their plights lingered with me. The play was haunting and hard hitting. Anthony, Marcie and Neil gave amazing performances. This play certainly got under my skin.

Show times:

Friday 5/25 at 9:15PM

Saturday 5/26 at 3:15PM

Sunday 5/27 at 7:15PM

The show is in the Orange Venue and tickets are $10.

Snap! Fashion Night

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Snap Orlando was a three day photography celebration showcasing the work of renowned international, national and local photographers. Fashion night was held in the “Urban Wild” Space Wendy(400 Pittman St). This turned out to be an empty warehouse behind the Sheraton Hotel near the Bob Carr Theater. Lion King was being performed at the Bob Carr so parking in the neighborhood was difficult. Luckily Terry and I left my truck down in the parking garage where she works. I had a press pass and Terry was a bit upset that she might have to pay $25 to get in. As soon as we entered the warehouse, Wendy Wallenburg was there to greet us. We then walked right in. It was still early in the evening and the place wasn’t crowded. While Terry searched for a bathroom, I hunted for my sketch.

Artist Andrew Spear was working on the second of two murals he was doing on the cinder block walls of the warehouse.  Using thick Krink permanent markers, he was transferring a crosshatched ink drawing based on one of the photos in the show. A woman was hugging the neck of a stag. Andrew stood stoically on his ladder adding the finishing touches to the animal’s neck and head. He worked non-stop the whole evening to push the mural towards completion. He came over to greet me. We admire each others work since we share an affinity for the power of line. Of course admirers would interrupt his work but Andrew would embrace them and speak about art with enthusiasm. Naked couples embraced in photos encased under plastic sheets.

When I was done with my sketch, a fellow named Frank asked if he could flip through the pages.  Terry asked me for my press pass so she could go in the VIP area while I worked. With my sketch done, I went to go find her. I marched into the VIP area like I belonged, but one of the female bouncers stopped me saying I needed a ticket. I tried to explain that I was press but she wasn’t buying it. I was wearing a suit but still had on my hiking boots. A dead give away that I didn’t belong. Tommy Cannalonga, a gallery owner, greeted me from inside and as I turned to greet him and shake his hand, the bouncer said, “Oh, all right, go on in.” Later I thanked Tommy and he said, “I knew that would help.”

Sara Segal told me about the photographer’s lectures she had been to that morning. She explained how photographer Frank Day‘s work had its roots in the history of European and American Landscape painting. She mentioned the Hudson River School’s Frederic Church and I knew of his huge paintings. She pointed to a man seated alone on a couch and it was Frank, the same man who had flipped through my sketchbook. Frank had wide set eyes and a small nose on which thick glasses were perched. Sarah began talking to him about his work as Terry and I listened in. Terry bragged that she took some pretty crisp pictures with her cell phone, and she showed Frank a photo of our pet cockatoo. Frank was quite amused. Later photographer Gregory Scott joined us. Terry was convinced she knew the designer of his shirt and he allowed her to inspect the label on the inside of his collar. Across the way a man was tweaking another man’s nipple as a photographer took a digital picture of a large red dragon tattooed on a woman’s back.

By the time Terry and I left the VIP tent, the fashion show was already over. Terry and Wendy had an ongoing commentary going about the horrible fashion mistakes by many of the women in the room. Wendy was particularly offended at some of the purses. I was amazed at how many people were on cell phones. I held my cell phone up to my ear even though no one was on the other end, just so I looked like I fit in.

The HeART of Theater

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0n May 10th and 11th, Central Florida Community Arts presented, “The HeART of Theater, An Evening on Broadway.” The event featured the Central Florida Community Choir, orchestra and Dance Team, at the Northland Church (530 Dog Track Road). When I pulled into the church parking lot, I saw a mini van unloading seniors in front of the venue. My NYC snobbery kicked in and I expected to experience an amateurish production. Most folks waiting in the lobby did have grey hair but I had to do a reality check, so do I.  The worship center was huge and the large crowd in the lobby filled maybe a third of the available seats. I sat midway back so I could capture the immensity of the space.

Joshua Vickery, the founder and Executive Director introduced the evening. He stressed that Central Florida Community Arts positively influenced the community by connecting, serving and performing. The group has a vision to make the performing arts more accessible and to help local charities achieve their missions. This volunteer singing group has performed for the Coalition of the Homeless, Runway to Hope, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Hope for the Nations, Florida Hospital and many other great local organizations.

The ongoing theme to the Broadway Musical numbers performed, was how the arts inspire and enrich the artists who perform. Staged scenes, and dance numbers punctuated the evening between choral performances. I was swept along by the shear power and enthusiasm of the performances. This was an energetic evening of music that far exceeded my expectations. The last piece called “You Can’t Stop the Beat“, had everyone standing, clapping and singing along. Beach balls floated down from the catwalks high over head and the audience batted them about. This was an energetic, wild evening, with CFCA splashing on the Orlando Arts scene like a tidal wave reaffirming the creative spirit. I’m indebted to Sharon Hegedus, who first introduced me to this amazing group.

Upcoming performances include, American Pops on May 19th, The Classical Music of John Rutter on August 11th and a choral concert version of the musical, Titanic on September 7th to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the sinking. On August 4th there is The Heart of the Arts Gala, held at the Gaylord Palms, which will raise funds to help CFCA impact the community where we work and live.

The Central Florida Composers Forum Concert

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CF2 was evening of new music by local composers at the Timucua White House. I arrived with Terry about an hour before the concert because the idea had been tossed around with Serena Jones, that it might be nice for me to project a sketch I was working on live during the concert. Unfortunately for technical reasons, that didn’t work out but I still got a great sketch from the second floor balcony. Serena worked the multi media imagery on a flat panel TV screen from her laptop.

The featured artist for the evening was Woody Igou. Woody set up a series of sculptures on card tables. One sculpture was of a series of hollow horns stacked up. At the beginning of the performance he mixed some gorilla glue with pigments and salt and he poured the mixture inside the horns. For the rest of the evening the mixture expanded like the blob, overflowing and oozing down like lava.

The CF2 concert offered contemporary composers an open forum to showcase their recent work.

Featured Composers on the Program:

Daniel Crozier (Rollins College) – Piano solo (2009)

Benoit Glazer (Music Director for La Nouba) – Brass Quintet and Percussion Quintet (2011)

Charles Griffin (Full Sail University) – Flute Quartet, prerecorded audio and video projection (2010) Rebekah Todia (Full Sail University) – Soprano and piano (2012)

Charles Griffin’s composition featured animated projections that responded to the music. The audience was encouraged to repeat vocalizations as they appeared on the screen. Everyone followed with shhh, and ah, ah sounds. This gave a primal feel to the proceedings.

The concert was an invigorating multimedia mix of electro acoustic, post-minimal, contemporary art song, solo piano and big-band jazz pieces by musicians and composers from Rollins, Full Sail, UCF and of course, Benoit Glazer, the musical director of Cirque du Soleil, and resident of the (Timucua) White House.

Ice Sculptor

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On the deck of the Celebrity Eclipse, near the pool, an ice sculptor demonstrated his techniques. The activities coordinator had a microphone and she kept the crowd guessing as to what he was sculpting.  Large chunks crashed to the deck and then he chipped away, refining the shapes. I never caught the sculptors name but he was from the Philippines. Another crew member had a squeegee and he collected the pile of shavings and chips. Children were discouraged from taking any of the ice chips since there was salt in it.  The first sculpture, completed in less than 15 minutes was of a parrot. The second sculpture I believe, ended up being a turtle riding a wave.

Within half an hour, the sculptures were done. Parents posed their children next to the new creations and then the kids grabbed large chunks of ice and ran to the pool or hot tub. The parents were too relaxed to care.

Avengers ASSemble

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I went to a rehearsal for “Avengers ASSemble.” This will be a burlesque show put on by Skill Focus: Burlesque, themed after the recent blockbuster hit.” The cast, featuring, Ruby Darling , Rosita Sparkles, Cherry Bob-omb,, Syber Digit, Shy LaBuff , Nekkid RoboJoe and Stephen Focking were going to assemble at Theater Downtown (2113 North Orange Avenue.) When I arrived at 9pm, Ashley Small, the Skill Focus stage manager, was the only person in the theater’s lounge. She looked like she was in charge, so I asked her if I was in the right place. The room was a furnace, partly because I had just walked several blocks from Ethos Kitchen.  She informed me that the cast had a multilevel stage to work with and that tonight would be an undress rehearsal of sorts.

Cherry Bob-omb went into the theater, and I decided to follow and check out the stage. The theater itself was thankfully cool. I immediately found a seat and started sketching the complex set with it’s multitude of levels. The cast assembled all at once and they quickly got into costumes. Syber Digit was the first out of the dressing room and she had on an awesome Thor outfit, complete with a large hammer. She relaxed on the set and I was exited to sketch my namesake. Ruby came out in her black wig and a stunning red and gold, Iron Man themed outfit. She asked the cast at hand to pose with her and I sketched frantically. I was self conscious about how much time I was taking, so my hands flew.

Stephen Focking had a vintage WWII helmet painted blue with the letter A inscribed on it. He found a  large Tupperware lid in the dressing room and he used it as his Captain America shield. Each performer in turn went through their strip tease. Each item of clothing was telegraphed and the gyrations accentuated. This troupe has a wonderful way of taking an age old tradition and making it fun and playful. You will scream, holler and cheer as they shake it down Marvel style! The performance will be at Theater Downtown on Saturday May 12th. Doors open at 10pm and the show starts at 11pm. Tickets are $10 at the door or in advance.  There will be an after party in the lobby with the cast.

Eclipse Theater

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On the Celebrity Eclipse, I took the glass elevator down to deck five. Dropping down I watched the library slip by and I watched people in the opposite elevator as they rose up. I walked down a long hallway past flashy boutiques, the Molecular Bar and the flashing lights of the Fortunes Casino. Terry was in our cabin reading, while I made my way to the Eclipse Theater to see an Iron Chef style cook off. I sat in the nose bleed section of the upper level to try and capture some sense of the enormous space.

The chipper activities coordinator announced the contestants. Two passengers had been picked to compete against each other with the help of some of the ships chefs. I believe they only had 15 minutes to prepare their dish using the raw produce available on the back tables. The female contestant talked smack by saying her opponent wasn’t even working his pans over the burners. She had a point, the crew chef was helping out quite a bit.

When it came time for the judging, an oval platform rose up with three passenger judges. One judge was from France and she said that the female contestants dish reminded her of her childhood. The male contestants dish however had too much spice. Every judge actually didn’t like the male contestants dish. They didn’t hold back their criticisms. The female contestant won.

I was still working on the sketch as everyone rushed out of the theater. It seems that these cruise ship activities are designed for audiences with short attention spans. A tech came out of the sound booth and approached me. He told me I would have to leave the theater. I can’t believe it. This was the second time I had been interrupted while trying to finish a sketch on the cruise. I asked why. He said they had to rehearse that evenings performance. I asked if I could do another sketch of the rehearsal. No, he had rules to follow and I left fuming. I don’t like being herded around like cattle. The final color washes were added in the cabin. We never returned to the theater to see the show.

Hot Glass Show

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On the top deck of the Celebrity Eclipse, next to a grass lawn and between the two huge smoke stacks sat a glass blower’s studio. The Corning Museum of Glass partnered with the cruise line to bring this working glass blowing studio to the high seas. Several ovens were burning brightly to heat the glass on metal rods. Three glass artisans were at work creating an octopus from a child’s drawing. Children on board the ship had entered a competition to see who’s sketch would become a glass menagerie.  Bob Swederball and Dan Alexander worked as a team while Tom narrated the process for a crowd of passengers on bleachers. Bob sat at the work bench forming the body of the creature while Dan heated some glass that would be used for tentacles.

Large air ducts blew cool air which was used to cool the glass on occasion. The molten glass glowed orange as they worked. One oven had multiple doors allowing for larger openings as the glass was formed. There was a four foot high glass wall around the working studio to make sure passengers didn’t get burned and the reflections made it a challenge to sketch at times. The octopus was created in a matter of about an hour. With a gentle tap, the glass sculpture was broken free of its iron rod. Once it was finished, all the children in the bleachers filed out and the craftsmen then started to create an ornate vase by folding the glass and twisting several different colors together. The three craftsmen all came from fine arts colleges where they first started molding glass. Their fine artwork used glass in unique ways. Not a bad gig for a working artist.

Eclipse Southside Band

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Anytime the Celebrity Eclipse left port, there was a party on deck. The dance floor doubled as a fountain with a small stream of water shooting up from each floor panel. The streams were illuminated from below as well making a colorful display at night. The stage and fountain both looked out over the pool. Terry always wanted to be on deck when we departed. This group, called The Southside Band, from the Philippines was performing covers of pop tunes just about anywhere we went on board. Sand bags held the music stands in place and once a musicians music was swept away by a strong wind. A passenger helped him grab it before it blew overboard.

Every day there was a four page pamphlet that outlined the activities for that day on the ship. Every minute of every day at sea there were activities. There were fitness classes, seminars, dance classes, Texas Hold’em Poker Tournaments and movie screenings. They actually had a screening of “Contagion” in the movie theater on board. That movie is about a virus that was spread do to contact with some infected food. That virus spread causing world wide panic. Anytime we entered the dining hall, crew members insisted that we use a hand sanitizer lotion. Perhaps the virus was on board.What genius decided to run that movie? Did they screen “Titanic” or “The Poseidon Adventure” as well?  One of the Canadians at dinner confirmed that they did indeed screen “The Poseidon Adventure.”  There was a huge central chandelier in the dining hall and I kept wondering how it might shatter when a passenger fell head over heals into it. Terry and I went to the movie theater just once, to see a much tamer movie called “Mr Popper’s Penguins.” It was a light hearted way to kill two hours.

Terry took a line dance class while I sketched. Later that evening I saw her on TV dancing along with a dozen or so other passengers. This sort of voyeuristic video surveillance seemed like a good idea. I studied her every move as I relaxed in our cabin.