Ultimate Floyd Tribute

Posted on by Thor

I am a huge Pink Floyd fan. Their music sculpted my teen angst leading into the years as I ventured into NYC to study art. I financed my college years at first as a mechanic who fixed and ran junk mailing machines. I became quite good at keeping the machines running with rubber bands sweat and delicate finesse along with zen wishful thinking. In the process I became a machine myself while wearing headphones from a Walkman that blasted Pink Floyd.

This was my first job that I got while still in high school. A team of high school girls were hired to sort the mail according to zip codes. The boys would then tie up the piles with machines and throw them in mail bags. A swing arm would rotate around the package and then tie a knot. I got to the point where I could keep my foot pressed down on the mechanical pedal and bundle packages so fast that the piles would instantly disappear.  The sorters would try and keep up. One of the sorters would joke with me and we started to race one another in the quest to see who could produce the largest pile of junk mail faster. She was my first crush. We only dated a few times before we both went off to different states for our college educations.

The Pink Floyd song, Wish You Were Here becoming my anthem as I went to the School of Visual Arts in NYC. The music kept me company on the many long bus and subway rides to and from classes. I kept the flame alive for this former co-worker for years, but eventually I attended her wedding, and she attended my wedding a few years later in NYC. The song still resonates with me. I no longer long for her but I still feel a longing for something I may never find.

My friend saved me a seat at house right. The concert started an hour before the time listed on the tickets. We were seated behind an empty chair which gave us a fabulous view of the stage. We joked that a super tall guy would likely sit there, and that he would probably be wearing a large cowboy hat or have a huge Bob Ross Afro. Just as we stopped laughing a very tall man sat in the seat. We just looked at each other and smiled.

A tribute band can be a risky proposition. This group however was amazing. They brought back all my teen angst along with the harsh reality of failed relationships. What made the concert particularly fun was that I went with a friend who it turns out is also a huge Pink Floyd fan. We both knew all the lyrics and sang along with absolute abandon. Behind us was a guy who knew when to chime in at all the right moments. In one song that mentions lunatics, he started laughing as loud as he could. I was in heaven, in the company of complete lunatics.

For the Dark Side of the Moon, the movie The Wizard of Oz was projected on the screen. I have read that the Pink Floyd album works in perfect sync as a soundtrack for that movie. I am not sure if the music worked in perfect sync but it was effective. The most heart wrenching scene in the movie was when Dorothy had to give up her little dog Toto. For that level of loss. Pink Floyd music rings true.

The darkest music of The Wall was reserved for the end of the concert. Whenever I looked at my friend I saw a smile from ear to ear. We sang Comfortably Numb like our lives depended on it. I felt pure joy but also found myself on the point of tears, it was such a strange flood of emotions.

My friend first discovered Pink Floyd at the tender age of 12. I probably discovered the band at the age of 17 or so in NYC. Both are impressionable ages and the music has stuck with us for all these years.

Simply put this was an amazing concert and I am so grateful to have shared it with a friend.

Ingenue: Deanna Durbin, Judy Garland, and the Golden Age of Hollywood

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I met Melanie Gall seven years ago when she presented The Sparrow and the Mouse at Fringe. This year, she returned to bring the heavenly singing of Deanna Durbin to Fringe audiences. The play began with the premise that a reporter wanted to interview Deanna because of her association with Judy Garland. She talked about how the two young actresses became friends, because they were about the same age, and also part of the MGM Hollywood Studio System that controlled every aspect of their lives and schooling.

Judy was surprisingly unsure of her singing abilities, but Deanna was certain of her golden operatic voice. In the 1930s, Deanna was a far greater star. A favorite of
Roosevelt, Churchill, even Mussolini, her first kiss made front page
news in the New York Times. The two women were friends and rivals for the duration of their careers, having two very different and distinct singing styles. While Louis B. Mayer was away on a trip, he instructed his people at MGM to
“drop the fat one.” They misunderstood and mistakenly let Deanna go. Soon after Deanna was released by MGM, Universal Studios gave her a
contract on the 13th of June and cast her in the September production of
Three Smart Girls, which became a major smash hit.

One film would skyrocket Judy into American culture and that was The Wizard of Oz. The studio first wanted Shirley Temple, but Darryl Zanuck would not lend her out to MGM. A Hollywood executive wanted to offer the part to Deanna. She was hesitant, since Judy was under contract and also her friend. She turned the role down because the executive disparaged her friend. He asked her to sing Somewhere Over the Rainbow just to try it on for size. Melanie sang the song with such clarity and sincerity that it was a slice of heaven.

Judy abused drugs and Deanna eventually left the studio system at the age of 27 to try and live a normal life in Europe. Deanna stayed on through the war years since she felt it gave the boys on the front hope. In the final scene, Deanna sang a song she and Judy used to play together when they were wide-eyed and young, being fresh to the Hollywood studio system. She held up a photo of Judy and she at the piano. It was a warm and fitting tribute. If you love the warmth and romance of the Hollywood classics, then this is the show for you.



Tickets are $12 plus the $10 Fringe Button.

Remaining show times are:

5:45 PM

2:00 PM

Whitney Broadway

Posted on by Thor

I decided to learn what I could about the Maitland Art Center‘s Artist’s in Action program. The program reflects the spirit of founder André Smith’s Research Studio and the current mission of the institution. This program provides non-residential studio space to  established or emerging artists for the professional practice and research of fine art. This program is an exciting opportunity to interact with Center’s community of artists and art enthusiasts while working in this uniquely rich and historic environment.

A fixture at the institution for many years, the acclaimed Artist-in-Action program takes place at the historic Maitland Art Center (originally André Smith’s Research Studio). In Smith’s day, famous artists were invited to live and work at the Research Studio in the winter months, including luminaries Milton Avery and Ralston Crawford.

Whitney Broadaway grew up in Sebring, Florida and received her Bachelor’s of Fine Arts
with a focus in Printmaking from the University of Central Florida in
2010. During her degree, Broadaway studied printmaking, ceramics, and
the book arts extensively. She has interned with the Museum of Florida
Art and Culture as well as Flying Horse Press. Whitney is currently
the Book Conservator for the Special Collections & University
Archives department of the UCF Libraries. There she is in charge of
conserving and repairing material, as well as coordinating and judging
the annual Book Arts Competition.

Whitney‘s studio at the Arts Center was bright and light filled. Whitney’s recent prints integrate elaborate floral patters similar to work done at the turn of the century. One plate had delicate line work where she had to carve away the areas around the lines which takes amazing patience. As she worked on carving lino plates, she sang along with the tunes on her laptop. I began singing along as well. Pink Floyd began playing and Whitney told me about a video that had the Dark Side of the Moon dubbed over The Wizard of Oz and the music synced perfectly. A huge steel print press stood in the corner of the studio. It once belonged to André Smith so it is a historical relic. It has sat unused for years and Whitney is trying to let the Arts Center committee realize that the press needs to be used so all the working parts are active and lubricated. I felt like a bit of a dinosaur working next to this young artist, so I can identify with the idea that no matter how old you might be you should stay active every day.  I hope the press wheel once again turns to create a new generation of prints.