The Lieutenant of Inishmore.

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The Lieutenant of Inishmore by Martin McDonagh is definitely not for the faint of heart. This is the 15th and final production by Beth Marshal Presents at the Winter Garden Theater (160 W Plant St, Winter Garden, FL 34787.) The play is a very dark comedy about extreme Irish nationalists who are willing to spill blood for the smallest cause. The playwright said of this play, “I was trying to write a play that would get me killed.” The program lists a blood specialist and a blood director, so I knew going in that things might get messy.

Padraic (Zack Lane) was a street smart and violent Lieutenant of the Irish Republican Army. His one love in life is his black cat named Wee Thomas. The cat was in the care of Davey (Joseph Fabian) and Donny (Don Fowler), two innocent well meaning fools who open act one as they inspect the mangled body of a dead black cat. Davey brought the cat back to their place on his bicycle and they both realize they are in very big trouble because of Padraic’s violent temper. In the next scene Padraic is torturing a suspected drug dealer so his ill temper is confirmed. It was quite uncomfortable watching an actor hang upside down while he is threatened with having a nipple cut off.

Davey and Donny try and gloss over the issue of the dead cat by finding another cat and using boot black to try and make the cat black. On his return, Padraic is met by Mairead (Rachel Comeau) who attracts him by being as violent and crazy as he is. When they argue he aims a gun at her and she aims her air gun right at his privates at close range. The stand off garners respect.

Davey and Donny are blindfolded and bound ready for execution by Padraic as they kneel on the living room floor. Violence is interrupted by more bloody violence. Three “splinter group” IRA foot soldiers are blinded and then shot in the head at point blank range. This was incredibly uncomfortable to watch especially after the recent high school shooting in Parkland Florida. I found myself lurching with each blast of the theatrical guns. It was surprising that many in the audience would laugh as someones brains were blown out. The death of the cat resulted in four other senseless murders. The loss of a pet is a harsh reminder of our mortality. In the last act Davey and Donny discover that Wee Tommy, was actually alive. They both point their guns at the cat ready to kill it after all the violence they had just witnessed. They can’t pull the triggers and they give Wee Thomas a nice big bowl of cat food.

The play clearly points to the futility and pointlessness of violence and killing. Yet its comedic tone is confusing. Change the Irish accents to southern drawls and the play could be set in our backyard. Perhaps only in America can we laugh at staged violence a week after 17 children are murdered in a south Florida school. The pointless violence in Ireland has been going on for decades and it is a harsh mirror to look in as we see how violent America is. Our love of guns is a joke to other nations of the world. The play resulted in a long discussion on the drive home followed by a radio broadcast about the gun legislation that died a senseless death. Among the bills that died were ones that would have banned assault weapons sales and expanded background checks.

The play runs through February 25, 2018.

The Whale pulls at every heart string.

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The Whale, written by Samuel D. Hunter, and Produced by Beth Marshall Presents will make its Central Florida Regional Premiere on March 18th. I arrived at a dress rehearsal about an hour before the run through of the show. Director, Rob Winn Anderson, wanted to revise several scenes that had kinks to be worked out. Ellie,Rachel Comeau read a book review she had written about Moby Dick. The play is book ended by her heart felt review, and it’s significance only becomes clear as her relation ship with her father Charlie, Michael Wanzie comes to light. The stage set by Tom Mangeri, felt like a diorama on stilts. At key moments in the play, blue and green lights would flicker on beneath the stage making it seem like the set were floating above dock moorings.

Charlie is effectively eating himself to death. His marriage to Mary, Beth Marshall, fell apart when he fell in love with another man. Estranged from his daughter, he wants to get to know her at the end of his life. He bribes her to spend time with him, by offering to help her with her school work, and offering her what turns out to be a sizable inheritance since he never leaves his apartment. Ellie is strong willed, smart, vicious, and sharp tongued but bored by school and her classmates.  She created a blog in which she complains about everyone she knows. 

Liz, Jamie Middleton, is Charlie’s health aid. She also seems scarred by life, and her morose barbed dialogue offers some of the shows biggest-laughs. Elder Thomas, Anthony Pyatt Jr. a Mormon missionary enters Charlie’s apartment to give Charlie gods word. When Liz finds Thomas preaching to Charlie she rips into his beliefs. When Ellie an Thomas meet, she manages to erode his holy facade and she has him smoking weed and confessing that he isn’t exactly who he claims to be. 


Ellie’s harsh embittered view of the world is fueled be be parents divorce. Charlie teaches an online writing course, and his lessons to his students reflect what he wishes he could pass on to his daughter. He implores his students to stop editing and rewriting every sentence. Instead, he begs them to just write from the heart. This brings us back to the moment when he asks Ellie to read her book review. The paper had been given an F because it was a review of the wrong book. Ellie was furious at her father and hadn’t bothered to read the review. She cursed her father’s request to read, not because she hated him, but because she loved him and was furious at how he had let his health go. She had written the book review years before and it highlighted how the book seemed to reflect what was happening in her own life. Although she was angered by life, this paper proved that she had a heart and cared a bout everyone around her. Anyone who could write such a heartfelt review would also have the talent to share many more stories that would touch others. My eyes welled up as she read her paper. Ellie’s eyes welled up as well. For the first time, Charlie rose from his chair and he struggled to cross the room to reach out the his daughter. She was amazing, beautiful and his life’s greatest accomplishment. 


The show combines humor with absolutely heart wrenching sadness. It celebrates what it truly means to be alive, and the strong bond of family even when it is dysfunctional. Although dark and bitter, the show also exudes hope, despite all odds. This
play was nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding
New Off-Broadway Play. It won a Lucille Lortel Award for Best Play and
won a Drama Desk Special Award for Significant Contribution to Theatre.


The Whale 

March 18 to April 3, 2016

Thursday 8pm, Friday 8pm, Saturday 2pm (April 2) & 8pm, Sunday 2pm
Industry Night: Monday, March 28

Winter Garden Theatre 160 W Plant St, Winter Garden, Florida

Tickets: $21 – $28

The Whale surfaces at the Winter Garden Theater.

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On June 22, 2015, I went to the Winter Garden Theater (160 W Plant St, Winter Garden, FL) to sketch auditions for “The Whale.” March 18th will be the Central Florida Regional Premiere of this play written by Samuel D. Hunter and staged by Beth Marshal Presents. I love sketching auditions, I get to witness so many talented actors that all bring their own creative take to the characters. This isn’t a story about a great white whale, but instead an intimate look at a father daughter relationship. 

On the outskirts of
Mormon Country, Idaho, a six-hundred-pound recluse hides away in his
apartment eating himself to death. Desperate to reconnect with his
long-estranged daughter, he reaches out to her, only to find a viciously
sharp-tongued and wildly unhappy teen. In this gripping and big-hearted
drama, The Whale tells the story of a man’s last chance at redemption,
and of finding beauty in the most unexpected places. This play was
nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New
Off-Broadway Play. It won a Lucille Lortel Award for Best Play and won a
Drama Desk Special Award for Significant Contribution to Theatre.

Cast
Charlie – Michael Wanzie
Ellie – Rachel Comeau
Liz – Jamie Middleton
Elder Thomas – Anthony Pyatt Jr.
Mary – Beth Marshall

Production Team
Rob Winn Anderson – Director
Anastasia Kurtiak – Stage Manager
David Merchant – Assistant Stage Manager
Tom Mangeri – Set Design
Amy Hadley – Light Design
J.G. Lantiqua – Sound Design
Marcy Singhaus – Costume Design

Dates:  March 18 to April 3, 2016
Thursday 8pm, Friday 8pm, Saturday 2pm (April 2) & 8pm, Sunday 2pm
Industry Night: Monday, March 28 

Tickets: $21 – $28
Special pricing for opening night, Thursday performances, seniors and students.

This show contains adult language and scenes. Recommended for mature audiences.

Doubt, A Parable leaves the audience questioning the truth long after the curtain dropped.

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I went to the final dress rehearsal for “Doubt, A Parable” based on a. book by John Patrick Shanley. The Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning drama follows a Catholic high school priest’s battle for truth and personal integrity.
It is produced by Beth Marshall Presents
and directed by Beth Marshall in the historic Winter Garden Theatre (160 West Plant Street, Winter Garden FL).

When the theater went dark, Father Flynn (Michael Wanzie) began his sermon in the isle at the back of the theater. He spoke about how the country pulled together after John F Kennedy was assassinated.  The moving monologue rallied the audience behind the father. He was clearly a well loved man among his parish. Michael Wanzie seemed perfectly cast for this role. I’ve seen him in past productions and he always seems to be in roles where he must question the faith he grew up with.

Sister James (Chelsey Panisch) is a young and enthusiastic teacher loves to get the children excited about history. Her superior, Sister Aloysius (Ginger Lee McDermott) is a hard edged disciplinarian. She views every situation with suspicion and doubt and advises Sister James to do the same. Eventually a situation arises in which the one black student in the school is called away for a meeting with Father Flynn. The boy returned from the meeting acting strange and he had the scent of liquor on his breath.

Sister Aloysius assumes the worst and begins a personal vendetta to expose Father Flynn as the monster she imagines he is. Her black and white view of right and wrong is greyed by the Fathers compassion and a simple straight forward explanation. He gives another sermon, this time about gossip. In this parable he has a woman cut open a down pillow on a city building roof top. Feathers fly everywhere in the wind. She is told to repair the damage and recover the feathers. That of course is impossible, the damage is done.

The play haunted me on the entire drive home. Without an admission of guilt, there is always doubt. The father was clearly a gifted orator who cared for the children in his charge. Yet sister Aloysius’s steadfast conviction at times swayed my view of the man. He clearly had human weaknesses. The show was just an hour and a half long but the questions still linger.

Mark Your Calendars!

February 6 – 22, 2015
Thursdays – Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 2pm
Industry Night: Monday, February 16 at 8pm

Tickets: $25 ($21 seniors/students)
Industry Nite Feb. 16th -$15 (post show cast meet/greet Pilars Martini) 

Garden Theatre Box Office
160 West Plant Street, Winter Garden
407-877-GRDN (4736)
gardentheatre.org

33 Variations

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On March 28th I went to The Winter Garden Theatre to see 33 Variations written by Moises Kaufman and staged by Beth Marshal Presents. I had been to a dress rehearsal and hopefully that write up generated interest for this incredible production. Though it was the second to last performance, I had to see the set and lighting to feel the shows full impact. Aradhana Tiwari directed this stellar cast in this show about Beethoven’s struggle to create late in his career as he went deaf and a modern day researcher obsessed with understanding his motives as her health also fails. The 33 variations were written by Beethoven based on music written by a lesser known composer and music publisher.

I was touched by the idea that the music researcher felt the need to travel to Vienna to see and touch Beethoven’s original sketchbooks. I wrote out every compositional idea, so the sketchbooks were a way to see his every thought. The minimalist set acted as a multi media projection space at times covered in notes and in one scene becoming a bustling subway. At one point a ghostly silhouette of Beethoven was projected walking from stage left to stage right. The sound, lighting and projections became a creative escape into two tortured minds.  Modern day events and historic Viennese events overlapped and intermingled. I was swept away.

Peg O’Keef who played Katherine Brandt, the music researcher, did an astonishing job performing with the advancing stages of sclerosis. After the show, she explained to me that she had found a series of You Tube videos made by a gregarious and vibrant man who recorded himself repeatedly as he succumbed to the muscle debilitating illness.  In one daring scene Peg disrobed for an MRI. In the nude isolation, she and Bethoven were back to back.  The magical moment wag gone in a flash.

After the show, Aradahna hooked her arm in mine and asked me to have a drink with the cast at the bar next door. I only stayed for one drink but the party was just starting. It seems sad that such an amazing show should have such a short run. But, like Beethoven, a creative life can’t last forever. The music and inspiration does last forever. There is a link above to all of the 33 Variations. I suggest you listen to it while your surfing the web or social media. They are inspiring in their entirety.

33 Variations

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On February 25th I went to the Winter Garden Theatre ballroom ( 160 West Plant Street, Winter Garden, Florida) for a Designer Run of the show, 33 Variations, a play written by Moises Kaufman. Stage Manager Jay Ferrence was the first person I met when I entered the ballroom. He informed me that the purple tape marked the front of the stage. Actress Becky Eck entered soon afterwards and introduced herself. She had played Jane in “Alice Lost in Wonderland” and she did an amazing job grounding that production. A designer run is a full run through of the show that gives the set designer an idea of where characters will be blocked during the production. Producer Beth Marshall and director Aradhana Tiwari sat behind a folding table to watch the show. Pianist Julian Bond will be performing Beethoven‘s 33 Variations live on stage in the final production, but for now a recording was used and Julian watched to see how the performers would be moving on the set.

This was a dress rehearsal so some actors were in period outfits from Beethoven’s era and the rest of the cast was wearing modern clothing. Photographer Kristen Wheeler was shooting the show this night and she set up two lights to illuminate the actors. Beth warned her not to shoot the feet of some of the period costumed actors since they didn’t have the right shoes yet.  During the show, Kristen had total access to the stage and she moved around the actors catching every emotional moment while also switching on and off lights to get the shots. It was an impressive ballet that didn’t once phase the actors.

The plot examines the creative process of Beethoven’s obsessive variations build from a rather plane and uninspired composition by Diabelli (Brett P. Carson). At the same time, the play follows musicologist Katherine Brandt (played by Peg O’Keef) who yearns to understand Beethoven’s obsession. Brandt’s relationship with her daughter (Becky Eck) is strained as she succumbs to a disabling Sclerosis and at the same time Beethoven (Chris Gibson) goes deaf. I had watched a number of performers audition for the part of Beethoven and I must say Chris is compelling as the anger driven compulsive composer.

 The musicologist traveled to Vienna to inspect Beethoven’s original sketchbooks. By flipping through the pages she could see his every thought as he composed. She wondered if he might be mocking Diabelli’s composition with his variations or perhaps he just wanted to one-up Bach who had 32 variations. Beethoven’s loss of hearing may have actually helped him break new ground as he reinvented the very process of creation. Though cloaked in anger and bitterness, he found an amazing joy in the process even as the world grew silent. Minor composers like Diabelli could be satisfied and complacent with their insignificant contributions.

One moment in the rehearsal was absolute magic. I stopped sketching and was drawn in to the moment. Katherine Brandt disrobed as if in a doctors office. I imagined she was preparing for an MRI full body scan. She stood in a spotlight facing the audience with her arms out in a Christ like gesture. Beethoven stood behind her and they leaned back to back. His head leaned back on her shoulder and her head leaned back on his shoulder. She closed her eyes and shuddered with quick breaths of ecstasy. I noticed Becky Eck off stage began to cry, and my eyes welled up as well. There is a certain magic that happens when actors are no longer reciting lines, but they are emotionally invested in every moment.

Mark Your Calendars! The show runs from March 14-30, 2014
Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 2pm and 8pm, Sundays at 2pm,
PLUS Monday, March 24 at 8pm- INDUSTRY NITE

 Tickets: $25 ($21 students/seniors) BethMarshallPresents.com or GardenTheatre.org

Winter Garden Heritage Museum

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On October 28th, I went to Winter Garden to drop off several prints with Beth Marshall. Her production of “Alice Lost in Wonderland” was coming to the end of its run at the Winter Garden Theatre (160 West Plant Street, Winter Garden, Fl). The final performance was November 3rd. Since I got to Winter Garden early, I started a sketch of the Winter Garden Heritage Museum while I waited to hear from Beth. Beth sent a text letting me know that I should meet her at the back stage door. The sketch wasn’t finished but I walked down Plant Street to the theater. I waited outside for a few minutes then realized she might have meant to meet me inside the stage door so I went in. A stage manager guided me through the black curtains on stage and then into the theater. Beth was seated in the front row talking to the cast on stage.

The cast was offered the opportunity to purchase any props from the show at below cost. Costumes needed to be clean and hung, ready for collection by costuming. There was some concern that the green room refrigerator had started to smell, but author and Director, Rob Winn Anderson, pointed out that it wasn’t a cast issue. This evening was Industry Night which means reduced ticket prices for people in the industry which means it could be a full house.

The cast began a run through of the fight sequence as Beth walked me back stage. It was rather fun walking through the middle of the brawl as it happened. It is always rewarding to present my work to Beth since she understands the value in what I do. I returned to the Heritage Museum to finish my sketch. Some models were posing for a photographer in front of the caboose as I approached. A husband, wife and their son walked towards downtown holding hands. The ten year old used his parents arms as a swing as they walked. There is a real charm to this downtown street which has history minus the strip mall over development seen in the rest of Central Florida.

My Way

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Terry and I went to a music street festival in Winter Garden. Three different stages were set up along plant street and there were vendor’s tents set up everywhere. We listened to several groups outside, with one of them looking and  sounding like the Soggy Bottom Boys. For lunch we had some soft tacos from a food truck. The tacos were good, but could have used more sour cream and guacamole. As we walked past Pilar’s Martini Bar, (146 W. Plant) straight next to the Winter Garden Theatre, we heard piano music inside. The air conditioning felt great after walking in the blazing sun all morning.

Kelly DeWayne Richards was at the piano. We know Kelly well, he even came to our home to play during our 20th anniversary vow renewal ceremony. Terry got up to sing several songs and Kelly asked me to sing, but my hands were busy. The owner of Pilar’s knew of my work since I have sketched so often in the Winter Garden Theater. I thought the guy in the green shirt, looking at his smart phone was a costumer, but he was actually a bartender on a break. He left soon after I started sketching him to pour drinks and clean glasses. What I also didn’t realize was that he is an amazing singer. He got up to perform the final solo before Kelly packed up to go. He sang a rousing rendition of “My Way” by Frank Sinatra, which had everyone in the bar up on their feet for a standing ovation when he was done.

Alice Lost in Wonderland Dress Rehearsal

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Alice Lost in Wonderland written and directed by Rob Winn Anderson had its original world premiere at the Garden Theatre (160 West Plant Street, Winter Garden FL.). The show marks Beth Marshall Presents’ 9th production in partnership with The Garden Theatre. The first thing that struck me was the wonderful Steam punk mental asylum set by Tom Mangieri. It was vaguely reminiscent of the set for Wicked.

Actors gathered for a group photo and then ran through a fight sequence choreographed by Bill Warriner. Becky Eck, who played Jane stood on stage alone as other actors got into place.  I assumed from the title that I should look to sketch Alice, but it became quite clear that Jane was the lead character. I had sketched auditions and heard several dozen actresses read for the part of Jane. When I saw the monologue performed by Becky in the context of the play, I was floored, astonished at the meaning and implied emotion in her performance.

  Alice Lost in Wonderland, uses Lewis Carroll’s classic book to inspire
the story of Jane’s frantic search for what she has lost. Years
of falling in and out of mental institutions have broken her and now she
finds herself in a terrifying situation where chances are final and
journeys into dark places are both wonderful and haunting. This
whimsical psychological thriller steps out of reality and into a
shattered mind to create a classically creepy and intriguingly creative
journey through wonderland.

In one compelling moment Jane is stripped of her cheerful childhood clothes by grey institution patients. She stands bare for a moment in her bra and panties and then the patients slip the dingy grey institution uniform over her head. It becomes clear that her Wonderland quest makes her one of them. I was delighted to see Tod Caviness as the Caterpillar. He gave the character a hip 60’s flair that only a poet could perform.

Jane’s search for Alice in Wonderland is actually a way for her to avoid horrible memories from her past. As these memories surface, the play takes a dark sinister turn to face the worst in human nature. This is NOT a kids show. Issues and horrors faced are all too real. The show is quick witted and light when in the Wonderland fantasy then grey and sinister when facing the realities of doctors who consider electroshock therapy an enlightened practical approach to mental health. This show is a perfect addition to the Halloween season.

Mark Your Calendar! This show runs through November 3rd. Show times are Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 2pm and 8pm, and Sundays at 2pm. Tickets are $25 for adults ($21 for seniors/students). There will also be an Industry Night on Monday, October 28 at 8pm. This show is open to the public with $15 tickets for those in the theatre industry. Pilars Bar next door will be open and offering drink specials for patrons on Industry Nite Monday Oct. 28th.

Get your tickets now at BethMarshallPresents.com or GardenTheatre.org!

Deja vu

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ME Dance Inc. presented their Season Finale, Deja vu at the Winter Garden Theater. This was the second to last stop on the Orlando SketchCrawl. Two other artists joined me to document the performance, Dana Boyd and Gabe Caroll-Dolci. I saw Marshall Ellis the dance company’s founder, and shook his hand before the show. He has built up this dance company from scratch over the last several years.

The first half of the show had dance routines with titles like, Love, The Passion, The Knowledge, Stand by Me and Lust.  The Passion performed by dancer Shannon MacLaren stood out in my mind. The dance began with Shannon seated on a stool, she arched her back and pointed her toes then spun into motion. Her dance began to remind me of Jessica Rabbit a cartoon that couldn’t help but be sultry. By the intermission, my sketch was done and I put the sketchbook away for the second half of the show.

Dance numbers combined video, and spoken word. The announcer sounded a bit too much like the announcer for the Disney Monorail and some people chuckled. One number had dancer, Alexandra Schudde, addressing the audience as if they were World War II soldiers. The spoken sentiment missed the mark, but the dance rang true. All of the dances were undeniably well choreographed  and executed. Journey had the dancers performing to Faithfully, and Don’t Stop Belevin’. Wearing loose 70’s era clothes the dancers rejoiced in the retro flavored routine. They threw everything they had into the dance, pushing the envelope of exhaustion.

The audience, that seemed full of young dancers, stood for a standing ovation. I stood and clapped loudly. As the audience exited the theater, someone tripped and fell back into an ME Dance promotional screen sending it toppling. Marshall rushed in to make sure the supports didn’t hit anyone. There is never a dull moment with live theater and dance.