Red Chair Affair

Posted on by Thor

Terry and I arrived early to the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre for the VIP main stage food, drinks and silent auction bidding before she show. Food was provided by Charley’s Steakhouse, Moonfish, Johnnie’s Hideaway, Vito’s Chop House, Fish Bones, and White Wolf Cafe. Organic draft beer was provided by Orlando Brewing. Terry headed for the food but I wasn’t hungry. I hunted for a choice sketching spot. I decided I had to draw the IKEA Red Chairs which had been decorated by different arts groups in town and were now perched on tables to be auctioned off. The lighting technicians were still testing all the stage lights and the stage and all the red chairs went black on occasion. I paused thinking I might not be able to work under such uncertain conditions. I sketched anyway and as guests arrived the stage was bathed in a warm red light. Most women wore sleek red gowns. I struggled to keep my tie from getting in the paint.

I focused on the chairs. My favorite chair was decorated by the Winter Garden Theater like the plant from Little Shop of Horrors. I’m thinking it would make a great toilet bowl seat. The plush red plant lips would be a pleasure to sit on. I might just remove the sharp teeth from the design. Another chair had an entire doll house built around it. Fairwinds Broadway Across America had an Adams Family chair that was built like an electric chair with “Thing” perched on the seat.

When the sketch was finished, Terry and I were the first in the Theater and we found a group of seven seats just behind the VIP seats. Sarah Austin and Wendy Wallenburg had won tickets by answering an Orlando Cultural Arts question online. The question was, “Who is the artistic director of Voci Dance?” The answer was Genevieve Bernard. I guarded the seats while Terry searched for our friends in the lobby.

15 different arts groups performed. The Florida Opera Theater performed a hilarious “Complete History of Opera (Abridged)”. They began with a guttural caveman grunting and quickly moved to a Renaissance harmonizing. All the subtle shades of operatic romance were sung to hilarious effect. My favorite performance was “I love you, I can’t live without you although I might kill you.” All sung in classic Italian. Since Terry and I used to attend the opera all the time before it went bankrupt, we were laughing out loud at this tongue in cheek irreverent view of opera history. Frank McClain the company’s Artistic Director has helped raise the phoenix from the flames.

The Orlando School of Cultural Dance had the packed theater clapping in unison as they danced to the African beat. Orlando Aerial Arts featured three beautiful women who climbed way up near the stage lights, wrapping themselves in the white silky material and then spinning down like yo-yos. I was to nervous to enjoy the performance. There were no safety nets or guy wires. The evening ended with the Power Chords singing “I got the music in me!” 16 energetic youthful singers danced and sang their hearts out causing a standing ovation. All of the performers crowded on to the stage for one final bow.

Back stage VIP’s and performers mingled behind the closed curtains enjoying cupcakes provided by Sugerbuzz Desert Company and Barnies Coffee. The crowd dissipated fairly quickly except our group, who had to be chased out with the flickering of lights. We decided to go to the Imperial bar behind Washburn Imports for after show drinks. I left the sketchbook in the truck and laughed and talked with friends until we were the last to leave the bar. I love the Red Chair Affair because it introduced to me some new and exiting new arts groups that I hope to visit for more sketch opportunities.

Driving Miss Daisy – Cue-to-Cue

Posted on by Thor

I went to the Garden Theater (160 West Plant Street, Winter Garden) to sketch a cue-to- cue of Driving Miss Daisy, written by Alfred Uhry, produced by Beth Marshall and directed by Aradhana Tiwari. The play runs from February 12th to the 28th. Beth Marshall asked me to sketch this rehearsal only days after she and her husband Chris Foster were in a head-on automobile accident with a truck that pulled onto the road without looking. Chris had a fractured wrist and both of Beth’s legs were fractured. As Beth said in a Facebook status update, “We are blessed to be alive, have health care coverage, did not have any kids or animals in the crash and feel your love, energy and prayers. I write for him and he walks for me. True love.”
When I got in the theater things hadn’t gotten started yet. At first, I sat in the front row but then Aradhana said I should sit halfway back in the house so I would not looking up at the set. She IS the director so I obliged. The lighting designer, Amy, had bought in her baby, a small wide-eyed bundle who knowingly checked me out as I walked by. The director spent some time holding and playing with him before the rehearsal got started. Michael Mormon. who plays Hoke, recognized me from when I sketched the auditions and he walked over to shake my hand and flip through a sketch book. It turns out he is the face of Mardi Gras at Universal Studios, and he wouldn’t mind getting more of this still photography work.
When the audience walks in to the theater they will be greeted by a starry night sky above the theater seats. Aradhana leaned back in her theater seat and looked up at the stars and said, “They are magical aren’t they?” The stars then fade as they go to cue 2. A vintage recording of “Pennies from Heaven” filtered through the theater. One of the first scenes had the sound effect of an automobile accident and the sound was for me, jarring and unexpected. This is the scene where Daisy, played by Elizabeth Murff, runs her car off the road and thus the son, Boolie, played by Michael Lane, decides that she needs a driver. I couldn’t hear that sound without thinking of Beth and Chris.
A cue-to-cue is when the actors are asked to go through each scene with lighting and sound being cued up. This is a grueling start and stop process for the actors who are sometimes just asked to stand around like mannequins while the lights are adjusted. Just as the actors get into the flow of a scene, they might be asked to stop while lighting is adjusted. Sometimes, the actors would joke around like when Michael repeatedly slammed the imaginary car door with the sound cue slamming every time. He had me laughing so hard I could not breath. After several hours of standing on stage, Michael Lane asked if there was a local who knew if the pizzeria was open. A booming loud voice came over the speaker system, “I think so.” Michael said quietly, “Thank you, God.” A half an hour later, everyone was enjoying the pizza on a well deserved break.
The house lights were always dark for the cue-to-cue so I had to sketch and paint in the pitch blackness. I discovered a new method of working where I turned on my tablet PC and used it as a light to work by. It is a rather high tech flashlight, but its glow worked wonders. The music that transitions from scene to scene in this show is wonderful. It sets a classic nostalgic feeling like I was experiencing the show in the 1930’s. As I exited the theater with my sketchbook under my arm, Louis Armstrong was singing, “Heaven, I’m in Heaven.” I had to pause before leaving. I sat down in the back row of the theater and leaned on the seat in front of me to let the music wash over me. I really didn’t want to leave the theater’s magic behind. I am going to try and get in opening night. I just hope it doesn’t sell out.

Crimes of the Heart Opening Night

Posted on by Thor

Crimes of the Heart written by Beth Henley won the Pulitzer Prize and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award. I sketched the auditions for the show back in September and now I can see that the casting decisions made were spot on. At the audition I caught quick glimpses of isolated scenes as actresses tried out for the various parts. I was fascinated with how a talented actress could breath new life into each part.
Watching the show at the Winter Garden Theater from start to finish turned out to be an emotional roller coaster. I suddenly cared deeply for this family of 3 sisters reunited by tragedy. The show handled difficult themes of loneliness, grief and family dysfunction. The sisters laughed uncontrollably at one point when faced with the worst of family news. I found myself laughing just as hard to the point of tears. Sometimes laughter is the only way to handle grief.
Between acts music filled the theater. Aradhana Tiwari the director told me “I have waited 5 years to use that song in a show.” The song was “Wayfaring Stranger“. Its sad mellow tones suited the show perfectly. I had the rare pleasure of sitting with the director and found she was laughing just as loud as anyone in the audience.
Lenny played by Meggin Weaver was high strung, bubbly and painfully apologetic. She seemed to have to apologize for her very existence. She was the sister left behind to care for their ailing Grandfather. Her own life has been put on hold as she struggles to clean up after every family members sloppy lives. She livened up every scene she is in with her comic timing.
Babe played by Britni Leslie gives a new meaning to “I’m having a bad day, a really bad day”. Her quirky mannerisms like sprinkling sugar over a heaping spoon full of peanut butter or trying without much success to play saxophone are delightful to watch. Her thick southern accent and lighthearted charms were so authentically endearing.
Meg played by Jennifer Bonner is the black sheep of the three sisters. Her confident swaggering was a perfect compliment to Lenny’s shy skittishness. A romantic scene with a now married ex boyfriend named Doc was Hot. She and Doc both knew they shouldn’t be attracted but they could not help themselves. Going for a ride to look at the moon in a pickup truck suddenly seemed dangerous and exciting.
Chick Played by Beth Marshal has one of the funniest scenes in the play where she struggles into a tight pair of pantyhose while talking at the kitchen table. This scene got funnier as it went on and I applaud Beth for how far she pushed this character. Now I can not imagine anyone else in that role.
Toward the end of act three as Babe lights the candles on a birthday cake, she says “I’m not so all alone.” The warmth of this scene with the three sisters playfully interacting as they laugh off the hardships of life once again left me struggling to see. Crimes is running through November 29th. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8PM. and Sundays at 2PM. Tickets are $22. This is a show you do not want to miss.