txt at the Telephone Museum

As part of ArtsFest, Brian Feldman held a performance of "txt" at the Telephone Museum in Maitland (221 West Packwood Avenue). The very first time I sketched Feldman, he was performing "txt" at the Kerouac House. Brian specifically grew his beard back for this one performance. I found my vantage point in the front row before anyone else arrived. I also set up my video camera which recorded the performance from the back of the room next to a telephone booth. Ancient phones loomed above Feldman's head and photos of switchboard operators were on the walls. There were perhaps thirty or so folding chairs set up in front of the large oak desk where he sat.

The idea of "txt" is that the audience supplies every line of dialogue that is spoken. Fifty protected Twitter accounts are set up so that each audience member can send a tweet directly to Brian's show account, all of which are redirected to his phone thus keeping every entry completely private. Before the performance space was opened, Feldman crawled under the desk to wait for his entrance. When the fifteen or so people were seated, he crawled back out and sat in the leather chair causing laughter.

The young couple across from me immediately started tapping on their phones. The girl resembled actress Julianne Moore. She kept glancing at her boyfriend's phone, not sure what she should type. She kept laughing at his entries. Brian's phone vibrated and he picked it up. He read, "Football may be America's pastime, but basketball players sweat much more." I glanced around thinking I knew where the text came from. For this performance, Feldman acted out and dramatized his readings. One text read, "The man in the front row blushes whenever he laughs." I was one of three men in a front row seat. I was certainly laughing. Was I blushing? Could people see emotion and expression just from the involuntary rush of blood through my veins?

I focused more intently on the drawing. Remarks were made about the corporate looking portrait above Feldman's head, and about a creepy mannequin dressed as a telephone repairman. An early text warned against using profane language since women and children were in the audience. Surprisingly everyone complied. I consider "txt" to be Feldman's signature performance piece and it would be great to see it performed in a larger venue. There is something interesting in clandestine, anonymous communication that indicates where we are moving as an interconnected society.

Anne Frank & Me

As part of ArtsFest I decided to go to the Orlando Repertory Theater to see Anne Frank & Me. At the box office I asked about ArtsFest free tickets and I was put on a waiting list. I stood around with six or seven other people waiting. If the performance sold out, we wouldn't get a seat. Soon enough I was called back to the box office and given a ticket. The young ticket taker at the theater door abandoned his post when his family arrived and he went in with them to be seated. Since there was no one to take my ticket, I wandered in and found a seat. The seats were perhaps half full.

The play started out in Nicole's bedroom as she and her girlfriends practiced dance moves for an upcoming high school dance. The girls discuss Anne Frank's diary which is required reading at school. Nicole's mom believed that the horrors of Nazi concentration camps must be blown out of proportion. Nicole lets slip the fact that she has a crush on a boy at school. The other girls tease her. The scene is frivolous and care free. At the school dance this boy pulled her aside to talk. She anticipated his declaration of love, but instead he asked her if she thinks her girlfriend likes him. He asks Nicole to be a buddy and find out. Crushed, she runs across the road without looking and ends up being struck by a car.

What followed is a cross between Back to the Future and the Wizard of Oz. She woke up in Paris 1942. Her family is now Jewish and fearful of the Nazi invasion. Ultimately her family has to go into hiding. The boy she had a crush on ends up giving away her family's hiding place. They were shoved into a packed cattle car heading to Auschwitz and she meets Anne Frank face to face. The final scenes are gruesome and tear jerking. Fierce spotlights blazed through the cattle car doors directly into the audiences eyes. Angry German guards shouted and pushed. The ten year old girls seated near me were curled up in a fetal position. This was a hard hitting play that left my nerves frazzled. The past never leaves us and we must bear witness to never allow prejudice and cruelty to gain a foothold.

The Skill Crane Kid

As part of ArtsFest, Brian Feldman purchased a skill crane machine, stuffed it full of plush toys and then crawled inside where he remained for 16 hours. The machine was set up in Stardust Video and Coffee. When I arrived with Terry, Brian had already been inside for over six hours. Children especially loved the performance, often begging their parents for more change so they could try the skill crane again. Some people took pleasure in dropping the metallic skill crane claws on Brian's head. For me the performance once again had a Kafkaesque quality reminding me of the Hunger Artist. Brian's presence also reminded me of carnival barkers at the fair whose main objective is to keep the rubes from winning a prize. Brian acted as a sort of anti-carnie, actually placing a plush toy in the claws of the feeble skill crane to satiate each child's greed and desire.

I seldom had an unobstructed view of the skill crane. More often than not families blocked my view as they took pictures and stuffed quarters in the machine. A friend of Brian's named Helen Henny was shooting photos the whole time I was sketching. Sultana Ali, Brian's girlfriend, was in the next room and she seemed to be updating Brian's Twitter and Facebook accounts as the performance progressed. I heard the performance was streamed live. Terry and Sultana had lunch while I sketched. Several hours later when the sketch was finished, I walked up to the skill crane to say goodbye to Brian. He gestured from inside saying I had to try my hand at the skill crane. I refused, until Terry lent me the dollar to play. Several people in the room egged me on so I gave in and decided to play. I maneuvered the crane over a small teddy bear right near the exit chute of the machine figuring that if the crane didn't grab the bear, it might just get knocked loose. I really didn't need a teddy bear, and I didn't want to play the game, but once the machine took the money, then the stakes were high. I had two tries and both times the poorly designed claw picked up nothing but air. With this failure I suddenly realized I was upset, not at the machine but at Brian. I had seen him coax the toys into the claw for child after child as I sketched. He even coaxed a toy out for Genevieve Bernard. Everyone was a winner but me! His passivity as I played made him just like any loud mouthed carnival barker who coaxed money from people at the fair using insults and dark sinister humor. I felt robbed.

As a child I once dreamed of getting a huge balloon that was for sale on an ice cream truck that wandered my neighborhood. Inflated, the balloon was larger than me . By the time I had convinced my mom to give me the change needed, the truck was long gone. I ran down the street for many blocks before finally giving up. I was devastated. The next day the balloon was forgotten. I had new obsessions. The night after Brian exited the skill crane, I met him in Stardust video and coffee to get my video camera back which had recorded most of his performance. Brian took me out to Sultana's truck and presented me with the palm sized bear I had tried to win. I refused at first, but he insisted. At home my pet cockatoo was scared of the little stuffed bear at first, his crest rose in surprise, but then he ripped out its eyes and eviscerated its stomach playfully.

Albin Polasek Museum

On the final day of of Arts Fest, the Albin Polasek museum was open with free admission for a day. I was informed that some plein air panters would be on the property painting that day. The painters were there to help promote the Winter Park Paint Out which will be happening between April 23rd and April 30th. I decided that was my cue to sketch some painters at work. It was a beautiful sunny day and the gardens surrounding the historic building were in full bloom. I walked around hunting for artists at work. There was one artist set up on the large lawn behind the home but as I approached he started to dismantle his easel. Just my luck, he was finished. I walked down to the benehes which sat right on the lake then walked back to the house. When I passed the chapel, and stood in the portico, I noticed that Hal Stringer was set up in the driveway working on a small painting. An Albin Polasek sculpture titled "Mother" stood with its back to me. Something about how the warm light filled in the shadows appealed to me.

Guests of the museum often approached Hal and he was very generous with his feed back. For instance he asked a little girl if she liked to make art. When she said she did, he told her to never stop making art if she enjoyed it. I later discovered that Berto Ortega was working on a painting inside the museum. He stopped out to say hello and unfortunately was called away because of a family emergency. I never got to see the painting he was working on. When I finished my sketch I rushed over to Rollin's College's Annie Russel Theater hoping to get into a play that had just started. There were no Arts Fest tickets left so I abandoned the idea of sketching the play.

RIFF

As part of Arts Fest, DRIP dance company unveiled a work in progress for an upcoming show titled RIFF, at the Cameo Theater (1013 East Colonial Drive). Dubbed, a Night of Music, The DRlP performance was preceded by four bands. The first band on the line up featured Britt Daley with her unique brand of electro pop. Next up was Telethon, then The Pauses and Peter Baldwin. Between acts and beers I spoke with Andy Matchett. I had heard of him a number of times and he let me know that I had sketched his wife and child once when I did a sketch at Dawn Schreiner's "Doodles" opening at Seven Sisters Coffee house. I was fascinated by some club kids who filmed every moment of their experience, voguing in front of their iPhone cameras. I suppose I am not much different as moments of my daily experience are documented with a sketch.

Andy Matchett & the Minks performance was a perfect match to the DRIP experience. The act began with a colorful whirlwind of confetti which was kept alive with fans and hair driers by members of the audience. I already had finished two sketches so I resigned myself to enjoy the experience by dancing and laughing. For the final songs a huge parachute was unfurled over the audience and Andy jumped off the stage to perform in the heart of the maelstrom. This was pure unbridled childlike fun and I'm glad I put my pen down long enough to simply experience it. Now Andy Matchett & the Minks is on my radar and I will follow them until I do a definitive sketch.

The RIFF dance performance happened in a hallway that was created by hanging a huge bolt of clear plastic from the ceiling. Jessica Mariko, Drips founder, CEO and Creative Director announced that the plastic had arrived only moments before the opening of the show thus the dancers would be performing within its limitations for the first time. Nikki Serra choreographed the Hallway piece.At one end of this plastic hall was a fan and buckets of colored salts were waiting for the performers. I knew the dance performance was less than five minutes long so I resisted the urge to sketch. The dancers entered the space and performed a sensual dance that involved tossing the colored salt in the air and showering themselves in pure color. The RIFF band performed the equally sensual music composed by David Traver.

Voci Dance - iMove_2.0: iCandy Rehearsal

iMove_2.0: iCandy was built around the theme of love. Naomi Rhema and McClaine Timmeran started writing love notes on long strips of paper and envelopes as they waited for the dance rehearsal to start. The long strips of paper were used to construct a paper chandelier which hung in the center of the performance space much like an upside down wedding cake. Full Sail students were busy hanging lights and setting up a second installation with light bulbs hanging from long wires and flexible PVC zip tied to the rafters.
Actually, a female student was at the top of the ladder the whole time doing all the work while the male student stood at the bottom of the ladder checking instant messages on his cell phone. The Full Sail students all volunteered their time to get all the lighting and high tech projections in place. They may have worked several all-nighters to get this show up in time for ArtsFest.
Genevieve Bernard explained that this installation was all about technology and how it affects romance. I loved an act between dances when McClaine acted like a high school girl talking on a Touch-Tone phone. She danced around excitedly stepping over the cord and then wrapping herself up in the cords embrace. This was lighthearted fun in keeping with much of the show. There were also cell phones hung with care and some very old computers and video games.
The dancers went through a routine in which they all wear LED-head lamps. There was something haunting and tribal about this performance. Periodically, I would be blinded by a dancer,s high beam if she turned her head in my direction. When the warehouse is dark, this dance should looked amazing.
In the several rehearsals I sat in on, I only saw a small fraction of the final show. This keeps me hungry, always wanting to stick around for one more sketch as the drama in motion unfolds. This was one of my favorite ArtsFest events, and it required a whole lot of love and commitment to bring it to life.

Woman Playwrights' Initiative

Sarah Lockhart told about a performance of the Women Playwright's Initiative that was going to happen at Stardust Video and Coffee as part of Arts Fest. I had another commitment at the time of the actual performance, but the director, Aradhana Tiwari told me I could stop in when the cast first got to Stardust and rehearsed just before the nights performance. I arrived early because I had gotten out of class at Full Sail a bit early. I ordered a Coke and sat in the room facing the tiny stage with its red metal streamers and red Christmas lights for illumination. Although not planned, this small stage with it's red atmosphere offered a womb like feeling of intimacy and enclosure. The play, or monologues, I had been told, was about women and how they faced pregnancy.
When the whole cast arrived, they went in the other room with the bar and large tables made from doors, to go over lines. The tables and chairs were then moved to make room for an audience. I started a sketch lightly in pencil of the cast going over lines at the table, but I couldn't bring myself to commit to the sketch. Aradhana only had the cast go over lines for maybe 15 minutes and then she moved everybody back to the stage. I was thankful I had held back on this first sketch. It is always hardest to know when to strike. Aradhana was constantly using the camera she got for Christmas to document this intimate show.
On the stage all 5 actresses paced nervously on a grid each of them lost in thought. A loud ticking of a clock filled the space. I only got to see small sections of the performance but I left wishing I had seem more. In the sketch Sarah Lockhard is coaching a woman, curled up in a fetal position, who has just given birth and refused to hold her new born child. Sarah said," You just have to pull yourself up by your bootstraps." Of course nothing Sarah says consoles the woman.
In another scene Lindsay Cohen and Sarah slowly walk to the front of the stage, each stopping in their own corner. Both of them are holding a pregnancy test strips and they kneel down to read them. Sarah's face lit up with joy when she saw the reading on the strip. She was quietly overjoyed and radiant. Lindsey on the other hand remained stone faced. The finding caused her hand to simply go limp and she dropped the test strip as her world turned black.
There was a mad rush to find a light to help illuminate the stage. Someone went home and grabbed a floor lamp. Then it turns out that the outlets around the stage didn't work. Finally an outlet was found and the stage was perfectly illuminated. I had to step out just as the performance was about to start. The room was packed. I am certain this was a hell of a show.

iMove_2.0: iCandy

The romantic and playful evening of iMove_2.0: iCandy has come and gone, so now I must simply report on what you missed. The multiple dance routines took place in a large open warehouse. My wife, Terry, and I were the first to enter. Brian Feldman was on hand to offer any crowd control that might be needed. There was no assigned seating. As a matter of fact there was just one couch, so for the duration of the evening people milled about gathering in different areas of the warehouse to watch the various dances. I said hello to Zac Alfson who was busy seeing if he could get his tweets up on the big screen. I think he also was taking photos with his phone all night.
What I loved about the show is that art truly imitated life in this open and vibrant setting. The dancers between dances, would mill about the room checking their iPhones or chatting playfully on old telephones with cords! It was fascinating because many of the audience members were themselves tweeting or checking Facebook status updates. They bowed reverently to the glowing information presented on palm sized screens. Terry can be seen checking her iPhone to the right. A screen on the far wall scrolled tweets and movies were projected on large seamless walls. A kissing booth was set up but it offered no actual privacy so I think it went unused. The Twitter bird icon was animated, flying about the room on the walls. Love letters and long streamers with love notes and hearts were everywhere. I picked up a strawberry flavored heart lollipop and put it in my pocket for later.
I sat on my portable stool next to Genevieve Bernard, the choreographer, and I heard her say "Nice choice" when a dancer had to adjust her movement to avoid running into the crowd. Genevieve said she was nervous right before the event because she was concerned people might not understand this open playful way of presenting a performance. Once she saw everyone was mingling and sipping wine, she relaxed and enjoyed the show. She even went out of her way and got me a red wine while I sketched. I spilled a little on the sketch in the upper left hand corner but I don't think it hurt anything.
Doug Rhodehamel, an amazing local artist, stopped over and said hello. I have been trying to arrange to sketch him hard at work on his Spore Project. He explained that there might be a mushroom making party next week sometime, which would offer the perfect sketching opportunity.
My favorite dance routine of the evening involved three dancers who began the dance seated in three chairs. Two of the dancers, Leah Marke and Amanda Oost Bradberry, were constantly drawn to each other in romantic embraces circling and becoming closer, while the third dancer, McClaine Timmerman, would try and get close to the couple while never fully becoming part of the couples dance. In the end she remained alone, her staccato movements reaching towards the heavens as if imploring, yet never answered.

Voci Dance - iMove_2.0: iCandy

Sketching Voci Dance rehearsals for iMove_2.0: iCandy, which has its final performance tonight, has been a pure joy. I sit still for so long in the wings, and I am so quiet that I think the dancers forget that I am even there. This suspicion is confirmed when the dancers start joking with one another about their boobs getting in the way during certain dance moves. Genevieve Bernard, Voci's artistic director and choreographer, shouted out to me from where she was sitting, that such discussions are quite common among the dancers. The choreography is athletic and challenging but the dancers fearlessly push themselves time and again until the moves are worked out. This routine being worked out was being co-choreographed by two of the dancers, Leah Marke and Amanda Oost Bradberry. When giving notes, Leigh acted like a Russian taskmaster for a moment; saying, "You must focus!" (pronounced fuckus). Everyone laughed. McClaine Timmerman said to the choreographers, "You must get twice the pay, as dancers and choreographers." Later Genevieve explained to me that everything in this show had to be begged for, borrowed or stolen. This was being thrown together on a showstring with love and faith that it would all fall together come performance day.
The music for this piece was a light enjoyable song with the refrain of love, being sung seven times. One challenging move took the longest time to develop. It involved Kathryn Tosh lying on her back, and Naomi Rhema running towards her crouching down and allowing her pelvis to be supported by Kathryn's feet. She would then use her legs like springs and launch Naomi backwards and up. Other dancers supported Naomi, allowing her to gracefully float back and then land. I didn't try to catch the dancers in moments of fast motion but instead focused on their relaxed poses as they discussed notes and shared ideas. This was a constant collaboration; ideas came from everyone. Critical thinking was relaxed so they could explore and find new territory.
In the spirit of audience interactivity toward which the event is geared, a cell phone photo contest has been initiated in which you could win a date with a Voci dancer. Darn technology is always stealing the thunder from urban sketchers. Tonight is your last chance to see this amazing show and shoot some sweet cell phone photos.

Yow Dance - 3 In Motion

Tonight - Saturday, February 6th, at 7 PM, Yow Dance will collaboratewith with Valencia Dance and the Dr. Phillips High School Dance department at the Dr. Phillips High School Auditorium (6500 Turkey Lake Road) at part of Arts Fest. This is the sixth year these three dance companies have joined together on the same stage.
Yow Dance marks itself as Central Florida's most dynamic modern dance company. I went to a rehearsal at the Center for Contemporary Dance in Winter Park. Artistic Director Eric Yow was nice enough to take the time to explain a little bit about what they were rehearsing the night I sketched them. "We were rehearsing "Compromising Raven", a favorite piece of older repertory. The music was by Philip Glass. The theme of the piece is quite dark. Iit is about rising above those oppressive feelings that may come about from any of the many variables around you."
Besides drawing dancers at rest and stretching in the background, I sketched a section of the dance where the dancers would be on their knees and bent over in what looked like a position of reverent prayer. They would then slowly rise up into the position sketched and then roll over and repeat the movements. These dancers put in some long hard hours. I had arrived a bit late to the rehearsal since once again, I got lost looking for the place. But I think that panicked, rushed quality to the sketch actually helped breath new life into the sketch.
One of the dancers had her son on the sidelines as she rehearsed. As expected, he became infatuated with what I was doing. He stood beside me pointing to each of the dancers as I drew then and he would identify them for me. When he stood in front of me, David Mooney had to come over and pull him aside. The boy had a non-stop stream of questions and I patiently answered them, but it was a little distracting at times. Dance rehearsals are always inspiring with the non-stop movement and high energy. My sketch developed in pieces as I caught dancers at different times during the rehearsal freezing them at the moment when they best filled their role in my composition. In this way sketching is alot like theater viewpoints exercises, I try and capture scattered illusive moments in time as the action unfolds quickly before me.

Emotions Dance

Larissa Humiston, the artistic director and choreographer of Emotions Dance, invited me out to see the rehearsals for "Muddle" which will be performed Saturday, February 6th at 7 Pm and on Sunday, February 7th at 7PM. "Muddle" combines live music by Damien Simon with a series of dances that illustrate the struggle between the seven sins and seven virtues. Inscribed on one of the dancers shirts read "Evoke emotion through motion."
When I arrived the first day, there was a couple finishing up a ballroom dance lesson in the studio; a lesson on the box step. As dancers arrived, they started to warm up. Larissa welcomed me immediately with a hand shake and said she was excited to see what I do. At first, dancers worked on individual sections working out minor kinks. Later, Larissa had them run through the entire show. This is when the emotional impact of the show truly hit me. I had written down the sins and virtues as a guide, but it was fun to just watch and guess the sins and virtues based on the performances. They were: Temperance & Gluttony, Kindness & Envy, Charity & Greed, Chastity & Lust, Pride & Humility, Sloth & Diligence, Wrath & Patience.
I really loved watching Wrath & Patience. This dancing combination had the greatest contrast of emotions and Dion Leonhard Smith did an amazing job expressing Wrath. She transformed into a vicious beast, her back bending backwards at impossible angles and her hands clenched in fists of rage. The Chastity & Lust performance was also fun for a similar reason. The contrast was extreme and entertaining. For this performance, Dion would be on point as a ballerina, her hands graceful and demure, in stark contrast to her later performance. Cindy Heen did a wonderfully lustful dance that should please any boyfriends who were talked out of watching the Super Bowl.
When the run through was finished, Larissa asked the dancers to gather into the "Circle of friendship." All the dancers sat around in a semicircle and Larissa offered notes and suggestions. To Amanda Cariotto she said "Remember you are humility, you need to be soft in the face. It is all in the line of the body as well, humble soft, eyes down." As a general note, Larissa reminded the dancers to be mindful of what they express through their face as well as the dance. She was very worried that people might show up at the Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center on Virginia, which is the home for the Orlando Ballet. The Dr. Philips Center for the Performing Arts they are performing at is located across from City Hall at 455 South Orange Avenue. She was also concerned that the performance on Saturday would be packed and Sunday's performance empty because of the Super Bowl. So any women out there reading, if you want to know just how much your man loves you, ask him to come out on Sunday to see this amazing performance. He will be pleasantly surprised.

P.S. I tried to convince my wife to see this dance performance but she insists on watching the big game.

iMove 2.0: iCandy

Genevieve Bernard invited me to stop in and sketch some Voci Dance rehearsals. The first rehearsal I sketched was at a dance studio in Baldwin Park right near Colonial Drive. As often happens, I had trouble finding the place. I actually pulled right into the parking lot, but the door said it was an art gallery so I left and searched for another building. I finally returned and opened the gallery door. The art gallery was dark. In the far back corner of the gallery I saw a bright light coming from a back room and I noticed mirrors and realized I was at the right place.
When I walked in, dancers were still stretching in the back room of the art gallery. Since rehearsal hadn't started yet for these dancers, I decided to sketch them as they warmed up.
The first dance routine they started rehearsing involved the dancers sitting in chairs in a large circle. I was still finishing up the first sketch when Amanda Oost Bradberry asked if she could use the chair I was sitting in and she offered me a cushioned folding chair as a replacement. I was glad to oblige. I rushed the gallery sketch so I could get into the dance studio and see what they were doing. I often find myself struggling to finish my art as life plows forward.
The chair routine was graceful and a joy to watch. I liked seeing how the dancer's backs arched and their arms flowed in serpentine patterns. In a part of the routine the dancers ran their fingers through their hair as if they were sensually washing it.
The dance studio had one mirrored wall and it resembled a stage even having curtain dividers going back stage. A large black garage door could be opened to join two studio spaces making one large space if needed. There was a playful experimental quality to the whole rehearsal. There was a constant high energy as these women pushed the limits of what was physically possible in dance. I grew exhausted just watching them work and stretch themselves, yet I could not convince myself to leave. I constantly felt the next moment would hold yet another great sketch opportunity.
iMove_2.0: iCandy will be performed February 5th and 6th at 7:30 PM at the Say it Loud Warehouse (1121 North Mills Avenue, Orlando). The building is bright orange on the corner of Highland Avenue and you can not miss it. The first 50 tickets each night are free from the United Arts web site. Otherwise, $10 at the door. There is parking on Mills and all the side streets. This promises to be an amazing event. More posts to come...

Newcomers Meet the Arts at the Shakespeare Theater

This informational meeting to introduce people to the arts was held at 8Am at the Shakespeare Theater so people could stop in and then head off to work. John Thiesen the campaign manager introduced the event and explained that representatives from six Arts organizations would talk about what they offer the artistic community. First Sharon Lasic of the Orlando Shakespeare Theater gave a brief history of the building in which we were meeting. The building was for many years the Science Center and History Center of Orlando. After the New Science Center was built, the building was almost torn down to make room for more green area in Lock haven Park. A petition was passed around and the building saved. The Shakespeare Theater started in 1989 at the Lake Eola Bandshell and performances happened outdoors for many years.
Corry Warren from United Arts talked about Arts Fest which will be happening next month. This ten day festival is going on from February fifth to the fourteenth. It is a way to experience theater for FREE although some events have limited seating. Tickets will be available in advance starting at 10 AM on Tuesday February second. Be sure to check the Arts Fest Schedule and get a jump on this amazing opportunity! My calendar is already stuffed full of all the places I plan to go sketch.
Henry Maldinado talked about the offerings at the Enzian Movie Theater. The Enzian is unique in the country in that it is a fantastic place to have dinner and a movie. The Enzian is home to the internationally acclaimed Florida Film Festival as well. I also found out that the Enzina is showing old classic movie on the big screen. This is the one place where you could see Casablanca with Humphry Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. When you experience a movie like that on the big screen you realize why it is a classic.
Suzan Bright talked about the Orlando Philharmonic and how they are helping keep Opera alive by offering limited staged operas with the Philharmonic no longer in the pit, but up on the stage right behind the singers. This new Opera series will include Carmen, and Porgy and Bess. Carmen will be performed February 26th at 8PM and February 28th at 2PM. Porgy and Bess will be performed on April 9th at 8PM and April 11th at 2PM. As usual I dream of sketching these shows from the wings. Get tickets early.
Scott Evans talked about the importance of keeping Arts Education alive and well in the Orlando School System. In a study, the students that took arts classes achieved higher grades than students who didn't take arts classes. Autumn Schafer spoke about the Red Chair Project which offers ways to save on tickets year round. Red Chair offers such amazing deal as two for one tickets and a $99 Arts Sampler which offers a ticket to each of the following, Orlando Ballet, a Broadway Musical, The Orlando Museum of Art, the Philharmonic, Shakespeare Theater, and the Orlando Rep. With so much going on, I can't understand why anyone would want to be a couch potato at home.
After each person spoke an item was raffled off and I won a United Arts Card which offers discounts to arts events all over town. Whooo Hoo! Look like I will be covering alot more arts events in 2010!