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Mike Maples plays the bar owner in Big Swingin' Dick's Topless Bar presents the Naked Drag Queen Farting.
A comedy that isn’t quite a musical.
Discounts for anyone in drag.
"I'm not sure we can print that." Matt Palm, Orlando Sentinel
5/20 FRI 9:25PM
5/22 SUN 12:00PM
5/24 TUE 6:45PM
5/28 SAT 8:25PM
Elizabeth Maupin has been reviewing arts and culture in Orlando since 1983, and now she is doing it just for fun!
"Betsy" always has great reviews during Fringe, and her new independent site, Elizabeth Maupin on Theater, is better than ever.
Here is her 2011 Fringe home page, About the Fringe. She has also posted reviews of 5 shows as of the first day!
Here is a brief conversation with Tim Evanecki of Starving Artist Studios.
Tim tells me they will be setting up shop in a 2-story building across the street that was once an Animal Hospital. Be on the lookout for this new Orlando Arts Scene citizen soon!
We caught Fringe Veteran John DiDonna on the Green Lawn of Fabulousness taping flyers to the tables... while they were still being set up!
A bit about his show...
GRAND GUIGNOL PUPPET THEATRE - Punch and Judy Presents at the FRINGE
What do Medussa, Charlie Sheen, and Lady Gaga have in common?
They’ll all have someone’s hand up their ass in this OUTRAGEOUSLY ADULT puppet show!
“Ladies and gentlemen we heartily welcome you,
To the 20th annual Fringe Orlando!
Where Punch and Judy again grace the stage
To pleasure, disgust, and to grossly outrage.”
THE GRAND GUIGNOL PUPPET THEATRE
PUNCH AND JUDY PRESENTS!
In a Punch and Judy Tragic-Comedy-Histoire!
Many people are familiar with Improv - last year's Fringe Festival featured a long-form improvised show called "Is This Seat Taken?" by the iconic David Charles and Jay Hopkins. SAK has been doing a late-night show called "The Early Show" long after their regular programming on certain weekends for a number of years now. The Orlando Improv Festival is now trying to help long form become more visible with this event.
Matt Palm form the Orlando Sentinel has posted a blog recap of the Fringe preview, which was staged as a Pep Rally this year to fit with the 20-year high school reunion theme.
Orlando Fringe Festival: Pep Rally Preview gives us a peek
There was even extra applause for an act that finished right on time as the cheerleaders joined them.
There’s always much merriment at the annual preview, which raises funds for the Fringe Festival as well as anticipation. Co-host Beth Marshall, the Fringe producing artistic director, started out proudly saying, “I am vertical this year,”
The festival tickets are now on sale, and they were very proud to announce that the preview was successful for them, raising a surplus of $3000 over their goal.
I have been looking for video shot during the event, but Google is returning some weird results - the official Orlando Fringe website doesn't even show up in most search results. I ended up locating several videos on YouTube. If you are reading this and you have a YouTube video that is not on this list, I will be happy to add it. My YT username is "liberatr". I will be adding new video to this playlist throughout the season.
This year's festival is going to be exciting. More experimentation, lots of returning artists, lots of past Patron's Pick artists, and lots of visiting and International artists, who are the real icing on the cake. I love that local artists have such a great outlet for their work, but the fact that this festival brings in so much original material from outside of our state and country is one of the real selling points for me.
ArtsFest is a celebration of Central Florida arts and culture that takes place for 10 days over four counties. Presented by Bank of America, ArtsFest includes hundreds of FREE arts and culture events held in various locations throughout Lake, Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties. ArtsFest provides you with a taste of everything the arts community has to offer in your own backyard!
This will be the 20th year of Orlando Fringe, so apparently the theme this year is a 20 year reunion. Fringe is hoping to have people come in past Fringe t-shirts to the Shakes to get a massive group photo. They did something similar a few years ago for the "protest" theme, and the shots came out great.
From Beth Marshall:
We will be taking a long shot group photo in front of Orlando Shakespeare Theatre (812 East Rollins St.) on Mon. Feb. 7th at 4:30pm.
The look of this shot will be that of a group class photo in a highschool yearbook.
We want YOU to be a part of this event!Here's how you can help...
Bring yourself, your friends, kids, spouse, partner, pets etc... and pose for this shot.
Come dressed in either past Fringe T-shirts, past show t-shirts OR a highschool archtype such as (Goth, punk, geek, jock, teacher, prep, etc...)
A while back we wrote about the Real Orlando, Real Entertainment package – which disappeared when the Orlando Opera folded. Now, the Red Chair Project is promoting a very similar package. Even though some of the dates have passed, this is still an outstanding deal!
Once you pay your $99 (plus a $7.50 online tix fee), you will be snail-mailed a voucher for each organization on the list. Each voucher is good for one ticket to one show or exhibit this season. You generally call them or go to their box office to pick up the tickets – each org has a slightly different system for redeeming the tickets.
The organizations participating are:
I often complain there is not much Indian food in my neighborhood, but there are lots of great Indian places. Some are vegetarian only, some aren’t, some are Americanized, some are less so, but they’re all pretty great.
There’s almost a Vegetarian Indian District in the OBT/Florida Mall area, topped off with an Indian grocery in the same area. I have yet to try them all, but I’ve heard it’s certainly worth checking out. Two bonus reviews for you too, one by I-Drive and Kirkman and the other in East Orlando near UCF.
I often go for a sampler, about $16, which features small bowls of different sauces, soups and even a dessert, along with a bit of rice, some flat bread and a few appetizers – including a veggie and potato Somosa, yum! The other popular choice for us are called Dosas, which are giant pancakes/crepes with some filling, normally potato, rolled inside. They always bring a pitcher of water to the table, and be ready for some spicy food. You can request different levels of heat for some dishes.
I first heard about Woodlands from some vegetarian/vegan friends of mine. I have been seeking out veggie places lately, because it lets me know I have a city that is tolerant of different lifestyles, and it proves I don’t have to move somewhere else to get access to other cultures. This restaurant is not decorated very lavishly, unless you count the lemon and chili peppers hanging by the front door. Right off of north OBT, easy to get to, and always good service, and a staff who is used to helping us Americans figure out what we should order.
Head here for the lunch buffet. Completely worth your time. They even have a dish on the buffet that resembles “Sloppy Joe”, but it’s made with some meat substitute, and still served on a plain hamburger bun. Every buffet comes with a giant Dosa pancake/crepe filled with potato and vegetable – delicious. The food is all vegetarian. (hint: Udipi is a region of India that is known for vegetarian food) Would definitely come here again, despite the fact that it’s almost up in Longwood, which is not close to my home. Hopefully I’ll have a good excuse to go again soon!
The interior (and exterior) is not all that interesting, but they do have a a few things going for them. The service was pretty delightful. We saw a large family who must have been visiting the theme parks, and made the trip all the way out to this neighborhood for a taste of home. I’m also going to assume they might have been vegetarian, which can be a challenge at the local theme parks, unless you like salad. After having been to a few other vegetarian places in town, Khasiyat held few surprises, but they did sport a television with music videos and other Bollywood gems.
YouTube, Ridley Scott and Kevin McDonald are putting together what claims to be the most videotaped day in human history. Let’s help them make it so.
http://www.youtube.com/lifeinaday
The film will premier at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. Anyone who gets video in the film will be credited as a co-director, and 20 of those people get a trip to Sundance.
http://sites.google.com/site/lifeinadayfaqs/
How do I submit my video(s)?
Between 24 July and 31 July, just click the “Submit” tab on Life In A Day channel and upload the footage directly from your computer. The “Submit” tab will become visible on 24 July.Does my video have to be documentary? Can it be fiction?
All we’re asking is for you to document your world over the course of a single day; we expect most videos to comprise documentary footage, but if you think that your world is best captured through fictional storytelling or even animation, it is entirely up to you.Do I need permission to record other people in my video?
Yes, you do need permission to include other people in your video. If your video makes it through the first stage of our selection process, we will email you release forms which you must send back to us signed by anyone who appears in your video.Can I use music?
Please avoid the use of music within your submission.What do I need to know about recording sound?
It’s important to think about the audio on your video, as sound recording often affects the overall quality of a video. Good sound recording will probably increase the chance of your footage being chosen to be in the final film. If possible, it would be great to enhance your recording by using external microphones, in addition to those built in to most cameras.When is the Sundance Film Festival?
The 2011 Sundance Film Festival will take place from 20 January to 30 January 2011. The premiere date of Life In A Day will be announced closer to the start of the festival.
One of the stand-out contributions to the Creative Mind Experiment was the Dog Powered Robot, created by Evan Miga and friends (including his Pomeranian, Fisher). Found via The Daily City.
About the Creative Mind Experiment:
See how differently creative minds interpret the same inspiration.
All of the creators agreed to participate without knowing what their source of inspiration would be. They were given a 3 min and 33 sec piece of music and asked to create “something” in that time frame. They can use any medium they wish and as little or as much of the music as they desire. The only rule is that they must create something that was inspired by something they heard or felt in the piece of music.
See what creators like Bob Kodzis (Creative Catalyst/Improv Actor), Brian Feldman (Performance Artist), Jordan Woods-Robinson (Blue Man/Actor/Fiddle Player), Evan Miga (DRIP Creative Engineer & Graphic Designer), Lindsay Cohen (Writer/Actor), Ryan Price (Community Builder/Hacker), Richard Paul (Improv artist), Brandon Roberts (Producer/Director/Actor, Creator of the PB&J Theatre Factory) , Tisse Mallon (Photographer/Creative Mind), Melissa Cowen (Child Dance Prodigy), Comedians, Musicians, Choreographers and more separately create.
Each creation is placed one right after another so you can see just how differently they think even when inspired by the exact same thing. 8 creators will participate in every show. View the show-by-show schedule to see when your favorites will appear!
Producers:
Jessica Mariko (Also the creator of DRIP http://www.ILoveDRIP.com/ and FRESH http://www.ValentinesDayOrlando.com/)
Linda Eve Elchak (Also the creator of Nao Dance Collective http://www.naodance.com/)
Memorial Day weekend is upon us. For every other holiday, there are a variety of ways to celebrate. Sometimes I don’t know my Thanksgiving plans until two weeks before. As a student, I had a part-time job in which I always worked Easter. Sometimes, I’ve even celebrated the Fourth of July without fireworks.
But I’ll be damned if I celebrate Memorial Day in any other way except Fringe. The Orlando Fringe Festival, to be specific – the first in North America and one weekend in which I get to come back to my beloved hometown and celebrate in the kookiest way imaginable.
“Pepe come here,” Blue shouts...
Copied from Rob Ward: Nipple Tape, Furries, and Gas Masks, Oh My - Pepe Makes a Cameo in VarieTEASE, this post about Pepe is the definition of a "Fab Fringe Moment".
Blue then calls the full cast together for a pre-show energy circle, some motivational words, and a prayer of sorts (to the theatre gods?). I like being a part of this. Performing as Pepe is one of my favorite things in the world to do, but oddly enough before a show, it can be a little lonely, so it’s nice to connect with a big cast … and there’s a lot of love in this circle. Good feeling.
Also today in the blogosphere, Katie Ball continues her marching rampage through the 2010 Fringe, with a post entitled, "MORE, MORE, MORE!".
”T-O-T-A-L-L-Y” is an inspiring story of a woman taking back her personal power. No bra burning or picket signs in sight, instead the irrepressible Kimleigh Smith uses sassy dialog, a sultry R&B voice and some sexy-ass dance moves to show her transformation from a teenage valley girl into a hot HOT woman of substance. Anyone, male or female, will be encouraged by T-O-T-A-L-L-Y 's story of facing crippling adversity, owning it, and then kicking it to the curb.
“Goblin Party Interactive” - Oh my God this was so much cooler than I could even imagine. It's the movie Labyrinth done Rocky Horror style, but joined by a range of clever puppets, dreamy kite work and puppeteers Heather Henson and Marsian's hysterical portrayals of the lead characters Sarah and the Goblin King. My suggestion: round up a crowd of friends, take the kites and ears you made at the Ibex tent, medicate however you see fit and then jump into the fray. TOO MUCH FUN.
“Some Other Day” is a beautifully simple story told by two artists who are proud to share the tradition of old Vaudevillian showmanship. Whether altering the space/time continuum, dabbling in the supernatural or bringing applause with just a smile, Schave and Reilly keep doing what they do best – being freaking adorable. “Some Other Day” is 50 minutes of genuine sweetness; it may not be for everyone, but the world would be better if it was.
"Canuck Cabaret"
I love Canadians, and what better way to celebrate than by witnessing the Canuck Cabaret? Hosted by Fringe sweetheart Paul Hutcheson and the saucy Sharon Nowlan, this variety show features new guests with each performance. I was lucky to get to see Schave and Reilly do an amazing juggling routine - so clever that my friends and I are still trying to figure out how they did it. And Paul and Sharon delivered a number of performances that ranged in tone from beautifully and serenely cosmic to the universally well-regarded theme of poo. I loved the show and actually wish I could go every day.
