ORLANDO — Florida Theatrical Association has once again reached out to the local arts community, this time by commissioning the local artists themselves. To celebrate the upcoming FAIRWINDS Broadway Across America – Orlando season Florida Theatrical Association commissioned seven local artists to reinterpret the shows in the upcoming 2010 – 11 season series. The completed artwork will be debuted to the public on October 21 at the Downtown Arts District Third Thursday event.
Each piece will then be displayed at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre during the entire run of the show it represents. The pieces will be auctioned off online during the week of the show and all funds raised will be distributed to local arts education programs through the Florida Theatrical Association education fund.
“This is just another way for us to merge the national arts with the local arts,” said Ron Legler, president and CEO of Florida Theatrical Association, the presenter of FAIRWINDS Broadway Across America – Orlando. “These artists produced creative, striking and interesting interpretations of the shows in our upcoming season, we can’t wait to show them off. It was a great collaboration, embodying the spirit of the arts here in Orlando.”
The local artists commissioned to reinterpret the season are: Thomas Thorspecken: YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, Dustin Orlando: ROCK OF AGES, Tisse Mallon: WEST SIDE STORY, Karen Russell and Anna McCambridge: WICKED, Brian Demeter: SHREK THE MUSICAL and Andrew Spear: HAIR.
FAIRWINDS Broadway Across America – Orlando is proud to offer two new 3-show season ticket packages, the Get Rockin’ package, featuring ROCK OF AGES, WEST SIDE STORY and HAIR starts as low as $138.00. The Get Wicked package, featuring WICKED, SHREK THE MUSICAL and YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN starts as low as $139.50. The packages are available for purchase online at www.OrlandoBroadway.com, over the phone by calling 1.800.448.6322 Monday through Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., or in person at the FAIRWINDS Broadway Across America – Orlando box office located on the lobby level of the Capital Plaza Two Building at 301 East Pine Street, Suite 175, in downtown Orlando.
For more information on the artists and their inspirations for the pieces as well as the curators of the project, please see below.
YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN playing in Orlando November 30 – December 5, 2010
Reinterpreted by Thomas Thorspecken.
About the piece:
“I wanted my sketch to feel like it had been created while sitting in the audience watching a performance of the show. I picked the “Putting on the Ritz” scene since it is my favorite. Rather than focus on the actors or a close up of the performance I set them small in the much larger performance space.”
About the artist: Thomas Thorspecken attended the School of Visual Arts in New York City. He studied Animation and Illustration while going to the school for nine years, taking evening courses while earning a living as an art director and illustrator. He worked in New York City for ten years as a freelance Illustrator. A top client was New York Daily News which hired him to sketch historic sites around the city each week for a Sunday article titled Undiscovered Manhattan. A portfolio drop off at Walt Disney Feature Animation landed him a job working at the studio at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. He quickly moved up the ranks in the decade he worked for the studio, working on such films as Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Mulan, Lilo & Stitch and Brother Bear. Disney closed the studio in Lake Buena Vista when it was decided that movie audiences no longer wanted to see hand drawn animation. The computer had taken the place of the pen and pencil. Thor decided to stay in Orlando rather than move out to LA and he started to produce an independent animated film. The long hours spent in a darkened room staring at a computer screen took their toll and he wanted to get back to his artistic roots, so he started to go out each day to sketch. Thor’s Analog Artist Digital World blog was launched on January 1st of 2009, with the mission statement to post one sketch a day. As stated, “This was my way to become part of a community one sketch at a time.” This past summer, Thor’s blog was cited as the 3rd Best Local Blog in Orlando Weekly’s Best of Orlando 2010.
ROCK OF AGES playing in Orlando January 11 – 16, 2011
Reinterpreted by Dustin Orlando
About the piece: “The artwork I made is based on Rock of Ages, I loved the 80’s hair band era and listened to Motley Crue, Def Leppard, and Poison while making the piece. I decided to create a dimensional piece for this show, just to give the viewer a different experience other than that of a typical 2-d painting.”
About the artist: Dustin Orlando was born in Hollywood California on December 18th 1974, he shares the same birthday as Keith Richards and Steven Speilberg. Dustin’s artwork is the combination of multiple media’s combined to create graphical bold works heavily influenced by pop culture and life experiences.
WEST SIDE STORY playing in Orlando February 1 – 6, 2011
Reinterpreted by Tisse Mallon
About the piece: Tisse is constantly examining gender in her art. She took the idea of “the rumble” straight from the show “West Side Story” and interpreted it in her own unique way, dressing Orlando personality Mark Baratelli in gender bending outfits. About the piece Mallon said, “When Mark is shown in the dresses, he’s wearing the men’s wig, and vice versa. Playing with gender is something I’m always experimenting with.”
About the artists: Tisse Mallon is a Personal Life Coach living in Orlando Florida. In her spare time she shoots for arts organizations all over Central Florida. TisseMallon.com.
WICKED playing in Orlando February 23 – March 27, 2011
Reinterpreted by Anna McCambridge
About the piece: “’Popular’ is the piece I was commissioned to create for Florida Theatrical Association. I chose this particular scene because to me, this is the pivotal moment in the story line. The story is mainly about the relationship between Elphaba and Galinda, and the point at which Galinda is expressing her friendship (in her own special way) is the turning point in the story. They will never be the same.”
About the artist: Anna McCambridge is a local artist, designer and arts advocate. She received her BFA in graphic design and photography in 1994 from the University of Central Florida. She has exhibited her work locally and internationally, and her work is in public and private collections worldwide, including Orlando Modern Art Collection (OMAC), Maitland Art Center permanent collection and the Gallery at Avalon Island permanent collection. Her work has received numerous awards and an Individual Artist Professional Development grant from United Arts of Central Florida, and she has been featured in publications including Orlando Sentinel, Orlando Arts Magazine, Winter Park Observer, Orlando Business Journal and NPR’s Arts Connection. Anna spends a great deal of her time volunteering to improve the local arts culture, and can be spied at events such as Orlando Museum of Art’s 1st Thursdays, for which she is on the curating committee of The Associates, The Orlando International Fringe Theatre Festival, for which she is the Visual Fringe Producer, and also Dandelion Communitea Cafe, for which she is a co-curator of the monthly art exhibitions. She is an active member of the Orlando Museum of Art, the Cornell Museum, the Maitland Art Center, the Florida Museum for Women Artists, American Institute of Graphic Arts, and Artists Space, NYC, among other things. She is also interested in illustrating children’s books.
Reinterpreted by Karen Russell
About the piece: “Having not been exposed to much theatre, I was pleasantly surprised on how enjoyable the play was, I chose to paint Elphaba and Galinda, two of the main characters since portraiture is my natural inclination. I kept the painting simple and easily recognizable due to Elphaba’s emerald skin.”
About the artist: I suffered an expulsion from the womb on April 22, 1983. I was born with ten fingers and ten toes. Briefly reared in my place of conception, East Hanover, NJ., my family moved to Florida. Dabbling with different mediums, I soon fell for pigment on canvas. My main focus has been the human animal. Painting some one’s portrait is akin to falling in love with them. As an artist, you notice both the minute perfections and imperfections that only a lover would notice. I reside in Orlando, Florida as an artist, and an out of work waitress.
SHREK THE MUSICAL playing in Orlando May 17 – 22, 2011
Reinterpreted by Brian Demeter
About the piece: “When I began working on the painting for SHREK THE MUSICAL I was determined to create a unique stand-alone image and especially wanted to focus on the lead character (Shrek). I was interested in creating a completely new visual interpretation of him while maintaining his extremely iconic image. I felt that my signature style and texture would be a perfect fit for such a fantastic show. Since this piece would act as advertisement for the show I thought a vintage poster design style (with hand painted type of a famous quote from Shrek) would not only attract fans but would draw in new interest with its positive message.”
About the artist: Brian Demeter is an artist / illustrator. His uniquely colorful and textured artwork have been used in many children’s publishing arenas, as well as several fine art venues and ecological organizations. Brian lives and works in Oviedo FL, with his wife Lindsay, son Rowan and cat Alex. For more information and artwork, please visit www.BrianDemeter.com.
HAIR playing in Orlando June 21 – 26, 2011
Reinterpreted by Andrew Spear
About the piece: “I’m obsessed with drawing women’s hair. Doing the poster for the Play HAIR, was just an easy one.”
About the artist: Born in Weymouth, Ma. 1973. Spear currently resides in Orlando where he is a full-time Illustrator, Muralists, Fine Artist, Club Dj, Clothing Designer, Guitarist, and co-owner of Metro Finishes, an interior design/mural company. But dont take our word for it. See for yourself, at www.spearlife.com
About the curators:
Mark Baratelli: The Orlando Weekly said “If everyone in Orlando who claims to care about the arts had 1 percent of Baratelli’s energy and commitment, this city would be a world culture capital.” In 2010, Mark was named one of the Top Two Arts Advocates in Orlando (Orlando Weekly). He is the Creator of TheDailyCity.com, one of the most successful culture blogs in Orlando. Its been featured on MSN.com and the New York City sites Curbed.com and Culturebot.org. In 2010 is was named Best Blog in Orlando and Top Two Best Websites in Orlando (Orlando Weekly) and in 2009 it was named Best Blog in Orlando (Orlando Weekly) and Best Arts Blog (Orlando Sentinel). He’s explored over 100 North American cities, put on art exhibits in UHauls, hosted taco truck taste tests and produced laser graffiti shows. He is the Producer of the Audience Choice Awards at the Orlando Fringe, Orlando Improv Festival and Meeting of the Orlando Minds and has done creative work for Coca Cola, Lexus, AOL, El Pollo Loco, Say It Loud, Evolve Design, and the Orlando Fringe Festival.
Jeremy Seghers: A local singer, actor, director and producer whose involvement in the arts goes well beyond theater. He co-curates art, along with Anna McCambridge, for Dandelion Communitea Cafe and was the curator for TheDailyCity.com’s Audience Choice Awards at the 2010 Orlando International Fringe Theatre Festival. His love of the visual and performing arts, combined with his passion for all things local, is what gave him the idea to commission local artists to create pieces inspired by the shows in Orlando Broadway’s 2010/2011 Season. Jeremy can be heard twice a week on WPRK 91.5 FM as co-host of Front Porch Radio and host of the arts and culture show Out & About.
FAIRWINDS Broadway Across America – Orlando is presented by Florida Theatrical Association, a non-profit civic organization with a volunteer board of trustees established to ensure the continued presentation of quality touring Broadway productions and the promotion of arts education throughout the state of Florida. FAIRWINDS Broadway Across America – Orlando is given promotional support by WKMG Local 6. For more information, visit www.FloridaTheatrical.org
Florida Theatrical Association is a non-profit civic organization with a volunteer board of trustees established to ensure the continued presentation of quality touring Broadway productions and the promotion of arts education throughout the state of Florida. For more information, visit www.FloridaTheatrical.org .
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For further information:
Amanda Norvell.407.841.4675.amanda@truemktg.com
OrlandoBroadway's Blog 
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