Orlando "Count the Votes" Rally

First of all let me thank all the people who came to the Florida Demands Representation (FDR) ?Count the Vote? Rally on Saturday. It was an awesome event! While we would have liked to have had more people in attendance, we did meet our goal of collecting signatures on the petitions to be taken to the DNC, and we got media coverage for the event. We collected over one hundred fifty petitions.

Margo and I would also like to thank all those FDR members who helped plan and run the event. As usual, we couldn?t do it without you all.

For those of you who didn?t make it to the Rally, you missed a good time. We had a number of politicians speak, other speakers, and some outstanding entertainment, as well as two great emcees, Jeff Horn and Michael Wanzie, who introduced the speakers and entertainers. Jeff Horn, is a local political activist, fund raiser for numerous causes, and tennis coach in his spare time. Michael Wanzie is a local celebrity, actor, and playwright.

Our speakers included Mary Johnson, former Orlando City Commissioner and former Orange County Commissioner and Linda Stewart, Orange County Commissioner, both enthusiastic supports of counting Florida?s Primary votes. Also speaking was our own Jesse Hamilton and Kowboy Martin who both gave moving speeches on the importance of counting our votes.

In between speakers we had awesome entertainment. Michael Wanzie, local radio celebrity, playwright, actor, and creative force behind so much entertainment here in Orlando, and Kenny Howard, local producer/director of many plays and productions, put together a group of entertainers who provided professional musical entertainment beyond belief.

Andrea Canny sung several songs. She is a tremendous singer who has sung with Celine Deon, has appeared on Oprah, and at Disney. She currently has her own cabaret show playing at the Parliament House and will be appearing soon at Mad Cow Theater.

Becky Fisher also sung several songs and brought the audience to tears with her rendition of ?Dear Mr. President?. Becky is also a local celebrity, performing in her own cabaret shows and is an actress having appeared in numerous productions around town. She has also had a multi-year run singing/acting in ?Menopause the Musical?.

We had the entire cast of ?When Pigs Fly?, an upcoming major production at the Orlando International Fringe Festival. ?When Pigs Fly? is an exceptionally cheerful, militantly gay musical extravaganza with Phantasmagorical costumes, quirky production numbers and plenty of irreverent comedy. We were privileged to hear an excerpt from the play, ?You Can?t Take the Color out of Colorado?. Featured in this number were David Lee, Frank McClain, Sam Singhaus, David Dorman, and Michael Wanzie, accompanied as were all the other entertainments, by John de Haas.

David Lee has produced, directed, and acted in numerous plays around town. He is also the Associate Director of New Play Development for the Orlando Shakespeare Theater.

Frank McClain is an actor, director, and singer (Opera singer). Frank is currently on staff at the Orlando Opera Company as their Resident Stage Director.

Sam Singhaus is a local entertainer, singer, actor who has appeared in many local productions. He is currently appears as Miss Sammy in ?Twisted Sisters? every last Thursday at the Parliament House and weekly every Friday at the Twisted Sisters Karaoke. He has a long history of shows including appearing on Saturday Night Live and in the original Broadway Production of ?La Cage Au Folles?.

David Dorman is a long-time professional singer. David?s voice has been enjoyed by audiences at Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando, Sea World, Bush Gardens, and at convention shows the world over. He has often been heard as lead male vocalist fronting two popular cover bands, Volcano Joe and Hot Property. He is also the real estate agent to the stars (Dave Dorman Real Estate) and is now officially a television star with a recent appearance on the March 31 episode of the HGTV television show ?My House Is Worth What??

Michael Wanzie, one of our emcees, is the producer of ?When Pigs Fly? and stars in it, too. He has produced, written, and acted in too many productions to list. He can also be heard every Monday at 5:15 PM on 104.1 FM doing movie reviews.

John de Haas, the keyboard artist that accompanied all the singers, is providing musical direction and accompaniment for ?When Pigs Fly?. He is a musical virtuoso and has been a professional pianist specializing in New Age compositions. He has four full-length albums and is a performer, writer, and show producer at a variety of theme parks. He can also be seen regularly at Fringe and on I-drive in the ?The Screw You Revue Starring Linwood Sassy?.

We even had an appearance of a very tall Uncle Sam, played by Doug White on stilts. Like all of our entertainers, Doug is multi-talented. He started his own production company, D-Squared Productions, he is a production director, costume designer, choreographer, and can occasionally be seen around town and in productions in various roles.

So, that?s what you missed if you weren?t there.

Margo and I want to personally thank all our friends mentioned above for taking the time from their busy schedules to support us and this important cause. All of you have tremendous talent and our appreciation can not be adequately expressed in words. We are proud to include all of you in our circle of friends. Thank you for your help in pulling together this event.

Good Evening,

I would like to extend a warm "thank you" to everyone who showed up yesterday at Orlando's "Florida Counts" rally. The official count hovered at around 150, and the entertainment was more than we could have imagined! Our rally attracted Central Florida News 13 and 90.7FM WMFE (NPR Radio).

I don't generally make such recommendations, but I do want to offer a "plug" for Central Florida News 13. Our organization (and the other grassroots groups in Orlando) have mostly been ignored by the local media. Why report on something positive like democracy in action when another home invasion could be fit into that 30 second time slot, eh? There does appear to be an exception to the rule though - Central Florida News 13 shows up whenever we attract a large crowd, and their reporters have always created stories out of our footage that strives toward objectivity and honesty. No news organization is unbiased, but CF News 13 and their parent organization, CNN, have treated us fairly and they deserve to be recognized for that. Turn to any other station and you get the same old tired story line - no one in Florida cares about the reality that they've been disenfranchised, and no one is doing anything about it either. We know that isn't the truth. Neither Chris Mathews or Sean Hannity have ever ventured to Florida to ask the voters: what do you think? If they ignore us, perhaps we should consider ignoring them...

Best,

Jessy Hamilton
Florida Demands Representation