Blogs: Posts Tagged ‘ Fringe ’

I started watching Dance Moms because Toddlers & Tiaras looked too creepy. Then Dance Moms got too ugly, so I switched to … um, Toddlers & Tiaras. Now I’ve seen Little Miss Fringe Festival, and I’m thinking I should probably be on a list somewhere. Jeff Jones plays our host, a sleazy kids’-pageant impresario who’s sort of like Marcus...
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This dizzying twirlabout is hardly an adventure. The show started off slow and never quite reached a crescendo. The underlying theme of the production was mankind’s inherent desire to fly. Aerial silks were the primary means of conveying flight and the aerial artists seemed fairly skilled. The problem lies with the venue. Although the...
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From the moment the violinist took the stage, I knew I was in for a treat. The Boy Who Stole the Sun chronicles the exploits of a prepubescent young man beginning to find his footing in the world. In Frank Capra’s celebrated masterpiece It’s a Wonderful Life, Jimmy Stewart charmed his lady friend by...
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Once upon a time, some of the most elaborate Orlando Fringe shows were those with a distinctly local focus. As costs and ambitions rose, however, that seemed to become less and less the case. Who’s going to go to the trouble of writing, scoring and staging an entire musical that can never play out...
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Would you like to see a Broadway musical integrated into a TV game show, seamlessly and organically? Then girlfriend, keep your ass away from Michael Wanzie. The point of an outing like his Celebrity Match Game is to perpetually and defiantly court utter collapse with a performance that gratuitously mashes up two already-gratuitous festival tropes....
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I have seen God. And I’m elated to report that He’s everything we always hoped He would be. First of all, He’s a brilliant standup comedian with a wicked sense of humor (as you may have already surmised from the way your life has turned out since high school). For another, He is indeed...
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The title of this production could easily cause some preconceived misconceptions regarding the plot. One could feasibly walk in with the notion that it’s about mischievous mall Goths playing graveyard putt-putt after hours. The actuality of the story and tone is far more somber. Cemetery Golf is a bare-bones one-man show recounting the tortured...
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This is how it happens. You see the promotional materials for Carolann Valentino’s Burnt at the Steak. You read that it is a comedic portrayal of her experiences working in a New York steakhouse. You think to yourself that this could be fun – Hell’s Kitchen as a one-woman show, perhaps. Mere minutes into the...
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RibbitRePublic Theatre’s Boygroove (2005) was one of the best shows I’ve ever seen at the Orlando Fringe: a sendup of a seemingly one-dimensional subject (boy bands) that revealed layers upon layers of motivation and semiotics. The Canadian company’s Be a Man (which actually predates Boygroove) is almost identical when it comes to structure, with a four-man ensemble...
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When a show is titled Hitler’s Li’l Abomination, you feel kind of weird telling people “I loved it! It reminded me of all my relatives!” But if you grew up among Germans – especially ones who were only a few years removed from The Old Country – you’ll be beside yourself with nostalgic laughter as monologist...
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