SAK Comedy Lab closes out the first “season” of John Valines and Tod Kimbro's experimental live-action scripted sitcom with this month's finale of Better Days. (See here for reviews of episodes one, two, three, four, and five.) “Finding Home, Part 2,” concludes the cliffhanger set up in the previous installment, which sending the characters...
Read more »
Last month, I saw 50 shows at the Orlando International Fringe Theatre Festival, and wrote review of about half of those, but even with the combined efforts of OW's staff we only managed to cover 50% of the 100+ productions available. Thankfully, a few of the shows that slipped under our radar are being...
Read more »
While we wait just a few short hours until the winners are announced in the Orlando International Fringe Theatre Festival’s first-ever official critics’ awards, Orlando Weekly has asked me to post a list of the top five shows I’ve seen. It makes for a harsh sample, since the work I was privileged to witness...
Read more »
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...
Read more »
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...
Read more »
I've spent my share of time at casino tables in Vegas and the Carribean, but I've never maxed out 8 credit cards or lost my rent money on a hand of poker, like Rory Ledbetter. As I learned in A Mind Full of Dopamine, his brisk, funny exploration of gambling addiction, the difference between...
Read more »
Emily Dickinson (Tanya O'Debra) was a poet, recluse, and the most annoying person ever born. If you decide to spend an hour with her, be prepared to part with a healthy sum of your patience. The preceding isn't my own opinion; it comes verbatim from the opening lines of Shut Up, Emily Dickinson. But...
Read more »
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...
Read more »
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....
Read more »
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...
Read more »
‘Arrested Development’ success in keeping the family together Film & DVD: Don’t let early reviews of the new Netflix episodes ruin it for you By Ashley Belanger 6/19/2013
Deafheaven’s ‘Sunbather’ is basically the new black Music: The black metal band basks in the brightness of their sophomore album By Robert Miller 6/19/2013
Food Truck Wars News: Some say city’s temporary use permit for mobile food vendors is unfair By Erin Sullivan 6/19/2013
‘Monsters University’ almost as good as the superb original Film & DVD: Pixar’s prequel to Monsters, Inc. is monstrously magical By Cameron Meier 6/19/2013
Marco Rubio’s gay panic News: Senator sticks foot in mouth when discussing gay immigrants By Billy Manes 6/19/2013
Audubon Park/Baldwin Park Annual Manual 2013: Sometimes opposites really do attract 4/12/2013