Monthly Archive for May, 2006

You simply must check out Katharine’s Photoset of Fringe-goers and Fringe celebs posing with Boris, her super-fun robot. It was great having the WHiRR tent be my home away from home. My business, Cervo Systems, sponsored the tent, and Katharine is my friend, so I hung out there quite a bit. This festival would not have been the same without Katharine, Kristian, Boris and a home base. I have to thank them all for existing, and (the ones who can speak) for filling in the time between shows.

I would also like to let everyone know about a few more things of note:

Liberatr.net: Blogging Fringe is but one channel in a network of podcasts, blogs and internet TV called Liberatr. Liberatr exists for the Orlando community to discover more of what is going on here, and for those outside Orlando to get an idea of what we have to offer. We are also hosting shows and blogs created by those with something to say.

I decided I wanted to get more out of the Fringe this year, so I created Blogging Fringe. There is nothing stopping you or one of your friends from coming up with their own idea and creating their own channel. I will even work with you to produce the content and promote the website, publication or event. By growing the network, every channel collectively gains strength and support.

This Friday, June 2nd, Liberatr is sponsoring a show by marc. with a c. The show will be held at Stardust Videos and Coffee, and begins at 9:00PM. For more information, visit live.liberatr.net or Marc’s web page. Since we are hosting the show, our podcast and blog personalities will be present to meet people and also record a podcast or two to be published on Liberatr. Anyone curious about what we are doing (podcasting, blogging) is welcome to attend and see for themselves, or send an email to info@liberatr.net.

I want to take this time to thank everyone who contributed to the Fringe Festival this year, from the Board of Directors to the volunteers and the performers to the patrons. Without all of these people, I would not have anything to blog about. Thank you all for doing your part.

Blogging Fringe isn’t shutting down either! We plan on keeping you abreast of anything that floats across our collective desks, screeens and ears in the coming months, and giving coverage of local theatre happenings, especially anything related to the festival or Fringe artists. Stay tuned!

I was not alive in the 70’s, therefore, 9 out of 10 of the jokes in Streakin’ were not funny to me.

Show: Streakin’!
Venue: Orange Venue (Margeson Theatre @ Orlando Shakespeare Festival)
Show times: 5-19 @ 8:20pm, 5-20 @ 4:00m, 5-21 @ 12:00pm, 5-22 @ 6:30pm, 5-24 @ 11:20pm, 5-27 @ 8:00pm and 5-28 @ 8:50pm
Tickets: $10

For all of the “staff” at BloggingFringe.com, TJ Dawe has obviously been a huge part of our experience. Seeing that most of us had already seen Charles Ross’s One Man Lord of the Rings, One Man Star Wars et. al., both of which TJ directed, and most of us girls simply fell in love with him, he was a big name from the start of the week.

And then we got to interview him.

And we saw him at Mark’s show.

And then I saw his show, Canadian Bartender at Butlin’s. Amidst very rude audience members with their cell phones, and TJ himself rearranging the audience, the show went off extremely well. A packed house at the venue where two years ago I saw One Man Lord of the Rings greeted our Canadian friend, who had put fun facts about his home country on the show’s program. Of course, Bartender is all about the experience of a Canuck in the pop culture slums of Great Britain.

Dawe is, as expected, absolutely amazing. He elicits laughter, reflection, sympathy, and more than anything else, true appreciation from his audiences. His physical sensibilities are unparalled and he builds such a clear and vivid setting out of only the black box in which he performs.

And I am not worthy to truly critique such a brilliant performer, but I will say that prefer Dawe’s story-telling - long, drawn out tales that are deftly woven into a completely coherent product - as opposed to his explanations of things, such as British terminology. I could listen to that man talk about windows and television programs all day, but the law of diminishing returns went into effect on about the fifth Britslang definition.

Nonetheless, TJ has been an amazing performer all Fringe long and has been very kind to us. I was even able to snag a picture and a signature after the show, even though I didn’t buy a script afterwards. He’s so dreamy.

I think I am one of many who is looking foward to the premiere of Maxim and Cosmo at next year’s Festival!

If you are reading this, STOP, go see PAINT CHIPS! I wish I had seen this earlier in the week, it was wonderful!

Show: Paint Chips
Venue: Yellow Venue (Tupperware Theatre at Orlando Repertory Theatre)
Times: 5-19 @ 6:15pm, 5-21 @ 6:55pm, 5-22 @ 9:50pm, 5-24 @ 7:40pm, 5-26 @ 6:00pm, 5-27 @ 8:00pm and 5-28 @ 12:15pm
Tickets: $10

OK, now that I have a minute to breathe, I can say something about this wonderful show. Organised into solos and ensemble pieces presented separately, here is how I saw it:

“Contact Improvisation” was an overture, but instead of making every musical statement, it covered most of the “paint chips” we would be seeing later on. While the name of the piece implies that there was no set choreography, each dancer certainly had a character and a personality in mind. We see Olive, playful, new and fun; Rose, happy, polite and reserved; Crimson, who generally struts straight across stage without being stopped; Amber, Black and Mud are there as well, all previewing their eventual romp on stage. Music provided by Mark DeMalo and Joe Meadows on a hand drum and trumpet also seemed improvised, adding to the random nature of the opening.

The namesake of Paint Chips comes from Ken Nordine’s “Colors”, a spoken word album from 1966 giving more than 30 colors a life and a personality. Throughout the show, we are treated to solos by Olive, Rosy, Blue, Amber, Burgundy and Chartreuse – some pieces, like Crimson, Black, Muddy and Flesh are ensembles.

The short color pieces are also broken up by longer ensembles, the first of which, “Behind Raggedy Ann’s Smile”, shows some rag dolls having fun dancing in circles, swapping articles of clothing with each other, and eventually fighting to get their own dresses and shirts back. This piece was much more playful and straightforward than the other two longer compositions we would later see.

The “Crimson” piece is to be noted, with three girls pulsating across the stage toward you in unison is just intimidating. Crimson is bad, and should be stopped; it acts without remorse, in a very James Bond femme fatale sort of way. It may seem like I am drawing attention to this color, but each of them stands on its own, and it would be hard to pick a favorite.

The next composition involved the full company led by Mila Makarova, titled “A Cool Wind Is Blowing”. A serious piece after so many fun dances, they eased into the theme silently at first, following up with music and always growing in tension and emotion. Re-used statements of movement replayed by different performers reminded me of a symphony or a canon. The theme seemed to center around a struggle, and pain associated with being a woman, perhaps a miscarriage. Other parts seemed to suggest something that one should avoid, but could not stay away from, being pulled in two directions by your emotions and your conscience. One of the audience members said she was on the verge of tears during this piece, though she couldn’t tell us why.

More color pieces followed, along with a pieced called “Shattered” set to a string quartet arrangement of a song by a hard-rock band (namely Tool). 5 of the 6 dancers gave us an interpretation of the themes presented by the original song, or so I was led to believe by a Tool fan in the audience. It seemed to me that the piece dealt with issues of trust and betrayal, the building up of a wall made of something flimsy and coarse, like sand. Much faster and more intense than most of the other pieces, this was the Generation X portion of the show to be certain.

Nordine’s “Colors” provided such a magnificent backdrop to this enjoyable work by Voci Dance. I was worried that interpretive dance would be so mentally taxing (from all the interpretation) that I would not be able to enjoy the show: not true. The spoken words giving us narration of to the dancer’s statement was very welcome, and not at all hand-holding like it may sound. I have to say I am very glad Voci Dance participated in the Fringe Coupon Books this year: now I have a buy-one-get-one-free excuse to go check out this Orlando treasure.

Show: Romance/Romance: The Little Comedy
Venue: Yellow Venue (Tupperware Theatre at Orlando Repertory Theatre)
Times: 5-20 @ 7:40pm, 5-21 @ 1:25pm, 5-22 @ 6:00pm, 5-24 @ 11:00pm, 5-26 @ 7:40pm, 5-27 @ 1:55pm and 5-28 @ 3:35pm
Tickets: $10

The opening number of Romance/Romance tells you everything you need to know about the play: there will be facades put up (or in this case torn down), “The Little Comedy” refers to the dance lovers go through when pursuing each other and feeling out the situation, and the male lead has some notes that were a bit too high for his vocal range. I went to this show because it was a more serious offering at this year’s Fringe, promising “no nudity, no improv, no cross-dressers”, and it certainly delivered. There was no adult content, and the story was very straightforward. I thought the ending left something to be desired, but it is promoted as a one-act piece.

As romantic comedies go, Romance/Romance falls right up in line with Rob Reiner, Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, and Janeane Garofalo. Two well-to-do lonely lovers in Italy are looking for a change, and decide that pretending to be one of the “common folk” will prove that they can be loved for who they are instead of for their money or their social position. They meet, court, and date, all the while not knowing the other’s true identity. You can guess the ending.

The story is carried along (rather nicely) by the main characters dictating letters to his or her pen pal elsewhere in Europe. As opposed to inner monologue-ing, the characters are justifying their actions to their closest friend, almost as though they were breaking the 4th wall and speaking to the audience. I never found this means of exposition to be used improperly, in fact, I welcomed the pace provided by the letter-writing. Just about the only part of this musical that didn’t flow as well was the scene where our hero and heroine realize they are in love - “The Polka”. This song and the scene were just a bit too long for me.

All things considered, I am a sucker for a good love story, and I really enjoyed watching Kristen Owen and Todd Allen Long fall in love - they acted their parts to the letter and let us know what was going on in word, deed and song. Well done, and my regards to the accompanist as well.

UPDATE: 5/26/2006

Last night, while I hung out with Katharine at the WHiRR booth (where we got fresh with Boris the Robot), Ryan made out with TJ Dawe in the grass between the two main theatres.

He even pointed out where their buttprints were. Amazing.

More details later. Suffice to say, we are all jealous of Ryan. Very much so. I love my boyfriend, but I wouldn’t say no to making out with TJ Dawe. I get to FINALLY see his show tonight, for which I am extremely excited. Yay Fringe!

In other news, when you head to the Green, Red, or Purple venues, or on your way to check out Ryan and TJ Dawe’s buttprints, PLEASE stop by and visit the Dandelion Communitea booth. they having amazing organic/natural/delicious food, as well as very nice people working the booth. We love them. And get some lemonade. You won’t regret it! It will make you healthier than the beer tent will!