Monthly Archive for May, 2006

I hung up the phone and sat down on my computer to google “Orlando Fringe”. I couldn’t help but ask myself what I’d just agreed to attend. Intriguing, yes, but a website with pictures of men in drag and promises of being “100% uncensored” made clear to me that the possibilities were wide open. Its very name–Fringe–at once captured flamboyancy, mystery, and a sense of being on the outskirts of societal norms. Off I drove to meet my friend and see “Serious Theatre”.

Show: Serious Theatre
Venue: Green Venue (Tupperware Theatre at Orlando Repertory Theatre)
Times: May 21 - 3:25pm; May 22 - 9:20pm; May 23 - 11:15pm; May 25 - 7:40pm; May 26 - 6:05pm; May 27 - 3:25pm; May 28 - 12:00pm
Tickets: $8
Rating: PG-13, unless you don’t mind your child being exposed to mild swearing and sexual suggestion, and are prepared to answer the question, “Daddy, what is a ‘vagina’ and why is it dancing?”
Recommended for: anyone wanting comedic relief. Very recommended.

I found myself walking into a very small theatre which seemed to reinforce an expectation for an amateur performance. Soon the lights dimmed; the production used black light effects recurrently. Nothing could be seen but a series of letter signs, carried by performers made invisible by their black attire, which were to display the name of the show but instead were “accidentally” scrambled to dirty results.

In stark contrast to this bit of silliness, a wheelchair-bound man (Joe Belina) was next brought into the spotlight and proceeded to give a humorous introduction via computer voice software attached to his wheelchair. The audience seemed a bit perplexed, and the laughter received was not as hearty.

The show went right on as it would continue to do at a clipping pace, alternating between videos of mock commercials–a favorite advertised the Amish production of Chicago–and various skits. Skits ranged from fairy tales to drama to dancing, and utilized puppets, costumes, props, and audience participation, all suggesting to me what experimental theatre has been in a gently mocking manner. Some segments were a bit inexplicable, save that they were simply one eclectic piece in a hodgepodge of experimental theatre. However, one didn’t have much time to wonder “What was that about?” before the next piece began in this well-paced show. Particularly well done was a mimed performance involving a lonely man and his blow-up doll, and the finale skit of a gluttonous orchestra. I’d label these “not to be missed”.

I may have walked in with low expectations, but I was very pleasantly surprised. I won’t even use the word “amateur” again–it may have been low-budget, but it was very well-rehearsed and entertaining. Although it raised some questions with mildly offensive material–Is it okay to laugh at the disabled? Blacks making black jokes?–mostly it was upbeat, lighthearted fluff.

I always say I dislike comedy because so much of it fails to amuse me. However, I have to admit that this show not only peppered my face with smiles but elicited actual laughs–and often. I found the humor juvenile– but I can’t say that I didn’t chuckle. Judging by all their laughter I’d say the audience agreed with my assessment: very funny and very entertaining.

How do we know we are doing something right here? Is it the first post that gets more than 5 comments? ::check:: The first time we are talked about after leaving a room? ::check:: Or is it the first time The Orlando Sentinel’s theatre reviewer Mentions us on her blog? ::double check::

Elizabeth Maupin is a hard-working woman. (unless I am missing the page navigation) She has reviews for 28 of the 58 Fringe shows this year posted on her TypePad blog, Attention Must Be Paid. She is certainly the professional in this arena, and we are the lowly unpaid types, but I have to thank her for letting her readers know we are here. Thank you darling!

She also gives the link love to Orlando Theatre’s MySpace Blog, who have graciously offered to share their posts and reviews with us, but I have not even had enough time to post all of my reviews until today. She also mentions Mark Baratelli, our good friend, who is blogging and podcasting the experience of putting on Improv Cabaret.

Still, it makes me wonder, for all that people can use the word ‘blog’ in a sentence, do they know how to subscribe to a blog? Do they know about my favorite feedcatcher, Netvibes? Do they know they can get all of their favorite blogs pushed right to one page without having to lift a finger? I would guess no.

This post about Fringe coverage would not be complete without mentioning the equally-as-infamous Steve Schneider and his coverage of Fringe for the Orlando Weekly. The difference here being that all of Steve’s reviews come out in the traditional manner: in print, and searchable on a web site. As far as I know, the Weekly does not syndicate their content, or allow articles to run on the web page until long after the print version has hit the streets, and people have had a day or two to look at the ads inside. They could be working on something, or I could be very wrong about this. Let me know by leaving a comment.

Show: A Canadian Bartender at Butlin’s
Venue: Orange Venue (Margeson Theatre @ Orlando Shakespeare Festival)
Show times: 5-21 @ 6:00pm, 5-22 @ 10:50pm, 5-24 @ 9:10pm, 5-25 @ 6:15pm, 5-26 @ 9:25pm, 5-27 @ 2:40pm and 5-28 @ 4:30pm
Tickets: $10

Show: Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Venue: Orange Venue (Margeson Theatre @ Orlando Shakespeare Festival)
Show times: 5-19 @ 10:30pm, 5-20 @ 10:30pm, 5-21 @ 8:10pm, 5-23 @ 9:40pm, 5-25 @ 10:35pm, 5-27 @ 12:30pm and 5-28 @ 6:40pm
Tickets: $10

What can I say about these two amazing shows? Fringe MUST SEE attractions. No question. There is a reason these shows get placed in the Orange Venue.

Having never seen either of these shows or theatre companies before, I had very little basis for comparison. While I have heard wonderful things about the man TJ Dawe and the play Hedwig, my green, ripe eyes and ears were not prepared for what I was about to witness.

I saw TJ’s show first, so I will bring him up first. What else is there to say but “wow”. Anyone who has seen TJ perform and witnessed his writing and acting abilities will tell you that he is consistently one of the best acts you will see at fringe. With only a simple wooden bench as his prop and no fancy costume changes, Dawe takes the audience on a rollercoaster ride, literally. The beginning of his story is the end of his story, and it all falls in to place so nicely.

The story is an account (whether real or imagined) of a young Canadian’s experience working at a run-down British Holiday camp near Sussex. A marked portion of the jokes and asides (and the asides are fantastic) cover the difference between North America and Britain in some way, but for some reason I do not see this as a weakness. The Brit-isms and the camp are inseparable from the story and the characters.

TJ has a way with details that is unmatched by most fringe performers. During a story about his parents’ cabin in Vancouver, the use of a rusty green-handled paint scraper let me know what kind of imagery I would be treated to throughout the production. Also, his accents are tip-top and I really believe this guy went through this experience. If you miss TJ this year, pray to God that he returns. You don’t want to miss this guy two years in a row.

Now, I think I have set myself up for disaster by trying to review two shows in one post. The truth is, I got out of TJ’s show and saw an INSANE line for whatever was playing in the Orange Venue. I noticed people holding their Hedwig programs, so I walked over to the ticket booth to see if there were any seats left.

All I knew about this play going in was something about a rock opera and a man/woman with a stub (the Angry Inch). It turns out Hedwig (Hansel) was living in East Berlin and had a back-alley sex change operation to get married to an American and flee to the safety of America. The surgery was botched, and Hedwig was left with the inch in question.

As for the production, David Lee of Naked Orange holds no punches in selling his role. I don’t know if he is a real transvestite, but damn was he convincing. The role of Yitzhak, the sidekick and lover was played by Becky Fisher, who has a wonderful voice (I am a real sucker for female vocals). I was also very impressed by the projected motion graphics on the big screen. I don’t know if they are necessary to a production of Hedwig, but the geek in me was pleased.

The characters, music, graphics, costumes and just about everything in this production were of such high quality and served the story so well that I don’t know what else I can say. The cherry on top of the sundae was the idea that this was not a play, but a real appearance by Hedwig and her band the Angry Inch in Orlando, complete with references to the TD Waterhouse, Eatonville and the Fringe as well. If the tickets are not all sold out, Hedwig is worth every penny.

Gosh, where to start? So much has happened this week!

First of all I want to give some link love to Spider, though I can’t say I know this guy’s real name. He was one of the first people to comment on the site, pay for a button, call me cute this week (it’s on his blog), and remember my name at the ticket booth. He has linked to us multiple times throughout the week, and I bet he is reading this now, so THANK YOU!

I have had multiple opportunities to shake hands with Steve Schneider this week, but I never know what I will say. I am also afraid that he may have seen the site (and my sub-par reviewing skills) and he will say something about it. I am just glad that blogging is being considered alongside the other reviewers and documenters of Fringe. For example:

Today I was hanging out with my roommate, who was volunteering tonight. Apparently, after I left one of the volunteers came up to her and asked “Do you know who that WAS? That was the BLOG GUY! You aren’t giving him any DIRT are you?” At hearing this, I jumped for joy and had a good laugh. I guess all this campaigning is getting me somewhere, not to mention the drama between James Judd and Emily…

It was also super-fun when I got into Serious Theatre last night, and I was referred to as “the critic”. I guess that’s what I’m doing here, but really I just want to make a written log of the same things I would say to someone I stood in line with. Buzz and viral marketing are key at Fringe, because no performer will not have a chance to give a flyer to each person - it just isn’t possible.

I also like that discussions are taking place here on the blog in the comments – if you don’t know what I mean, click on the link below each post that says “Comments”. Also, if you see me around, I would LOVE to hear in person what you think of my site or any recommendations/warnings about shows you have already seen. I am just a person like you, I just happen to have a website.

After my first night Fringing (I love the noun to verb transition), I came away with a few impressions of the Festival thus far. This being only my second one, you might consider me unqualified. Untrue - see below!

Show: Fat Camp
Venue: Brown Venue (Orlando Philharmonic @ Shakespeare Festival)
Show times: 5-19 @ 8:40pm, 5-20 @ 11:20pm, 5-21 @ 9:25pm, 5-23 @ 6:45pm, 5-24 @ 10:35pm, 5-27 @ 11:20pm and 5-28 @ 5:00pm
Tickets: $10

A one man show is always a challenge for anyone involved. While a performer must only worry about himself, all of the responsibility of the show lands on him as well. There’s no one else to blame when things go awry. And at the end of the show, he’s dripping in sweat and completely mentally and physically exhausted.

This things were obvious in James Judd’s one man show Fat Camp. Unfortunately, there were a lot of other obvious things in the show.

The show was entirely fitting for its audience and elicited laughter at every turn. It was a perfect fit in every way, from Judd’s instantaneous costume changes and effective use of props to his stranger-than-fiction personal storytelling to its time slot for the night - excellent 11:20 on Saturday evening. Light, humorous fare indeed - who wants to end the night witnessing any sort of tragedy?

The problem is that while audience members usually don’t want to see anything requiring much thought late in the evening, this show almost required too little thought. While many of the interwoven vingnettes (and there were many of them) took unexpected turns, you could see the directional signals coming on most jokes miles away.

It is quite a task to take on the issue of religion pitted against alternative lifestyles, especially encapsulated within the context of distant family. This is especially true in a show that’s meant to be funny, light fare. However, when you go so low as to make a Brokeback Mountain reference in place of what could have been an actually funny gay joke or a Star Trek reference as a religious representation, it’s almost discouraging thought from the audience.

There’s no denying that Judd is a talented, funny, and energetic performer. And he gave the audience exactly what they wanted - just maybe a little too much of it. It seems the show could have been both funny and thought-provoking had there not been so many pandering gay jokes and “Oh no you didn’t!” moments. And while no one appreciates a completely tasteless fart joke more than I do, some of the more “shocking” moments at the end revealed through his porno testimony seem to only serve the purpose of increasing the gross-out factor.

Throughout the show, Judd brings about the idea of “the line” as a moral compass. The whole shows leads up to a possible crossing of the said line. What that really did, however, was make me wish that he crossed “the line” a lot more - into territory void of cliche jokes and pandering humor.

Show: Improv Cabaret
Venue: Blue Venue (Studio B @ Shakespeare Festival)
Show times: 5-20 @ 2:25pm, 5-21 @ 5:00pm, 5-22 @ 8:25pm, 5-24 @ 6:15pm, 5-25 @ 9:45pm, 5-27 @ 3:45pm and 5-28 @ 12:00pm
Tickets: $7

Mark Baratelli did a very recent guest spot on one of our podcasts, You can’t spell crapface without PFA. The show is hosted by Myla Goldberg and The Captain of the Other Team (AKA Ryan Price, who you may have met at Fringe), and is often irreverant and offensive.

If you just can’t stand 72 minutes of Mark, Emily and Ryan, I spent 3 hours cutting together this new-and-improved 20-minute-long version for the short of attention span (or time). Here is the link:

Blogging Fringe Podcast 01 - 20:16

The original marathon episode has been split into two parts for your listening enjoyment:

PFA 25A - “Like a Lexus” - 31:32
PFA 25B - “Top of the Pops!” - 40:52

Mark Baratelli is the one-man that is Improv Cabaret. The show is completely improvised, music and all, and if Mark is anything like his show, you will have to see it for yourself. I have not had the chance to attend yet but this show is certainly on my list.

As Emily and I sat waiting for Fat Camp (which I loved) to start, three young women (whom I later dubbed “the Giggle Squad”) were sitting next to us amusing themselves. The one closest to us turns over in the middle of a story and says “this is a funny story”. I only caught the tail end, but girl #3 was chasing down her runaway dog, got hit by a car, and forgot all the math she learned in college. As a pre-med student, apparently she now has no career prospects, and she’ll have to resort to “selling her body” (like her toes, those should fetch a good price).

But the Fringe is not all about who you meet, but what you see: I have been having a great time checking out shows, looking at art, people-watching and pimping my blog. I personally handed a button to Beth Marshall yesterday, who is the creative director of Fringe for those of you who don’t know. I was about to ask her for an interview when she was interrupted with a volunteer crisis – one of the venue captains was absent, and they needed someone to take over. Em and I took that as our cue to leave.

As for today and the rest of the week, I have a small dilemma at hand: do I go see other first-showings, or wait until they’ve had a day or two to work out the technical and temporal bugs? I want to see the best show possible, but I know that putting on a longer show can put a strain on the performers and the technical team to nail things after only a very short tech rehearsal earlier in the week. A few shows I want to see are opening today, and I think I will just wait it out. There are SO many shows with promise this year, I’m sure I won’t have trouble keeping myself busy. I also can’t forget the buzz surrounding the sell-out shows either, even though two of them have naked boys – which I’m sure get some Fringe patrons very excited – that is not necessarily my thing.

So many decisions, so much time.

On a more decisive note, If you are feeling a little drained by the Florida climate, stop by the Pom Pom’s booth near the entrance to the Shakespeare Fest and try the Lavendar Blueberry Tea - very refreshing.

Gotta run now, carpooling over there to save the planet, and it’s time to roll out.