A Couple Fringe Recommendations...

[JamieMcG]

Posted: 8/22/04 at 12:25am

Hey there,

If people have the opportunity to see any of these shows, I wanted to VERY highly recommend them. I was really pleasantly surprised by all of them.

-Africa and Plumbridge-a heart-warming, inspiring account based on a true story. The best way I can think to describe it is Annie meets The Wiz meets The Me Nobody Knows...with a hint of Sister Act thrown in for good measure. The cast is phenomenal and the book and score extremely strong. GO SEE IT.

-Confessions of a Mormon Boy-I was afraid this was going to be some trashy gay theatre, and I found myself moved SO far beyond that. Steven Fales, writer and performer, recounts his rather tumultuous life as a Mormon, Eagle Scout, Father and Manhattan Escort. A very touching and life-affirming story.

-Young Zombies in Love-So much fun. terrific performances. startlingly good choreography for a huge cast and a stage the size of a postage stamp (relatively speaking). When the Zombies started approaching the audience to consume our brains, a 5 year-old sitting next to me starting screaming "DON'T EAT ME! DON'T EAT ME!" Making the performance all that much more enjoyable.

-Save The Goondocks-A Musical Parody of the film, The Goonies. Although at the start, I was afriad this would be very amateurish and dumb, seeing a bunch of college kids jump around the stage pretending to do the movie, this piece perhaps surprised me the most. Intelligently done and VERY clever, Goondocks nearly made me pee myself from laughing on more than one occasion. Mission accomplished.

So there's a little bit of my roundup on what I've seen. Please post any other Fringe recommendations any of you might have.

Updated On: 8/22/04 at 12:25 AM

[Plum]

Posted: 8/22/04 at 12:27am

The Bicycle Men is hilarious. Don't look for too much meaning or artistic innovation here- just a really fun sketch comedy musical. The audience went absolutely nuts for it tonight (including a man who spent the whole performance howling in my right ear). :)

[Ebonic_Singer]

Posted: 8/22/04 at 1:01am

I definately wanna check out the goonies style show. I'm glad it's good. I was skeptical, I must admit.

[JamieMcG]

Posted: 8/22/04 at 4:05pm

PS-I just heard that CONFESSIONS OF A MORMON BOY added a special performance on Monday at 8PM-check it out at www.mormonboy.com. Again, it's highly recommended.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 8/22/04 at 4:27pm

My sources tello me MIMI LE DUCK is the hit of the festival; ignore the dismissive Times review. And Annie Golden fans are supposed to be in for a treat.

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 8/22/04 at 5:17pm

Jamie, you're back! I missed your posts. Where've you been?

[JamieMcG]

Posted: 8/22/04 at 8:58pm

Hey there,

I'm around, just busy with projects and such. I keep reading, but try not to post unless I really feel like I can add something to a discussion. Working mostly on MULLETS OVER BROADWAY for September 19th and Lori Ann Strunk's show at Fez on August 30th-come check them both out!

Love, J

[steveshack]

Posted: 8/23/04 at 8:08am

Jamie, I'm so glad you recommended Africa & Plumbridge. It's the kind of show that, if it had been running months and months in workshop getting ready for the Fringe, would have a line out the door from all the BUZZZZ. Only two performances left!
Africa & Plumbridge

[QueenS]

Posted: 8/23/04 at 12:38pm

Other than Annie Golden's delightful performance, there is not much to enjoy in "Mimi Le Duck." A nice song here and there and some other good performances. But I was hoping for a whole lot more.

I really liked "Ellen Craft." The music is lovely and for the most part an excellent cast with beautiful voices.

As far as non-musicals go, the ones I've seen that I liked most were "We Are Burning," which puts Prometheus in a coffee bar during the Orlando forest fires, and "The First Step," which is about sex addiction.