Fringe Festival buzz?

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 8/5/08 at 4:40pm

I'm looking to see several Fringe shows this year, if I have the time. But so many to choose from -- has anyone heard some buzz on some of the really good ones?

Updated On: 8/5/08 at 04:40 PM

[Dollypop]

Posted: 8/5/08 at 4:42pm

No.

[jake6970]

Posted: 8/5/08 at 4:57pm

The deciders!

[Nikki2]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 9:43pm

I Love You, Petty & Favre seems to be a pretty good one to see.

[HotBoxMC]

Posted: 8/7/08 at 10:20am

Perez Hilton Saves the Universe seems to be getting some good buzz! I read about them in the Daily News a few weeks back.

[koolaid mustache]

Posted: 8/7/08 at 11:49am

http://nytheatremike.wordpress.com/

a good site for fringe reviews/interviews:)

enjoy

[Yero my Hero]

Posted: 8/7/08 at 12:48pm

It's funny, I'm working for Fringe this summer, so you'd think I'd know. My friends keep asking me which shows they should see, but the problem is, I know so much about so many of the shows, I forget which ones are actually good!

[jaystarr]

Posted: 8/7/08 at 12:54pm

hmmmmm........

[Judas]

Posted: 8/7/08 at 7:26pm

ha that looks so awful!

[JenNYferTheatrical]

Posted: 8/8/08 at 11:37am

We are The Lawmakers
www.wearethelawmakers.net

[nytheatre mike]

Posted: 8/8/08 at 2:31pm

Dear Mr. Koolaid Moustache--

Thanks very much for the blog plug - I'm glad you like the site!

Allow me to suggest another great website for Fringe buzz and reviews: http://www.nytheatre.com.

[Anakela]

Posted: 8/9/08 at 4:55pm

I saw Gem! A Truly Outrageous Parody this afternoon; loved it.

Posted: 8/10/08 at 1:58am

We saw GARGOYLE GARDEN tonight at 45 Bleecker (mere yards from the 6 train exit). It's by the people that did MINIMUM WAGE there previously. And one of the leads is Patrick Henney, a Chip and NYMF vet at only 11 yrs old. The girl he meets might have been a year older than him, and she's been on tours for like half her life.

The gargoyles were hilarious, and the band was hot. Nice score, sweet story. Most definitely a kid friendly musical comedy -- almost completely sung through for its hour run time. I wish the program had a song list, though. One song towards the end was like a cousin of "Children Will Listen."

We saw CRUISING TO CROATIA at the same theater last night. The musicians sing and the cast does sound effects and I won't give anything away but blindness is a theme. CROATIA was a little more mature -- it helps if you've fallen in love over the Internet -- but still a PG with just one four letter word.

You laugh, but my nightmare is to pick a fringe show for my daughter based on some Web site's thin description and it ends up being a show about poo. Not that there's anything wrong with shows about poo...

[Yero my Hero]

Posted: 8/10/08 at 9:34am

I love my Staff All Access pass.

So far, I've seen BECOMING BRITNEY, THE GAY-NO-MORE TELETHON, REVOLUTION ON THE ROOF: A 60s ANTI-WAR MUSICAL, and THE FABULOUS KANE SISTERS IN BOX OFFICE POISON. (In two days. I know. I'm insane.)

Of these, I'd recommend Becoming Britney first. It was really funny, but it painted Britney as a sympathetic, tragic heroine. It was interesting. The songs were good and the dances were really polished. The girl who played Britney was really good. I had so much fun.

I'd also recommend Revolution and Fabulous Kane Sisters, although the shows could not be more different. Revolution is based on what I'm assuming is a true story of a group of Stanford students, including a young Joan Baez, take over one of the university's science buildings and hold a protest on the roof in 1969. There are some new songs and some classic 60s protest songs. I liked it, and I started to tear up a little at the end, but it took a while to get interesting. And you're sitting a long time without an intermission.

The Fabulous Kane Sisters is about a theater in Illinois (I think) where murders keep killing off the headlining stars. The Kane Sisters, a famous burlesque act, are brought in as the new headliners. As they try to rehearse their act, someone is clearly trying to kill them and they must figure out who. This show is hilarious! Every other line causes the audience to laugh out loud. A few of the jokes were a little cliché and I didn't find them quite as hysterical as everyone around me. I laughed, but it was more of a "heh" than a "HAHAHAHAHA!" There is sex, mystery, and naked men. What more do you need for a fun evening?

As for Gay-No-More, it had funny moments, but towards the end it got really preachy, which is ironic because they were preaching not to preach. A few of the acts were designed to look like low-budget, inexperienced, local TV station acts, which is all right, but when the first thing the audience ever sees of your show is bad acting, they can't tell if it's intentional or not.

I'll post more mini-reviews in this thread after I see more.

[Yero my Hero]

Posted: 8/10/08 at 9:40am

You laugh, but my nightmare is to pick a fringe show for my daughter based on some Web site's thin description and it ends up being a show about poo.

Don't see FOR REASONS UNKNOWN. It's about poo.

We try to make it easy to find family-friendly shows. How old is your daughter? All the shows in FringeJR or FringeHIGH were selected by the people at Fringe for those categories, not by the shows, so those are safe, although some of the HIGH shows involve sexuality or self-mutilation, so if your daughter is too young for that, you might want to do a little more research. Most of the shows have websites where you can find out more about it.

We try to stress that a show's description should honestly and accurately represent the show, but that doesn't always happen.

Also, if you go to FringeCENTRAL at 201 Mulberry Street, you'll find a ton of people milling around who can chat with you about what shows would be appropriate. People from the shows are there in between performances to promote themselves, and people from Fringe who have been working with these shows for months are there. Stop by and just start talking. Oh, and say hi to me while you're there!

[tourboi]

Posted: 8/10/08 at 2:21pm

I saw LOVE IS DEAD when it was in Chicago. It was cute fun. I'd say check that one out. Haven't seen anything else, though.

[alexiatate]

Posted: 8/11/08 at 11:13am

Hi! I'm in CRUISING TO CROATIA, and I just wanted to let everyone know that the accidentally uttered four-letter word (which can now be heard on prime-time television) is not in the script! Call it opening night jitters.

Our press release also mentions that the main characters are blind in the first line, so, you're not giving anything away! Hope you enjoyed it, and thanks for mentioning us!

Posted: 8/11/08 at 1:24pm

Oh, we don't mind the occasional four-letter word. It's when they not only talk about poo but actually take a poo onstage that we get all fidgety.

Last night we saw KNB at Pace. Again, tween friendly but not tagged as such in the show guides. Think Claude from HAIR meets the boys from [tos] on the HMS Pinafore. Funny yet poignant, with great choreography and wondeful singing. No poo, and thankfully, no politics, thought the jokes about navy ranks went over the heads of us landlubbers.

[Yero my Hero]

Posted: 8/11/08 at 7:01pm

EGGS AND THE REBOUND GUY

I thought it would be more of a comedy than it was, although there are funny moments. Sweet and touching. The ending was bittersweet, but realistic. I liked it.

LECTURE, WITH CELLO

I have no idea what happened here, but I think I liked it. It was a one-man show. He is a very high-strung (no pun intended) professor giving a lecture on what he feels is the epitome of art and beauty, the cello. He gets more and more agitated, finally revealing something disturbing about himself.

The actor sweats a lot. It was a little distracting, but it sort of fit the character. Oddly enough, there was no actual cello, but he did play a mean air cello.

UNTITLED MASTERPIECE

Oh my god, I loved it! It was about a recent college graduate entering the working world and wanting to make a difference. As a recent graduate myself, I can definitely relate. To set themselves apart from all the "I have to find my purpose" shows out there, they did in a frenetic sketch-comedy way, with each scene telling its story in a completely different style. The fast pace, quick changes, and hyperactive dialogue was exciting. It's only an hour long, but it felt like an instant, everything happened so quickly. Definitely recommended!

[wexy]

Posted: 8/11/08 at 8:33pm

I haven't heard as much buzz this year. I think I'll see Britney tomorrow. I'll see The Deciders as one of the guys that took the pics at Innovative Theater Awards that I volunteered at is involved in.

[musicalmaster703]

Posted: 8/11/08 at 8:36pm

Is any one seeing The Johnny?

[iflitifloat]

Posted: 8/11/08 at 9:28pm

I saw UNTITLED MASTERPIECE yesterday. Loved it, too. Sharply written, well-paced, and excellent acting.

A SAGACIOUS HUNCH was fun, but it was much less polished and the gazillion clunky scene changes were a problem

I saw HOT CRIPPLE this afternoon. It's a one woman show about a young woman with no health insurance who was hit by a car. It's a 90 minute monologue about her descent into the hell of the health care, disability and legal systems. Sounds lethal, but it was really terrific. My interest never flagged and it was a powerful (and wryly humorous) performance.

[Alphadog2]

Posted: 8/12/08 at 9:29am

I liked "The Grecian Formula." It's insider theatre, but it was really funny and I think folks on this board would enjoy insider theatre.

For purposes of full disclosure, I'm friends with one of the cast members.
Updated On: 8/12/08 at 09:29 AM

[keen on kean]

Posted: 8/12/08 at 9:51am

A friend of mine is in BOY GIRL BOY GIRL. I can't attend, so if anyone sees it, please review it? Especially if you like it.

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 8/12/08 at 10:48am

The show I'm working on was at 9:45 last night, so I saw Too Much Memory between the end of my work day and my show.

First off, I have to say, the venue it was at, Walkerspace, was just awful. There was no air conditioning; we were all fanning ourselves the whole performance.

The show was all right. Some really good moments, some not so great moments. It's essentially Antigone, but I thought they were gonna make more changes to it than they did. The actors were overall very good, and some of the added commentary was amusing. And I loved a scene that focused on the issues facing a politician's wife.

The audience seemed to really enjoy it.

Updated On: 8/12/08 at 10:48 AM