Our final show for Thursday was our most anticipated one at this year’s Fringe – the marriage of Orgasmico Theatre Co and Cherry Poppins. Here’s the low down.
TITLE OF SHOW: Doctor Nympho vs. The Sex Zombies
VENUE: Three Clubs
REVIEW: When we found out that Michael Shaw Fisher was writing a rock musical for this year’s Fringe, we were excited, and when we realized it would be done by the Cherry Poppins crew, we were over the moon. The five year wait (since 2013’s Exorcistic) was worth it, as this show is a masterpiece from start to finish.
We still remember the way we felt when we first saw Doomsday Cabaret, and the feeling was back on the first note of Doctor Nympho. Director Sarah Haworth brought out every nuance of Fisher’s amazing music and book, and the over-packed venue responded enthusiastically.
The story line about a virus that turns people into sex zombies was wonderfully laid out and brought to reality by the amazing members of Cherry Poppins, including the central cast of Alli Miller as Dr. Nympho, Fisher as her husband, with Kim Dalton and Kristyn Evelyn as their children. Haworth led the sex zombies, joined by Amber Braken, Reagan Osborne, Cory Robinson, Meredith Lim and Lauren Avon. They were ably supported by Jeff Sumner as Jerry, Rebecca Reaney as Dr. Shatz, Shannon Glasgow as Stacy, Schoen Hodges as Adam and Sarah Wines as Eve, with special dance appearances by Taylor Baker as Poet and Brin Hamblin as Virus.
Of course, what would a rock musical be without a killer band, and this one was truly amazing, led by Sandy Chao Wong. She was joined by Krishnan Swamiathan on bass, Ludvig Brathan and Kenny Echizen on guitar and Tim McIntyre and Dennis Nilsson on drums.
Very special kudos to the choreography team of Hamblin, Reaney, Haworth and Miller, who somehow managed to keep this huge cast dancing and performing on the venue’s postage stamp sized stage, without any major incidents. It was an incredibly thing of beauty to watch this amazing cast dance, sing and act, and we left the venue feeling just as good as we did the first (and the 12th) time we saw Doomsday Cabaret.
RECOMMENDATION: If you only see one Fringe show, then this had better be it. But be forewarned – it will SELL OUT, so make our plans to attend the remaining performances on June 16 at 5 p.m., June 21 at 7 p.m. and June 23 at 11 p.m. You can purchase tickets here.