You can find part 1 here and part 2 here.
We closed out our Saturday with another Jessica Lynn Johnson-directed show, an Alan Arkin-written and Glenn Morshower-directed show, and a couple hours of fun at the newly-opened Plunge bar at the Broadwater.
TITLE OF SHOW: Confessions of a Hopeful Southerner . . . in Front of Strangers
VENUE: Asylum Studio C
REVIEW: Melinda Grace has a passion to be an actress, and the support of her father to pursue her dreams. She leaves the comforts of her home in Texas for a chance at fulfillment in the Big Apple, She gets a full-time job to support herself and starts taking acting classes on doing monologues. The show takes us through her eight-week class, week by week, as she learns the important lessons about the search for success in the world of acting. We laugh, we get frustrated, we remember similar events in our own lives, and leave the theater refreshed, encouraged and ready to tackle our own dreams. This one is a gem, and Jessica Lynn Johnson has outdone herself in her skillful direction and discovery of Grace’s powerful story.
RECOMMENDATION: Your Fringe experience will not be complete without seeing this show. She has one remaining performance on June 22 at 7 p.m., and we truly believe you should be there. Here is the link to get your tickets.
We had intended to see another show, but after seeing seven straight shows between 11:30 and 10 p.m., we needed a break, so we headed to the Plunge, which just opened that day. We had a wonderful time catching up with David Haverty, Victor Isaac, Marz Richards, Lauren van Kurin and others before heading down to the Lounge for our final show of the evening.
TITLE OF SHOW: Virtual Reality
VENUE: The Lounge
REVIEW: We have been fans of Morshower since he first appeared on the big screen, and got to know him as part of the 2010 Burbank International Film Festival. We also became Facebook friends, so when he posted about the Fringe show that he was directing, we knew we simply had to see it. This amazing show, written by the brilliant Alan Arkin, features two of Glenn’s Extra Mile students, Jeff Elam and Matt Tramel, who are simply brilliant. It takes a special kind of actor to do an entire play in pantomime, and these are two of the best. Their sense of time, their control of their emotions and their lack of fear at the absurd are clearly demonstrated by their performance. We felt privileged to be at their closing performance, and look forward to seeing future shows involving these two talented actors. They made us BELIEVE, and that is the greatest accomplishment that any actor can achieve.
RECOMMENDATION: Pray that they get an encore, because you simply must join in the sheer joy of this production.