Tag: fringeships

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Fringe Shows Hollywood Fringe Festival Theatre Women in Entertainment

Our favorite shows at HFF17

Well, the 2017 Hollywood Fringe Festival is in the books, and what a magnificent event it was this year.  There were 375 shows and more than 2,000 performances during the 17-day run, and we had the privilege of seeing 37 of those shows during our short nine days in Los Angeles.  Here are our top 10 shows.

10.  The Rise and Fall of Dracula.  This was our first exposure to immersive theater, and we thoroughly enjoyed the experience.  The show was wonderful created by Cassandra Ambe, perfectly executed by her cast, and was a true feast for the audience.

9.  Under the Jello Mold.  Jennie Fahn is the consummate performer, who brought this story to life under the expert directorship of Tom Cavanaugh.  The story was so moving that my wife immediately texted her mom as soon as we left the theater.

8.  The Spidey Project.  Theatre Unleased outdid themselves again, and both of their productions made it into our Top 10 list.  We loved the songs, the performances and the cast of this show, which brought this origin story new life.  Well done!

7.  Three Can Keep a Secret.  The other Theatre Unleashed production, which was even more fun because of the audience interaction.  Great job of playwriting Mr. Crafts.  Perfectly casted and well done.

6.  Hey Hollywood My Hustle Has ADHD.  Rasika Mathur was amazing in this delightful show about coming to terms with a particular brand of mental illness that I am all too conscious of.  We laughed and cried at her dramatic show, and the fringeship that came of it.

5.  The Girl Who Jumped Off the Hollywood Sign.  This show did not disappoint from the hype and buzz we heard, and we were extremely glad that we got to see it.  It was historically accurate and the amazing voice of Joanne Hartstone was a joy to our ears.  Thanks for coming from ‘down under’ to bring your magic to this year’s fringe.

4.  Chemo Barbie.  No previous fringe show has ever moved me the way this one did.  Hats off to Heather Keller for her amazing courage in sharing this very fresh story with us, and for giving us the inspiration to make each day our best day.  This is what Fringe is all about.

3.  Shakeslesque.  What else can be said about the amazing ladies (and gents) of Cherry Poppins?  Alli Miller and Sarah Haworth Hodges have assembled the cream of the crop and have once again delivered a memorable and joyous good time.  It was so beautiful to see them get the recognition they deserved with their two Freak awards for Best Cabaret and Top of the Fringe.

2.  Turbulence.  Speaking of amazing, how about those guys and girls at Robot Teammate?  For the second year in a row, they have delivered a stunning original musical that has made even the local music scene stand up and take notice.  Congrats on your numerous awards, including Best Musical.

1.  Mexistani.  Sofie Khan is amazing, both as an actress and a person.  Her show demonstrated that we still have a long way to go towards acceptance of people, especially those of mixed heritage.  But if nothing else, her show gave us hope that with people like Sofie leading the charge, we have a great chance of getting there.

We also wanted to give kudos to two venues that went out of their way to make Fringe special – Studio/Stage and Sacred Fools.  Even though they were “off the beaten path, Studio/Stage’s amazing line-up of shows made it easy to schedule and spend a block of time at the venue.  Sacred Fools made sure that patrons were well taken care of, proving free water and snow cones to help alleviate the heat.  Hats off to both of you!

Last but not least, that you to the participants, to the new fringeships from this year and the renewed ones from previous years.  You make Fringe the special place that it is, and the reason we drive 3,000 miles every year to be a part of it.

 

 

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Fringe Shows

HFF16 – Day Five

Wednesday was another beautiful day in Los Angeles which started off with a much needed visit to the home of my friend, Grammy winning musician Dave Yaden.  It was so relaxing to just sit in his backyard and catch up on his career, while enjoying the company of one of my oldest and dearest LA friends and his sweet son, Wolfie.  Wolfie (age 2), who I had never met before, came out and greeted me as soon as I arrived, and made me feel very loved and accepted.  Our time together could not have been more therapeutic, and set the tone for the rest of my day.

Not wanting to sit on the 5 Freeway, I decided to take the scenic route home and wandered through downtown LA via 7th Street, veering over to Wilshire and taking it west.  I took a detour and stopped at the La Brea Tar Pits for a bit before continuing my journey, and arrived at the world famous Johnnie’s Coffee Shop which had been converted into “Bernie’s” (i.e. Sanders) for the California primary.  From there I turned north towards Santa Monica Boulevard and then east to the Fringe, arriving just in time to be able to park for free on the street near Sacred Fools.

My first show of the night was Please Stand Clear, the Doors are Closing at the Lounge Theatre.  This one-man show was profound and funny as David Harper took us along on the Metro, introducing 12 amazing characters with a myriad of things to say.  My favorite was the Grim Reaper commuting to work, but the entire show is non-stop fun.  Christopher Game did a great job of directing this show which belongs on the “must attend’ list of all Fringe attendees.

Stand Clear

We are proud to recommend this show, which has two shows remaining on June 24 at 6 p.m. and June 26 at 11:55 a.m.

Next up was the latest from another of my favorite Fringe performers, John Grady.  I met John back at the first fringe when he was performing Dog Years at Theatre of NOTE.  His latest, The Old Woman, is a brilliant piece of theatre, and reinforces my belief that some of the best work in theatre comes from the Fringe.

Old Woman

There are actors and there are storytellers, and Grady is most definitely a storyteller.  His latest masterpiece is a loving look at his mother’s influence and her struggle with dementia, capped off with the most moving ballet I have ever seen.  The audience was packed with Fringe participants, past and present, including Alex Knox, Michael Shaw Fisher and Bill Ratner (one of the best storytellers of all time), and every one of them stared in wide-eyed amazement at this performance.  This is what Fringe is all about.

Do whatever you have to, but DON’T MISS the one remaining performance of The Old Woman on June 18 at 8 p.m. at the Lounge Theatre.  You’ll thank me for it later.

My final show for the evening was the virtually sold out performance of All the Best Killers are Librarians at the Sacred Fools Second Stage.  I had been looking forward to this show, which took home the trophy at Season 10 of the Serial Killers series at Sacred Fools.

Killers

The play had previously been performed as seven separate episodes of the Serial Killers competition, and Fringe was the first time that all the story was told in a single performance.   This may account for the show’s only flaw – pacing that was too slow and which took away from the comedy and humor of the show itself.

Despite the pacing issue, and some technical difficulties that all Fringe shows experience, the brilliant script by Bob DeRosa and the incredible cast, led by Lauren Van Kurin in the title role, with assistance from Eric Giancoli, Pete Caslavka, Jennifer C. DeRosa, Carrie Keranen (star of Lamprey), Mike Mahaffey and Monica Greene, saved the day and kept the packed house in stitches throughout.

Sacred Fools not only has a beautiful theatre complex, but their company of actors is top notch.  It has been a pleasure to attend shows in their spaces and to see the level of quality that epitomizes their shows.  Thank you Sacred Fools for your graciousness, your friendliness and for making this Montana writer feel like he never left the Fringe.

Catch one of the two remaining performances of Librarians on June 18 at 4 p.m. or June 25 at 3:30 p.m.

Happy fringing!!