Tag: My Big Fat Blonde Musical

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Fringe Shows

HFF16 ends with a bang

HFF16 concluded yesterday with its annual Awards Show and Closing Party.  The Awards show this year was at the Ricardo Montalban Theatre, and the venue was packed with excited participants and industry.  The big winner of the night was the incredible solo show, My Big Fat Blonde Musical.  Hats off to the lovely Theresa Stroll and her finance’ Robert McGlynn, who crafted a wonderful show about accepting yourself and never giving up on your dreams, which hit a chord with so many of this year’s Fringe attendees.  So proud to have had the opportunity to see the opening night performance of this amazing show, which was one of my personal Top Ten shows at the Fringe.

Thanks to everyone on the Hollywood Fringe Festival staff, from Executive Director Ben Hill on down, for the incredible event you all put together.  Thanks also to Director of Publicity Stacy Jones Hill for your amazing coverage of the event and the assistance you provided to media members like me, making HFF16 the best one yet.

Here’s the list of awards handed out last night:

Fringe Freaks (Community-Voted Awards)

Top of the Fringe: My Big Fat Blonde Musical

International: MacDeth!

Fringe First (World Premiere): My Big Fat Blonde Musical  

Cabaret & Variety: Angel’s Flight

Comedy: Lamprey: Weekend of Vengeance

Dance & Physical Theatre: Office Beat – A Tap Dance Comedy

Ensemble Theatre: Night Witches

Musicals and Operas: My Big Fat Blonde Musical 

Solo Performance: Still Got It

 Sponsored Awards

A Little New Music Award for Outstanding Songwriting: Thug Tunnel

Beyond Bechdel-Wallace Award: Disrupted

Cherry Poppins’ Cherry Picks: Ripest Show: Tilt & Here There Be Dragons

FPI’s Most Wanted Award:  Actors Company, Fountain Theatre, Lounge Theatre, Macha Theatre/Film, Rogue Machine @ MET Theatre, Sacred Fools TheaterStephanie Fuery Studio Theatre, The Hotel Cafe: Second Stage, The New Collective, Theatre Asylum and Underground Theatre

O Face Awards for Orgasmic Achievement: Keight Leighn from (A)partment 8 (Most orgasmic performance), Will Michaels from Night Witches (Most orgasmic writing), Kitty Serial Killers – Sacred Fools (Most orgasmic production)

The Duende Distinction: Moving Art Collective: Metamorphosis (for overall production)

The Inkwell Playwright’s Promise Award: Vanessa Espino for Odilia

Lumpy-Cramp© Spirit of the Fringe, Never in the Box Award: Wheel of Invention

The Rogue Shakespeare Award for Artistic Excellence: Daniel Llewelyn-Williams for Writing/Acting Excellence in A Regular Little Houdini 

The Unleashed Awards: Porn Rock (Most Unleashed Show), Jessica Moreno in All Aboard the Marriage Hearse (Most Unleashed Performance), Elizabeth Dement in Porn Rock (Tracey Collins Funny Girl Award) 

The Encore! Producers Awards: 

Three Clubs: 30:30:60 – A Competitive Birthday Event, 50 Shades of Shakespeare, A Whole Newd World: Cherry Tales at The Knock Shop, Broadway Noir, Live From The Grave…It’s John Belushi!, MADLIB! The Musical, Nilbog: The Unauthorized Musical Parody of Troll 2, Ruby, Human Test Subjects

Actors Company: Amy Snowden’s Confessions from LA to L.A., Charlotte’s Shorts, F—- My Life, Freakout, Girls Together Always, Makin’ A Movie featuring the Mad Jackrats (LPNSImprov), The Gay Guide to, Tinseltown, Thirteen’s Spring, She Got Off the Couch, YOU

Asylum: A Horse With a View, A Regular Little Houdini, American Man Dream, Awkwardly Fabulous, Bin Laden: The One Man Show, BOUND, CRAFTSMAN, Einstein!, Happy Hour, How to Be A Virgin (in 13 morally ambiguous steps), In The Garage, Kill All Politicians, Las Garcia, Night Witches, Occupation, Voices, Bull, Smoke

Complex Theatres: Time Stands Still, The Art of Falling Down, Suicide LIVE, I am Vertical, Cockroach Dialogues, Julianne: Live from LA!, Lolita, Daisy, Ophelia: A Love Story, MacDeth!, Punch and Judy, Slightly Dramatic, Sticky-Fingers Monologues, Tony Danza’s Letterz 2 2pac: an evening with Tony Danza, Washed in the Blood

Lounge Theatre: All Aboard the Marriage Hearse, Aurora and Larry, Bloody Beautiful, Cold Tangerines, Fairytales Against Humanity, Feast of Snacks, MmHmm, Please Stand Clear the Doors Are Closing, SpiritWheel, Strap-On, The Creeps, Uterine Affairs, Whalefail

Sacred Fools Theatre: Thug Tunnel, Office Beat: A Tap Dance Comedy, Alien Vs. Musical, Still Got It, My Big Fat Blonde Musical, Mark Twain Answers All Your Questions!, Tilt, Lamprey: Weekend of Vengeance, All The Best Killers are Librarians, Paul Dooley: Upright and Personal, Up Down Stick Stuck, Thanks a Lot! My Gratitusical, Penny For Your Thoughts, The Princes Charming, Come Fux With Us, Tell Me On A Sunday, Nine Dresses: Sex, Death, Fashion

If you live in Los Angeles, I strongly urge you to support the shows that have been selected for extensions.  Keep the Fringe spirit alive.  See you all next year.

 

Categories
Fringe Shows

HFF16 – Day Six

Day 6 of the Hollywood Fringe Festival started with breakfast at a Burbank greasy spoon with another of my wonderful friends.  This time it was VK Lynne, the sultry songtress from LA rock band, The Spider Accomplice.  VK and I have been friends for more than 10 years, and I have watched her musical growth through a myriad of styles until she has finally reached the place where she truly belongs.  Not only is she an amazing songwriter and vocalist, but she is becoming a much sought-after model.  Definitely check out her band and her work.  What an amazing woman.  Breakfast was a hoot.

Since my first Fringe show wasn’t until 6:15, I had plenty of time to relax and write.  It does feel good to have some down time, especially with a hectic weekend fast approaching.

I was invited to see a musical about one of my favorite country artists, Mindy McCready, so I decided to watch the first act of Broadway Noir and then slip out during intermission and head to the Dragonfly to see McCready.  Unfortunately, Broadway started late and so I had to leave before it finished.  However, from what I saw, it was a fun show with a great cast, and I wish I could have seen the whole show.

Broadway

The music and show were wonderfully written by Dan Sugi, who also plays the piano for the performance, and directed by Julia Lisa.  Check out their final show on June 19 at 3:45 p.m.

Back to the Dragonfly for McCready.  The show was lovingly created and written by Jon Bernstein and Jennifer Blake and stars Blake as McCready.  The musical direction was by Brady Harris and Michael Ursu and overall direction by Robert Glen Decker.  The rest of the cast includes Zack Crosby, Robert Hardin, Craig Umhoefer and Ursu.

McCready

The frustrating thing about this show is the untapped potential.  The story is great, Blake has a wonderful voice and a true connection to McCready, but the overall production just didn’t jell.  It seems to me that the biggest issue with this show is a lack of confidence by the cast, with the exception of Blake and Hardin.  I think they have the talent, but need further work to bring it out.

If you love the McCready’s music, check out the show and let me know what you think.  The remaining schedule is June 21 at 7:30 p.m. and June 26 at 2:30 p.m.

By this time I was ready to be wowed as I headed back to Sacred Fools for the opening night performance of My Big Fat Blonde Musical (“MBFBM”) by Theatre Unleashed member Theresa Stroll.  Mission accomplished!

Blonde Musical

OMG!  Stoll has created a masterpiece about accepting one’s self without giving up on dreams and ambitions.  With the assistance of her fiance’ Bobby McGlynn, and under the superb direction of Jennifer Lynn Johnson, MBFBM delivers its message of positivity with both barrels.  You cannot help but be inspired by the story of Stoll’s struggles and her victory over them in reaching her goal of becoming an actress.  Her songs are catchy, her dialogue is witty and her portrayal of the people she encountered during this time is spot on.  I’m sure each of us have faced similar rivals in our quest to better ourselves and reach our goals and potential.

Kudos also to the multi-talented Lindsay Braverman for her wonderful choreography.  MBFBM is truly one of the premier shows at HFF16, and we highly recommend it, especially if you need a positive lift to raise your spirits and your outlook on life.  Don’t miss one of the remaining performances on June 20 at 6:30 p.m., June 23 at 11:30 p.m. or June 25 at 8:30 p.m.

I was really looking forward to my last show of the day, Live From the Grave, it’s John Belushi (“LFTGraveIJB”).   SNL seems to be a popular subject this year, with shows from Larraine Newman’s niece (Charlotte’s Shorts), as well as shows about Gilda Radner and Richard Pryor.  Needless to say, a story about Belushi was almost too incredible to imagine, and LFTGraveIJB more than lived up to the challenge.

JB

Jack Zullo has created a masterful tribute to one of Hollywood’s brightest stars.  Despite his death in 1982, Belushi continues to reign as a gifted writer and comic who helped launch SNL, and this show further added to that legacy.  Special kudos to Keith Saltojanes for his stirring portrayal of Dan Aykroyd.  His version of “Rubber Biscuit,” combined with his duet with Zullo on “Expressway” rocked like it was the original Blues Brothers on stage.  The packed house was on its feet by the end of the show, cementing the fact that this show is a winner.

Don’t miss the chance to see it.  Their remaining performances are June 25 at 6:30 p.m. and June 26 at 3 p.m. at the Three Clubs.

Afterwards I had a blast hanging in the bar with fringeships old and new, including David Haverty, Shannon Nelson, Brendan Hunt and Lauren Van Kurin, and got a t-shirt from Zullo.  You’ll see me wearing it around the Fringe on Saturday.

Happy fringing.