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.
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.
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.
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!!
