Monthly Archives: June 2016

June 7, 2016 · 7:05 am

My Fringe Schedule: Day 7

I managed to schedule three performances tonight:

CFF_Fruit Flies Like a Banana logoFRUIT FLIES LIKE A BANANA
The Fourth Wall
Hudson, MA

Winner of Audience & Critic’s Choice Awards at Orlando Fringe, and earning 5 stars and Patrons’ Pick at Minnesota Fringe, The Fourth Wall combines music, theatre, and dance in this madcap variety hour. In addition, YOU determine the show order by choosing cards from a deck! At the cry of “Pick a card, any card!” a company member dashes into the house to audience members eagerly waiting to choose whatever high-art shenanigan will come next.

CFF_SHEnatra promoSHENATRA!
Bowman and Yarborough
Portland, OH

Written & performed by Sadie Bowman & Donna Kay Yarborough

Last fringe, they sang their way into our…hearts with The Famous Haydell Sisters Comeback Tour. This year they are making a comeback as Frank and Dino.

The Rat Pack is back! Those hip swingers who epitomized mid-century male swagger live on–and face their own music. Forced to broaden their horizons in the bodies of a couple of broads, Frank and Dino ring-a-ding-ding away their time in purgatory examining timeless gender issues via classic songs with new opinions. The Fresno Bee calls it “razor-sharp…blisteringly funny…a MUST-SEE.”

CFF_Twiggy FartdustTWIGGY FARTDUST AND HER NEMESIS FROM MARS
Colleen Ladrick
Cincinnati, OH

Cast: John Patrick Maddock, Leah R. Hulgin, Zachary Francis Stewart, Alyssa Magarian & Colleen Ladrick

In this glam-rock-karaoke musical an alien must rescue her true love from her nemesis. Join Sergeant Twiggy Fartdust as she adventures to Mars to save Yoshimi from the clutches of her intergalactic enemy, Kevin.

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June 6, 2016 · 5:05 pm

NAKED STRANGERS Review

Links to all reviews can be found using the REVIEWS link at the top of the page. Blog postings, links and more are available on my Facebook fan page. You can also receive updates on Twitter from @BTCincyRob.

CFF_Naked Strangers promoNAKED STRANGERS presented by Out of School Productions as part of the 2016 Cincinnati Fringe Festival. You can read the show description here.

This production is one of several fringe shows this year that uses an ensemble to discuss a topic and impart information to its audience. For me, it was also the most successful.

STRANGERS features a talented and diverse cast of nine recent college-graduates, who are very much at-ease on stage and enjoyable to watch. I was grateful for the overall tone of the show and its underlying sense of humor. I felt included in the experience, the difference between being talked to vs. being talked at. The material was well-written and organized. Properties and costumes were well-chosen and used sparingly. It was nice to see the urge to “kitchen sink” the production was avoided. Credit for this fine production is shared with creator and director Richard Hess.

“Wasn’t that pleasant?” the audience is rhetorically asked several times throughout the production. Indeed it was.

Two performances remain through June 8.

 

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June 6, 2016 · 5:03 pm

THE UNREPENTANT NECROPHILE Review

Links to all reviews can be found using the REVIEWS link at the top of the page. Blog postings, links and more are available on my Facebook fan page. You can also receive updates on Twitter from @BTCincyRob.

THE UNREPENTANT NECROPHILE presented by The Coldharts as part of the 2016 Cincinnati Fringe Festival. You can read the show description here.

CFF_The Unrepentant Necrophile

Katie Hartman & Nate Gebhard.

nec·ro·phil·i·a – A paraphilia in which sexual gratification is derived from fantasies or acts involving a corpse.

Consider yourself warned.

The Coldharts follow up last year’s macabre EDGAR ALLAN with an even darker, more-twisted tale featuring a rock-n-roll beat. Joining Katie Hartman (guitar/vocals) and Nick Ryan (bass) this year is Nate Gebhard on drums.

Still a relatively new work, the show could benefit from an expanded book and perhaps an introductory scene before the first musical number. At the opening performance, Hartman’s vocals were over amplified, causing many in the audience to literally cover one ear to manage the volume. Conversely, it was difficult hearing some of the dialogue, as the actors were too soft-spoken and blocked completely upstage.

Volume obstacles aside, the musical numbers are strong and the show still manages to generate some good laughs. I can say unhesitatingly, that I’ve never seen anything quite like this on stage. A dark and entertaining guilty pleasure. BTW, Weekend‘s Bernie can’t hold a drumstick to this corpse.

Two performances remain through June 11.

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June 6, 2016 · 6:47 am

My Fringe Schedule: Day 6

With a busy weekend of 19 performances, I’ve passed the halfway mark of this year’s Fringe experience. Monday’s two performances are:

CFF_Ryan and Alice logoRYAN AND ALICE?
2060 Theatrical Productions
Cincinnati, OH

Directed by Emma Miller
Cast: Julia Greer & Aaron Lynn

Ryan and Alice weren’t expecting to be trapped in the run-down bathroom at a Louisville apartment party – and they aren’t too thrilled with the situation. Can tales of sex, adolescent humiliation, and giant cream puffs distract them from a doomed attraction? Witty dialogue and honest observation drive this contemporary look at the unexpected strangers who shape our lives. A must-see comedy.

CFF_Please Call Me Cupcake logoPLEASE, CALL ME CUPCAKE
Kevin Thornton
Nashville, TN

Cincinnati Fringe favorite Kevin Thornton returns this week with something complete new and different…

A mashup of Divine, Pee Wee’s Playhouse and Reggie Watts! This bizarre and hilarious drag queen performance uses vintage drum machines and synthesizers with stream of consciousness song lyrics to bring you into the strange mind of Cupcake Hawthorne. Performer Kevin Thornton is a veteran national fringe performer and 2010 New Faces winner at The Comedy Store in Los Angeles

 

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June 6, 2016 · 6:17 am

THE ANXIETY PROJECT on June 13

QCQTC_The Anxiety Project logoTHE ANXIETY PROJECT
Queen City Queen Theatre Collective
June 13
Below Zero Lounge [Over-the-Rhine]

Directed by Lindsey Augusta Mercer

Cast: Erin Griff Bludworth, Kaleigh Brooke-Dillingham, Hannah Gregory, Andrew Maloney, Erin McCamley, Spenser Smith, & Robert Carlton Stimmel

A new song cycle that explores true stories of suffering, loss, struggle, alienation, friendship, brokenness, love, hate and everything that comes with anxiety and depression disorders. The show combats one of the last great stigmas, giving voice to the people who live it – using the actual words of those for whom this disease is a large part of their lives. At once poignant and touching, this new musical explores the effects of mental illness on our collective minds – and how ignoring it leaves ripples in our social existence.

Please note: performance is in the second floor Cabaret space, which is not handicap accessible.

Free, donations accepted.

  • Mon, June 13 at 7:30pm

Press release |

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