Tag Archives: Cincinnati Fringe Festival

June 3, 2021 · 10:44 am

Beat Covid Gloom by Playing BINGO at Cincy Fringe with BETSY CARMICHAEL LIVE AT THE BINGO PALACE

CFF21_Betsy CarmichaelA LIVE virtual interactive comedy…with BINGO!

BUFFALO to CINCINNATII to YOUR HOME – After a year of a global pandemic shutting down schools, restaurants, and BINGO Halls, Betsy Carmichael is facing one of her greatest challenges yet…technology! She is on a mission to bring BINGO back to every man, woman, and child. Betsy Carmichael’s BINGO Palace is open and streaming LIVE into your home!

Betsy grew up as a BINGO caller’s daughter in Buffalo, NY and from the time she had won her first BINGO she was hooked. Now an international BINGO celebrity, Betsy Carmichael has dedicated her life to bringing BINGO to the masses and now she’s doing it one home at a time with Betsy Carmichael LIVE at the BINGO Palace.

The award-winning Betsy Carmichael’s BINGO Palace is now going virtual directly to the comforts of your own home with her interactive comedy, Betsy Carmichael LIVE at the BINGO Palace. How is it interactive from home??? Betsy will send you your own digital BINGO cards so you can play along and be “part of the act” on Zoom! Betsy Carmichael LIVE at the BINGO Palace guarantees an hour of escape from your troubles with laugher, stories, prizes and of course the fabulous Betsy Carmichael. Digital performances for Cincy Fringe stream live from The BINGO Palace in Buffalo, NY June 6-18, 2021.

WHAT: Betsy Carmichael LIVE at the BINGO Palace
WHO: By Joey Bucheker and Mary Kate O’Connell, starring Betsy Carmichael
WHEN:

  • 8:00 p.m. EDT Sunday, June 6
  • 6:15 p.m. EDT Tuesday, June 8
  • 8:00 p.m. EDT Wednesday, June 9
  • 1:00 p.m. EDT Sunday, June 13
  • 6:15 p.m. EDT Friday, June 18

WHERE: LIVE from the BINGO Palace into your own home via the intertubes.
HOW MUCH: $10-$15
TICKETS: www.cincyfringe.com/betsy-carmichael/
RUNNING TIME: 60 minutes
WEBSITE: www.betsybingo.com

BIOS
BETSY CARMICHAEL “The First Lady of BINGO” has dedicated her life to spreading the word of BINGO! From her humble beginnings, as the daughter of a BINGO caller in Buffalo, N.Y., Mrs. Carmichael has become an international BINGO icon bringing her own unique style to the game. Mrs. Carmichael was entertainer for the USO when she came to the attention of and later partnered with Bob Hope. She has held “BINGO for Peace” at 5 international summits and has awarded her the coveted “Medal of Patriotism” for her BINGO work throughout the United States. In the seventies Mrs. Carmichael had a residency in Las Vegas at the Sahara Hotel and made numerous television guest appearances on variety and game shows including “The Match Game”. When not at the BINGO Palace, she can be found touring the country bringing BINGO to the masses again.

JOEY BUCHEKER (Creator/Co-Writer) is the 2017 Broadway World Regional Award winner for Best Actor in a Musical for his performance in Killer Rack the Musical. Performing credits: Off-Broadway: Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding. Regional: Hello, Dolly! starring Carole Cook, Mame with Bill Hayes and Susan Seaforth, It Shoulda Been You (Artie Nom.), Golden Girls: The Lost Episodes, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown (Artie Nom.), Young Frankenstein, West Side Story and God in An Act of God. Mr. Bucheker has created two sequels in the Betsy BINGO franchise, The Betsy Carmichael Christmas Special and Betsy Carmichael’s Hawaiian Luau BINGO and produces the tours through Betsibu Productions.

MARY KATE O’CONNELL (Director/Co-Writer) is one of the most imaginative and respected members of Buffalo’s Theatre Community. Ms. O’Connell is the Executive/Artistic Director of O’Connell & Company and creator of Buffalo’s longest running show, DIVA by DIVA a Celebration of Women. Notable roles: Glorious! (Florence Foster Jenkins), Nunsense (Rev. Mother), Dear World (Countess), Sweeny Todd (Mrs. Lovett), and The Lady with All the Answers (Ann Landers). Ms. O’Connell is a multi-Artie Award winning actress including a Lifetime Achievement Award and an induction to the Buffalo Theatre District Association’s Plaza of Stars.

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June 3, 2021 · 10:12 am

Finding Nemo Meets Predator in this Retro-Futurism Hellscape Comedy

CFF21_You Will Live Under the Sea(CINCINNATI, OHIO) –  YOU WILL LIVE UNDER THE SEA  at the 2021 Cincinnati Fringe Theatre Festival, June 4–June 19.  Every year the land gets more and more crowded. More people. More buildings. More roads and more cars. Out there, the sea isn’t crowded at all. It’s just you. And that man. And miles and miles and miles of nothing else.

From the creative force behind 2020’s award winning show Killjoy, Ohio  comes a children’s fable about our dreams for the future. PICK-OF-THE-FRINGE winners Bridget Leak, Jordan Trovillion and Trey Tatum return with a new story of the bizarre in an entirely new format.

AWARDS AND ACCOLADES FOR QUEEN CITY FLASH

  • 2020 Cincy Fringe All Access Pick – Killjoy, Ohio
  • 2020 The Young-Howze Theatre Awards,  Show of the Year Winner – Killjoy, Ohio
  • 2019 Cincy Fringe Full Frontal Pick – Zoinks!
  • 2018 Cincy Fringe Full Frontal Pick – Of Monster Descent
  • 2014 Cincy Fringe Artist Pick – Slut Shaming

INTERNATIONAL PRAISE

  • ★★★★★ STARS – Saskatoon Star Phoenix, Of Monster Descent
  • ★★★★ STARS – CBC, Of Monster Descent
  • ★★★★ STARS – Winnipeg Free Press, Of Monster Descent

WHO DID WHAT
Written by Trey Tatum
Directed by Bridget Leak
Performed by Jordan Trovillion & Trey Tatum
Backstage: Taylor Hauter (Lighting Design), Molly Francis (Sound & Projections 1), Elyse Stieby (ASM/Projections 2), Grayson Halonen (ASM/Fish wrangler)

SEE YOU WILL LIVE UNDER THE SEA AT THE CINCYFRINGE FESTIVAL, VIDEO ON DEMAND!

TICKETS:   $11 General Admission, $16 Love-Your-Artist Ticket

Tickets can be purchased at https://cincyfringe.com/you-will-live-under-the-sea/

For additional questions, please email queencityflash@gmail.com

Previous Queen City Flash productions at Cincy Fringe:

  • 2020 – Killjoy, Ohio
  • 2019 – Zoinks!
  • 2018 – Of Monster Descent
  • 2017 – The Disappearance of Nicole of Jacobs
  • 2016 – The Midnight Express
  • 2015 – Shelter (with Pones, INC.)
  • 2014 – Slut Shaming

ABOUT TREY TATUM: Trey Tatum is a playwright / composer from Cincinnati, Ohio. Recent credits include ZOINKS!, a Nancy Drew send-up about the opioid epidemic, Alabama Monster, his solo show about mental illness, family ties and creatures that lie just out of sight, and JALZ, a remake of the blockbuster movie JAWS that examines Alzheimer’s disease, end of life care and family legacy. For the past four seasons, Trey has been composer for Playhouse in the Park’s Off the Hill Education Touring Series. Current Projects include Have Monster, Will Travel, a new audio fiction podcast about road trips, monsters and the meaning of family. Trey makes theatre and mischief with his wife, director Bridget Leak. treytatum.com

ABOUT JORDAN TROVILLION: Jordan Trovillion is an actor based in Covington, Kentucky; the endpoint of her Southerly drift from her home state of Michigan. Recent theatre credits are Puffs (Susie Bones track) and The Absentee (The Operator) at Know Theatre of Cincinnati, Zoinks! (Nolan) at the 2019 Cincinnati Fringe Festival, and JALZ (Dylan), both with Queen City Flash. Other favorite shows include Neverwhere (Hunter) with Know Theatre of Cincinnati, Ken Ham’s Journey to the Center of the Earth (Most Women) with Queen City Flash, and Baskerville (Actress) at Falcon Theater. Jordan is a member of SAG/AFTRA and has performed in various films and television shows, including “The Old Man and the Gun,” “My Days of Mercy,” and Comedy Central’s “Detroiters.” She is also a freelance illustrator, and used to be in a cover band. More info at www.jordantrovillion.net.

ABOUT BRIDGET LEAK: Bridget Leak is a freelance director and co-founder of Queen City Flash. She recently made her LORT debut with Actually at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, where she has previously directed for the Playhouse’s Off-the-Hill Series. Bridget is a 2019 People’s Liberty Grant recipient for her project Desktop Theatre, an arts-initiative that helps teachers integrate the performing arts with larger-than-life plays made small enough to fit on a child’s desk. She previously collaborated with Cradle Cincinnati to develop a healing-through-storytelling pilot program for Mothers in Price Hill and is a former Cincinnati Arts Ambassador Fellow. Bridget has her M.F.A. in Directing from the Actors Studio Drama School at Pace University. She calls East Price Hill home with her husband, playwright-composer Trey Tatum and puppies “Pocket” & “Lint” bridgetleak.com #ADirectorsLife

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May 25, 2021 · 9:22 am

Grapes Battle for Supremacy at Cincy Fringe in PLANET OF THE GRAPES LIVE – An Epic Sci-Fi Toy Theater Experience

Basic RGBPLANET EARTH – PLANET OF THE GRAPES LIVE is pandemic performance pioneer Peter Michael Marino’s internationally acclaimed comedic homage that takes audiences of all ages on an epic, 60-minute adventure fusing the Victorian era’s Toy Theater movement with the 1968 Charlton Heston/Rod Serling classic, “Planet of the Apes.” Digital performances for Cincy Fringe play live from New York June 5-18, 2021.

In PLANET OF THE GRAPES LIVE, an astronaut crew crash-lands on an unfamiliar planet in the distant future and are enslaved by a society where grapes have evolved into speaking creatures with human-like intelligence. The original “Planet of the Apes” is credited as one of the most groundbreaking science fiction films of all time. The film’s themes of science vs. religion, biased class systems, and mankind’s self-perceived entitlement to everything on Earth strongly resonated with Marino who peppers the script with excavated passages from co-screenwriter Rod Serling’s original screenplays.

What is Toy Theater? The early 18th century ushered in Europe’s Toy Theater movement, where adults and children assembled mass-produced paper replicas of over 300 popular plays that included the script, stage, scenery, and characters. These DIY kits were sold at the concession stands of opera houses, playhouses, and vaudeville theaters to be performed for family members and guests. Toy Theater literally brought theater into homes.

Since the pandemic began in March 2020, Marino has presented over 100 performances of his interactive, digital live shows “Show Up, Kids!” and “Desperately Seeking the Exit” which were nominated for “Best Zoom Show Performed in Real Time” (BroadwayWorld), and “Outstanding Achievement In An Individual Performance” (No Proscenium). Marino was named “2021 Creative of the Year” by the Young-Howze Theatre Awards.

WHAT: PLANET OF THE GRAPES LIVE
WHO: Created by Peter Michael Marino
Directed by Michole Biancosino
Music by Michael Harren

WHEN:

  • 8:00 p.m. EDT Saturday, June 5
  • 6:15 p.m. EDT Sunday, June 6
  • 1:00 p.m. EDT Saturday, June 12
  • 4:30 p.m. EDT Sunday,  June 13
  • 8:00 p.m. EDT Friday, June 18

WHERE: Television, computer, or tablet

HOW MUCH: $10-$15

TICKETS: https://cincyfringe.com/planet-of-the-grapes-live/
RUNNING TIME: 60 minutes, with 3-minute intermission
WEBSITE: www.planetgrapeshow.com

BIOS
Peter Michael Marino (Creator) is a NYC-based teacher, writer, performer, and producer. He’s one of the first artists in the USA to present live, online, interactive content during the pandemic and was named “Creative of the Year” by the Younge-Howze Theater Awards. He created the role of bad guy Joules Volter in the award winning, Off-Broadway family show, “Pip’s Island.” Pete’s comedy “Show Up, Kids!” received rave reviews globally, and continues to play live online. His internationally acclaimed solo comedy “Desperately Seeking the Exit” chronicled the unmaking of his West End musical flop “Desperately Seeking Susan.” www.petermmarino.com

Michole Biancosino (Director) has had her work seen on stages across the country and abroad.  Recent projects include “Same But Different” (Christal Brown Dance), two seasons at Edinburgh Fringe of the sold out hit show “Trump Lear,” Peter Michael Marino’s “Show Up!” and “Show Up, Kids!,” and Lia Romeo’s “Connected.” Check out her recent digital theatre work at: https://www.youtube.com/user/ProjectYNYC

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May 20, 2021 · 11:50 am

TWITTERHATED, A New Play, Opens at the Cincinnati Fringe Festival June 5th

CFF21_TwitterHated with Fringe logoSand Catcher Collaborations is presenting the new play Twitterhated, which will open at the outdoor stages of The Know theatre on 1120 Jackson Street, Cincinnati, Ohio on June 5th at 2:45pm.

Show description: Reeling after a racist macroaggression by her boyfriend’s sister, Amelia finds herself lost in the Twitterverse. When social media bleeds into real life, she’s forced to reckon with who she wants to be – and how she wants to communicate. Twitterhated explores social media’s impact on in-person relationships and difficult conversations.

About the company: Sand Catcher Collaborations is Director Katie Baskerville and Actor/Playwright Julie Locker. Sand Catcher sees intersectional stories as grains of sand — try as theatres might to represent their entire communities, holding every grain of sand in their palms, some stories will inevitably slip through their fingers. Sand Catcher seeks to catch those grains of sand to see those who feel invisible, hear those who feel unheard, and boldly tell stories that go untold. Whether producing a series of monologues, a staged reading, a fully-produced play, or an immersive theatrical experience, Sand Catcher aims to grapple with topical issues affecting our community.

Twitterhated is Sand Catcher’s inaugural performance. Actor/Playwright Julie Locker pulls from her experience as a biracial woman, exposing the limits of the construct of race as it applies both to white supremacist and anti-racist movements when viewed through the lens of social media conversations. Not only is this heretofore an untold story in Cincinnati, but it is also presented in a style rarely seen in the city, using ensemble-based movement to create the world of the Twitterverse. Director Katie Baskerville built this world by asking, “How can we tell this story most authentically to the experience of the project?” For Twitterhated, the answer was using Viewpoints, a technique of movement composition that acts as a medium for thinking about and acting upon movement, gesture, and creative space.

Ticket price is $10. Detailed information, including show times and ticket purchasing, can be found at www.cincyfringe.com/twitterhated. Show art by Ellyn Broderick.

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May 14, 2021 · 1:35 pm

NKU’s MCRC Project Debuts Two Films at Cincinnati Fringe Festival

CFF_NKU Film Cover 2View the online story here.

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, KY—Northern Kentucky University’s Mourning the Creation of Racial Categories (MCRC) Project will present two new films at the 2021 Cincinnati Fringe Festival, the largest arts festival in Ohio. The films are part of the primary lineup and are available on-demand from June 4 to 19. The Cincinnati Fringe Festival presents over 200 performances of over 40 theatre productions each year.

Guided by Sociology Professors Joan Ferrante and Lynnissa Hillman, the Project partners with visual, creative and performing artists to open conversations around social unrest and racial disparities. MCRC’s new films, “Why White” and “I am White Like You, Right Mom?” tell the stories of how the Black and White Racial Categories came to be.

CFF_NKU Film Cover 1“Our country has never explored the emotional story of how the racial categories we check on application forms came to be,” said Dr. Ferrante. “As a country, we can never really address racial tensions until we know how and why the racial categories that define us all were made.  Our new films provide insights that allow people to see race in new ways. New ways of seeing spark new feelings about race, interest, hope and ultimately change.”

About the films:

Why White?
This film opens with a patient, who appears white, struggling to declare “White” as his race on a medical form. He asks, “why do my doctors need to know my race?”  and “why am I called “White” anyway?” which begins an exploration of how the labels “White” and “Black” came to be and opens the conversation of how White carries the weight of race.

I am White Like You, Right Mom?
In this film, a white-appearing mother must explain to her black-appearing daughter that “you’re not white exactly.” The conversation expands and reveals the story of why, in the U.S., parent and child can be labeled as different races and how race invades the family space.

The ongoing project began in November 2016 and has created five films featuring stories of how racial categories were born.   Earlier this year, MCRC collaborated with NKU’s School of the Arts to present an exhibition on the emotional force of race. MCRC’s 2017 documentary has been featured at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center and streams on the KET-PBS website. In 2019, the project performed its production “Let Our Loss Be Heard” in the Aronoff Center for the Arts.

The MCRC Project draws artistic talent from NKU School of the Arts, Creative Writing Program and the surrounding community. Visit MCRC’s website for more information on the project and its two films at the Fringe Festival.

About NKU:  Founded in 1968, NKU is an entrepreneurial state university of over 16,000 students served by more than 2,000 faculty and staff on a thriving suburban campus nestled between Highland Heights, Kentucky and bustling downtown Cincinnati. We are a regionally engaged university committed to empowering our students to have fulfilling careers and meaningful lives. While we are one of the fastest-growing universities in Kentucky, our professors still know our students’ names. For more information, visit nku.edu.

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