Fringe Reviews – Day 5

I’m still basking in the glory of team Rock-it Man winning the Fringe trivia contest last night thanks, in almost no part, to me.  I did know the exact number of seats available in the Rarig Experimental so I feel like I earned the share of the $75 gift certificate that paid for my dinner.

I had performances of both of my shows last night so I was only able to catch two others.  One I loved.  The other…

Going Down on the Queen of Minneapolis

I’m not sure I can put a finger on why I felt this show was such a mess but there was never a moment where it was working for me.  The performances were good overall but there were too many characters with too many storylines and I never felt connected to any of them.

The result was a play that just felt too rough.  It was a shame because I enjoyed the idea of the play.

A couple of technical notes that hurt the show for me.  First was the diction of the cast.  I’ve generally had no difficulty understanding dialogue in the Thrust which, unlike the proscenium, has decent acoustics.  With a script that relies on a lot of rapid fire dialogue to familiarize us with the characters, it doesn’t take long to lose the audience if they can’t understand what is being said.

The second is the use of so many actors on a stage that looks crowded with more than three.  The thrust is deceptive in that way.  You think there is a lot more space until you consider all the sightline problems a thrust stage presents.  With as many as ten performers on stage at once, the stage got overloaded.

That is the nature of the way spaces are assigned at the Fringe but it worked against a show that was already problematic.

In the final analysis, I just don’t think it worked.  I do think it was a worthwhile effort and concept.  There was a good show in there but it got bogged down.

Billy Beechwood and the Mountain of Terror

A seriously funny and seriously absurd comedy.

Improv comedy experts Mike Fotis, Joe Bozic and Aric McKewon put together a wild show that feels a little like a Horatio Alger novel gone horribly horribly wrong.  Toss in a bit of the pre-credit sequence from Up, a Yeti and a touch of  Little Orphan Annie and you have absolutely no idea what this show will be like.

I’m operating on severe sleep deprivation at this point in the fringe and that has meant I’ve been fighting the urge to nod off during many shows.  Even very good ones.

Because I never knew what bizarre turn the story would take, I was engaged throughout.

Without spoiling it, let me also say that I think the ending to the show was my favorite ending for any Fringe show I’ve ever seen.  I love it that much.  Apologies to every other fringe producer ever.

So that’s it for yesterday.  I’m not fringing at all today.  I need the night off to do other stuff.  Like record a couple of podcasts.  And get some sleep.