Fringe Festival - first Sunday
Aug. 3rd, 2008 10:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dreamsharkWell, that didn't go quite as plannedl. I attended 5 shows, but walked out on two of them, had one show sell out when I was 5 people away from getting a ticket, and arrived late for the show I liked the best. Still, it was a pretty good day overall. We also found a delightful little restaurant near Jeune Lune and The Lab Theater. And despite continuously threatening weather all day, we managed to bike all over town without getting rained on.
elephant shoes, & olive juice; (mis) communication in a modern world. This is the one I walked out on after 5 minutes. It would hardly be fair to give it a rating under the circumstances.
Numbers Up! * * *
John Leo
Absolutely endearing, but overlong. Like so many Fringe shows, this one could have been a masterpiece at half the length. As it was, it was still the kind of show that you walk out of feeling warm and fuzzy. John Leo is seriously good at connecting with his audience. I don't think I've attended a theatrical performance before that included a group hug for the whole audience. What a sweetheart.
Depth of a Moment *
Lisa Fay and Jeff Glassman
OMG, what did I ever do to deserve two of these things in one day? Another excruciatingly slow and pretentious mime piece featuring lots of incomprehensible fiddling with props, this one set to cacaphonous industrial sounds. I made it through 20 minutes on this one before I snuck out for coffee, leaving Richard to suffer through the rest of it alone. He said it only got slower-paced and less accessible the longer it went on.
War of Worlds: The Musical - A Tribute to Old-Time Radio * * * *
Hometown Theater
A light-hearted romp with old-time radio sound effects, corny jokes, great harmonies and the absolutely best pair of tap-dancing 3-legged, 3-eyed aliens you could ever hope to see. The story is kind of silly, but, hey, it's a musical. This one was just the right length. However, I'm told that it was cut down from a "full-length production." As an hour of cotton-candy it was great. I think that two hours of cotton candy would be hard to take.
The Gypsy and the General * * * * *
3 Sticks
Best thing we saw all day! I just wish we hadn't come in 10 minutes late. Terrific mixture of dance, spoken word and music. The dance is the acrobatic troupe variety where dancers use each other as jungle gyms and go caroming around the stage bouncing gracefully off of the props. The spoken word was just enough to provide a story framework for the dance. The music was provided by an astonishing one-man-band/singer (possibly the eponymous gypsy?). I might see this one again.
elephant shoes, & olive juice; (mis) communication in a modern world. This is the one I walked out on after 5 minutes. It would hardly be fair to give it a rating under the circumstances.
Numbers Up! * * *
John Leo
Absolutely endearing, but overlong. Like so many Fringe shows, this one could have been a masterpiece at half the length. As it was, it was still the kind of show that you walk out of feeling warm and fuzzy. John Leo is seriously good at connecting with his audience. I don't think I've attended a theatrical performance before that included a group hug for the whole audience. What a sweetheart.
Depth of a Moment *
Lisa Fay and Jeff Glassman
OMG, what did I ever do to deserve two of these things in one day? Another excruciatingly slow and pretentious mime piece featuring lots of incomprehensible fiddling with props, this one set to cacaphonous industrial sounds. I made it through 20 minutes on this one before I snuck out for coffee, leaving Richard to suffer through the rest of it alone. He said it only got slower-paced and less accessible the longer it went on.
War of Worlds: The Musical - A Tribute to Old-Time Radio * * * *
Hometown Theater
A light-hearted romp with old-time radio sound effects, corny jokes, great harmonies and the absolutely best pair of tap-dancing 3-legged, 3-eyed aliens you could ever hope to see. The story is kind of silly, but, hey, it's a musical. This one was just the right length. However, I'm told that it was cut down from a "full-length production." As an hour of cotton-candy it was great. I think that two hours of cotton candy would be hard to take.
The Gypsy and the General * * * * *
3 Sticks
Best thing we saw all day! I just wish we hadn't come in 10 minutes late. Terrific mixture of dance, spoken word and music. The dance is the acrobatic troupe variety where dancers use each other as jungle gyms and go caroming around the stage bouncing gracefully off of the props. The spoken word was just enough to provide a story framework for the dance. The music was provided by an astonishing one-man-band/singer (possibly the eponymous gypsy?). I might see this one again.
