From Lauren 6
8-23-06
Yeasterady I was able to see "Frank's Life" and "Tango Fire" whcihwere two completely different performance works. Having seen both, though, I can easily say that variety is certainly what the Fringe is about.
"Frank's Life" was a play that is in the same vein of the movie "The Truman Show." Frank lives in New York and since the age of 3 has been filmed for a television show. The Network is losing popularity, as is the show, so all the people in the show are lookign for other jobs. As Frank deals with missing Barbers, friends, and a wife, he eventually stumbles upon the truth that his life is a show. The point is to see how he find this out, and what he does about the fact that they are takign him to an institution when the show gets cancelled.
With a mix of terrible American accents, flubbed lines, and the difficulty of watching two scenes at the same time, one would think that no one would come see this play. However, the cast is quite adorable and caring, the twists in the plot are fun, and the adorably quirky Joy makes anyone smile. Joy, the younger sister/actor in Frank's Life is my entire reason for staying through the show - she is animated, cute, and enchanting. That said, I hardly think anyone should support a show on the basis of one actor. I got to see it for free, if you get that chance, go see it. If not, I don't think you will want to.
"Tango Fever" on the other hand is a smash hit for anyone who likes to watch Tango dancing. Timing, character, rythm, skill, and daring: that is what these eight dancers have. They effortlessly achieved increadibly difficult tosses and lifts, interacted well with the crowd, and made everyone eant to dance. You can tell from the audience that the Tango is about passion and fire, just as it is about excitememnt and love. I have to say I think everyone was blown away with a variety of dance tecniques shown on stage in tandeum with the engaging personalities of the performers. This is why people will always love Ballroom.
The costumnes were numerous, as in any ballroom show, and fit the music and style of dance very well. I have to say that each costume fit the boy of the woman or man it was on to an impressive degree - we shoul all be so lucky as to have clothes that fitting. And the barely-there dresses, the wet hair, and the gentle fog/mist, there was no doubt about the title, this was "Tango Fire."
Yeasterday was also our first performance at Augustine's. I was not there for the show, but apparently the obsticles of space are not as easy to handle as we thought. The biggest thing I need to watch for is the pole, in all honesty, but I hope that I can get used to it easily. I am getting nervous not only about that, but about the crowd as well. I went out to flyer the mile yeasterday and so few people wnted a flyer. It was a little sad. Everyone said they had one, or that they had already seen it (which is good), but I was only able to give our three flyers in an hour, and it was disheartning. I hope it was just a slow day. We will see when I go out today to flyer.
Cheers