The General's Players

From August 3 - August 15th I saw several plays at the Fringe Festival. I have taken the reviews out of my diary and put them in order below. SINCE THIS WILL BE A LONG ENTRY, MANY OF THE REVIEWS WERE SHORTENED.

8-4-06

I saw two shows today, one that I did not much like, and the other that I loved. I saw "Mary and the Stripper" first. Because it was a preview, I hope that many of the issues they experienced will change. The lighting was horrible - I say that because of the cues, not the light design. They had issues of the stage goign to balckout in the middle of a scene, and of strange lighting so you couldn't see the characters. You could also see the entirety of the backstage area if you were sitting in thefront row on the house left side. These will no doubt be fixed by the tiem the show goes into a full run, but they were very distracting for me personally.
There were three actors - one man, one woman, and a young girl who was a dancer. The writer used a combination of dance, scenes, monologue, and music to tell the story of Mary and Jesus in parallel with the story of a Stripper named Stormy. The young man played Jesus, Lucifer, the Stip Club Manager, and a Missionary. He was very dedicated and sincere in his roles, moving seamlessly from a man you love to hate, to the Holy Son, to an adverage Joe. The woman who played Mary and Stormy also moved from madness to purity very well. The acting was truly well done.
My issues with this play lay in the script as many important parts were left out - like why the Stripper left the Strip Club. The audience was left with more questions than answers, and a very Biuble Sunday speech. It was not somethign I personally could get into, but I believethat for some peopel this coudl be agreat show.

The other show I saw was "ASAP" (which as of the 21st of August is stillmy favorite show). It is the story of two couples, where a member of each couple is killed in a car crash. Left behind are Paul and Amy, who grieve together and remember the great, and the difficult, moments of being a four-some. It is an absolutely hillarious show, that acurately protrays love, friendship, loss, and survival. The script is amazingly real and comes natural to the actors. The actors show raw emotion, intense humor, and truly engage and charm the audience. This is an increadible show everyone should see. It rang especially true to me, as I also have lost someone so dear to my heart.

8-8-06

After performing on my own for the first time on the international stage (the most increadible experience ever) I went to see "Love Me Dorthy." This was a late night drag showthat was very campy, and almost in the vein of "Rocky Horror." There was a great deal of audience participation, a hillarious love story, and a wonderful host named Patty O'Furniture. It was simply light, funny theater to go to when you are in the mood for some camp and men in heels. It's not the greatest show alive, but it is a great deal of fun if you want to relax for the evening.

8-9-06
"Starcross'd" was... interesting. A bizarre mix of Shakespearian, minimalist, and existential theater there was so much going on in this production with presentation, language and set that the audience was easily confused. The story was cute, but ordinary (the what-did-Shakespeare-do-to-inspire-Romeo-and-Juliet part 247). The actors were not very dedicated to thier choices (making a gay sex scene look more like an ackward "oh no my hands are caught in your pants" scene). The chemistry was rediculously off - it looked as though the brother and sister were the only people who had met before the show that day - and the cast knew... well, most, of their lines. In all honesty, I was very disappointed because it had much more potential as a script. I hope that it gets better as the run moves along.

8-10-06
"Into the Hoods" is an amazing Hip-Hop Musical that is too increadible for anyone to pass up. The dancing is perfection - where entire groups move as one with amazing execution of even the most difficult moves. They looked liek they had the most amazing time with eachother, they interacting increadibly well with the audience, and they handled themselves very well. I saw the production where the sound board blew in the middle of a song. I didn't even realize it because the dancers finished the show, dancing in perfect time, without any music. It was not until the Stage Manager came down to apologize that the sound board was out, and that we woudl not be able to do the curtain call without it, that anyone knew they had been dancing without music for the first time. They did not miss a beat - it was increadible.
The talent of these performers is amazing, thier skill and dedication is inspiring, and they make you leave with the biggest smile you have ever seen. This is truly the best way to introduce the Hip Hop Musical to anyone, of any generation. Brilliant work. If only there were more shows like this, no one would leave a theater.

8-13-06

Tonight's Late Night idea was to see "The Sperm Monologues" at the Underbelly. The idea behind the show is that every mad who donates sperm records a little videofor thier child to see when they turn eighteen. Broken hearted widows , lonely magicians, crazy teenagers, a deaf man, and a convict are amoung the touching, funny, and interesting donors. Some of the monologues are just purely fun, and some ring increadibly true. Either way, this exploration into why people donate sperm, and what they expect, really opened my eyes to the kinds of people there are in this world. We all want, and hope, and need, and relaly are not that different from eachother. It was very well executed (all three actors were dedicated to thier roles and very convincing) and highly recommended.

8-15(?)-06

"Honk" is a musical made from the story of "The Ugly Duckling." While the story has many new characters in the play than in the book, the play makes for a lot of fun. This show is clearly aimed at younger crowds, with a few laughs for the parents thrown in. Musically, I cannot say how they did, but I can say that they were a great deal of fun to watch. Some of the staging was not ideal for the audience, but all of the cast seemed to enjoy themselves and they really got into the idea of a musical. The interesting thing about musicals is that hte actor is supposed to be so overcome with emotion that they can only sing to express themselves. This can be lost in modern musicals, but I think that the cast of "Honk" truly understood this concept. It made for a nice afternoon that was a great deal of fun. If you like ducks, go see it, if you have kids, go see it... but if you want a high-class musical, I suggest Le Marriage de Figaro at Augustine's.