Hy on the Fringe: Your Personal Guide to the
2011 New York International Fringe Festival
This Page Was Most Recently Updated: Friday July 15th 2011
Comprehensive Coverage of the 15th Annual FringeNYC
Running August 12th-28th
Page 2 of 2
Please click a link below to jump directly to what you're after:
Introduction to FringeNYC 2011
Best Video Promos & Sneak Peeks
Shows Selling Out Performances
Shows Receiving Added Performances
Hy's Previous FringeNYC Coverage:
Other Notable Pages on This Site:
Best NYC Live Comedy (Updated Daily)
HyReviews.com Insider Freebies & Discounts
Hy's Other Sites:
When you need a winning book proposal, world-class editor, or bestselling ghostwriter: BookProposal.net
If you know anyone who might have a thyroid problem: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Thyroid Disease
For the best comedy shows tonight, and every night year-round: HyReviews.com and BestNewYorkComedy.com
Copyright © 2011 Hy Bender
Email: hy@hyreviews.com
I assign all reviewed shows one to four stars, using the following rating system:
**** = Transcendently Great
*** = Solid & Worth Seeing
** = Unless Your Relatives Are in the Cast, Think Twice
* = "I Wanted to Kill Myself"
Each review includes a show's Web site address and a representative photo. Clicking the address will open a new browser window taking you to the show's official site. Clicking the photo will open a new browser window taking you to the show's listing on the FringeNYC site. You can use the latter to read the official description of the show, and see when and where it was playing during the festival.
Please keep in mind these reviews had to be written in a hurry. If you spot any factual errors, please don't hesitate to let me know by emailing hy@hyreviews.com. I'm always happy to make corrections and updates.
16. The Hurricane Katrina Comedy Festival
Rating: *** |
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The true-life stories of five New Orleans residents, in their own words, form the basis of this show describing varied experiences of surviving Hurricane Katrina. Some of the material is what you'd expect: tales of water rising shockingly fast, looting, initial incompetence from the authorities. But what makes this work are the small human moments. For example, here's a woman trying to take care of her 15-year-old developmentally challenged granddaughter:
She was starting to get a little panicky. I was worried too, but I couldn't express it to her—because she's special, you know? So I kept her mind occupied. We played bingo; I taught her how to take a bath with just one bottle of water; things like that. And then she said to me, "Grandmother, what are we going to do to flush the toilet?" I said, "You know what? We're going to tie a sheet onto that bucket, we're gonna dip it down into the water out there and put the water into the toilet tank."
Later she said to me, "Grandmother, I sure would like to have the meatballs and spaghetti in the can. But we don't have any way to heat them up." Then she laid down and took a little nap. Well, it was awful hot outside. So I quietly opened that can, put the spaghetti and meatballs on a plate, and put it out in the sun. When she got up I said, "You ready to eat somethin'?" She said, "Yes. I guess I'll eat peanut butter and crackers." I said, "No, we got spaghetti and meatballs." She shook her head. "But they cold!" I gave her the plate and said, "No, they warm!" She tasted them. 'How...how did you do that, grandma?" I shrugged. "Just magic, I guess." She sure did enjoy eating those spaghetti and meatballs.
Scenes like this are magic indeed—and particularly when delivered by the show's stellar ensemble cast of Gary Cowling, Evander Duck, Philip Hoffman, Lizann Mitchell, and Maureen Silliman. Additional kudos go to brilliant director Dann Fink (who also helmed my second favorite show of this year's festival, Saving Throw Versus Love).
My main quibble is that the script should include more moments like the above and fewer that fail to significantly add to our understanding of the catastrophe's human dimensions; and I'm hoping this is addressed via further editing over time. But there's enough greatness as is to make this show worth experiencing.
Finally, as an aside, I want to thank whoever at FringeNYC scheduled both THKCF and its other memorable Katrina show, 23 Feet in 12 Minutes: The Death and Rebirth of New Orleans, so they could be seen as a double-bill on its final day...which just happened to be the date of Katrina's fifth anniversary. It was an amazing way to close out this year's festival—which was the very best in FringeNYC's history.
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Rating: *** |
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When it's bad enough, there's little as hilarious as amateur theatre.
This eternal truth is embraced by Jim David, a veteran stand-up comic (Comedy Central Presents, Last Comic Standing) who also has a passion for plays. In this one-man show David imagines a community production of A Streetcar Named Desire with performers who aren't quite up to the task. For example, the actress portraying Blanche starts off a rehearsal like this:
I have always depended on the kindness of...line?
And the director later remarks:
I have to hand it to you. I've never seen the rape scene with Blanche on top.
Not all the jokes hit the bullseye so effectively; but there's enough of a barrage of funny lines to keep most audience members laughing throughout.
Plus it's fun to see David play all the characters—a total of 11, including himself.
If you enjoy this show, by the way, I also highly recommend reading the book The Art of Coarse Acting by Michael Green. Some samples:
One of the infallible signs that Coarse Drama is going on is the fact that the traditional roles of actor and audience are reversed. The actor is being himself while the audience are playing a part, heavily pretending to enjoy the show, struggling to laugh at unfunny jokes and so on. Watching a bad amateur show can be more exhausting than three hours on stage.
In Coarse Acting there is no compromise. One is young or senile, fit or crippled. The younger an actor is, the older and more decrepit he tries to be. I have seen shows with entire armies of limping men.
Try to learn the technique of merely glancing at the lines surreptitiously. It looks rather odd if a messenger addresses his speech to the end of his own spear instead of to the King. In the incident to which I am referring some of the King's lines were, by arrangement, also on the end of the same spear, and the two of them fought over it, sawing backwards and forwards between them in a most untheatrical fashion.
Storms and effects generally often cause trouble in the lighting department, not so much because they go wrong (which is to be expected) but because the lighting section cannot stand competition. If there is a lighting and a sound effect going on at the same time a macabre race may develop. There was a production of Andre Obey's Noah where a little gentle thunder and rain, together with spasmodic lightning, were called for. It all started well enough, with occasional rumbles in the background, and the odd flash, but gradually the audience became aware that the rumbles were growing in intensity and as they did so the lightning flashes grew more frequent and spectacular. Finally nothing could be heard or seen in the theatre but booming thunder-claps and blinding lights.
Beware of the evil-minded actor who forgets his own lines and throws the blame on the person opposite, usually by asking some question that isn't in the script. An old pro I knew used to have a stock speech ready for this emergency. If it was a Shakespeare play, he would stare the offender in the eye and say firmly, "Thou weariest me. Unto my chamber shall I now retire And rest me on my couch a little hour. Farewell, until we meet again, farewell." He would then exit, light a cigarette in the wings, and watch his victim trying to get out of that one.
Anyway, see South Pathetic—a show about amateur theatre from a show biz pro.
Shows Selling Out Performances
Please note that selling out a single performance doesn't necessarily mean a show is hot, or vice versa.
For example, a production in a small venue might sell most of its tickets to family and friends for the debut performance but struggle for the rest of the festival.
At the same time, a production in a large venue might consistently sell lots of tickets but never fill all of its many seats. (Then again, it might; for a memorable example from a past FringeNYC, please click here.)
For that matter, a production might not attract the type of folks who buy in advance and yet frequently sell out performances via at-the-door purchases. The latter aren't reported by FringeCentral and so can't be tracked here.
That said...it's always nice to sell out a performance in advance.
Please also note that the hottest shows are likely to receive an added performance or two via the festival, or extended runs via the FringeNYC Encore Series in September.
Once the festival begins, the following will list shows that have sold out the performances noted via advance ticket sales. In the meantime, I've left a few placeholders from last year:
Shows Receiving Added Performances
FringeNYC keeps an eye out for shows that become highly popular and sell out performances, and provides a select few with additional performances.
If any performances are added this year, they'll be listed here as soon as I find out about them.
Further, shows will be selected for extended runs post-festival in September via the FringeNYC Encore Series. More about this will appear here towards the end of August.
No performances have been canceled so far. Crossing fingers...
For whatever you want to know about FringeNYC—plus a bunch of resources you may not have even realized existed—please check out the following:
Opinions about fast food are way more subjective than theatre reviews. That said, if you're seeking quick nourishment before racing to your next show, here are some personal favorite eateries located in FringeNYC venue neighborhoods:
In addition, be sure to check the bottom half of your FringeNYC Venue Guide Map. You'll find over a dozen eateries providing discounts ranging from 10% to 20%—with some exclusive to FringeNYC audiences.
None of these stores have any idea I'm saying this, by the way. But if you're hunting for the best shows, you might as well consume the best fast food while you're at it.
Please click a link below to jump directly to what you're after:
Introduction to FringeNYC 2011
Best Video Promos & Sneak Peeks
Shows Selling Out Performances
Shows Receiving Added Performances
Hy's Previous FringeNYC Coverage:
Other Notable Pages on This Site:
Best NYC Live Comedy (Updated Daily)
HyReviews.com Insider Freebies & Discounts
Hy's Other Sites:
When you need a winning book proposal, world-class editor, or bestselling ghostwriter: BookProposal.net
If you know anyone who might have a thyroid problem: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Thyroid Disease
For the best comedy shows tonight, and every night year-round: HyReviews.com and BestNewYorkComedy.com
Copyright © 2011 Hy Bender
Email: hy@hyreviews.com
