Fringe #42 - Thursday, August 24th - My La Cite Day! and Word of Mouth

I spent Thursday at La Cite - starting with a lovely Croque Monsieur (at which my French immersion raised son giggled at and told me means "Mr. Crunchy") at Cafe Bicyclette - delicious!

It was a Twisted Christmas in August with Krampus! What a ride! This show is simply terrific. The folks at Straight Edge have been honing their musical writing skills over the past few years and this is producing some super solid scripts. Combine that with outstanding casts and you get a top-notch production. It's silly, irreverent, dark and very, very funny! The cast of 5 +1 are all perfectly committed to their characters and all have super strong voices well-suited to the music. They are also able to sing and dance their songs in character and with delightful humour! I say, move over A Christmas Carol, there's a new show in town. I would love it if this was remounted somewhere in December. It would be the Christmas show I'd seek out!

I then took in Ken Brown's Life After Life After Hockey. I'd never seen Life After Hockey but it wasn't necessary. It was a fascinating journey through Ken's life up to and after the creation of Life After Hockey and the blessings and challenges that experience had on his life. It was also a story of the Edmonton Arts Scene and the development and history of the Fringe from Ken's perspective. It was interspersed with music (Dana Wylie and others). The stories were engaging and I teared up thinking this was a show that my brothers would also connect with nostalgically for for very different reasons that me. There's enough hockey for those who come for that, and enough theatre/fringe for those who come for that. A really enjoyable show. I also encourage any playwrights who want to write a personal story play to check it out because Ken is definitely the master of that. 

I next saw Makings of a Voice with Dana Wylie. It's a beautiful song cycle reflecting on motherhood and it's inherent challenges and the feelings of failure that often come along with that. Dana also reflects on her personal and familial history as she seeks to define herself in the role of mother which she is not entirely comfortable with. It's raw and honest and the music is sublime. And while I do not have the same feelings about motherhood, it was interesting and eye-opening to hear Dana's story. 

WORD OF MOUTH - Thursday, August 24

This Won't Hurt, I Promise

Thank You For Coming to my TED Talk

Sea Wall

God is a Scottish Drag Queen

Love, Kurt

Long Night of the American Dream

Martin Dockery 

Chase Padgett

Titanical : the musical

Morningside Road

Muse
The Clockmaker
Breaking Bard
Millennial Sex Witch

Tiger Lady
The Approach


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