Final Fringe Reflections! Wrapping it up with Dick Piston and Accidental Beach!

I had a lovely Fringe 2024. I hope everyone else did too! I did a rough calculation and over the 11 days (10 at the site watching shows and drinking in atmosphere) I saw 21 shows, had hundreds of conversations with friends and strangers, ate more than my share of mini-donuts, had my G.O.C., went to the Next Act three times, and walked over 85,000 steps! I spent less than $500 for all this entertainment and activity so that's definitely a WIN!  

On the final Sunday I spent my day laughing, catching two local comedies! It was a great day to end the Fringe!

Dick Piston Hotel Detective in Prague-Nosis - This was a super fun show where, just like the titular Dick Piston, you weren't always sure what was going on! But that was the fun of it. The cast of 5 (plus the many-hatted sign holder ASM) were fabulous as they attacked this very funny, clever script. No one is quit who they seem to be, except maybe Dick Piston, but he's very confused trying to solve a hotel guest's robbery. There's a hypnotist magician, a man with no pants, an international film star (famous in Europe) and a jewel thief - OR IS THERE?! It zigged and zagged with clever wordplay and flashbacks and a twist no one sees coming, especially Dick Piston! This was the first Fringe for Nachopals Theatre and they hit is out of the park! 

Accidental Beach - Recreating 'an almost perfect musical' that they improvised during the past season, the 11 O'clock Number folks from Grindstone Theatre served up sand and laughs with this one. It was hilarious and they embraced the spirit of recreation. It's got it's twists and turns and amazing songs and lots of laughs. It was held over at the Varscona and it wasn't hard to see why. Clearly inspired by Edmonton's accidental beach, the cast merge Baywatch with a Mafia movie and Lizard babies for a show that's impossible not to laugh at! It was a terrific way to end Find Your Fringe! 

It was a fun way to end the summer! See you next August!

Find Your Fringe! Saturday, August 24th - One Show Day!

So... funny story... I had it in my head that my show was at 12 noon. It was Sold Out and a Hot Ticket so I made sure that I was there by just after 11 am so I would be the first in line. So I'm there... waiting... and I find it curious that there is no one else there. Not just no audience members, but no cars in the lots, so I decide to check my ticket... OH! The show starts at 2 pm, NOT NOON. It's all good, I went and found myself breakfast and returned later closer to the actual show start time. I still was first in line but this time there were other people there too! The lesson is - ALWAYS REVIEW YOUR SPREADSHEET! Ha ha ha!

So, what did I see?

High School Musical - The Disney High School Musical and Descendants movies are my guilty (?) pleasure! And I always want to see what the phenomenal Uniform Theatre company is doing so this was a combination that felt like destiny! What a great show! The cast is outstanding in a triple threat way. I have to give a shout out to the Choreographer, Kelly Webber, for the fantastic work! The basketball work in that tiny space was awesome! Earlier in the week, a Fringe patron was telling me about the show and they were floored that the entire cast could sing so well! There are some pretty talented folks on that stage - in ALL THE ROLES! It was also fun to see Edmonton Theatre Legend, Linette Smith, onstage as she's usually directing but clearly she was the perfect choice to play the Drama Teacher! Kudos to all involved. This show Sold Out their entire run before Fringe even started. That's how good they are! 

Now my Fringe is almost done. Some of you will no doubt be taking in Holdovers to catch the shows you missed. HOLDOVERS

I'm off to See Dick Piston Hotel Detective in "Prague-Nosis" and Accidental Beach: A Previously Improvised Musical today to wrap up this year's Fringe Adventure! Happy Fringing Everyone! Until next year!

Friday Fun at the Fringe - For Science! and Satan Does a Cabaret!

We're getting near the end of the Festival, but I saved some good ones for this weekend!

For Science! - I finally made it to the show! It's been on my list for a few Fringes and I have never been able to fit it in, but it worked this year - YAY! It was so much fun! A show that is indeed for all ages but is clever and smart and sciencey (so you know I like that!). The kids have a great time and the adults have a great time. I'd go again if they bring it back! I think their last show is this afternoon - so check it out if you can!

Satan Does a Cabaret - I had a lot of fun at this one. Rebecca Merkley is such a great performer and her voice is one that I can listen to forever. Although I knew more about the source material with Jesus Teaches Us Things, Satan Does a Cabaret is still very entertaining! Satan knows how to belt out the big songs and it was fun that the audience got to join in (in a variety of capacities). I had avoided learning the lyrics to W.A.P. in my life but that's done now! ha ha ha ha! Oooooh Satan! I guess that's what Satan does!

Tickets!

FINAL Word of Mouth - Find Your Fringe! Fringe 2024

Word of Mouth
Thursday/Friday - August 23/24

It's the last one I'll be doing for this Fringe - but there are a lot of great titles and many of them are in holdovers (well, 12 are, and I think almost all the holdovers made the Word of Mouth List at least one time!). Some of these shows are finished for the Fringe, but perhaps they will be back OR maybe they are going on to another Fringe adventure? 

Here goes...

Weird Al Karaoke
I Lost on Jeopardy
Ladies of Jazz
Too Funny for Words
Larry
God is A Scottish Drag Queen
Cabaret of Legends
The Kid Was a Spy
1nce Upon a Lie: Paul Strickland
Ha Ha DaVinci
Chase Padgett: Grab Bag Cabaret
Martin Dockery: Truth
Inescapable
Suitcase Circus (kids)
Mass Debating
Microwave Coven
God the Daughter
How Not To Kill A Plant
Think of Me
Happy Go Lucky
Accidental Beach
Sword in the Stone
The Funny Thing About Men
Erika the Red
Murder She Improvised
Gordon’s Big Bald Head
All the Kings Men

Tickets

Thursday Adventures - Fringe 2024 - Mass Debating and Weird Al Karaoke!

Mass Debating - brought to the Fringe by 100% More Girls (the unification of Whizgiggling and Guys in Disguise) this was a really cute and funny musical about a junior high debate competition between an all girls school and an all boys school. Set in past (1970s?) there are many moments highlighting the expectations for girls vs. boys in the competition and in the world as a whole. In this production, the women play the boys, and the men play the girls.  It was very smart to choose junior high as there is perhaps the biggest gap in maturity between grade 7s, 8s and 9s than in high school grades and the show uses those differences to show us the internal and external relationships of the competitors with themselves. It's got the flavour and feel of Putnam County Spelling Bee and I think it could actually be something like that with a little expansion on the script! Also, there's an amazing tap number!! I had so much fun and I highly recommend - however, it might be hard to get tickets at this point! Written and directed by Trevor Schmidt with music by Mason Snelgrove. 

Weird Al Karaoke - I have been interested in this local company for a few year now and finally got myself to one of their shows. They perform throughout the year every third Thursday night at Grindstone. This show is a Greatest Hits of numbers from the past season. I had a lot of fun. The premise is that the comedian/performers select a song to which they create their own parody song. Favourites from the show included an homage to the movie Dune 2 (sung to the tune of Petula Clark's Downtown); a song about the slow build of the LRT Valley Line to Millwoods (sung to the tune of Midnight Train to Georgia); a veritable dictionary of Gen-Z slang in a song titled You're a Mid One, Mr. Cringe (for which I need to get the lyrics so I can understand what my students are saying!). A Very funny show and I hope to catch it in the regular season (and maybe even try it out myself?!). 

Tickets for all shows here. 

Fringe 2024 - WORD OF MOUTH - Friday, Aug 16th - Find Your Fringe!

Word of Mouth

I asked folks in the line-ups and beer tents if they had any shows to recommend. These are shows they enjoyed and thought people would like. I have not seen most of them and your tastes may vary - BUT if you like the idea of the show and it's on this list, it's probably a good bet! I've added disclaimers where they were provided by the provider!

Rat Academy (which might be Sold Out but I heard a rumour it may play in the city after the Fringe)
Oddball Cabaret
Let's Not Turn on Each Other
Alison Wunderland
Heartstrings: An Improvised Theatre Experience
Brother Love's Good Time Gospel Hour (Only for those not easily offended)
Naked Mennonite
That's What She Sang
Bright Lights
Rob and Chris (Bobby and Tina)

Fringe 2024 - FIND YOUR FRINGE! Begins! Kicking it off with Regression (Cathexis Theatre) at the Playhouse!

It's time for the Fringe Festival - the Edmonton Theatre Community's most special time of year! I successfully purchased my Double Fringer Pass and after sorting through the 200+ offerings on hand in the Program I booked myself 20+ shows and waited anxiously for the kick-off last night!

The Theme this year is "Find Your Fringe!" and that is what I encourage all of you to do. With 200+ shows, you can literally construct a Fringe that is custom made for you. I personally like a mix of shows, but this year I am comedy heavy as I wanted choices to lift my spirit, but if you are into historical, drama, improv, clown, experimental, quirky, political, musical, drag, burlesque new works - you can design a Fringe that fits you like a glove!

I caught an 8 pm show last night - a new work and a musical called Regression by local company Cathexis Theatre. Cathexis has been producing new musicals at the Fringe for several years and this one explores the impact and inspiration of the past (particularly dead white men like Shakespeare, Van Gogh and Mozart) on what we create today. As a playwright, I connected to this struggle as I have often dreamed of writing something as significant as Shakespeare! The show occurs in Prior, a community obsessed with all things from the past, and three young artists (writer, musician, and painter played by Kara Adams, Pauline Miki, and Chrissie Palacios) must find inspiration from the afore-mentioned long-dead Shakespeare, Mozart and Van Gogh to create their work at the Annual Faire (or lose their funding!). I really enjoyed the music in the show. The three artists sound wonderful together and Kara Adams, whose story seems the most central, has a fantastic voice. The three 'saints of inspiration' (played by Colin Bluekens, Tom Blazejewicz, and Dave Froland) provide a lot of the humour to the show. I loved the line about Shakespeare (Bluekens) after he repeatedly demonstrated his misogyny, that he was "Progressive - for his time!" Other artistic struggles include wanting to be original, trying to escape repression and suffering perhaps too much for one's art. It was a fun show to start my Fringe!

What's Next? Today I will be seeing Bright Lights (Blarney Productions), ROB AND CHRIS (BOBBY+TINA)-A NEW MUSICAL (Plain Jane), and The Black Widow Gun Club (Whizzgiggling)! I think it will be a terrific afternoon!

IF YOU SEE ME ON THE GROUNDS - Tell me what you liked as I will once again be posting my "Word of Mouth" posts. I cannot get to every show so I have to rely on other people to tell me what's worth your Fringe dollars!