Word of Mouth - Monday, August 15 - Fringe 2022

We're starting to get a few repeats! That's awesome! If you still aren't sure what to see at the Fringe this year, this list was curated by asking random strangers (and some folks that although they might be a bit strange, I would actually call them friends) who I met in line-ups and asking them what they've seen that I should go check out! 

Juliet: a Revenge comedy

The Flying Detective 

The Ladies of Jazz

The Dreamer's Cantata

Ten (The Show)

Dirk Darrow: Magic of Future Past

Blueberries are Assholes

SqueezeBox Cabaret: Divas

Disney Delusion

Suor Angelica

Josie and Grace

Conjoined

Marv and Berry

A Life, with Surprises (and Songs)

Iago vs Hamlet

Horseface

Underbelly

Crack in the Mirror

Ghouls, Ghouls, Ghouls

Chase Padgett: Lucky Break

Salsa Lesson

Generic Male: Just What We Need Another Show About Men

As always, if you have other recommendations, please feel free to add them to the comments! I'm working my way through a few of these and hope you can find some cool stuff to see from this list OR use the Fringe's magic Eight Ball to help you choose!

Tickets can be purchased online HERE. 

Word of Mouth - Sunday, August 14 2022 - Destination Fringe!

Another Fringe Day, another list of shows that were recommended to me by people I chatted with in lines! I talked to a wide demographic today, from 14 years to 60+ years, first time fringers and long-time fringers, and I think that's reflected in the recommendations I received! 

Remember, if you have a Word of Mouth recommendation (shows you have seen that you really liked!) pop it in the comments!

Chase Padgett: Lucky Break
The Walk in the Snow: The True Story of Lise Meitner
For Science
Ally Anne
Shot in the Dark
Hacking and Slashing
Butcher
Juliet: A Revenge Comedy
The Flying Detective
Eleanor's Story: An American Girl In Hitler's Germany
Jesus Teaches Us Things
Ride the Cyclone
Thundercats
Drag Me to the Opera
Epidermis Circus

I'm off to see three more shows today! If you want tickets to any of the above, you can purchase them HERE. Some of these are selling out and selling fast so don't delay (for example, a friend was going to join me for Ride the Cyclone last night but they waited to buy and it was sold out so they couldn't join me.)

Word of Mouth - Saturday, August 13th! Happy Fringing!

Here's the low-down on my Word of Mouth recommendations from Saturday, August 13th! I was running around quite a bit so I didn't get to have as many line-up chats as I would have liked. Please feel feel to put your Word of Mouth recommendations in the comments! 

Josie and Grace
Queer Music History: A Concert
Blueberries are Assholes
Suor Angelica
Jesus Teaches Us Things 
For Science
Six Chick Flicks or a Legally Blonde Pretty Woman Dirty Danced on the Beaches while writing a Notebook on the Titanic
Epidermis Circus
Reyna: The Story of a Zapoteca Queen
Are you lovin' it?
Drag Me to the Opera
Crack in the Mirror
Happy as Larry
Plays by Bots

You can get all your Fringe tickets here: LINK

And a note: You will get electronic tickets if you can't make it to a ticket booth for a physical ticket! That's nice when you are going to something at a BYOV! 

Edmonton Fringe: First Two Days - No Duds yet!

I've caught five shows so far - here are my super quick reactions!

Fags in Space - So very cute and adorable. Was happy to get ALL the nerd jokes, even the Doctor Who ones! This was a nice gentle and humorous rom-com about two young men who are destined to be together. 

Ghouls, Ghouls, Ghouls - A fine mix of ghost stories and burlesque! Send in the Girls (or Ghouls, in this case) delivers for the burlesque fans out there with a spooky theme! 

Conjoined - Great songs and singing in this show about conjoined twins who find challenges in being together all the time. A cool premise with a bit a of a twist ending! Josh Travnik is definitely one to watch! 

White Guy Onstage Talking - I can't describe the show, but my friend said, "This was what I thought Fringe shows would be, before I saw an actual Fringe show!" I laughed so hard and I am betting that it will be hard to top the amount of laughter. It's weird and ridiculous and not what you expect... 

Charlie and the Siberian Monkey Goddess - A very cool, solid little play about "Charlie Chaplin" and a psychiatrist... or are they? Clever script with an interesting twist at the end. 

Destination Fringe - Word of Mouth Recommendations for the first two days!

It's just the beginning so people haven't seen a lot of shows yet, but here is my first Word of Mouth post for the 2022 Fringe (Isn't it great to be back!!?!?):

Generic Male: Just What We Need Another Show About Men
Josie and Grace
Epidermis Circus
Ride the Cyclone
White Guy Onstage Talking
Walter.
Crack in the Mirror

Like, I said, it's early so my list is short. I will be in 5 line ups today and will hopefully get a lot more Word of Mouth recommendations for you all! 

Understudies... they get the job done! Clue at the Citadel Theatre and a return visit to Hamilton with Broadway Across Canada!

I had a terrific two-city theatre weekend! After seeing Hamilton in Edmonton earlier this month, I tried for and won lucky lottery tickets to see the show again in Calgary. This meant a quick road trip down south with Gibson on Saturday to catch the evening show and a quicker return home because I had plans to see Clue with my Mom at the Citadel theatre in Edmonton on Sunday afternoon! Road routes were carefully planned because of the Pope's visit and it's many road closures. My article title refers to Understudies and both these experiences speak to the power and incredible skill of understudies. 

First, Hamilton! It was so nice to see the show again and seeing it from the front row was amazing. It was such a treat to see the show up close. Gibson (due to his music background) was thrilled to be able to watch the conductor at certain points in the show. I loved the show when I saw it first but this second viewing proved to me that it is the kind of show you can see multiple times and still be engaged and thrilled. We were also pleased to see two different performers in key roles. Between the two shows we saw different Aaron Burrs (Donald Webber Jr. and Ellis C. Dawson III) and Angelica Schuylers (Marja Harmon and Charlotte Mary Wen). These four performers were all excellent and between Gibson and I we each had different favourites (I won't say who liked who better) but above-all we felt that it was so awesome to see the show with different casts, particularly casts of this caliber, as it made us engage with the show differently and appreciate it even more. I truly appreciate that with a show like this, which is so specific, that the actors were allowed to bring themselves into the roles and not merely recreate the well-known performances of the originators. Regardless, it makes me confident that you will see a terrific show regardless of who in this company is onstage on any given night. 

After arriving home on Sunday morning at 11:55 a.m. I quickly changed and picked up my Mom to take her to Clue at the Citadel Theatre. In the pre-show announcement we were informed that the actor playing Mr. Green was unable to perform and that the Assistant Director Corben Kushneryk would be filling in and that he might have to use a script on occasion. Well, it was a riot! It took me a few minute to get into it (probably because of the driving) but once all the players were assembled it took off with a bang! The show was well cast and director Nancy McAlear did a fabulous job keeping the hi-jinks high! The Set (Designer Scott Reid) is an amazing puzzle box and I was delighted by it! I have to mention the outstanding job done by Kushneryk! It's hard to believe that he was just filling in as he was incredible in a very physical role! It was clear to see during the bows that the rest of the audience agreed! It was also delightful to see John Ullyatt as Wadsworth as his was also a tremendously funny and physical role. But really the whole cast worked together so well - with precision looks and choreography. They were a well-oiled machine and it was so fun to laugh so much! I highly recommend checking out this show!

Clue runs at the Citadel in the Shoctor Theatre until August 7th. Tickets range from $30.00 to $123.00 and are available here.

Theatre Exceeding Expectations - Hamilton and The Realistic Joneses

This past week I saw two excellent theatrical productions, both of which I was looking forward to for very different reasons, and both of which exceeded my expectations wonderfully! 

Like many of you, I saw Hamilton this weekend as part of the Broadway Across Canada tour. Over the past few years I had become quite familiar with the soundtrack (like most musical theatre nerds) and had watched the recording of the Broadway show on Disney+ but was so happy to finally see it live in a theatre. It definitely exceeded my expectations. You are never quite sure of that, but it was marvelously delivered. I know that friends of mine who saw it in the first week mentioned some sound glitches, but they clearly got that all worked out by the time I saw it on Sunday afternoon. I laughed, I resisted singing along (so as to not annoy those sitting around me), I leaned in and I cried. The crying caught me off guard but that is the magic of live theatre - it moves you in ways that a recording will never do. 

I was so happy to have taken my music-nerd son and one of his friends. They both knew the show well from the soundtrack and his delight and surprise at seeing the show was terrific to witness. He grabbed me at one point early on, with an excited, "Mom, I've never heard the scene change transition music before!"  If you are thinking that the Disney+ version was enough, I strongly encourage you to reconsider. While that is one of the best recordings of a live show I have seen, for me, it was definitely worth it to be in the room where it really happens! 

I did try to win more tickets via the online lottery so that I could get to see it again, but to no avail. I'm entered in the lottery for some of the Calgary dates so perhaps there will be a road trip in my future!

Hamilton runs to Sunday, July 10th at the Jubilee Auditorium. However, after that the tour moves on to Calgary so if you are also up to a road trip, I think it will definitely be worth it! Tickets range from $59 to $194. I encourage you all to enter the lottery for Calgary tickets via the Hamilton app. I know several people who lucked out in Edmonton and saw the show from from amazing seats! 

The other show I saw this week was very different, but also extremely satisfying. I took in The Realistic Joneses at Walterdale Theatre last night and it was simply terrific. I'd been looking forward to seeing this show since the moment it was announced. I had seen a production of the play a few years ago and was delighted by the very quirky script which at the time I called "unexpectedly and unpredictably funny". I wondered if I would have the same reaction having seen an excellent production of it before and I am very glad to say that I did. A different, but equally skilled cast, captured the four very real characters that make up the neighboring Joneses. The humour is handled with subtlety and surprise and for much of the first act I found myself laughing, caught off-guard by the dry wit. Director John Anderson and his cast of four (Zack Siezmagraff, Colleen Allen, Christoff Lundgren, and Brooke Hodgson) have created a real world tilted askew by illness and bravery, and infused with humour and hope. 

The Realistic Joneses runs at Walterdale Theatre until July 16th. Tickets are $25 and are available here. There are also some special nights with deals at the door - Tonight (Thursday, July 7) is 2 for 1 Night (bring a friend!) and Wednesday, July 13th is a Pay-What-You-Will Night. 

Photo Credit (The Realistic Joneses): Scott Henderson, Henderson Images