Orlando Fringe
Run, run as fast as you can to this years Orlando International Fringe Festival. Our first day at Fringe was nothing less that spectacular. Three of the four plays were great. This promises to be a stellar year. Bat Boy and Saint Kristie are done by local Orlandoians and are must see's. Zombie Girlfriend (also Orlandoians) is just a whole lot of fun. Here are my reviews from our first day:
Note--this is a Fringe Review--for Mature Audiences Only
Saint Kristie
An Orlando gem. Performed by a local cast and written by Douglas Huston. If you like Dogma, and the DaVinci code you'll love Saint Kristie.
Kristie meets GOD, Jesus, Mother Nature, Satan, the god of War etc. And man the god of war shows us everything he has. The show talks about religion and questions all of the religions and how/why they came to power and more importantly how they maintain their power and control. Very lighted hearted and not insulting to any, a great religious satire and a must see!!!!!
We're introduced to Kristie, a beautiful young actress-wanna be living in NYC in mid 2005. She meets an untimely, accidental death and finds herself in the Lounge of the Gods.
It takes Kristie a little while to come to grasp with the fact that she's not in heaven but merely is in an ascended state of pure energy (like in Stargate Sg1) and that what she sees is merely her perception of the way things should look. (Sort of like residual self image from the Matrix)
She at first can't believe she is talking to the one true GOD. Then she comes to learn that all of the gods hang out in the lounge obtaining their power from their earthly believers. GOD aka Jehovah is the most powerful of the gods as he has spent the last 2000 years consolidating power from Mother Nature, the Pagan gods and all women lower gods-like Saints. We also meet Jesus who is gay and having an affair with Satan aka Chaos. We learn that Aries/Mars (the god of war) is also in the lounge, as he is very popular and has been through out history. Especially since Jehovah has a fondness for using the god of war to keep earth in perpetual turmoil so that he can be the one GOD and maintain and enhance his own power.
Kristie befriends Mother Natare aka Gaea as well as Virgin Mary. She learns that GOD has taken most of Gaea's power after making a pact to allow women on earth some more autonomy. However, the deal is based on the fact that GOD cannot persecute women, and when GOD, upset, decides to do just that, Gaea is restored to full power. Kristie decides to work with Gaea and Mary to put more of the earthly power in the hands of women and take some of the focus off of Jehovah. And there is nothing he can do about it.
Wonderfully done, solid performances, and a beautiful god of war, a MUST SEE!! (and not just because of Robert Pate)
Cast:
Rachel Potter as Kristie was very cute and fit the role as the clueless newly born saint. Brad Haynes, a theatre reviewer for the Orlando Weekly gave an admirable, beliveable performance as GOD. Ralph Cahill worked as Satan but was a weak gay Stephan. Kevin Goldbach was a fun gay Jesus and fit the bill remarkably well. Kathy Sandidge played Gaea and just had the down to earth, mother nature type look-perfectly cast. And of course Robert Pate as war is just hot hot hot!!!!
*******************************
Bat Boy
This show was performed by the Winter Springs arts.org. The show is mainly comprised of young teens, but principle roles, like Meredith (Mom) and the Dad, were played by adults. Everyone in this company of players had a "knock you over" voice and belted out all of the songs. A little bit of Buffy and Angel mixed with just a smidge of West Side Story.
Bat Boy is the story of a young vampire boy who accidentally bites a town girl when his cave and his solitude are abruptly interupped by some kids. The local sheriff escorts bat boy off to the local vet and his family with the intention of putting bat boy down. Meredith and daughter Shelley take an immediate liking to the young boy and it's apparent that with a little kindness and some music, bat boy will become part of the family, like a pet. Mom bribes dad to keep bat boy alive, and bat boy's (now Edgar) transformation is underway. Things seem blissful until bat boy advances and learns to the point of wishing to become integrated into the town's society and take his place among the people. But fear, predudice and hipocracy turn bat boy's, the family's and the town's worlds upside down.
This show had it all, great story, great cast, great vocals, great songs, great ending. DO NOT MISS this show!!!!!
Cast:
www.winterspringsarts.org
This show was performed by Winter Springs Performing Arts. When you go to their website you will see an overview of this community theatre company. Wow, who knew that we had such talent right in our backyard. Apparently Bat Boy is the first adult/student collaboration, and boy it works.
********************************
Zombie Girlfriend
Part Chasing Amy, part Shaun of the Dead. A horror spoof that is totally worthy. Yes and done by another Orlando team, the folks at Doodie Humor. According to the program, this is writer Todd Feren's 4th Doodie show and there is a billing of 7 years at Fringe. Great Job, what fun this play was. I seem to remembering passing up their plays last year, but I'm glad I caught this one.
www.doodiehumor.com
The story is about Sam, his girlfriend Sara and his friend Parker. They seem to have a fun semi-normal, "doodie humor" relationship. While playing sex games, Sam accidentally stabs and kills Sarah with a sword, thanks to Parker jumping out and yelling Mcgilla Gorilla. After several blasts from fabric freshener, and several hours of oh-crap-what-do-we-do whining. Sara awakens no worse for ware but with a wicked hunger.....for people.
Sam declares his love for Sara and his desire to do whatever it takes to keep her from rotting away-that is after all what zombies do if they don't get a regular supply of fresh live human flesh. So...in order for Sara to feed her hunger, Sam must find all types of humans to feed on. Shy about sacrificing humans, Sam must rely on Parker, his ass hole but lovable friend who has no scruples whatsoever about feeding Sara hookers, pimps, security guards and ex-boyfriends. In fact when Parker himself turns zombie he realizes his dream of wiping out an entire town.
Sam and Sarah end up living happily ever after next to a jogging trail to be sure Sara has a regular supply of food.
Of particular note was the movie showing on screen off to the side, with a well done mime assault sequence. Also noteworthy-the oodles of squirting blood. Very cute. No live nudity which was surprising given the obvious worship of the female body (both from the play and their website), well except for the bare-breast shot on the movie screen, and the molded plaster bloody penis in the jar.
This was the quintessential fringe show, just off color enough to raise eyebrows, but fun and pretty main stream. Highly recommended.
Cast:
The director/writer, Todd Feren plays the ex-boyfriend Paul who can't vomit, but instead constantly dry heaves. Small part, so he obviously spent his time directing. I loved Sam, played by Patrick Flanagan, I though he was funny and cute, and did pretty well with his jokes. I can't say they were expertly delivered, but they certainly got a lot of laughs. Michele Feren as Sara was a bit flat, but she really didn't have a whole lot of lines. She was cute and somewhat witty so she gets kudos. I really liked Mike Aiello's performance as Parker. I can't help but wonder how much he really is like that character b/c he did "ass hole" so well, he was definitely someone you'd want to hang with.
*******************************
Out of Pocket
This team from Canada was quirky and told a little story about homelessness. Overall I thought it was way to drawn out, and they even ran out of time having to cut off the bows. I didn't keep their program so unfortunately I can't do cast credits here. Suffice it to say, it was miss-able.
Essentially this is the story of 2 couples (played by the same characters doing a quick costume shift) who live in a big city. One couple, clearly living fairly well off, they are having a baby but can't seem to find the connection with each other to make it all work. Doesn't help that he is having an affair.
Couple number 2, lives on the street below the pregnant couple. The story details the lives of these two homeless friends who knock over a cat food truck so they can have fancy feast for dinner. Kendra aka Tara has multiple personality disorder, and Tara has murderous tendencies. Lucky for us she trades her meds for two tickets to Florida.
Austin, the homeless man, freezes to death, and it does spark a tear, but really there isn't anything compelling about this play. It tries to be introspective, but I think it misses the mark.
Comments