FringeNYC 2014

[Taryn]

Posted: 8/7/14 at 11:45am

What are people excited for this year? What looks awesome? I have a few shows with friends involved -- The Ultimate Stimulus, Quiet Peninsula -- but I'm trolling for more recommendations!

[Taryn]

Posted: 8/9/14 at 2:57pm

I saw The Seven Seductions of Taylor Swift last night on the recommendation of a friend in LA who saw it out there and worked on a film with the actor. Pretty fun time, although I found myself wanting just a little more vocal differentiation between the different characters. (It's a series of monologues from one actor.) He had a very particular vocal style that was sometimes a little odd. But overall, a pretty fun time. I was pleasantly surprised to see it poke more fun at the guys than at Taylor, which isn't what I expected. The Cory Monteith scene was a particular standout; I was very nervous when it started for the obvious reasons of his death, but it was actually handled really sensitively.

Seeing Whiskey Jack tonight.

[Timmer]

Posted: 8/10/14 at 12:34am

How does a production get into the Fringe Festival?

[Taryn]

Posted: 8/10/14 at 12:59am

You apply and there's a big selection process.

[Timmer]

Posted: 8/10/14 at 1:20am

So how do you apply?

Do they like short plays?

[Taryn]

Posted: 8/10/14 at 1:22am

They've got the application from this year up on their site still for reference at http://fringenyc.org/index.php/about-us/fringenyc-application. I imagine they'll probably open applications for 2015 up sometime in the fall.

I see plenty of listings for short shows, so I imagine they like them okay?

[uncageg]

Posted: 8/10/14 at 3:29pm

I am seeing Juggalicious on the 20th. A friend is in it.

[macnyc]

Posted: 8/10/14 at 5:22pm

Just got back from I'll Say She Is, and I really enjoyed it. It's a recreation of the Marx Brother's first Broadway show, which had been largely lost. Filling in the lost parts has been a labor of love for the actor who portrays Groucho, Noah Diamond, and he is terrific. The other performances varied in quality, but it's really a fun romp, especially for Marx Brothers fans. The venue is beautiful, and the place was packed today, completely sold out. The show featured scantily clad chorus girls, a worthy Margaret Dumont portrayal, and a fun Harpo.

Edited to add: The beautiful venue is the newly renovated Sheen Center on Bleecker Street, specifically the Loretto Auditorium. What a nice facility! There's a black-box theater in there too.

Updated On: 8/11/14 at 05:22 PM

[veronicamae]

Posted: 8/10/14 at 6:15pm

One of my friends is a playwright for The 8th Fold. I don't know mucha bout it, but I do wish I could see it.

[Timmer]

Posted: 8/10/14 at 8:00pm

Thank you, Taryn.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 8/10/14 at 9:28pm

Which venue? Curious to know which one was gorgeous.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 8/11/14 at 12:06am

This looks fun! I gotta pick some stuff to see

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 8/11/14 at 12:07am

Some of these shows are much better than anything currently on Broadway

[JackiesBroJoe]

Posted: 8/11/14 at 2:29pm

Agreed, muscle. I've seen three so far (I usually try to get 9 or 10 in). The best has been a really strong and inventive play called "Things I Left On Long Island." Will report on more soon.

[Taryn]

Posted: 8/11/14 at 3:04pm

Unfortunately I can't recommend Whiskey Jack, despite the sold-out crowd and a few folks giving a standing O at the end. Really fell short for me.

[Kad]

Posted: 8/11/14 at 3:23pm

I'll Say She Is is recommendable as a curio and for Noah Diamond's Groucho... otherwise, I thought the ensemble was largely amateurish, and not helped by poor direction. The non-Marx elements seemed under rehearsed.

I quite liked Vestments of the Gods, though. The story is a bit preachy, but the cast is top-notch.

Updated On: 8/11/14 at 03:23 PM

[RippedMan]

Posted: 8/11/14 at 4:23pm

Kad, can you expound on Gods? I have a few friends in the cast, but I'm out of town and would love to hear what it's about.

[macnyc]

Posted: 8/11/14 at 5:27pm

The venue that I liked so much is the Sheen Center on Bleecker, and I added that info to my message above. Kad, alas, I have to agree with you about I'll Say She Is. The performances varied quite a bit, but the show is worth seeing for Diamond as Groucho.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 8/12/14 at 1:28am

Gotcha. Never heard of the Sheen Center. Was trying to find pictures of the stage. Oh well.

[mattbrown2]

Posted: 8/12/14 at 2:11am

The Sheen Center is stunning. It's a great venue. The 8th Fold is definitely one to check out among the several others in that venue.

[KathyNYC2]

Posted: 8/12/14 at 3:10am

I am seeing Bohemian Valentine later today...

[Kad]

Posted: 8/12/14 at 8:14am

The Sheen Center really is beautiful! The larger space isn't ideal for theatre (it's more of an auditorium), but the black box space is great.

Vestments of the Gods is an adaptation of Antigone, set in a grade school (specifically a 6th grade class) during Halloween. It deals with bullying, censorship, and other similar social issues. It's not a musical, but the Greek chorus (the costumed schoolkids) do sing songs.

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 8/13/14 at 6:39pm

I had the displeasure of seeing GENERATION ME this week. There is absolutely nothing to recommend. The book is godawful, the songs were bad 13 rip-offs (and I liked 13), the acting was atrocious and the sound couldn't have been worse. The space is nice enough but the stage is extremely high and the seating is barely raked.

The show starts off with Milo killing himself but you don't know why and you don't really care. We then have to suffer through all these high school kids dealing with his death and again we don't care. Suicide is such an easy trope and you're just automatically supposed to feel bad. Well it didn't work. It's even worse because Milo keeps showing up as either a ghost or in a flashback even though you never know which it is. Act 1 ends with a food fight and I was very anxious that food would fly into the audience (it thankfully never did). I couldn't say what happened in Act 2 because that was all I could suffer through.

I understand that this is a theatre festival but the sound was HORRIBLE. The kids were mic'ed but I think maybe one girl's mic worked and whenever she spoke it was a thousand times louder than anyone else. I honestly don't know why mics were needed in such a small space.

Another aspect I found horribly distracting was the hideous hairstyling. It was like these kids were all cave people that only had access to sharp rocks to cut and style their hair.

STAY AWAY FROM GENERATION ME!

Updated On: 8/17/14 at 06:39 PM

[Taryn]

Posted: 8/18/14 at 10:50pm

Coming back to the thread to report that Quiet Peninsula was really lovely. Tense and well-acted.

[Timmer]

Posted: 8/19/14 at 5:51pm

I'll Say She Is!