fringe festival 2014 - review

2014

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REVIEWREVIEWREVIEW

ROCHESTERCITYNEWSPAPER.COM

September 18-27, 2014

Best of the Fest(so far)

REVIEWS & PHOTOS

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FRINGEFRINGEFRINGEFRINGEFRINGEThis has been a weekend filled with spectacle and discovery. The first weekend of the 3rd Annual First Niagara Rochester Fringe Festival has left City Newspaper’s critics satisfied, inspired, and just a little exhausted — and we hope our readers have had just as much fun as our team. From what we can tell, this year has found both audiences and performers really starting to settle into the term “fringe.” The performances are becoming a little more eccentric, audiences are a little more adventurous and more willing to take a chance on the unknown, and the shows have been truly one-of-a-kind. Where else are you going to see a play in the backseat of a car (“Dashboard Dramas”) before skipping across the Spiegelgarden to see two twisted clowns (20 Penny Circus) staple tarot cards to their stomachs? It was Friday night, though, that really showed what a fringe festival could offer.

Audiences packed Martin Luther King Jr. Park at Manhattan Square for Circus Orange. Fireworks, European-style circus arts, a giant tricycle blasting steam, and a gibberish-speaking clown named Foo. That’s the spectacle a fringe audience deserves — if you had a good view, as several in attendance have pointed out about the venue choice. The Rochester Fringe Festival has already grown to be one of the largest multi-arts festivals in New York State, and it is without a doubt still bursting with potential. This year has proven to hold innumerable wonderful gems — as many of our critics have written about — and it’s only the half-way point. So take a look through rochesterfringe.com for the latest updates on shows, and keep up with our daily reviews at rochestercitynewspaper.com.

BY JAKE CLAPP

(above, left to right) 20 Penny Circus, Silent Disco, and Canary in a Coal Mine.

PHOTOS BY JOHN SCHLIA

(on the cover) Circus Orange. PHOTO BY MARK CHAMBERLIN

DESIGN, ILLUSTRATION, AND LAYOUT BY MATT DETURCK

EDITED BY JAKE CLAPP

CITY 23rochestercitynewspaper.com F3

SPECIAL EVENT • Cirque du Fringe’s take on Mardi Gras played to a packed Spiegeltent on Thursday night, and was a thoroughly entertaining trip. Old-timey clowns Tyler and Carl were the informative and charmingly abrasive hosts of the 20 Penny Circus, providing humorous banter and historic tidbits about Fat Tuesday between daring acts by the Kenya Safari Acrobats, who delighted everyone with B-Boy-style acrobatics. The interior environment of the tent was darkly colorful and festive, and our group thought it could only be improved upon if somehow the whole circular space began spinning, carousel-like. The show was a combination of silliness and daring — at one point the clown-hosts enacted a unique form of sleight-of-hand, which entailed a slightly bewildered volunteer girl stapling Tarot cards to each of their bare bellies. The acrobatic troupe made efficient use of the tight, central, circular stage. The brevity of each energetic act made some of the more physically-tasking ones feel even more incredible. One beautifully built acrobat climbed and balanced precariously as he constructed a chair tower that reached for the big top. A cute, sassy dancer was there for the averted eyes of anyone too frightened for the acrobat. He later topped himself with another harrowing building-balancing act, this time on a layered tower, each of four levels

supported by four beer glasses, all of which on a shifting base of a rolling cylinder. After an energetic and stylish hat juggling act, this same diverting lady dancer later manifested, delightfully curvaceous in menswear, to tease the audience with a dramatic dance to “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World” while she proceeded to bend pieces of rebar over her pretty neck, her powerful hips, and even a piece she held in her clenched teeth. A very dance-y but seemingly straight-forward game of “limbo” got interesting when the ante was upped — or rather, lowered — by a foot each at every go. The act climaxed with the pole not six inches from the ground, and on fire. The show wrapped with a joyful session of singing, dancing, and intermittent acrobatics, with the rebar-queen forming the base of several reverse-pyramids of men. She might be literally the strongest woman I’ve ever seen in person, and her feats brought on an organic standing ovation before the end of the show was even announced.

BY REBECCA RAFFERTY

PHOTO BY JOHN SCHLIA

Cirque du Fringe will perform again on Wednesday, September 24, at 7:30 p.m.; Thursday, September 25, at 7 p.m.; Friday, September 26, at 7 p.m.; and Saturday, September 27, at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. $36. Appropriate for ages 13 and older.

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Reviews from the first 5 days

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City Newspaper’s cultural critics have been blogging reviews from the 2014 First Niagara Rochester Fringe Festival since it began on Thursday, September 18, and will continue through its conclusion on Saturday, September 27.

Below, you can find edited versions of some of those reviews, most of them covering shows that will continue into Fringe’s second week — several, though, are for shows whose runs have ended, but were too unique to not tell our readers about.

More information about the shows and venues for the coming week can be found at rochesterfringe.com. Be sure to head to rochestercitynewspaper.com every morning of the Fringe Festival for new reviews, photos, slideshows, and videos.

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THEATER • “Dead Dames Don’t Dance” at Geva — or anywhere else for that matter unless you count my minor obsession with the Black Dahlia doing her annual bisected Charleston in my fevered dreams. Geva’s Comedy Improv had me with the title, but I have to be honest, I was a little suspicious. I was afraid they were simply going to take the obvious aspect of film noir and mock their potential for contextual absurdity. My fears of cheap shots and low blows in the dark were sent on a deep six holiday as I laughed so hard I almost pissed myself. This troupe was f***king brilliant, the cat’s meow, the bees knees. If you don’t know the drill, here’s the skinny: just before the curtain, one of the troupe asks the audience for key points, like character background, setting, situation, and conflict. I shouted “Shrunken Head,” which proved to be a key plot point played expertly by a Styrofoam head. The troupe then acts it out, playing off of one another. Dialogue screw-ups and continuity errors were all part of the hilarity. It was all guffaws and giggles along with a little jaw dropped respect for the cast who swung at every pitch. Best show I’ve seen in recent years. BY FRANK DE BLASE

PHOTOS BY JOHN SCHLIA

“Dead Dames Don’t Dance” will be performed again on Friday, September 26, and Saturday, September 27, at Geva’s Nextstage. 10:30 p.m. $10. Appropriate for ages 18 and older.


dance/visual art • Friday night, I caught FuturPointe Dance and Carrie Mateosian in “Unbridled” which took place in the Spiegelgarden. This high octane production had a juicy voyeuristic vibe since we were basically seeing a live photo shoot of gorgeous, scantily-clad dancers moving sensually as fine arts photographer Mateosian snapped away, her shots projected immediately upon a large screen. The featured dancers, Liam Knighten and Melinda Phillips, were turned into other-worldly creatures via body art before Mateosian started capturing their images. First, Mateosian smoothed a white cream onto their bodies, then poured colored sand over them, the dancers assisting in the transformation. The audience gathered close, watching spellbound as first Phillips, then Knighten, seemed to revel in their new identities, losing themselves (and us) in exalting movement — crouching and rising, writhing and extending — exploring physicality and movement in their changed state. And, finally, moving together in skin-tingling connections. Guy Thorne, co-founder of the five-year-old company, played the role of commentator in this production. While his dancing was missed, he contributed humor and depth to what we were observing. “The play of textures — the sand versus the complexion of the body — helps create a dynamic image,” he said. Although this show featured less choreographed dancing than most of its contemporary-based performances, the show opened with six FuturPointe dancers

enthralling us with their loose-limbed rhythmic moves, sassy and sexy. They looked to be enjoying themselves too, perhaps even as much as we were enjoying watching them.

BY CASEY CARLSEN

PHOTO BY ASHLEIGH DESKINS

FuturPointe Dance and Carrie Mateosian will perform “Unbridled” again on Friday, September 26, and Saturday, September 27, in the Spiegelgarden. Both shows are at 8:30 p.m. and are free. All ages.

“Unbridled”

MUSIC • With his “Solo Drum Solo” concert, Eastman School of Music alum Aaron Staebell explains that he wanted to break away from the type of music traditionally played on the drums, and in the process prove how versatile a simple drum set can be. The musician put a call out for new musical compositions specifically for the drums, and ended up receiving works from composers from around the world. As advertised, the show is “just drums,” and admittedly, hearing the percussion isolated from its more melodic counterparts took some getting used to; at the halfway point of the hour-long concert, Staebell himself congratulated us for making it that far and still sticking around. I was thankful that “Heat Stroke,” the awesome final piece of the set, mixed things up by incorporating an electronic backing track, though Staebell’s talent and hugely likable stage presence consistently kept things rolling.

BY ADAM LUBITOW

PHOTO BY MATT DETURCK

SOLO

SOLODRUM


SPECIAL EVENT • Before I dive into my thoughts on Circus Orange’s “Tricycle,” I feel like I should give a quick disclaimer: Given the performance’s scope, the large crowd, and the layout of Manhattan Square, there were parts of the performance that were just impossible to see from my position. I welcome readers to fill in some of the details and tell us about their perspective of the show. In all earnestness, Circus Orange’s performance of “Tricycle” was an incredible spectacle. The Ontario-based group made its New York State premiere at Friday on the Fringe by pushing an 18-foot-tall tricycle through a packed crowd, shooting flames and fighting monsters along the way, before lifting a human-powered wheel into the air for a powerful fireworks finale. With European-style circus arts, pyrotechnics and fire acts, a little industrialism, and a lot of surrealist whimsy, “Tricycle” could have been a Terry Gilliam fever dream. It is largely experimental, but “Tricycle” has something of a narrative: Foo has been charged with transporting

the power of Light back to the people. He mounts his tricycle, with Light stored within the wheel, and calls out — using a combination of French, gibberish, and some random English words — to his helpers to join him. Along the way they are joined by acrobatic fire-bearers, monsters subdued by Foo, and the Fire Queen, and upon reaching its destination, Light is lifted into the sky to shine over the audience. By weaving the tricycle through the crowd, Circus Orange made an interactive, unique experience. The crowd was up close, could feel the heat — especially during one fire-heavy routine where a structure was lit — and be more like participants, rather than just observers. It must have taken careful planning, but Circus Orange explored the Manhattan Square space: the tricycle wound from one side of the park to the other, with a fireball show occurring over the grass, or a graceful dance routine taking place down in the bowl. Given the position, experiences of the show could have been drastically different.

On paper, that sounds like a great performance idea, but from an audience standpoint… (Thus my disclaimer.) There were stretches of “Tricycle” that the action just wasn’t visible — whether because of a large shifting crowd, elevation, or placement. Given the scope of the performance, though, that may just be the nature of the beast. For any missed tricycle moments, the finale more than made up for it. The well-timed fireworks and spinning fire wheel high above the crowd was entrancing — especially if you paid attention to the acrobat in the middle, powering the wheel with a dream-like slow-motion run and flips. Circus Orange is the type of group that adds the unique spectacle to fringe festivals — bringing epic-in-scope shows that you rarely get anywhere else. I look forward to seeing the next fever dream.

BY JAKE CLAPP

PHOTOS BY JOHN SCHLIA,

MARK CHAMBERLIN, AND

ASHLEIGH DESKINS

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FILM • What better way to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon than in a Japanese madhouse? That is the setting for “Kurutta Ippeji,” or “A Page of Madness,” a recently discovered silent film from 1926 by the Japanese director Teinosuke Kinugasa. It was presented on September 21 in the Eastman School of Music’s Kilbourn Hall with a live percussion accompaniment composed by William Cahn and performed by ensemble including the composer, his wife Ruth Cahn, Eastman professors John Beck and Michael Burritt, and RPO percussionist Brian Stotz. Part realistic and part hallucinatory, the hour-long film is still a wild, haunting ride; Cahn said beforehand that it takes 10 viewings to fully understand it, and I believe him. The music was extremely effective and beautifully integrated with the film; hearing this huge percussion band positively erupt during two of the film’s violent scenes was quite an experience. “A Page of Madness” was only performed once at the Fringe Festival, but check it out if it shows up here again.

BY DAVID RAYMOND

PHOTO BY MARK CHAMBERLIN

THEATER • Rochester Latino Theatre Company’s “W.A.C. Iraq” takes a complicated subject and presents it in a simple, powerful way. This tribute to Latina women in the Armed Forces who have served in Iraq honors their contributions, details their sacrifices, and asks some disturbing questions about a country that gives poor women opportunities in the military and often takes them away when they return from service. The format is a dialogue between a distraught G.I. (Jay O’Leary) and a kindly operator in a military base call center (Denise Herrera), interrupted by a monologue from a proudly patriotic young Latina soldier (Wednesday Mann), and concluded with a powerful, paradoxical monologue accompanying pictures of Latina soldiers in Iraq. It may not sound like much on paper, but it is affecting and effectively performed, particularly by O’Leary.

BY DAVID RAYMOND

PHOTO BY MARK CHAMBERLIN

The Rochester Latino Theatre Company will perform “W.A.C. Iraq” again on Saturday, September 27, at RAPA. 6 p.m. $15. All ages.

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PUSH Physical Theatre performs again Saturday, September 27, at Kilbourn Hall. 7 p.m. $16. All ages.

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DANCE • PUSH Physical Theatre is always entertaining, but it has deep ideas to communicate as well. Through movement, of course. The company’s new piece, “Strangers,” is still a work in progress. But judging from the excerpt the award-winning, Rochester-based group premiered at Fringe Festival on Saturday afternoon, it is going to be a work of powerful impact. I was a bit distracted trying to discern the voice-over of a child intoning (I think) “Once I was there. I wasn’t there. And I am really there.” But it seemed integral to the theme of the piece: isolation. The solitude of existence. Our lack of real connection. On stage, PUSH co-founder, Heather Stevenson and her partner, Avi Pryntz-Nadworny, move through their daily routine, but even though they are in intimate physical contact, always touching, they seem to lack any deeper connection or awareness of each other. They brush their teeth in unison and Stevenson reclines over her partner’s body to spit, but doesn’t really even acknowledge his presence. Sad — and definitely something to think about. Pryntz-Nadworny developed the concept and a good deal of the choreography for this one.

“The Visit” is also a call for awareness, compassion and involvement. Stevenson portrays an old woman with Parkinson’s, alone in her world but imagining entertaining a visitor. Stevenson is brilliant in her depiction of both advanced age and the ravages of this particular disease. She moves slowly, bent and shaking, sometimes confused-seeming. The audience reacted with wild clapping when this one ended. I must say, however, that I enjoyed “Natural World” the most. Perhaps because it’s the most fantastical, but also, in some ways, the most convincing. The dancers appear other than human in this piece. Froglike is probably the closest I can come to describing their movements and mannerisms. Jonathan Lowery is especially compelling; his leap-frogging movements appear both natural and effortless. Darren Stevenson dances in this piece as well, bringing the hilarity of his miming to the struggle for supremacy between these creatures. The program ended with the full-house giving PUSH yet another deserved standing ovation.

BY CASEY CARLSEN

PHOTO BY JOHN SCHLIA

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REVIEWS continued on page F11


Best ActorStephen Cena in “Coffee With God” (Written by Kal Wagenheim; directed by Daine Mashia. At Writers & Books)

Best ActressJay O’Leary in “W.A.C. Iraq” (The Rochester Latino Theatre Company, at RAPA)

Best Broadway BeltingJanine Mercandettie and Carl Del Buono in “The Last Five Years” (JCC CenterStage, at The TheatreROCS Stage at Xerox Auditorium)

Best New ChoreographerEran Hanlon (“Germination” with Hanlon Dance & Company, RIT, at Gallery r)

Most Monochromatic“Dead Dames Don’t Dance” (Geva Comedy Improv, at Geva Theatre Nextstage)

Creepiest Hour Spent“A Page of Madness” (With music by Bill Cahn, at Kilbourn Hall)

Best PartneringFuturPointe Dance and Carrie Mateosian: “Unbridled” (At the Spiegelgarden)

Most Emotional Use of Technology“01X” (Sound ExChange, at Geva Theatre Nextstage)

Best Call to Awareness“My Name is Rachel Corrie” (Ashley Malloy and Josh Perlstein, at MuCCC)

Second Best Use For the Backseat“Dashboard Dramas” (Written by Abby DeVuyst and Kerry Young; directed by Patricia Lewis. At the Spiegelgarden)

Strangest Experience Everyone Should TryTaking the headphones off at Silent Disco (At the Spiegeltent)

Best Spectacular SpectacleCircus Orange’s “Tricycle” (At Martin Luther King Jr. Park at Manhattan Square)

The City Newspaper cultural critics have been hard at work covering the first weekend of the Rochester Fringe Festival — each night, returning home exhausted to send in their reviews and to rave about their favorite shows. Of those shows, we’ve selected a few performers or aspects that we found to deserve special mention. Here is a list of what our critics found to be the stand-out moments of the 2014 Rochester Fringe Festival thus far. For more on each of these selections, see the full reviews on rochestercitynewspaper.com. And to share your own thoughts with us, leave a comment online.

[ AWARDS ] BY CITY NEWSPAPER ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT STAFF

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THEATER • Jason Robert Brown’s “The Last Five Years” is one of the most-produced recent musicals, and it’s not difficult to see why: it’s ingenious, extremely musical and emotional, and offers a cast of only two, although the two have roles that most younger singing actors would kill for. The pair play Brown — here named Jamie — and his first wife Cathy. In this recent JCC Centerstage production revived for the Fringe Festival, they’re played splendidly by Carl Del Buono and Janine Mercandetti. The show is a song cycle about their five-year long marriage, which begins with high hopes but is derailed when Jamie’s writing career takes off and Cathy’s acting career is permanently stalled.

(By the way, he’s Jewish and she is, to quote one of the songs, a “shiksa goddess.”) The ingenuity is in the way Brown tells the story: husband and wife alternate, with the husband starting at the beginning and moving to the bitter end, while the wife starts with their divorce and ends at the beginning of their relationship, happy and hopeful. Brown’s songs run the gamut from laugh-filled to lacerating, and Del Buono and Mercandetti act and sing the hell out of them. “The Last Five Years” would be even more powerful in a smaller venue than Xerox Auditorium, but it would be a highlight of the Fringe Festival no matter where it was playing.

BY DAVID RAYMOND

PHOTOS BY MATT DETURCK

“The Last Five Years” will be performed again on Saturday, September 27, at The TheatreROCS Stage at Xerox Auditorium. 9 p.m. $16. All ages.

REVIEWS

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Performance reviews, photos, and new blogs EVERY DAYof the festival at ROCHESTERCITYNEWSPAPER.COM

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