The Happiest Medium » All My Children

Final Schedule Announced for Fringe Encore Series

Karen Tortora-Lee — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 20:23:13 +0000

There’s one more chance to see some of the most exciting Fringe Shows of the 2012 festival! Beginning September 7th, the FringeNYC Encore Series will present 19 “Best of The Festival” shows in rotating repertory at SoHo Playhouse and The Huron Club (both located at 15 Vandam Street between 6th Avenue & Varick) as well as at The Players Theater (115 MacDougal Street between Bleecker and Houston Streets). Tickets are $18, available at 212-691-1555 or www.SohoPlayhouse.com
Below is the complete list – see which ones we reviewed to help you decide which show you’ll see … or see them all!

ALL MY CHILDREN
Writer: Matt Smith / Director: Bret Fetzer.
Max Poth takes “what-might-have-been” to extremes. He tracks down the now-grown children of long-ago girlfriends, and tells them he’s their real father (knowing that he’s not). A strange lark takes on a life of its own.
Huron Club. 9/12 at 8PM; 9/14 at 7PM; 9/16 at 5PM; 9/17 at 8PM

What we said: ” …this is sophisticated, sharp, and wise comedy, delivered by an actor at the top of his game. Miss it and you lose.” [read the full review by Geoffrey Paddy Johnson]

BELOW
Writer: Tess Howsam / Director: Karyn Joy DeYoung.
“Something’s dead.” Driven into a world of uncertainty, disease, and darkness, a group of survivors dwelling beneath an abandoned toxic metropolis are suddenly threatened by the arrival of a child-like stranger. Will they survive this new assault?
SoHo Playhouse. 9/8 at 8PM; 9/15 at 3PM; 9/23 at 8PM; 9/29 at 8PM

CANON IN D MINOR*
Writer: Jessica Liadsky / Director: Rachel Slaven.
Beth is lost after her best friend takes her own life in their final year of school. She glides the bow of her violin through the music that connected them in this tender and poetic story of friendship and forgiveness.
SoHo Playhouse. 9/15 at 8PM; 9/19 at 8PM; 9/27 at 7PM; 9/29 at 5PM; 9/30 at 5PM.

DANNY VISCONTI IS HILL-BENT: MY NIGHT WITH HILLARY CLINTON
Writer: Danny Visconti with Adam Wachter / Director: Connor Gallagher.
Hillary Rodham Clinton is Danny Visconti’s idol. After a chance meeting with the Secretary of State, Danny is immediately sucked into a scandalous night of booze, strippers, and prank-calling Michele Bachmann…all set to music!!
Huron Club. 9/10 at 8PM; 9/15 at 5PM; 9/27 at 7PM; 9/29 at 3PM; 9/30 at 8PM.

5 LESBIANS EATING A QUICHE*
Writer: Evan Linder and Andrew Hobgood / Director: Sarah Gitenstein.

It’s 1956 and the Susan B. Anthony Society for the Sisters of Gertrude Stein are having their annual quiche breakfast. Will they be able to keep their cool when Communists threaten their idyllic town? “Sharp, smart and hysterically funny.” – Time Out Chicago.
SoHo Playhouse. 9/12 at 9:30PM; 9/23 at 5PM; 9/25 @ 8PM; 9/27 at 9PM; 9/28 at 9PM; 9/30 @ 8PM.

GAY CAMP*

Writer: Philip Mutz and Susan-Kate Heaney / Director: Phillip Fazio.
It’s gay. It’s camp. It’s Gay Camp! ‘Confused’ campers Josh and Anton are sent to be ‘cured’ at Camp Acceptance. Prepare for a deliciously evil headmaster, gay Twister, Santorum surprises, and more innuendos than you can shake a dildo at!
The Players Theatre. 9/21 at 10PM; 9/22 at 10PM; 9/27 at 10PM; 9/28 at 10PM.

HAVE I GOT A GIRL FOR YOU*
Writer: Josh Mesnik / Director: Sara Sahin.
How does a newly sober gay musical theatre actor get his life on track? He gets a job running a female escort agency of course! The hilarious true story of the most unlikely new member in the oldest profession.
The Players Theatre. 9/13 at 10PM; 9/14 at 10PM; 9/15 at 7:30PM; 9/21 at 7:30PM; 9/22 at 7:30PM.

INDEPENDENTS*
Writer: Marina Keegan, Music by Stephen Feigenbaum, Lyrics by Mark Sonnenblick / Director: Charlie Polinger.
Strapped for cash, burnout crewmembers of an antique tallship become Revolutionary War reenactors. Armed with a less-than-potent combination of Wikipedia and marijuana, they face disaster in this folk musical about friendship, adulthood, and whatever those three-cornered-hats are called.
SoHo Playhouse. 9/7 at 7PM; 9/8 at 5PM; 9/11 at 8PM; 9/14 at 9PM; 9/18 at 8PM; 9/21 at 7PM.

LENNON IN DENMARK
Writer: Vibeke Hastrup & Frede Gulbrandsen / Director: Frede Gulbrandsen.
An encounter between a young woman and John Lennon in a remote part of Denmark forever changes her life. But for the better? A journey of love, forgiveness, being stuck and letting go. It’s never too late to begin again.
Huron Club. 9/15 at 3PM; 9/16 at 8PM; 9/18 at 8PM; 9/20 at 7PM

MAHMOUD*
Writer: Tara Grammy and Tom Arthur Davis / Director: Tom Arthur Davis.
One Iranian actress, three characters: an Iranian engineer-cum-taxi driver, a fabulously gay Spaniard, and a pre-teen Iranian-Canadian girl. Their stories intertwine in unexpected ways in this personal and hilarious story. Learn more about Iranians, and maybe even yourself.
Huron Club. 9/22 at 8PM; 9/23 at 3PM; 9/25 at 8PM; 9/29 at 5PM; 9/30 at 5PM.

What we said: ”The stories begin to draw together and broader themes of cultural displacement, immigration, racism, and homophobia come into focus under a wider banner of -’what price personal liberty?’ ” [read the full review by Geoffrey Paddy Johnson]

NIGHTFALL ON MIRANGA ISLAND

Writer: Justin Moran and Jonathan Roufaeal, Music by Adam and Matt Podd / Director: Justin Moran, Music Direction: Adam and Matt Podd.
Somewhere off the coast of Guatemala: our swashbuckling hero, Declan Bruntfodder, has finally tracked the legendary pirate captain Vicious Martin LaFoe to his hideout on the lawless Miranga Island in a quest to find his sister kidnapped ten years ago.
The Players Theatre. 9/8 at 7:30PM; 9/13 at 7:30PM; 9/15 at 10PM; 9/28 at 7:30PM; 9/29 at 7:30PM

PIECES*

Writer: Chris Phillips / Director: Brian Zimmer
When an openly gay Hollywood power player is brutally murdered, his body parts distributed around the city of Beverly Hills, Los Angeles Public Defender Rory Dennis is assigned the defense of Shane Holloway, the damaged young man accused of the crime. While unlocking Shane’s past, Rory is forced to confront his own scorching ambivalence about his place in a community to which he’s lost almost all connection.
SoHo Playhouse. 9/7 at 9:30PM; 9/9 at 8PM; 9/12 at 8PM; 9/13 at 7PM; 9/16 at 8PM; 9/17 at 8PM.

What we said: ” … Pieces works as entertainment and as drama with teeth. Go, for pity’s sake, while you can. You should consider yourself lucky to be so bitten.” [Read the full r eview by Geoffrey Paddy Johnson]

PULP SHAKESPEARE*
Writer: Ben Tallen, Aaron Greer, Brian Watson-Jones &Jordan Monsell / Director: Jordan Monsell
“This lively and imaginative re-invention” (LA Weekly) imagines what it might be like had the cult film “Pulp Fiction” been written by William Shakespeare. Set in Elizabethan England, Pulp Shakespeare weaves the story of a pair of murderers, their boss’s alluring wife, and a desperate knight, all brought to life by a cast of acclaimed Los Angeles Shakespearean actors.
SoHo Playhouse. 9/19 at 8PM, 9/20 at 9PM, 9/22 at 3PM, 9/24 at 8PM, and 9/26 at 8PM.

What we said: ” … between the smooth directing skills, the flawless cast, and a darn good script, Pulp Shakespeare was hilariously engaging, and made me want to revisit the movie. “ [read the full review by Linnea Covington]

RATED M FOR MATURE
Writer: Greg Ayers / Director: Paul Dobie
Inspired by real events. This hard-hitting dark comedy follows Eric, a troubled teen bullied to the breaking point. He’s able to find refuge in an online game but when his computer is taken away, who will pay the price?
SoHo Playhouse. 9/10 at 8PM; 9/14 at 7PM; 9/16 at 5PM; 9/20 at 7PM; 9/22 at 5PM.

SALAMANDER STARTS OVER*
Writer: Armando Merlo, Director: Leigh Ann Pedra
The words every teenage punk dreads: All-Boys Catholic School. But this isn’t your average preparatory education. Eccentric teachers. Militant coaches. Dance-fighting students. Add these with the love of a Cuban mother and see how Salamander starts over.
Huron Club. 9/7 at 7PM; 9/9 at 8PM; 9/13 at 7PM; 9/15 at 8PM; 9/19 at 8PM; 9/28 at 7PM.

STANDBY – THE MUSICAL

Writer: Book and Lyrics by Alfred Solis, Music by Keith Robinson and Amy Baer, additional book and lyrics by Mark-Eugene Garcia / Director: Marc Connor Eardley
Five travelers, haunted by troubled pasts, await the flight of their lives. Their unresolved baggage lands them on standby, where the end of the line is the beginning of a journey to redemption in the afterlife.
The Players Theatre. 9/7 at 7:30PM; 9/14 at 7:30PM; 9/20 at 7:30; 9/27 at 7:30PM; 9/29 at 10PM.

SUPER SIDEKICK: THE MUSICAL

Writer: Gregory Crafts, music and lyrics by Michael Gordon Shapiro / Director: Steve Knight, Music Director: Stephen Bent
Adventure! Romance! Ninja koalas! Sorcerer Slurm has captured the greatest hero in the kingdom! Can lowly sidekick Inky save the day? “…perfect for small children, with audience participation, a perfect hour run-time and catchy musical numbers” -L.A. Theatre Review
SoHo Playhouse. 9/8 at 1PM; 9/9 at 1PM; 9/15 at 1PM; 9/16 at 1PM; 9/22 at 1PM; 9/23 at 1PM; 9/29 at 1PM; 9/30 at 1PM.

What we said: ” … with the fast pace, audience participation, and fun characters, if you have children this play is right up their alley. But, even as a grown woman I found it humorous, saucy, and a lot of fun. [read the full review by Linnea Covington]

THIS TOO SHALL SUCK
Writer: Matt Graham

A merry romp through performance anxiety, professional Scrabble, stand-up comedy and the psych ward, Matt Graham’s one-man traumedy reveals his transformation from drunken bum into reclusive cat lady/professional gambler. How bad can it suck?
Huron Club. 9/11 at 8PM; 9/21 at 7PM; 9/23 at 8PM; 9/24 at 8PM

THE ZEBRA SHIRT OF LONELY CHILDREN*
Writer: Matthew Trumbull / Director: Matthew Freeman
In this comic monologue, Trumbull stumbles through a world of urn catalogs and last-minute eulogies. It explores the bond between Trumbull and his useful-minded father, Jonathan, a dying Minnesota engineer who donates his cadaver to science.
SoHo Playhouse. 9/8 at 8PM; 9/16 at 3PM; 9/23 at 5PM; 9/26 at 8PM; 9/29 at 8PM.

* Denotes FringeNYC Overall Excellence Award Winner.

All My Children (Fringe Festival 2012)

Geoffrey Paddy Johnson — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 16:12:54 +0000

The narrator of Matt Smith‘s self-authored, one man show, All My Children, goes by the name Max Poth – an unassuming, if not altogether uninteresting handle to swing through life on. The dictionary gives a definition of pother as a verb meaning to harass and perplex. This little revelation gives you something of the low-key, thoughtful style of engagement Smith uses to come at a subject, and there’s much more of it in evidence in his writing and performance of this, really, quite twisted tale of a middle aged man, who fixates on the idea that there’s a slender chance – but not really – six of his past girlfriends may have borne his children in unions they made with subsequent partners. Six of them. But not really. This sets Poth off on the trail of the far-flung offspring, hardly hesitating to draw breath, before he arranges meetings with each in order to relay the, er, news.

We first meet Max at some sort of support group where he addresses us as his fellow attendees. He doesn’t reveal much about himself, and the focus of the group is sketchy – something to do with self-improvement – which is why his unselfconscious announcement of this fraudulent project is all the more perplexing; and/or breathtaking. Indeed he hardly skips a beat as he launches straight into how the first meeting with “his eldest”, Jennifer, went. Not well. Which perhaps spurs him on to the next. Such alarming egotism – and is it simply mischief making? – compels, and we are enrapt as, in rambling order, we are introduced to five additional unsuspecting strangers, while Max stretches himself to include everyone. It’s appalling and it’s funny, and that’s some clever cocktail to shake. Actually it’s more than clever. It’s brilliant.

Smith as a writer has a canny sense of how much information it takes to convince, and how much can be left out so that an audience will enter a tale. There’s a masterful game of hold or play going on. He’s sharp enough to throw out humdrum-seeming details that quietly glow – the sense of boundless enterprise a comfortable train ride can induce; what it might mean for someone to be in a kitchen “not cooking”; a faded My Little Pony tattoo. Shrewd enough too not to bother with the larger details, such as why? why? and why? You don’t have to have studied Advanced Narrative. Just don’t be stupid. Some areas are left pointedly grey, which is as it so often is with the texture of life.

Smith’s delivery partakes most naturally of the style of Max Poth, a digressive, elliptical narrator who will tell it as he sees fit – unabashedly, selfishly, cynically. He’s not interested in talking to anyone about their cancer- “I’m waiting for that conversation to end.” But he’s someone who notices things about people that others might not, and he acts – in his roundabout way – to help. He doesn’t explain this. It’s just evident in his story. Preposterous and wrong-headed, Max proves peculiarly winning when it comes to his capacity to stick with his highly individual “progeny”; like some sort of satellite dad with sub-particle sensitivity powers. He makes a virtue of mockery when he bribes one of his “daughters’ to give him an Eskimo nose rub in a diner, while intoning koobie-boobies. It’s plausible this icky baby talk acts as a sort of strange soul food for both parties. Max doesn’t say this, but odd things occur afterward.

Max doesn’t know what he wants from these exchanges. Perhaps his dry, detached style has shorn his life of melodrama, and he needs a fix. None of “his kids” prove particularly disposed toward that humor, so perhaps he has to up the ante a little. He doesn’t want to answer the phone to his “real family” – who are ringing all the time now, thank you! – but there may be a way. Something that involves a measure of bribery; an allusion to an inheritance; a conditional gathering. The imagined scenario proves thrilling not just for Max, but the audience, who at this point are putty in his hands. Who are all but convinced, it might, after all, not be such a bad thing for the other parties involved to drop along. Or at least, if Max Poth gets to tell the story. Or rather, Matt Smith. Directed by long time collaborator Bret Fetzer, this is sophisticated, sharp, and wise comedy, delivered by an actor at the top of his game. Miss it and you lose.

~~~

All My Children
Matt Smith
Writer: Matt Smith
Director: Bret Fetzer
Max Poth takes “what-might-have-been” to extremes. He tracks down the now-grown children of long-ago girlfriends, and tells them he’s their real father (knowing that he’s not). A strange lark takes on a life of its own.
1h 30m   National   Seattle, Washington
Comedy   Solo Show
Staycation: In Someone Else’s Shoes   Family Vacation
VENUE #09: The Gene Frankel Theatre
Tue 14 @ 3:45  Sun 19 @ 7:30  Thu 23 @ 8:30  Fri 24 @ 2:45  Sun 26 @ 12

The Happiest Medium » All My Children

Final Schedule Announced for Fringe Encore Series

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All My Children (Fringe Festival 2012)

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