The Happiest Medium » Fringe 2011

It’s A Sunshine Day For Stephen Garvey, Writer Of “The Bardy Bunch”

Karen Tortora-Lee — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 15:30:10 +0000

Earlier this week FringeNYC announced the 2011 Overall Excellence Award Winners and we at THM couldn’t have been happier to celebrate with the winners and congratulate them on their success. One standout for me was The Bardy Bunch: The War of the Families Partridge and Brady which was definitely one of my favorites this year. I was lucky enough to get a moment with Stephen Garvey – writer of this fantastic show which takes one part Brady, one part Partidge, one part Shakespeare, and all parts groovy and mixes it together in a crazy plot worthy of Sherwood Schwartz on his best day. Read on to find out if Garvey is Team Brady or Team Partridge … see how creativity can spring in the most unlikeliest of places, and learn what the secret to a great mash-up really is …

Stephen Garvey!!! First of all, congratulations on winning the Ensemble Award! You’re in great company. It was clear from the first five minutes that your show was destined to win recognition, but did you see this award coming?

SG: Didn’t see it coming but so happy it came. We really lucked out with this cast. Director Jay Stern and I had to hold our auditions very late in the game, and we were nervous. Not only did we need to fill 18 roles, we needed actors who could sing, dance, be funny and manage to capture the spirit of the iconic characters they were playing. How we went 18 for 18 is nothing short of miraculous!

Mash ups are all the rage right now. There is a right way and a wrong way to do them — you obviously know the right way. What would you say your formula for success was when it came to putting together The Bardy Bunch?

I think it begins with knowing your material, and I did, thanks to NYU (Shakespeare) and a wasted childhood (The Brady Bunch and Partridge Family). With mash-ups, it’s easy to get laughs just by folding contrasting genres together, but I think the richer laughs come when you go deeper and find the surprising amount of similarities these opposing forms of storytelling share.

Okay – be honest. Of the two families, who had the kids you’d most want to hang out with and why? Brady or Partridge? And did that play a part in how you put this show’s script together?

I’ll admit it. I grew up Team Brady, but as far as hanging out with a family, I would lean Team Partridge. I loved Laurie and always wanted to ride on that awesome bus. The coolest thing about our show is that it actually felt like I was hanging out with both families while writing the script, which was a childhood fantasy come true…and yes, I realize how pitiful that sounds.

One of the great things about The Bardy Bunch is how perfectly it utilizes so many of the Shakespearean themes we all know so well. Was that an easy thing to do? Do you think that essentially all drama at this point is a bit derivative of The Bard?

It wasn’t that hard to write, because I was having so much fun with it, and as you said, the Bard offers so many plotlines to choose from. Honestly, the whole thing was a thought exercise at first. I was doing laundry one day and thinking about what a great couple Keith Partridge and Marcia Brady would make (as one does when doing laundry). It felt very Romeo and Juliet to me, and that began a game in my head of assigning different Shakespearean characters to different Bradys and Partridges. I sometimes wonder if there was something in the fabric softener I was using that day.

Speaking of Shakespeare … were there any other great plays you’d have wanted to work into the story line but found you couldn’t make fit?

The original draft of this script was about 2½ hours long and had a lot of King Lear and Twelfth Night elements. I needed to keep this thing lean and mean though. I’m saving the other great plays for my Love Boat/Fantasy Island mash-up.

Love Boat / Fantasy Island! Two more childhood obsessions! I’ll say it now: if you can bring that one to life with even a fraction of the creativity you brought to The Bardy Bunch I think you’ll have another runaway hit on your hands.

Now that you’ve won the Excellence Award, what’s next for Bardy Bunch?

We feel we have a great piece that we’re eager to share with audiences who grew up loving the Bradys, the Partridges and the Bard. We’re ready to “Keep On’ Movin’,” and are talking to venues right now!

That’s fantastic news! I would love to know that New Yorkers are getting another chance to see this show — Fringe goes by in a flash … Bardy should get a chance to stick around for a loooong time!

Bonus question – no holds barred. Feel free to tell me anything at all … More about The Bardy Bunch, tell me a joke, give me the lyrics of your favorite song, explain what your most passionate about, plug a project (or a friend’s project!) The Mic is yours!

I wish I had something really juicy for you. “No holds barred” almost mandates it. I just want to proclaim my love for the whole Fringe experience. The friendships that came out of this are legion. People bust on The Brady Bunch and The Partridge Family for being corny and unrealistic, but our cast and crew embodied a very loving, nurturing spirit throughout, and none of us want to let go of it!

Steve, thanks so much for taking the time to chat with us. Again, congratulations on your well deserved award – to you and the entire talented cast and production team. We’re waiting anxiously to see what happens next! Check back in with us again – we’d love to do a follow up!

MOTHER she’s with you wherever you go (Fringe Festival 2011)

Karen Tortora-Lee — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 18:27:44 +0000

The mother/daughter dynamic is a convoluted one – speaking myself as a daughter who has both benefited from the advice of a strong willed woman while at the same time fought to get out from under the weight of Mother’s somewhat (shall we say) “insistent” personality. So, for me, Mary-Beth Manning’s Mother she’s with you wherever you go was a show that I knew was going to bring up a lot of issues before it even started. The wonderful thing about this solo-show, however, is that while Mary-Beth’s mother Joanie is one hundred percent a unique character unto herself, Manning manages to hit upon the universal themes we all struggle with when dealing with a person who is both our constant source of inspiration and comfort as well as our constant source of agitation, depending on the day.

What Manning has masterfully done here is create a solo-show that captures every nuance of her relationship with her larger-than-life (at times) mother, Joanie, while still leaving room for interpretation so that the audience may create parallels to their own mothers where necessary.

The set is largely bare save for a chair which Manning moves around several times and uses at her discretion. Manning’s marvelous physicality and tremendous ability to shrug numerous personalities on and off with little more than a change in posture make a set completely unnecessary, however, and her storytelling style is so evocative that she is able to conjure up school days, hospital rooms and even a night at the ballet watching as Alicia Alonzo dance Giselle to a mesmerized audience of ballet lovers. So captivating is Manning, so remarkable is her ability to bring these moment to life in front of you, that we are equally mesmerized.

I’m usually suspicious of plays that are written, performed, and created by only one person; often being to close to the subject material lead to a myopia that creates a boring, ineffectual piece. Not so with MOTHER. With Roma Maffia lending a hand with staging this still is a play that benefits from being cocooned within the creativity of one woman – after all … she is giving us the journey of her relationship with her mother – that’s one journey that’s not up for interpretation.

What makes this show so riveting is that it’s not just about a child’s relationship with her mother, but rather it is about a child’s life and how it parallels the life of her greatest influence – who happens to be her mother. So we are also treated to glimpses of bittersweet moments when child and mother’s path diverge. For instance, early on in her career when Manning is cast as Joanne Woodward’s daughter in “See How She Runs” she is treated to a dinner with Woodward and Paul Newman … a dinner she attends without her mother but which she recounts excitedly after the fact. Manning perfectly channels her mother’s pride in having a daughter who has been able to have such an experience yet perfectly portrays her mother’s desire to hide her disappointment at not being included from her daughter so as not to spoil the specialness of the night. Small moments like this seem so effortless yet completely showcase how brilliant Manning is at layering in all the complexity of this relationship.

Joanie is no longer here; and that is explored as well during the play. Simply put, the scenes in which Manning spends her last days with her mother are nothing short of heartbreaking, and tears were falling freely in the theatre – people openly weeping at the intense grief as the intense bond that we’d watch being created was now being ripped apart.

There is, however, a triumphant ending, and the show ends on a high note. When Manning comes out for her final bow it’s impossible not to feel like you know this woman better than you know some of your friends. And if you’re lucky enough to still have your mother in your life, the first thing you want to do after this show is call her. And somehow, even when she starts nagging you about all those little things, the words sound a little more like music, filtered through the heart of Mary-Beth Manning.

Only one show left – tonight. Go see it while you can.

~~~

MOTHER she’s with you wherever you go
presented by Mary-Beth Manning
Writer: Mary-Beth Manning

1h 25m

VENUE #10: IATI Theater

Fri 19 @ 5:15

The Bardy Bunch: The War Of The Families Partridge And Brady (Fringe Festival 2011)

Karen Tortora-Lee — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 03:26:01 +0000

Here’s the story … of The Bardy Bunch: The War Of The Families Partridge And Brady.

It’s 1974 and two families, one Brady, one Partridge are at war. Their battlefield exists in cancelled sit-com land and their weapons consist of killer dance moves, cut throat ballads and production numbers meant to slay you in the aisles. Their story is a mash up of well-known Partridge and Brady references retrofitted into such Shakespearean plays as Hamlet, MacBeth, Romeo and Juliet, among others.

The result is everything Fringe has come to be celebrated for: an innovative, enjoyable, hilarious night of theatre written by Stephen Garvey and directed by Jay Stern that isn’t afraid to push the envelope.

Whether you’re a 70s sitcom fan or a passionate follower of the bard, all your favorites are here – beginning with the Brady kids decked out in their all-too-familiar blue and white matching outfits as they sing “We’re gonna keep on, keep on, keep on, keep on dancing all through the night!” The choreography by Lorna Ventura is spot on – something you only realize you know as you actually watch it happen in front of you. Ahhh, memories.

But it doesn’t all belong to the kids – when Carol Brady (Susan J. Jacks) arrives on the scene she sound so much like Florence Henderson that I heard murmurs in the audience … and same for Shirley Partridge (Michelle Mazza). So when shades of Lady MacBeth emerge in Carol while her eldest daughter Marcia is being the Juliet to Keith Partridge’s Romeo it all makes perfect sense.

What delights so thoroughly is how faithful each character remains to their Brady/Partridge origins while faithfully moving the Shakespearean plots along. This story was just waiting to be done. Thanks to the fantastic team of Garvey and Stern it has now been done perfectly.

The jokes are appropriately corny and garner good-natured groans from the audience. (I’d love to repeat some of them but would hate to spoil the punch of hearing them for the first time). This show is having a laugh at its own expense and that’s the fun of it.

But don’t expect a simple comedy. A surprisingly touching song by Jan Brady (Annie Watkins) wearing a Hawaiian lei while sitting on a dunk tank may seem the last thing you’d expect to tug at your heart, but the scene channeling Ophelia was perfectly done, and brought a note of bittersweetness to the play — before the laughter reappeared.

Music by Logan Medland, arranged by Zach Abramson is spot on, and standouts which bring the entire cast together include “I Woke Up In Love This Morning”. There’s very little here to complain about, and even at the point where you’re thinking “wait … what’s going on?” there’s a hilarious exposition scene that recaps everything up until that point. Brilliant.

This is one Fringe show I wish I could go back and see again. Tomorrow’s show is already sold out so get tickets while you can – you won’t be disappointed!

~~~

The Bardy Bunch: The War of the Families Partridge and Brady
Writer: Stephen Garvey, inspired by “The Brady Bunch,” “The Partridge Family,” and the works of William Shakespeare
Director: Jay Stern
1h 40m
www.thebardybunch.com
VENUE #9: The Ellen Stewart Theatre @ LA MAMA
Fri 19 @ 9 SOLD OUT
Sun 21 @ 8:45 Wed 24 @ 2

PigPen Presents: The Mountain Song (Fringe Festival 2011)

Karen Tortora-Lee — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 18:12:43 +0000

When I was scanning the list of Fringe shows that I intended to review this year my heart gave a little leap when I saw that PigPen would be returning again this year with The Mountain Song. True, I’m probably not supposed to have a favorite before I even see the show, but after being completely and utterly entranced by last year’s Fringe offering The Nightmare Story I eagerly awaited their next play the way a doting mom awaits a favorite son’s visit home from college.

“What’s this play about?” I heard someone ask, as they navigated the Fringe Fairway of 4th Street and saw our long line. “It’s about a carpenter who’s trying to get to his daughter’s wedding …” someone answered. Clearly this person’s never seen a PigPen production before. For, while this may be what the story is “about” … this was not what we were all waiting to see. This simple synopsis does little to account for the fact that half of PigPen’s remaining shows are now already sold out.

A few moments later as we filed into the theatre it became clear what we were there for: the exuberance, enthusiasm and unbridled talent of the troupe that calls themselves PigPen made up of Arya Shahi, Ben Ferguson, Dan Weschler, Ryan Melia, Curtis Gillen, Alex Falberg and Matt Nuernberger. They commanded the stage as they played music they’ve become popular for, foot-stomping, head-bopping, hand-clapping folk music played on banjo, fiddle, tambourine, drum, guitar, and accordion. Later they will add in an electric guitar.

As the story settles in they captivate and charm the audience with a unique blend of shadow puppets, song, inventive props, and good old fashioned imagination. While much of their appeal rests with their easy humor and their wry delivery when the story calls for deep sentiment these guys can conjure up a feeling of heartbreak or poignancy as easily as they evoke airplanes, serve up giants, or give a voice to a mountain. So yes, we watch as the carpenter goes in search of his daughter in order to attend her wedding. But that’s not what we’re held by. It is the way each moment of their story carries a hidden treasure, a drop of exhilaration, a perfect twinkle of resourcefulness and realization. “That’s a good story,” they conclude, “sad but pretty … they way a story ought to be“.

As always the only disappointment with PigPen is when the play is over; it’s hard to watch them leave the stage – the same way it is hard for a child to watch that favorite relative go home at the end of a giddy day of make-believe. The good news is PigPen is relocating to New York City so those who can’t get enough of them will now be able to see them a lot more. And as long as they’ll be putting on shows, I’ll be in the audience, watching: amazed and dazzled.

———-

———-

~~~

PigPen Presents: The Mountain Song
PigPen Theatre Co.
Writer: Alex Falberg, Arya Shahi, Ben Ferguson, Curtis Gillen, Dan Weschler, Matt Nuernberger, Ryan Melia

1h 0m
www.PigPenTheatre.com
VENUE #12: 4th Street Theatre
Thu 18 @ 6:30 Mon 22 @ 7:15 Thu 25 @ 10 Fri 26 @ 3:45 Sat 27 @ 12*

I Light Up My Life: The Mark Sam Celebrity Autobiography (Fringe Festival 2011)

Karen Tortora-Lee — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 23:58:03 +0000

Oh, you’ll love walking into the theatre at Dixon Place to watch I Light Up My Life: The Mark Sam Celebrity Autobiography – Mark Sam Rosenthal’s (Celebrity!) solo show. The music is cranking with such anthems as The Pussycat Dolls “When I Grow Up”, Katy Perry’s “Firework” and Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” and the walls are glowing with projections of Mark in his candid, semi (one assumes) nude “oops, you caught me being cute!” poses. You’ll just love walking in, almost as much as Mark Sam Rosenthal himself does.

When he does arrive it’s to some German pop that threatens to overtake the room – until Mark gets nice and comfy in his seat to start reading his “preemptive celebrity autobiography”. Then, once he’s settled in, NOTHING can overtake the room the way he can. With his charming delivery, his mastery at knowing how to deliver a story, and his lilting Louisiana accent, this guy has you at “No pictures please!” as he vogues on the projected red carpet.

Mark Sam Rosenthal (photo by Evan Schwartz)

Rosenthal’s story begins in an almost idyllic fashion as he recounts how he began his life as a sweet southern boy, being reared in a world which included the pageantry of the Mardi Gras royal court (a court over which his mother actually presided one year – proudly).

He then progresses through his school years, where he fell in love with the theatre for the first time … right around the time he fell in love with a boy for the first time as well.

Not every chosen path was stellar, nor was it untarnished; a brief stint in porn (!) is recounted quite candidly and all without losing that Baton Rouge charm and graciousness. When he talks about greeting his fellow orgy cast members in the warehouse he might as well be talking about the time he served tea sandwiches to a group of schoolgirls, so genteel and cordial is the manner in which he tells the details of the story. The result is pure comic brilliance.

Rosenthal’s stories run the gamut from his love of karaoke (Yes, I was “that guy”) to his hugely successful career in commercials (FIVE! So far!) some of which have even gone beyond regional. And let’s not forget the appearance on Cash Cab!

But so what if he’s had his hard knocks on the climb to fame? It makes the view from the top all the sweeter.

As far as the requisite celebrity secret-spilling, Rosenthal opens his family’s closet and touches upon the difficulty coming to grips with a father who had a hidden lifestyle and died of a disease which still carries a stigma … especially when it befalls a seemingly straight man with a wife and children.

Solo shows often come off as self-serving (even when they’re supposed to) and can often badly miss the target. There is no threat of that here. Rosenthal is engaging, enjoyable and winning to watch, and under Todd Parmley’s quick-paced and tight direction this show zings like crazy. Parmley’s multi-media design which accompanies the piece is like the crown on top of the already gorgeous pageant winner – a glittering adornment which offsets and counterbalances the main presentation and brings it to new heights of perfection.

Towards the end of I Light Up My Life, Rosenthal (needlessly) ponders “What if I’m ordinary?” Mark Sam – you may be a lot of things, but “ordinary” is not one of them.

~~~

I Light Up My Life: The Mark Sam Celebrity Autobiography
Star: Mark Sam Rosenthal
Writer: Mark Sam Rosenthal
Director: Todd Parmley
1h 20m
www.ILightUpMyLife.com
VENUE #5: Dixon Place
Wed 17 @ 9:15 Wed 24 @ 4 Fri 26 @ 7

FRINGE To The Left Of Me … FRINGE To The Right Of Me: Will We See You There?

Karen Tortora-Lee — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 02:47:25 +0000

Nothing gets us more excited at THM than a festival, and when it comes to festivals, Fringe is the one we wait for all year … the way other people wait for Christmas. Silly, silly Christmas-waiting people. Sure, getting presents is fun … for a while. But running around from theatre to theatre seeing what very well may be the next smash hit is the kind of thing that REALLY gets a gal excited. So for the next 18 days we, your faithful THM contributors — along with a few guest reviewers — will be covering 44 of the 194 shows that are out there. Here’s where we’re going. Will we see you there?

2 Burn - Ever give an apple to your teacher to get his attention? In this gay, noir drama, one college student is willing to give much more as he and his professor vie for power over language, sex, and each other.

74 Minutes of Stereo Radio Theater - A parlor game escalates into marital warfare. An ancient civilization faces death by over-enthusiasm. Comedy mates with legitimate theater for the amusement of a jaded audience. Stereo Radio Theater: Post-alternative sketch comedy for the non-attention deficit-disordered.

A way of Man - Storytelling performance of one of the most famous tales in Dutch literature. On Jonathan’s journey towards adulthood, desperately seeking the one ultimate truth, he meets many fantastical characters; all who confuse, manipulate, love and inspire him.

American Vaudeville Theatre 15th Anniversary ExTRAVaganza – Long time downtown impresario and author Trav S.D. hosts the 15th anniversary edition of his popular vaudeville show, mixing the hottest contemporary variety acts with his own Topsy-Turvy songs and comedy sketches, wrapped in a distinctly pre-21st century package.

Ampersand: A Romeo & Juliet Story - A prissy Beauty Queen falls in love/hate with a guitar-wielding firebrand. Is there room for this bad romance in Verona, Iowa? Or will Juliet stay in her walk-in closet? An award-winning pop-folk musical, with drag queens.

Anna & The Annadroids: Memoirs of a Robot Girl - An original sci-fi graphic novel is brought to life through ground and aerial dance, electronic music, interactive video, illustrations, and quirky costume design. This surreal solo production features the work of artists from Columbus, New York, and San Francisco.

Back to the Garden - Why would God put forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden if He was just going to get pissed off when Adam and Eve ate it? This farcical retelling of Genesis answers this question while raising many others! Wanna bite?

The Bardy Bunch: The War of the Families Partridge and Brady - In the summer of 1974, The Brady and Partridge Families, recently cancelled and no longer under America’s watchful eye, met in a blood-soaked, passion-filled, vengeance-fueled, very special episode of Shakespearean proportions.

Before Placing Me on Your Shelf - Mysterious phone calls. Duct tape bondage. A sexy camel. Seven people contend with everything from flesh-eating moths to their own identity crises in this absurd, darkly comic look at what lurks just beneath the surface of everyday life.

BETTE DAVIS AIN’T FOR SISSIES - Dear Warner Brothers, After 40 films and two Academy Awards you continue to discredit and disrespect my talent and worth with meaningless roles. I have a voice. I warn you this Yankee will not be shut up! Respectfully, Bette Davis

Carnival Knowledge: Love, Lust, and Other Human Oddities - Five million men in LA… She only needs one to work. This award-nominated solo artist presents a thrilling roller coaster ride through the perils of playing the dating game. A critically acclaimed, comic, carnal romp, replete with surprising poignancy.

Chien de Moi - Chien de Moi tells the story of a girl who falls into a deep and unlikely love while inside her own frighteningly beautiful nightmare. Through masked dance and a wildly eclectic underscore, Chien is an exploration of perfectly imperfect love.

Craving - “Just arrived in Budapest, but I’m not Hungary!” From Edmonton, Alberta, this one woman comedic drama enters the mind warp of an adventure-seeking anorexic 18 year old in Europe.

The Custodian -A zany comedy about a custodian pushed to his breaking point by super heroes. Complete with ray guns, machetes, human liquidation and mops you’re sure to love it. When a super hero saves the day who’s left to clean up the mess? The Custodian!

Donna/Madonna - The award-winning (UNITED SOLO Theatre Festival) one-man comedy about an adopted son and two mothers: the doting Catholic homemaker and the fashionista wife of a British pop star! Sometimes you have to meet a “Material Girl” to appreciate “America’s Sweetheart.”

Elysian FIelds - Direct from sold-out performances at L.A.’s Celebration Theatre, ELYSIAN FIELDS brings to life Allan, Sebastian and Skipper, whose deaths sparked the action of Tennessee Williams’ dramas A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER and CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF.

facebook me - 6 MILLION teenage girls are on Facebook. Get ready for a shockingly real look into our lives as we navigate our adolescence online…where status is more than an update. It’s 10pm. Do you know who your daughter is?

Gleeam - What happens when a vaguely familiar high school Glee Club is hacked to death by a mysterious masked slasher? It’s going to be a SCREAM, complete with GLEEful musical numbers!

Hamlet - After The Wall Street Journal named BTC a “Favorite of Last Summer”, they’re BACK with Shakespeare’s most renowned tragedy. With 8 actors, 19 characters and 1 trunk this dynamic company puts a new twist on this classic story. Revenge never tasted so good.

Happily Ever After - Step right up to the greatest nightmare on earth! Jack is trapped in a dream where the Brothers Grimm are psychotic ringleaders of a tortured circus. Sundown Theatre uses music and movement to create a twisted fairy tale world.

I Light Up My Life: The Mark Sam Celebrity Autobiography - At long last! The world’s first preemptive celebrity autobiography! Attempt to stomach this smut-fueled, casually offensive road-to-success story of a celebrity who has succeeded nowhere — but in his own mind! From the creators of Blanche Survives Katrina in a FEMA Trailer Named Desire.

Jersey Shoresical: A Frickin’ Rock Opera - MTV’s reality phenomenon “Jersey Shore” gets the rock opera treatment in this brand new musical parody. Behind all the fist pumping and fighting, it turns out all these guidos and guidettes really care about is love, family, and gettin’ it in.

leonard cohen koans - wistful to wild, ali hughes soars as the statuesque soul-stirring chanteuse fronting Australian musical collective, ali & the thieves, as they explore the work of Leonard Cohen, infusing his poetry, prose and song with their intricate, and very personal, elixir

Lipshtick - What if your TV was watching you? In a reality show gone amok, our sinister MC takes you on a hilariously dark hunt to find her next unsuspecting candidate for the ultimate makeover. A multimedia journey from vaudeville to burlesque!

Lou - Nothing was off limits to her. Nietzsche, Rilke and Freud fell under her spell. Watch her peel back her life to reveal the amazing bodies in her wake. The theater is small. You can’t escape her. You won’t forget her.

MOTHER she’s with you wherever you go - ”Hilarious…Eloquent” Backstage West, LA Weekly Best Solo Performance nominee: A true tale of an extraordinary Irish-Catholic mother, a soul searching daughter and a complicated relationship that will take you on an insane and life affirming roller-coaster ride.

Nils’ Fucked Up Day - ”The most obscene play in the Romanian theatre” -”Nils’ Fucked Up Day” is a sarcastic, existentialist take on the fucked up choices we have in this fucked up world. Outrageously presented in English by Romanian actors who won’t emigrate to NY… Maybe.

The Panic Diaries - Heart Pounding. Throat Dry. What happens when terror strikes and you’re lost?! Four Time National Monologue Champion Katie Northlich embarks on a journey to examine her existence through “flat-out funny” characters until she’s forced to face her greatest fear: herself!!

Paper Cut - A lonely secretary escapes her bleak reality by bringing to life black&white photos from old film magazines. But as the story unravels, her romantic tale becomes a Hitchcock nightmare! An award winning performance of paper and object theater.

Pawn - Pawn follows Abraham Niu, an Asian-Canadian soldier in Afghanistan, into the darkest night of his life. This groundbreaking folk-rock musical unlocks an urgent discourse on the post-9/11 decade through the keyhole of one family’s loss and unrelenting hope.

PigPen Presents: The Mountain Song - 2010 FringeNYC Overall Excellence winners and runaway hit PigPen Theatre Co. return with “The Mountain Song”. A carpenter must travel over mountains, rivers, and deserts to attend his daughter’s wedding… without a clue as to where it’s taking place.

Romeo & Juliet: Choose Your Own Ending - Should Romeo pursue Juliet or Rosaline? Will the lovers live happily ever after? It’s up to you to decide. The audience’s vote determines how the play unfolds each night! Winner of Best Comedy/Best Overall Show of Capital Fringe Festival 2010!

Salamander Stew - A friendly forest: green, though glum. A metaphysical journey that is quite indescribable. This hallucination is the kind that can prey upon the mind. The demons are out. The road to love is rocky. The question is: “What is Salamander Stew?”

Smoke The New Cigarette - Egon and Leah wanted to play together, but Egon was too chamber and Leah too punk, so they created “chamber punk.” Now, fresh off its 42 nation tour, The New Cigarette Flash Mob means to show you what that is.

Theater of the Arcade: Five Classic Video Games Adapted for the Stage - An apelike brute holds a young woman captive and hurls obstacles at anyone who dares approach. Classic video game or modernist drama? What happens when arcade stories are given the high literary respect and dramaturgical rigor they deserve?

The Three Times She Knocked - From the producers behind the upcoming Off-Broadway transfer of “Jurassic Parq: The Broadway Musical” (FringeNYC ’10 Best Overall Production/Musical) comes a psychological thriller about unbridled passion and the destructive potential of sexual obsession…

Top Drawer - A chronicle of dysfunction and redemption on Park Avenue. With a gay Cuban concert-pianist father and a socialite opera-singing mother, Adelaide brings to life an outrageous and heartrending musical memoir that will make you laugh, cry, and maybe even… sing.

The Unhappiness Plays - Space 55 (Phoenix, AZ) comically explores the existential horror of the human condition in The Unhappiness Plays (Greg Kotis, “Urinetown”). Sartre suggested that Hell is other people; The Unhappiness Plays humorously asks whether Hell is perhaps ourselves.

Victor and Victoria’s Terrifying Tale of Terrible Things - One terrifyingly dark and horrifyingly stormy night, fraternal twins, Victor and Victoria discover a mysterious book revealing a sinister family secret that will change their lives forever. Inspired by the darkly funny stories and macabre gothic artwork of Edward Gorey.

Virtual Solitaire - Virtual reality murder mystery from Seattle. BEST PLAY, Edmonton Fringe. BEST PLAY, Vancouver Fringe. BEST PLAY, Saskatoon Fringe. “Jaw-droppingly good.” – Winnipeg Sun. “Takes THE MATRIX to David Cronenberg.” – The Australian. “A nimble theatrical gamester!” – Seattle Times. “Dazzling.” – Georgia Straight, Vancouver.

WHALE SONG or: Learning to Live With Mobyphobia - Only Maya Swan knows why Molly the whale is stranded in the Hudson River. While millions of New Yorkers wonder in amazement, Maya knows she has come to deliver a message from her dead father. Too bad Maya is Mobyphobic.

What the Sparrow Said - By his mother’s deathbed, Blaze doesn’t know whether to pull the plug. Should he tell his estranged brother, Dan? This tragicomedy is produced by the company and playwright Edward Albee says is “making a provocative impact on American theatre.”

When the Sky Breaks 3D - Rock 3D glasses and watch old-school hip-hop meet cutting-edge, 3D technology in this explosive dance performance. Featuring a DJ, VJ and an international cast, Decadancetheatre continues to be, “the pioneering all-female hip-hop crew” (The New Yorker).

You’ve Ruined a Perfectly Good Mystery! - A legendary detective and a preposterous narrator clash in an interactive comedy from Madison, Wisconsin. Audiences decide the plot in a play that toys with theatrical conventions and classic mysteries. Highbrow wit! Lowbrow antics! Fights! Mimes! And much more…

The Happiest Medium » Fringe 2011

It’s A Sunshine Day For Stephen Garvey, Writer Of “The Bardy Bunch”

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MOTHER she’s with you wherever you go (Fringe Festival 2011)

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The Bardy Bunch: The War Of The Families Partridge And Brady (Fringe Festival 2011)

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PigPen Presents: The Mountain Song (Fringe Festival 2011)

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I Light Up My Life: The Mark Sam Celebrity Autobiography (Fringe Festival 2011)

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FRINGE To The Left Of Me … FRINGE To The Right Of Me: Will We See You There?

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