CinePhillyist Reviews... The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Playlist Rewind: Shonen Knife at Johnny Brenda's
Where Have All Our T-Shirts Gone?
Phillyist Playlist: 311 at the Borgata Event Center
I Have a Baby and Ten Dollars...Now What?
Performances: Debbie Does Dallas - The Musical (To the Wall Productions) (no future performances); The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) (Marathon Theater Collective) (no future performances); The Sustainability Project (Figments, Inc.) (no future performances)
So Live Arts/Fringe has now come and gone. To be honest, I was kind of relieved that this was the final weekend and that there were only three shows to be seen. Last weekend didn't go so well for me. I was really hoping this weekend was going to be a step up, and I suspected that it would be.
Debbie Does Dallas
After last weekend, Debbie Does Dallas was exactly what I needed. I had a good idea of what I wanted and expected from the show, and that's pretty much exactly what I got. I knew it'd be an enjoyable evening when two of the actresses came out before the performance began and encouraged the audience to take advantage of the fact that the bar would be open during the show. I really enjoyed myself at Debbie. Don't misunderstand me: Debbie Does Dallas was not a good show. It was a fun show. The cast obviously had a great time doing it, and the audience had a great time watching it. And I was pleasantly surprised by the talent level of the cast of Debbie. Rory Donovan in particular had a tremendous comedic presence. The only thing I didn't understand was why To the Wall would dress their actresses--who were not obese or unattractive, just not built like swimsuit models--in highly unflattering costumes. But maybe that was part of the joke. And in the grand scheme of the show, it was only a minor issue. So kudos to To the Wall for Debbie.
Follow the jump to read about the last couple shows I caught during my first Live Arts/Philly Fringe.
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)
You know how little kids will turn their parents' garage into a "theater" and put on performances for their stuffed animals? That's essentially what Marathon Theater Collective's performance of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) was, only they were teenagers and the performance was really for their family and friends, who are only slightly less receptive than stuffed animals. Why Marathon felt at all justified in charging twenty bucks to see this performance I cannot understand. Complete Works is farce, which makes it deceptively difficult to do well. If you have an average, or even above-average, understanding of Shakespeare, you can understand and enjoy Complete Works, but that doesn't mean you can successfully perform it. And the members of Marathon know Shakespeare; they just don't know Shakespeare. Essentially, this was a group of high school friends who said, "Hey, we like Shakespeare, and Complete Works is pretty funny, and Philly Fringe will let us do it, so here we go!" All the enthusiasm in the world couldn't save this one. Seriously, Complete Works was amateur night.
The Sustainability Project
For the last show of the festival, you know what I wanted? Something short and cute. The Sustainability Project was short and cute. You can't go wrong when you put a group of cute seven-year-olds in front of me telling me I should recycle. Okay, okay, I want to save the world! Actually, the evening started with a short modern dance piece. What the dance had to do with sustainability I don't know, but it was actually pretty impressive, and I should note I am simply not a dance enthusiast. Then there was the group of girls acting (or, rather, dancing) out the virtues of "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle." Finally, Figments, Inc. had set out a display featuring donated books turned into art and literature from various political and environmental groups. It was well worth the hour and twenty minutes of my time and a very pleasant way to end the festival.
So that was it. Gatz and Debbie Does Dallas were the real standouts, with everything else running the gamut from enjoyable to weird to a complete waste of my time. But such is the nature of a festival, and to be fair, this was my first Live Arts/Fringe. And maybe next year, I'll actually know what I'm talking about.
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