I saw only two shows at the Fringe Fest on Sunday. While
they were wildly different in content, they were alike in two ways. First,
they showcased some of the truly astonishing artistic talent we have right here
in Rochester. And second, they cemented for me that the quality of Fringe Festival
shows in general has increased exponentially from Year 1 to Year 2.
First up was “Waiting
at the Crossroads Café” at Blackfriars Theatre.
The play — directed by Blackfriars Artistic Director
John Haldoupis and written by Haldoupis and Katharine Fischer – stars Rochesterians Janine Mercandetti
and Robyn Fazio as a pair of aspiring performers working at a café in which “actresses
pretend to be waiters.” As you might guess from the title, both women are at a
crossroads both personally and professionally, and they work through their
issues by reminiscing and singing a selection of show tunes and even a few pop
songs.
Every song selected for the show is wonderful and well
placed. Many were totally new to me, along with some wonderful unexpected
choices (the superb “Let Me Be Your Star” from the late, lamented TV show “Smash,”
and a mash-up featuring songs by contemporary singer-songwriter
Sara Bareilles). There’s also an uproariously funny
Broadway-standard montage that rips through all the clichéd B’way
show stoppers in a few short minutes.
The success of this show depends on finding two equally
strong performers to pull off the demanding vocals, and Mercandetti
and Fazio are dynamite. They truly share this show (and are ably backed by
Aaron Staebell on drums, Erin Koch on guitar, and musical
director Brian Clickner on piano — he also has a
speaking role in the show) and turn it into a true singing tour de force. If
you like your Broadway belted, your voices huge, and harmonies that literally
make your spine tingle, you cannot miss this show.
(“Waiting at the
Crossroads Café” also plays Thursday, September 26, 7:30 p.m. at Blackfriars Theatre. Tickets cost $11.)
I am going to attempt — and fail — to adequately describe the
merits of the astonishing “Anomaly.” This collaboration between local performance troupe BIODANCE, local musical
group Sound ExChange, and RIT professor and multimedia
artist W. Michelle Harris was the most amazing piece I’ve seen thus far at
Fringe 2013. It was so lovely to behold that I found myself dreading its inevitable
conclusion.
The performance is staged at the Rochester Museum &
Science Center’s Strasenburgh Planetarium, and the
venue itself is a critical component of the work. The show actually began in
the lobby, as a small grouping of futuristically dressed dancers performed
strong, aggressive, yet elegant movements choreographed by Eran
Hanlon. It then moved into the Planetarium’s dome theater for the bulk of the
show, featuring a larger troupe dancing choreography by BIODANCE Artistic
Director Missy Pfohl Smith.
“Anomaly,” to me, was a brilliant merging of modern dance, classical
music, and eye-popping visuals. Every element of this show reflected a great
deal of thought and artistry. I’m hesitant to make assumptions about the intent
behind modern dance, but in the five almost seamless pieces I picked up
recurring themes about reaching for the heavens, flight, migration, community, and
the cosmos — all of which made perfect sense given the surroundings. I found
myself reflecting on the concept that life on this planet, in a cosmic sense,
is itself an anomaly. A beautiful, terrifying, delicate
anomaly.
The dancing was consistently graceful and inventive. I was repeatedly
surprised, delighted, and inspired. The music by Sound ExChange
— the live string quartet performed works by John Cage and Arvo
Part — was the perfect accompaniment to the slow, sweeping movements. Finally,
the projections by Harris were almost impossibly cool, varying from fascinating
bisecting color grids to kaleidoscopic backdrops that, when combined with a
handful of helium balloons and their shadows, made for a hypnotic and
enveloping visual element.
“Anomaly” is a true sensorial experience. If anything, the
challenge comes in taking all of the performance aspects at once, especially
the dancing given the unique layout of the Planetarium. But for 60 minutes I
found myself enraptured in a brilliantly crafted world of beauty, melody, and
calmness. Exceptional work by everyone involved in this very special show.
(“Anomaly” also plays
Friday, September 27, and Saturday, September 28, at 6:30 p.m. at the RMSC Strasenburgh Planetarium. Tickets cost $10.)
This article appears in Sep 18-24, 2013.
