The First Niagara Rochester Fringe Festival — well, now known as the KeyBank Rochester Fringe Festival — ended its record-setting fifth year on September 24, and our staff has just about recovered from the arts overload. The 10-day festival had around 67,000 attendees this year, and sold out 115 shows — from theater, dance, and […]
Fringe Review
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David reviews ‘The Oboe Show’
If you like the luscious sound of the oboe, you’d like “The Oboe Show.” And if you can actually play this legendarily tricky woodwind instrument, you’d find a lot to identify with in this engagingly silly mix of comedy (handled mostly by three amusing performers) and music (played by two excellent oboists, one of whom […]
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Rebecca reviews ‘Central Library Sideshow,’ Dangerous Signs, and ROC Bottom Slam Team
Over a couple of hours on Saturday, Central Library hosted a variety of small acts. Members of ROC Bottom Slam Team (who performed later in the evening at TheatreROCS) took turns performing moving poetry about political and social issues in the Teen Center, while a pole dancer wowed a small audience with her strength in […]
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Frank reviews Champagne Brown, Castle Creek, and ‘White’
It was a cool, fresh Fringe that assailed my senses as I moved about downtown Saturday night. What a sensational vibe; what a sensational sense of community. I love this festival. With all the venues packed with intrigue, I stuck to the outdoor stage for the most part. First it was Champagne Brown proposing a […]
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Adam reviews ‘Grimms’ Mad Tales,’ ‘Ruts!,’ and Pandora Boxx
The rainy weather seemed to keep at least a few people from Friday evening’s performance of the clever “Grimms’ Mad Tales,” but hopefully they’ll catch the show’s second performance, since it’s well worth the time. Staged similarly to 2014’s “Spoon River Rochester” (and also directed by David Henderson), the show is immersive public theater, or […]
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David reviews ‘The Eulogy’ and Polite Ink
“The Eulogy” has received a string of awards and rave reviews from Fringe Festivals all over, and it’s about to receive another one. The word “monologue” is much too staid for Michael Burgos’s take on the idea of the funeral eulogy: he tips it on its head, ties it into knots, and sets it spinning […]
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Rebecca reviews ‘The A-is-for-Abortion Play,’ and ‘Underground Episodes’
It was sort of a bummer that only about a dozen people attended the first staging of “The A-is-for-Abortion Play” at the TheatreROCS venue, which can hold an audience of 700. The meager attendance might be explained by Fringe-goers wanting to spend their Saturday afternoon on more uplifting productions, but the show’s subject is an […]
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Frank reviews Left for Dead Improv and ‘Flatfoots, Floozies & Murder’
Left for Dead Improv split my guts with its astute deadpan and quick wit. In front of a packed house at Writers & Books, the group took shots at individual stories whose characters had maxed out on their quirk quotient. As they moved along, it got more complex as if trying to confound one another, […]
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Casey reviews PUSH Physical Theatre
PUSH Physical Theatre, the brainchild of artistic directors and founders Darren and Heather Stevenson, has a satisfying repertoire built from the local company’s 16 years in existence, but it’s always exciting to see a new piece. The Fringe audience Saturday night at the School of the Arts’ main stage was shown the world premiere of […]
