Attendance for the fourth annual First Niagara Rochester Fringe Festival (held September 17 through September 26) hit more than 63,000 people, a new high mark for the Fringe, organizers announced on Monday. And ticket sales were up more than 20 percent. The 2015 Fringe featured more than 500 performances and events; last year’s Fringe included […]
Rochester Fringe Festival 2015
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Ron reviews “Upside Downton”
I am certain that standing ovations occur every day and night at the Rochester Fringe Festival. But it would be hard to imagine anyone more deserving of that honor than Luke Kempner, the one and only star of “Upside Downton.” He got a tremendous response at Kilbourn Hall Friday night from an audience that laughed […]
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Daniel reviews “Wasteland” and “Bach Without Boundaries”
Thursday evening found me at the School of the Arts’ Black Box Theatre, where I took in two very different performances each designed for two performers. The play “Wasteland” — put on here by unMasqued Theatre in a touring production directed Jeffrey Schmidt — is an intense, claustrophobic drama about two American soldiers imprisoned by […]
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Rebecca reviews “The Ghost at the Feast” and “Erik & the Wolf”
"The Ghost at the Feast," performed at MuCCC by The Sabotage and Gore Foundation, was a lively, absurdist take on the haunted banquet scene from "Macbeth." In the Fringe booklet blurb, the players promised that "Shakespeare purists will start a protest," but no such rioting occurred. Instead, the company earned giggles and guffaws for continuously […]
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Rebecca reviews “The R&J Project” and "Kindertotenlieder"
"Romeo and Juliet" is one of those productions that is put on arguably too often (and fairly shallowly by high school students), and pop culture is inundated with references to it. For that reason, I’m almost never inclined to see yet another tiresome non-interpretation of it. But the play received an interesting treatment by local […]
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Rebecca reviews Roc Bottom Poetry Slam
Roc Bottom Poetry Slam, presented by RAPA at School of the Arts’ Ensemble Theatre, was an absolute marvel. The show included 10 performers, in solo, duo, trio, and quartet sets, speaking poetic, personal and universal truths with bold and emotional cadence. Ranging from ranting to rapping or speaking softly to singing, and all of that […]
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Adam reviews “Am I a Grownup Yet?”
We’ve all had that feeling at one time or another (or, if you’re me, constantly): sensing that, though we’ve gotten older, graduated college, and possibly found some sort of gainful employment, we’re not truly an adult. We’re all fumbling around and around pretending we know how “grownups” are supposed to act, faking it until we’ve […]
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Daniel reviews “BIO/DANCE & Social Justice”
On Tuesday night, local dance company BIODANCE presented “BIO/DANCE & Social Justice” at Geva Theatre Center’s Fielding Nextstage in a program devoted to works that highlighted the struggle against inequality on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, and more. The opening piece by Donna Davenport, “Lined Up for Injustice,” began with the dancers speaking […]
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Frank reviews Princess Wendy’s Late Nite Tease Room
Her name is Darlinda (Just Darlinda) and she will send ya, just send ya. She set my head on fire. She’s the reason I could taste blood this morning from screaming my head off during her two trips to strip on the Spiegeltent stage where she taunted and teased and bumped as a featured performer […]
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Rebecca reviews RIT’s Photo House, “The Fiery Sword of Justice,” and “Me, Ray Charles, and Sammy Davis Jr.”
I stopped in at The Little to check out RIT’s Photo House, a grouping of photos displayed on the walls of the theater’s 2-5 lobby. Ranging widely in style, genre, and talent, the showcase is a window into what current students are working on, presented to the shifting audience of moviegoers. I’m always impressed by […]
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Leah reviews The 24 Hour Plays
In our culture of reality TV shows and instant gratification, we’ve grown accustomed to the novelty of becoming a fly on the wall in someone’s life anytime we flip to the right channel. Though we know by now reality TV isn’t raw and unrehearsed, it still feels that way — and humans can’t resist the […]
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Rebecca reviews “Percentage,” “Krapp’s Last Tape,” and “Bridge Club of Death”
My Saturday night at the Rochester Fringe Festival was full of death, running the gamut of age. I was moved and impressed by “Percentage,” presented by RAPA at the School of the Arts’ Black Box Theatre. A production penned and performed by SOTA students, the play presents a series of vignettes that explore the various […]
