Performed by RAPA Family Theatre, “James and the Giant Peach: The Musical” comes from Tony-nominated composing team BenjPasek and Justin Paul (“A Christmas Story: The Musical”). An adaptation of the beloved Roald Dahl book, the musical combines aspects of Dahl’s book and the 1996 film, adding in a plethora of new songs (it should be […]
Rochester Fringe Festival 2015
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Adam reviews “Hot Tub: The Musical” and “ShakesBLOOD”
My third day at the Rochester Fringe Festival was a wet and wild one; throughout the course of my time at the festival, rain, chlorinated water, and blood poured down on me at one point or another. My first stop was an afternoon performance of “Hot Tub: The Musical.” A small tent located in the […]
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Rebecca reviews “Sure-Minded Uncertainties,” “Conscience,” and “Mystic Castle”
“Think of this show as a series of dreams over the course of the night,” the audience was instructed before the mesmerizing, multi-sensory performance of “Sure-Minded Uncertainties” at the TheatreROCS Stage on Sunday. Presented by CaveDogs (cavedogs.org), the show featured large-scale shadow projections layered with video imagery and an engaging original soundtrack. Depicting the balance […]
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Leah reviews “Nothing is Written” and “The Rainbow Fish”
There are many beautiful things that happen during the Rochester Fringe Festival, but one of my favorite parts is the heightened vulnerability that emerges in the theater community. Theater is already a vulnerable art form, but with every show there are budgets to consider, boards who must approve show runs, and difficult casting decisions to […]
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Photos from Grounded Aerial
Brooklyn-based aerial dance troupe Grounded Aerial premiered a new work Friday night as part of the Rochester Fringe Festival’s big Friday on the Fringe event. Martin Luther King Jr. Park in Manhattan Square was packed with people craning their necks to watch the dancers leap, flip, and glide off the side of the 21-story One […]
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Leah reviews the TheatreROCS showcase
As the crowds thinned after Grounded Aerial’s sky-high theatrics on the side of One HSBC Plaza Friday night, a woman in a bright red shirt stood outside the nearby Xerox building yelling, “Free show here right now!” It turned out her hawking strategy was a good one: I was there because I planned to be, […]
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Rebecca reviews “Twain’s Amazing Tales” and “Shitty Lives”
I spent the second night of the Rochester Fringe Festival taking in two shows staged back-to-back at MuCCC. “Twain’s Amazing Tales,” put on by James Landers and Classics Theater of Rochester, featured dramatic readings of excerpts from “Captain Stormfield’s Visit to Heaven,” which I have not read, and “What Stumped the Bluejays,” which was part […]
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Casey reviews PUSH and “As the Dead Prey Upon Us”
PUSH Physical Theatre, the creation of Rochester-based husband and wife team Darren and Heather Stevenson, bills itself as “physical theater,” but it is really so much more. Darren’s spot-on humor is imbued with philosophical depth and the pieces the company performed at the Rochester Fringe Festival on Saturday moved the audience from hilarity to awe. […]
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Casey reviews Garth Fagan Dance
Garth Fagan Dance performed in its Chestnut Street studio on Friday night as part of the Rochester Fringe Festival, showcasing Fagan’s latest work and premiering Norwood Pennewell’s fifth piece for the company. Watching the Rochester-based, internationally-acclaimed company dance in the same place its members rehearse, create, and sweat intensifies and personalizes the performance. It’s also […]
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Photos from “Merged III”
With new works created by choreographers Heather Roffe and James Hansen, “Merged III” premiered at Geva Theatre Center on Thursday night. The performances will continue on Saturday, September 19, at 4 p.m., and Sunday, September 20, at 6:30 p.m. $10-$12. Appropriate for all ages. [SLIDESHOW-1] Related Stories
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Adam reviews “La Cage Aux Folles”
My 2015 Rochester Fringe experience began with sequins, high heels, and wigs a-plenty when I took in RAPA’s production of “La Cage Aux Folles” (helpful pronunciation tip: it sounds like “La Cahhge ah Fall”) on the School of the Arts’ Allen Main Stage. Jerry Herman and Harvey Fierstein’s Tony Award-winning musical is based on Jean […]
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Jake reviews Remote Rochester
Stay with me; Remote Rochester might take a minute to explain. The — what should we call it? — roving, interactive, theatrical performance is the fifth production in the “Remote X” series created by Berlin-based team Rimini Protokoll. The team has curated these events in Berlin, Milan, Paris, and New York, each time creating a […]
