Farewell to the Fringe
By Saturday (August 1) I Brenda reached the end of my mental and physical endurance, but there was still one show I wanted to catch and another (my favorite, Blythe Barton Dance’s Reverberate) to which I felt I must return. My favorites are not everybody’s favorites, because they were selected from the most classical of proffered fare. I must admit that sometimes I was surprised and sometimes I was disappointed.
I went downtown a bit more than an hour before the first curtain at the Lyceum, snagged a neat parking space on Broadway Circle, and noticed that St. Tropez, which I’d thought permanently closed, was open. Who was grabbing a bite prior to their curtain but San Diego Dance founder Jean Isaacs, composer Steve Baker, and dancer John Diaz? They invited me to sit with them at their shady outdoor table and we had a delightful hour of chitchat and food.
(FYI I later learned from a slip sheet in the Reverberate program there’s a dance film fest titled 40 North booked in at The White Box Theatre, Liverty Station, at 8pm August 7-8, www.40northfest.com)
Save My Soul
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| Company of Save My Soul |
After Reverberate I intended to sit in the Lyceum lobby, but when I saw all the people queuing up for Wingrove Studios’ Save My Soul I decided to join the line. It was one of those wondrous Fringe surprises, a fusion of dance, theater and aerial arts of the most astonishing quality and strength. The makeup and costumes added to the physical prowess on display. Armando Munoz plays a common man in search of love. He meets Ezora (Cecilia Goodman), a woman with voodoo powers, and her sister, Sabine (Laura Dasi). The girls seem intent on some kind of three-way, but Armand uses his newfound voodoo powers to woo Josephine (Jennifer Curry Wingrove). Ezora and Sabine want to claim him for the dark powers. Fortunately, Armand has a friend in Ameline (Kiona Daelyn), who helps him break free. Meanwhile, Armando and the various ladies engage in dazzling physical feats on the ground and in the air by various means silken and trapeze-ardry. Great entertainment created by choreographer and founder Wingrove, a former ballerina with California Ballet Company.
Les Midge
My goal for the afternoon, Turning Tydes’ Les Midge, An Unexpected Journey of Hobbit Proportions, is a mash up of Les Miz and The Hobbit written by Eric Phillips and Robbie X. Pierce. It is filled with the usual characters fromHobbitstories. The characters vocalize their concerns in tunes from Les Miz that have Hobbit story words.A clever idea and some talented singers, who plan to do same-same next year using Star Wars and The Phantom of the Opera.
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| The company of Les Midge |
I had heard about this show from a friend who thought the performers equal to anyone, anywhere in town (not: the ensemble is weak musically). No director is mentioned. No clear direction (goal) exists in the libretto, either, and no convincing characters other than gags created through uncredited costumes, stance, and situations remembered from the film.
Some people found the piece hysterically funny. The guy behind me yelled, guffawed and stamped his feet throughout the show, precluding any possible enjoyment on my part due to motion sickness. Ya win some and ya lose some.
That 24-Hour Thing
As intended, Brenda stayed home with Charlene on Sunday, helping her with the crossword puzzles. The two of them enjoyed an evening excursion to the San Diego Public Library.
Six playwrights had been given settings and a set of three characters and had only 24 hours to write a 10-minute play based on same. The actors memorized the brief plays, which were directed by Joe Huppert (Shells by Jet Antonio), Derek Livingston (The Sanity Box by Michael Shames), Rhianna Basore(Thallosian by Suzanne Morse), Jacquelyn Ritz (Cielito Lindo by Jim Caputo), D. Candis Paule (Café Festival by Thom Vegh), and Jacole Kitchen (Wonder Singer and the Curse of Deadly Box by Thelma Virata de Castro).
The plays were wondrously rich, deeply human, rife with laughter and, in some cases, pathos. There was a capacity audience for the free event held in the 9th floor Shiley Suite at the Central Library, a fitting close for this individual’s experience of the 2015 San Diego International Fringe Festival.
And now for a return to reality.