The Hollywood Fringe Festival 2015…

The Hollywood Fringe Festival 2015 has drawn to a close.
The following is the Medal Tally for the 57 Shows I attended:

13 PLATINUM MEDALS
14 GOLD MEDALS
8 SILVER MEDALS
18 BRONZE
4 EAR WAX

♦    ♦    ♦

THE PLATINUM MEDALS:

ANNA IN THE DARKNESS
BLOOD, A VOODOO LOVE STORY
BRIGHT SWORDS
SIMON CORONEL: GLITCHES IN REALITY
HOUSE OF RABBITS – CHARIVARI VOYEURVILLE
NELL GWYNNE – A DRAMATICK ESSAYE ON ACTING AND PROSTITUTION
PILLAR OF FIRE
NO TRAVELER: A COMEDY ABOUT SUICIDE
THENARDIERS INN – A LES MISÉRABLES CABARET
THE LEGEND OF BOBBY DARIN: AN UNAUTHORIZED BIOGRAPHY
TIANANMEN ANNIE
TRACERS

THE GOLD MEDALS:

ANNABELLA
ANOUILH’S ANTIGONE
BOOZE, BALLS AND BLUEGRASS
D’ARC VOICES – RE-TELLING THE STORY OF JOAN OF ARC
THE DEVIL YOU SAY
LA LA LA STRADA
MARRY ME A LITTLE
RESERVE CHAMPION
REVOLUTIONARY LOVE
SHAKESPEARE’S LAST NIGHT OUT
STARFU*CKING
STUPID SONGS!
THE THREE MUSKETEERERS – CLOWNS WITH SWORDS
U AND ME AND MY BEST FRIEND P

THE SILVER MEDALS:

ALIEN VS. MUSICAL
THE BRAZEN BOOTIES PRESENT: BOOTIES’ PLAYHOUSE
COFFEE TEA OR ME
KING OF KONG
THE POE SHOW
THE LAST KNOWN RECORDING OF THE LOVELY LENORE SISTERS
(With a Gold Metal Performance)
TIME HEART
WAR AND PEACE – THE ONE MAN SHOW

THE BRONZE MEDALS:

AM I GROWN UP YET?
BITTERSWEET LOVE
BLUE BALLS KNOLL
ETHEL MERMAN – QUEEN OF MUSICAL COMEDY
FIFTY SHADES OF SHREW
HIPPOPITAMOIDEA!!!!
KING DICK
MERELY PLAYERS
MIGHT AS WELL LIVE – STORIES BY DOROTHY PARKER
MUDD THE MAGNIFICENT – MAGIC & MAYHEM
NERD ANARCHY
ORSON WELLES & SCATMAN CROTHERS IN “A HOLLYWOOD ENDING”
SHAKESPEARE (ISH)
THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO – THE MUSICAL
THE HALFWITS’ LAST HURRAH
UNCLE IMPOSSIBLE’S FUNTIME VARIETY & ICE CREAM SOCIAL (Bronze for the ice cream)
WARREN AND THE TEAPOTS
WOMBAT MAN

THE EAR WAX MEDALS:

CURSED – “MY ROAD TO HOLLYWOOD”
DEAD DOG’S BONE: A BIRTHDAY PLAY
MY DARLING JOSEPHINE
SPIDERPOCALYPSE! A LOW BUDGET HORROR FILM

♦     ♦     ♦

Well here is my last installment of reviews from the 2015 Hollywood Fringe.

I do need to make mention here of what I find so extraordinary about the Hollywood Fringe, and so frustrating.

As we neared the end of this month-long celebration of arts in L.A. my rather grueling schedule of catching 56 events was beginning to take its toll.

Yes, there were, as to be expected some duds, but the overwhelming majority were works of stunning talent and execution. Frankly, I didn’t believe it possible that I’d see anything that could trump Anna In the Darkness, Bright Swords, Simon Coronel: Glitches in Reality, Nell Gwynne – A Dramatick Essaye on Acting and Prostitution, Thenardiers Inn – A Les Misérables Cabaret, The Legend of Bobby Darin, AnnaBella, Revolutionary Love, Stupid Songs or The Three Musketeerers – Clowns With Swords not this close to the finish.

As it turned out, some of the very best shows I experienced were caught on the last two days of the Fringe.

That is what is so extraordinary about the Hollywood Fringe, the amount of spectacular work it offers an audience, it is also what’s so frustrating about the Fringe, that one can’t see everything.

Some good work goes unseen.

And some good work gets seen when it’s too late for a review to bring in audiences.

But for what it’s worth, I’m still going to sing their praises.

Click HERE for the new reviews, followed by this critic’s “Best of the Fringe” picks.

Written by

An award-winning L.A. playwright and rabble-rouser of note who has hoisted glasses with Orson Welles, been arrested on three continents and once beat up Charlie Manson. His first play, "Among the Vipers" was a semi-finalist in the Julie Harris Playwriting Competition and was featured in the Carnegie-Mellon Showcase of New Plays. It was produced at the NPT Theater in Ashland, Oregon and Los Angeles’ celebrated Odyssey Ensemble Theatre. His following play, “The Little Boy Who Loved Monsters” was produced at The Hollywood Actors Theater, where he earned praise from the Los Angeles Times for his “…inordinately creative writing.” The play went on to numerous other productions including Berlin’s The Black Theatre under the direction of Rainer Fassbinder who wrote in his program notes of Kearney, “He is a skilled playwright, but more importantly he is a dangerous one.” Ernest Kearney has worked as literary manager or as dramaturge for among others The Hudson Theater Guild, Nova Diem and the Odyssey Ensemble Theatre, where he still serves on the play selection committee. He has been the recipient of two Dramalogue Awards and a finalist or semi-finalist, three times, in the Julie Harris Playwriting Competition. His work has been performed by Michael Dunn, Sandra Tsing Loh, Jack Colvin and Billy Bob Thornton, and to date, either as playwright or director, he has upwards of a hundred and thirty productions under his belt, including a few at the Bob Baker Marionette Theater as puppeteer. Kearney remains focused on his writing, as well as living happily ever after with his lovely wife Marlene. His stage reviews and social essays can be found at TheTVolution.com and workingauthor.com. Follow him on Facebook.

No comments

LEAVE A COMMENT

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.