ST. LOU FRINGE - BARE (1ST IMAGE)

Bare was a full-length, two act musical, a coming of age story about young people at a Catholic high school (oh, how I can relate) with themes of authority, rebellion, alienation, and a complex web of straight, bi and gay relationships. It was also the most difficult to shoot. There  was constant movement, a crowded stage with changes in color, and color LED stage lights are hell on cameras. 

I only got to see the first act, an hour and twenty minutes, because I had another show to get to. This is one of my favorite photos of the festival, two young men on the edge of a gay encounter, one full of confidence, the other full of longing, indecision and guilt. 

More to come.             

ST. LOU FRINGE - CHECKING OUT: A BED, BREAKFAST AND BURIAL STORY

It seems like every year Panagiotis Papavlasopoulos and Analicia Kocher produce an unusual one-act comedy that is a bit on the strange side. This year, Checking Out told the story of a woman who has inherited a low-end B&B from her sister, keeping her developmentally disabled nephew as handy man. It takes place in a isolated slice of Illinois, Jersey County, a narrow wedge of land between the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers. The only way out to the east and west are small ferries, giving it a remote feel. The late owners  wake on the premises and her will brings some surprises.                

ST. LOU FRINGE: JEAN

Ann Truka presented a one-woman show called simply Jean. Her website, https://www.anntruka.com/, summarizes the character as 

a non-binary children's book author and one-hit-wonder, is trying to craft their next piece of work - but what was once a story about an androgynous puppy exploring fashion is now something much more...adult. Struggling through their writer's block, they invite the audience to join them on an insightful journey navigating family relationships and what it's like to feel different.   

As you might guess, there's more to it than that. I hope Ann returns to The Fringe next near.

          

 

       

MADELEINE MONDAY

The kid turned 10 Sunday. We arranged a birthday party at a place called Incredible Pizza (spoiler - it's not). There is a big buffet of cheap pizza, pasta, salad and desserts. The big attraction it the adjacent enormous arcade, with every kind of flashing, jangling, shaking electronic game you could imagine. The children wanted to finish eating and get there as fast as possible. Ellie decided that the most efficient and funniest way to get there was to shove her whole ice cream cone in her mouth.       

ST. LOU FRINGE: ALWAYS THE FOOL

Comedian Nick Kelly told a tale about a regular, periodic joke his parents played on him in childhood into his young adult years. Every spring, they would devise intricate, elaborate pranks. In this bit, his father told him there was some small bus vicious animal in the attic that they must be rid of at once. Nick was told to get a baseball bat to whack the thing to death while his father trapped in in a sheet for disposal. Nick got very worked up, afraid, anxious and full of force. Just as he thought he was about to slay the beast his mother threw a stuffed toy dog at him. April fool!