Posted by Mike Blake
Mon, 11 May 2009 17:38:00 GMT
Ten Must See Fringe Shows
The Orlando Fringe is just days away. If you don’t have time to hang out at the beer tent to get instant show reviews, here’s a few gems I’ll be attending. I’ll start with the more mainstream picks, shows that should be fun for the whole family, then move on to some picks for mature audiences.
Family Style
The Fringe can get freaky. If your hanging with young ones, or old ones, you may want to ease into any potential culture shock with one of the shows with a “General Audience” Rating.
These clowns are really season veterans from Orlando’s own Sak Comedy Lab who have been honing their craft for years on Monday nights at Taste. With a completely new show every performance, and only $7 a ticket, this show may be the best bang for your buck in the whole festival.
How about the “Best Solo Performance” in the DC Fringe? This presentation of 7 Samurai “complete with peasants, bandits, samurai warriors, and a spectacular fight scene ” will not disappoint!
The talented students and staff of Winter Springs Performing Arts are putting on an all out production they’re calling a “Musical Theater Dramady”. Supporting local artists and showcasing new talent is the Fringe at its best. This show should be very entertaining.
The talented local favorites at Voci Dance team up with NY’s DeXdance team up for an “edgy, intelligent adventure in contemporary dance theatre.” These dancers are pure pleasure to watch.
This is a must see. A fresh look at a refined art form, perhaps the most accomplished artists in the Fringe do the entertaining in this show. Ricardo Garcia’s guitar playing could put this show in the Music category below, but you get the idea. Just see this show.
Did I mention award winning shows? Mevlin Brown has gotten rave reviews from Edinburgh Scotland to Ausin Texas, and a couple of Fringes in between. We’re lucky to have international stars like this here in O-Town.
Heather Henson brings together the best of Orlando’s amazing puppet scene for this all out Puppet Fest. Local favorite Wavey Davey performs Friday the 15th at 6PM. With a different show every night, you may want to attend the Puppet Slam more than once.
Cheeky
Once you’ve started fringing, why not take advantage of the 100% uncensored feature , and challenge your sensibilities? Here’s some shows that should be entertaining as well as a bit embarrassing if you watch them sitting next to your Mom or you local clergyman (or both).
This show’s not really ‘cheeky’ just different. Click on the link above, than click reviews. Even professional reviewers don’t know how to describe this show. I sure don’t, but I’m seeing it again. It’s that strange, and that good.
Tony writes some great songs that are a lot of fun to play. You can hear some stuff from his first album, but to hear his latest tunes you need to come to the show Saturday. The show is free, so I guess I’m not going to quit my software gig for this, but it will be fun.
Jerry
is the quintessential Florida folk singer. He also writes some great tunes , and I’m sure Tony is thrilled to have him perform for us Saturday. Jerry is also playing all three days at The Florida Folk Festival.
Luke Bailey
If you ask Google for pages similar to Luke Bailey’s page the search comes up empty. That’s because there’s no one else like Luke Bailey. Which is probably a good thing. But when Luke and Tony start playing those hysterical tunes, it all comes together. You’re guaranteed to have a good laugh and a great time. You can also hear The Luke Bailey Show every Saturday at 5:00 AM on WPRK 91.5 the Rolins College station.
Posted by Mike Blake
Wed, 08 Mar 2006 01:39:00 GMT
My muse has been awakening recently. The musical muse that is.
Last Friday, I had an awesome jam with Tony Macaluso . I say awesome because it was lot’s of fun, but I actually didn’t play very well. We recorded it, and I learn a lot when we do that. It’s kind of like “Release Early and Often” with Software.
Then, Sunday night, I jammed with Erwan Baleine. Again awesome. One because we didn’t record it, so I can’t be hyper-critical of my playing, and two, because Erwan’s girlfriend Clara made stuffed peppers with a Cuban flair, and Erwan made authentic, from scratch French Apple Pie.
Although we didn’t record, I have an mp3 of us playing a while back. So in honor of The Pragmatic Programmer’s Beta Book concept, here’s a “beta” mp3. Like a Beta Book, it’s a bit rough and definately contains some bugs, but now we have something to improve on.
