Orlando Fringe Festival

I absolutely LOVE the Orlando Fringe Festival. Most of the productions are very inexpensive and many even free. There is an energy downtown during the festival that I've always loved. Just a heads up for any locals who have never been.

Okay, so most of the productions are a bit "out there" and you really must attend with an open mind, but some of the funniest and most touching productions I've attended have been at the Fringe.

For instance, here are a couple reviews of this years offerings featured in the Orlando Sentinel. For more info, times, costs, etc. see link at bottom:

“Anne Frank Superstar & the Purpose of the Moon”

Reviewed by Mary Frances Emmons, Special to the Orlando Sentinel

"One of the best things about Fringe is the way utterly unlikely combinations can come together to create something totally new and surprising. That’s the case with this show from Penguin Point Productions, the alumni chapter of the theater department at Winter Park’s Lake Howell High School. Composed of two unrelated one-acts, the show begins with the brief Purpose of the Moon, adapted by James Brendlinger from a short story by Tom Robbins, an amusingly absurd mash-up of the lives of Marilyn Monroe and Vincent Van Gogh.

But the real reason to see this show lies in the second piece, Anne Frank Superstar, also adapted by Brendlinger, which marries the familiar writings of the marvelously literate Jewish teenager robbed of her adulthood to the tragically sad music of ‘70s superstars Karen and Richard Carpenter — you’ll be astonished at the affinities Brendlinger and musical director Sean Michael Robinson find in this seemingly disparate material. [I've heard this show is excellent. RO]

The perfectly arranged, polished Anne is aided by terrific voices overall — especially the luminous Sarah Villegas as Anne; Anthony Pyatt Jr. as her shy first crush, Peter; and Tori Camera as Anne’s quiet sister, Margot — who deliver one achingly lovely moment after another.

How do all of these things connect? I have no idea — it’s an evening of weird-as-hell pairings, no doubt — but the mostly inspired combinations will bring you to tears more than once."

Orlando Fringe Festival review:
‘Captain Discovery: The Edible Planet’
2011 Orlando Fringe Festival

By Matthew J. Palm, Orlando Sentinel theater critic

"OK, let’s be honest: No one’s expecting great art from a show in a closet. But how about a tasty treat? “Captain Discovery: The Edible Planet” is likely the hottest few minutes you’ll spend in a closet with total strangers. (Not “hottest” in that way; “hottest” as in lack of air conditioning.)

This year’s installment of the puppet show on the fringes of the Fringe doesn’t have a plot particularly. But it does have a giant singing eyeball performing a love ode to longtime local theater critic Elizabeth Maupin (represented in a very pixelated photo — Betsey, get your press agent on that!) .

And, it has a little marshmallow puppet for each audience member to join in a sing-along finale.

Does it all sound a little weird? Good! This is the Fringiest of the Fringe."

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_stage_theat/category/2011-orlando-fringe-festival

Poor RO. Nobody cared about your Fringe Festival.:blowkiss:

So did you go? How was it?

Lol, I know a couple did go and yes, it was fabulous! I saw that, I think the name is Intermezzo went and I had a couple emails from some others. Quirky, as always, but tons of fun!