Don’t Tell My Dad by Nefarious Projects is a musical comedy playing for Toronto Fringe 2014. The star of the show, Chelsea Manders, stands on the stage wearing a pretty summer dress and an acoustic guitar strapped across her front. Looking at her glowing smile, I half-expect her to start a children’s sing-along.
In some ways, I was right. Manders sings a catchy tune she wrote for her princess-loving niece. Manders names real princesses in order to give the young girl some knowledge on her inspirations. The twist is, all these princesses have either been historically beheaded or have died from the “plaguey-plague”.
Mind Map by Fisgard Labs began on a high note. Wes Lord walked on stage and was greeted with a shy round of applause. Lord looked at the dozen odd people in the seats and pointed out how unenthusiastic we sounded. Sheepishly, the audience realized we could muster a bit more noise. Lord demanded a mulligan and walked off stage. He announced his presence once again and was met with loud clapping and cheers. It was an awkwardly charming start, but I found the charm wore off with this Toronto Fringe Festival show. Continue reading Mind Map (Fisgard Labs) 2014 Toronto Fringe Review→
Staging a one man show is no easy task. But Jarret Wright makes it look effortless. Prisoners & Criminals (Escape Velocity Productions), written by Wright himself, is currently playing as part of the Toronto Fringe Festival and it features a remarkable performance that deserves to be seen.
Personal stories, like Irv Production’s One Legged Dancer, are a staple of the Toronto Fringe Festival. These tiny wee autobiographies, when done well, offer insights and flavour that wouldn’t work in bigger, brassier projects: anyone remember Zehra Fezal’s Headscarf and the Angry Bitch, or Cameryn Moore’s Phone Whore, or Andrew Bailey’s The Adversary? These shows all needed a delicacy and intimacy in order to work, and their creators’ careful efforts to set and maintain that tone is what set them apart from the competition.
And that, in a nutshell, is the problem I have with One Legged Dancer.
Lord, what a title: Sex T-Rex Presents Watch Out WildKat: Yer Dealin’ With The Devil! opened tonight at the Toronto Fringe Festival, promising a rootin’, tootin’, whiskey-swillin’ good time. Dime-novel sensation WildKat MacReady sets out to avenge her father’s death, and she’ll do whatever it takes to get the sonovabitch who killed him — including making a deal with Lucifer himself. But when she comes face-to-face with the only man dangerous enough to cheat the devil, how can she possibly win?
Don’t Tell My Dad by Nefarious Projects is a musical comedy playing for Toronto Fringe 2014. The star of the show, Chelsea Manders, stands on the stage wearing a pretty summer dress and an acoustic guitar strapped across her front. Looking at her glowing smile, I half-expect her to start a children’s sing-along.
Mind Map
Personal stories, like Irv Production’s 