Explanation of emojis here, and apologies for any technical difficulties the past day or so! May or may not try to fit in a few more shows the next few days as the Fringefry is finally catching up with me but definitely wanted to highlight these three.
Miss Bellas
This edgy post-apocalyptic fantasy of a one hour musical is a thoroughly fascinating artistic experiment, and one that comes with eye-popping design and incredible vocals from cast members Giselle Bellas and Bryan De Souza (who was playing the lead role of Francisco at the performance I attended but is splitting the role with Aj Morales and appearing in other performances in the featured role of Jose). As I noted about a few other shows presented by the Renaissance Theatre Company as a BYOV, their technological resources and unique theatrical space are a huge asset here, allowing on-screen visuals to aid in the work’s world-building and storytelling.
Though Miss Bellas quickly sets up a compelling story in the titular characters’ narcissistic focus on her opulent art at the expense of the welfare of an impoverished public, once it does so, the plot remains relatively stagnant until an eleventh hour turn strikingly shifts the meaning of everything we have seen thus far. With this escalation, the piece elevates into even greater profundity, revealing the vulnerability of even those who a corrupt system initially appears to serve.
While cameos from other Fringe artists as members of that impoverished public are plenty entertaining, they do also detract from immersion into the story’s world and undercut the seriousness of what the piece is otherwise trying to convey. Overall, I would call this a piece with enormous potential that this premiere production only partially realizes – but the result is still an incredibly impactful effort. It’s a can’t miss show if you’re looking for something that combines serious artistry and stimulating spectacle, and basically cements the Ren’s status as my favorite off-site venue this year!
Playing tonight @ 8:30 pm at the Renaissance Theatre Company
Tickets and future showtimes here!
Emojis earned: 🎭 🤩🎉🏆
Solovela, An Improvised Solo Telenovela
My experience at this Monday night’s performance of Solovela both was and wasn’t my first experience of seeing the show. By that I mean that I’ve actually caught quite a few performances of prior iterations of Diane Jorge’s dynamic improv show in our shared hometown of South Florida, but because the content is almost 100 percent improvised, I’ve had a totally different experience every time!
Thus, it actually speaks quite well of Jorge in and of itself that I took the time to see Solovela again despite my instinct to prioritize totally new shows otherwise- and I wasn’t at all disappointed in my decision.
After an over the top introduction that perfectly sets the soap-operatic tone, Jorge moves on to interviewing a set of audience members that came to the show as a couple. She asks them about how they met, then uses their story as the template for the improvised telenovela that takes up the rest of this show’s 60 minute runtime. Per usual, hilarity ensues. And this time, I noticed that the story Jorge devised with her enviable quick thinking skills was unexpectedly sweet as well as full of punchy laugh lines.
If you’re an improv enthusiast, this is definitely one of your best bets of this year’s Fringe festival. And even if you aren’t, I can almost guarantee that as long as you’re willing to roll with the silliness, you’ll probably have a great time!
Playing tonight @ 6:25 pm in the Blue Venue
Tickets and showtimes here!
Emojis earned: 🎈😄🤩
Queer!
Having seen a version of this intimate show at the Ren, I was somewhat surprised by how well it played in the significantly more sprawling Silver Venue- but as it turns out, the well-told true stories of this show’s five member ensemble are plenty engaging enough to fill the space. These diverse, textured stories are united by the commonality of the storytellers’ queerness and Latinx identities, and, together, represent an impressively thorough representation of experiences that might arise from that particular intersectional identity.
Some wrestle with denial or discrimination, and others with bi erasure or straight passing privilege, but all have enough stage presence and skill to make their lived experiences into a powerful theatrical experience.
This piece earns its wow factor emoji from musical interludes that unite the ensemble into a cohesive unit and underscores the connections between their stories, as well as from the smoothness of the slam poetry style that some members harness. Leandra “Slim” Diaz is probably that cast standout in that domain, while Mimi Batista delivers the most awe-inspiring vocals. Though there’s absolutely no shortage of queer-themed offerings at this year’s Fringe festival, this one is definitely offering something special.
Playing tonight @ 6:30 pm in the Silver Venue
Ticket and future showtimes here!
Emojis earned: 💞💙🤩