Vote For Tom Ryan: One Last Time at The Broadwater
I have not seen the other Tom Ryan shows, but this is the other shows with an added third act. Vote For Tom Ryan follows Tom Ryan who is in the midst of running for high school president. He, and his classmates, take this election as serious as if it were the U.S Presidential Election. From there, comedy ensues. I thought it is a smart, sharp, and charming comedy with a grounded premise and what I loved most was the commitment of the characters/actors.
Sister Bernadette Runs The Light
Sister Bernadette gets the part started! A wonderful show and Stellar performance from Indiana Wilson who keeps us laughing nonstop. I had no idea what to expect, but am glad I joined the fun. Wilson makes for a charming and confident performer, creating a character that lets her express many different talents. I liked how, while fully in character, the Sister could interact with audience members. A short, balanced work of comedy. No notes!
Bless This Jess at The Broadwater
A blend of history and mental health, with surprising and insightful twists. Jessica Martin takes us through the history of Joan of Arc while also detailing his life, finding parallels. I could not help but think of Joseph Campbell’s saying, “Find your myth” and Jess sharing the synchronicity that comes with it. There is the saying, “You can give a guy a fish, or you can teach him how to fish” but Jess teaches us how to want to find out more about fishing, ignites our curiosity, through her journey in what i can call, the best history class I have attended in years! She is an engaging presenter and sprinkles humor in at the right moments with balanced trasitions.
First show of the day for me and the funniest tour guide you’ll ever have. Non-stop laughs, comedic freedom, top-tier comedy. Hilarious guide that does everything but get through the tour. Museum tour gone wrong, by her own anxiety. The laughs are relentless, fueled by her comedic fearlessness, quick wit, and boundless energy. What begins as a simple museum tour becomes a masterclass in comedic derailment, as her guide manages to do everything except actually get through the exhibit. Beneath the absurdity lies a surprisingly relatable portrait of anxiety, turning a routine tour into a brilliantly funny meltdown that never stops entertaining.
Strange Things at The Broadwater
Dark and brooding, ominous entrance. I knew nothing coming in. Great set, technical design. Really comes together well. Insightful, thoughtful. Good, but feels like it was written for the screen. A play about avoidant attachment. Made me wonder, think about my own humanity. Second half is stronger, first half lacks intimacy.
Strange Beings opens with a dark, brooding atmosphere and an ominous entrance. Knowing absolutely nothing about the show going in, I was quickly drawn in by its impressive technical design and thoughtfully constructed set. While the premise involves an alien encounter and a malfunctioning translator aboard a courier ship, the real drama unfolds between its two pilots, Mina and Caleb. The play has a surprising emotional intelligence, exploring themes of avoidant attachment, vulnerability, and the ways people protect themselves from pain. As the layers of the characters’ history are peeled back, the audience is invited to reflect on their own relationships and capacity for grace. I found myself thinking not only about Mina and Caleb’s humanity, but my own.
The production truly finds its footing in the second half, where the emotional stakes deepen and the character work becomes more intimate and compelling. Thoughtful, insightful, and emotionally resonant, it’s a science-fiction story that keeps its focus firmly on the human heart.
Country Girl Make A Do at The Stray Theater
Sound effects, karaoke, spontaneous, goofy. Sam G. pushes beyond the limit, her show is wildly entertaining and confident. Clown work to an extreme! Like a Jackson Pollock painting… wild, unpredictable, and impossible to look away from. Loved the use of sound effects and incorporating props and effects in, what appears to be, an improvisational manner. Went too long, missed my next show.
Grief Box at The Broadwater
Went to this show on a whim after missing my other show, and I was pleased! This was so entertaining! Award-winning Kathleen Leary. returns to and commands the stage and gets us laughing till after the show is over. An interesting concept, where Dr. Adeline Graves, a motivational speaker, comes to promote her invention, the Grief Box, to help deal with life’s inescapable strifes. It is wild, heartfelt, and gets funnier as the show goes on! A 10 out of 10 in comedy!
Mark Vigeant: Out There!
Mark is one of my favorite performers and this show proves it yet again. I had seen this show last year, and brought my family in to see it this time (for a midnight show); and they loved it! I have nothing new to say about it other than IT IS ONE OF THE BEST FRINGE EXPERIENCES. Come see Larry live-stream his trip in nature, as he plays around with the whole stage and fools around with the audience. An experience you don’t want to miss. I would put it in my top ten.
A masterfully structured show that somehow gets funnier with every passing minute. Andrew Knox stars as Eleos Richard, a Licensed Male Emotions Specialist, and welcomes the audience to an Alpha Male Bootcamp for heterosexual men. As absurd as that premise sounds, the show evolves into something surprisingly heartfelt and moving.
Knox expertly blends therapeutic concepts with laugh-out-loud comedy, maintaining a sharp satirical edge throughout. The result is a unique theatrical experience that manages to parody masculinity while also exploring it with genuine compassion and insight.
This is unlike anything else you’ll see at Fringe. It is boldly original, highly conceptual, and consistently entertaining. It may be too early to make predictions, but I have a strong feeling this will end up in my Top Ten of the festival. I already plan to see it again, and I genuinely believe it deserves to sell out every night.
Sperm Assassination by Pam Levin
In Sperm Assassination, Pam Levin’s one-woman show, she recounts her journey toward accepting motherhood with honesty, vulnerability, and humor. Levin is an award-winning performer and a charismatic storyteller, and her authenticity shines throughout the production. She presents her experiences with remarkable candor, allowing the audience to engage directly with her perspective rather than leaving room for excessive interpretation.
While deeply personal, the story touches on universal themes of anxiety, uncertainty, and life-changing decisions. Even as someone who has not experienced motherhood, I found myself connecting to the fears and questions surrounding parenthood. Levin explores a path traveled by many and finds meaningful ways to share its lessons, transforming personal experience into something both therapeutic and relatable.
One aspect that left me puzzled was the title. “Sperm Assassination” refers to only a small chapter of the larger story, making it feel somewhat disconnected from the overall narrative. Additionally, the show’s 75-minute runtime, felt a bit stretched, especially as it ran slightly over schedule.
Despite these minor criticisms, Sperm Assassination is a raw, sincere, and meaningful piece of theater. Levin’s warmth and skill as a performer make her story engaging from start to finish, offering an intimate reflection on fear, choice, and the unexpected ways we find meaning in life’s biggest transitions.
Fucking Famous by Molly Sharpe
Award-winning performer Molly Sharpe returns to the Hollywood Fringe Festival with yet another memorable comedic triumph. Fucking Famous is, simply put, fucking funny. Sharpe takes the stage bruised, battered, and sporting a bloody nose, but as any performer knows, the show must go on. What follows is a delightfully uncomfortable concert/comedy experience that invites us to laugh and sing along. Molly invites the audience to participate, sometimes hilariously demands. Her over the top set needs become a joy for the audience to participate in. A bold, hilarious, and joyfully unpredictable show that reminds us why she remains one of the festival’s most distinctive performers. If the audience does not participate the show is doomed. Just a fair warning (or invitation), though we had a great crowd. I became a bit embarrassed as I screwed up a cue near the end of the show.
Welcome to Hell by Mark Vigeant
Mark is one of my all time favorite performs. Great show, but, I’ll get to this tomorrow. I need to sleep.
I’ll post this and continue updating as the week goes on.
Nancy by Richard Velasquez is a confident, charming, a rough production. This is apparently the first performance of his show, and I hope it will develop further. Richard Velasquez brings his genuine self to the stage, raw and vulnerable, but it became fragmented as he is constantly referring to the script. A work in progress. He goes through major life stages and shows how his sister was a role model all along, but my one-line summary doesn’t do it justice. Perhaps I’m being too hard on that, after all, the poster did claim it is a staged reading.. He did a good job painting imagery with his words, becoming other family members, and giving life to his memories. As he was reading along, I felt as though each line had the same rhythm and I had trouble keeping track of what age we were at. I wonder, too, if the performance is meant to be straight spoken word, towards the audience. Very touching tribute at the end. Richard’s vulnerability will make you shed tears.
Interesting, gripping, and unflinching. Aditya Putcha combines many different themes into La Mano del Mono, based on the tale of The Monkey’s Paw, a classic 1902 short horror story written by W.W Jacobs; themes that include interracial marriage, child abuse, magic, bureaucracy, grief, and more. It captures that familiar feeling of watching a horror film where you want to shout at the characters, “No! Don’t do that!” It leans into discomfort, pulling the audience in. In true horror fashion, this show will get you uncomfortable and want you reaching out grabbing these characters by the shoulders. The dialogue worked for a small, intimate space like The Stephanie Feury Theater, turning the audience into flies on the wall in an abusive household, but at times the energy became awkward. If the show were longer, we might have a chance for more understanding of this world. The piece is ambitious, weaving in multiple storylines and character backgrounds into a tight 30-minute runtime, giving the play a fast-pace and heightened energy. The melodrama and exaggerated characters fits in with the style of the production, a bold visceral interpretation that isn’t afraid to push boundaries.
Counting The Hours by Camilo Gonzalez was a short, intense piece exploring a soldiers return from the horrors of war, I think. No, it is of “A military colonel about to be promoted to a minister and emporer of a kingdom.” A portrait of PTSD is what I imagine it is about. The monologue was lengthy and showed his wrestling between power and humanity. The character raged at the death of humanity as machines have become of central in the eyes of war, causing destruction around us. The character was sweating, adding to the sense of emotional exposure. Anyway, not a line that stuck with me. At the end a video homage projected on stage with clips of war and of Michael Jackson. “Choose people, not machines” was the message.
A lot of work went into Being The Perfect Woman by Diaz, was my first thought, as we walked into the stage seeing a full clothing rack, a table with a record player, couch, poster board, and a live projection; and not a moment was wasted. The show is written in a way that allows us to experience the discomfort of having to be “The Perfect Woman” with Ashley as they try different ‘normalities’ of how society views female. This show was captivating, transformational; what first feels like an influencer get ready with me shortly becomes the raw exploration of identity and self-understanding. A gut wrenching show of depth, one that evolves as the show progresses. No more spoilers, this is a MUST SEE SHOW. Highly recommended, personal and universal. “Wow,” people muttered, as they got up after the show and their reactions rippled the space, “Double Wow.” We were all chilled to the spine.
A strong one-person piece, The Queen of Reading Gaol offers a brilliant tribute to Salome and other literary characters created by Oscar Wilde. Laura Marlowe is on stage performing with an energetic flow, keeping audiences interested on the subjects. There was a good audience that followed along.
In between shows, I wondered if I’m a bully. I mean, I could write someone a rave review but if I include one harsh thing then they may discount the positives (Cognitive Distortions, see CBT). Words have power. Sorry ya’ll, I don’t mean to be mean.
Open-Door Playhouse brings down the house once again, with (Un)Drinkable and Will’s Dramaturg. Undrinkable is historic, dark, powerful, emotional. A historic play that is both chilling and thought provoking. It follows multiple storylines within the water crisis in Flint, Michigan over the recent years. We see how media tried to hide the severity until it goes out of control, spreading to different zip codes; how contaminated water is affecting children and people trying to make a living. Great performances with strong writing and direction. Moving on to Will’s Dramaturg a laugh out loud piece looking at “What if William Shakespeare had a New York-type publicist/agent/manager. Funny show which combined different time periods. Good performances but I could tell it was partly a staged reading.
Saw too many shows tonight. I’m too tired to write. Bookmarking this for later.
A Perfectly Still Curveball at The Broadwater
RomCom, just okay. Same actors Pam Quinn Eberhart always uses same actors, nice to see them team up. I have seen a lot of Pam’s shows, want to see her try a different style
15th Century Ballerina at The Broadwater
Tagline – “Comedy, Tragedy, Silk, Cello, Dance.” This show brings all of that and much more!
Wow what a hilarious character for a one person show. A modern day actors with her mind stuck in the 15th century. She interfaces with the present time while struggling to hold onto her profession as a ballerina. Taking us on wild adventures, short lived and eternal romances.
Excellent performance and use of audience. Prepare to laugh your ass off and be wowed by such a role. Tour de force performance from Catherine O’Meara.
The Young Jane Show at EastPAC
Hidden gem at Hollywood Fringe Fest, could easily win an award for political theater. This show is a historic documentation of our times.
The play begins with Young Jane speaking to her viewers on a streaming service but transforms into a series of poetry and song, giving life to what our hearts fight for.
I’m saddened that it was only me and two others in the audience. Lorne Stevenson Jr. gives a domineering performance that has us siding with Young Jane as they spiral into protest.
Jersey Devil at The Broadwater Mainstage
Personal, poignant, and big laughs. Hal Rudnick is terrific in delivering this unique yet universal story, which pushes extremes but stays realistic.
Rudnick speaks on anti social personality disorder and how it manifested in his father. Growing up with a lifetime of embarrassing and dangerous moments. The show stays on theme throughout and Hal shows pictures on the projector that captures moments.
Did it need to be on main stage?
Holy Holy’s at The Broadwater
Wow what a show. Clown Work is really taking over Fringe this year. This is a show like no other, it is art! Great performances, physical comedy, and use of tech design. A fun experience in which the audience will feel like a part of the show.
I guess it’s day 7? Yesterday was the party, so, doesn’t count. I started a new job today. It’s late, let me try and get through this.
Dog of Carnage at The Broadwater
Might be Benjamin Schwartz’s best show yet, and a great production by the Catharsis Theatre Collective. Such a dynamic, fast-paced show with so many elements that work well together: sound, lighting, direction, etc. Excellent direction by Natalie Nicole Dreschel too, who finds smooth transitions between the different timelines we witness. I had the chance to see this at Catharsis Bites a few months ago and love how it progressed, while keeping the same, simple concept behind it. I love the writing, two characters with conscious goals, and an objective perspective that does not take sides for either character. The acting is incredible – both Spencer Weitzel and Callie Ott knock it out of the park with the way they take the satirical (albeit metaphorical) so seriously. You will find yourself trying to figure out which side to take, and it is better than any courtroom drama you will see on TV.
Moments In Flight at The Broadwater
This show is a hidden gem of the Fringe Festival, Aidan O’Conner gives one of the funniest (and perhaps most touching) experimental shows all season. A talented performer who gives us nonstop laughs as she switches out between different characters on a flight. Audience interaction is heavy, and every seat will be laughing through the directions prompted by her. I have nothing bad to say about this, but just know that you are going into a show that is a character showcase.
Broke Bitch Got Rich at The Broadwater
Fun show! Personal story about Betsy Cox’s journey through a childhood of poverty in Louisiana and finding her way out in Hollywood, all while being undiagnosed with ADHD. Charming and full of laughs. As I was watching it, I could sense how rehearsed it was; it did not feel as though Betsy were talking to us, but reciting lines, at first. Then, as she flubbed a line about Taco Bell, she laughed it off, and joked about how it is 11PM and she’s feeling it! I felt that was the most genuine point of the whole piece because she got off script. But that is not to take away from how enjoyable the show was. A main theme had to do with trying to fit in different boxes and I liked the style in which the staging allowed her to explore this theme. Anyways, it’s 1 AM right now and I’m tried. I will complete this one tomorrow.
Stage Takes 