IndyFringe

IndyFringe: The Adventures of Crazy Jane & Red-Haired Annie

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This show is part of the 15th Annual Indianapolis Theatre Fringe Festival, a/k/a IndyFringe, Aug. 15-25, 2019 on Mass Ave downtown. Info, etc., at www.IndyFringe.org.

By Wendy Carson

This show is subtitled “New Fairy Tales for the Playful, Witty, and Wise,” and that aptly represents what this evening will be about.

In “Crazy Jane and the Faerie Queen” we are presented with our titular characters and encounter with the Queen of the Faeries, who is not a force to be trifled with. This tale also lays out the relationship between Jane and Annie as well as showing insight into their daily lives. What starts as a question of whether Fairy wings are more akin to a butterfly or dragonfly, ends with a deadly fight for survival and escape.

The next adventure, “…and the King of the Butterflies” has Crazy Jane and Red-Haired Annie splitting up to retrieve two magical items in order to free the King of the Butterflies children from the grasp of the Evil Winter Witch. Annie searches in vain to find the heart of a Stone Giant, even though such creatures are extinct. Meanwhile Jane must locate a scale from the serpent that encircles the earth. This is also where we are first presented with the origin of her transformation into “Crazy Jane”.

Our final tale, “Crazy Jane Goes Sane” offers insight into the truth of what the most valuable thing in your life truly is. While Annie is off on her own (we all need to get away by ourselves sometimes), Jane plays a game of dice with a stranger and is then transported to a world in which she is a hardened businesswoman living a typical life. Annie shows up with a story of her own to tell, and the friends are again together.

Laura Packer weaves these tales with the skill of a spider. You are instantly transported to your childhood, when just sitting at the feet of a storyteller was the greatest feeling in the world. Packer’s amazing talents are well showcased her and the numerous awards she has won throughout her career are self-evident.

While the program recommends the show for ages 16 and up, I feel that it would be very suitable for any child with the attention span to listen to and enjoy a good story. After all, it is through these shared experiences that our imaginations are honed and our true selves are fed.

Remaining performances are 9 p.m. Friday and 6 p.m. Saturday at the District Theater, 627 Massachusetts Ave.

IndyFringe: Class Dismissed, Figuring Out What the Hell We’re Going to Do With Our Lives

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This show is part of the 15th Annual Indianapolis Theatre Fringe Festival, a/k/a IndyFringe, Aug. 15-25, 2019 on Mass Ave downtown. Info, etc., at www.IndyFringe.org.

By Wendy Carson

Your Senior year of High School, we’ve all been there and remember what it was like for us. However, the current Millennium presents a whole new mountain of concerns over planning for the future. Aside from the stress of just getting into college, there’s the concern about the crippling debt paying for it, if you are not lucky enough to find or receive a scholarship. Plus, is not actually attending college a guarantee that you will fail?

This is the quandary ensconcing the players in this energetic production from the Sugar Creek Players Youth Troupe (from Crawfordsville).

We are sped through the senior cycle with a look at some of the wacky clubs you can join to improve your application, SATs, Various classes, as well as Prom and Graduation. Since the ultimate answer of what to do is unique to us all, the characters here are boiled down to basic stereotypes.

Austin Coon dominates the cast in his role as he “Crazy Teacher” demanding that everyone MUST get into college or you are doomed to work a “McJob” the rest of your life.

Liberty Owens portrays the “Juul Kid” (those are the e-cigarettes that the kids are vaping with these days) as stealthy, cynical, and appalled that people actually pee in the Juul room (even though it’s actually the bathroom). She is certain that she can become a successful online personality and that will get her through life.

Isabella de Assis-Wilson’s turn as the “Poor Kid” highlights the desperation felt by those who don’t have the means to shoulder the expenses of college and are overwhelmed by the scarceness of financial aid to help.

Sara Adams shines as the incredibly vapidly self-centered “Rich Kid” who just buys her way out of any and all situations. She even has a butler to feel emotion for her.

However, it is Cameron Tyo as the “Middle Kid” who truly catches out attention. He just wants to go to cooking school and then open a bakery after High School. While his dream is discouraged at every turn, he starts selling his cookies around school and makes enough to convince his detractors that his dream is a valid choice.

The final members of our cast, Terran McCarty & Evan Baldwin as “Keynote Speaker” and “Freshman” do a good job but are barely seen on stage.

So come out and support these youngsters in their quest for answers, and encourage them that their efforts here are worthwhile. Remaining performances are 9 p.m. Thursday, 1:30 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday (Aug. 22-25) at ComedySportz, 721 Massachusetts Ave.

IndyFringe: Jan of All Trades

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This show is part of the 15th Annual Indianapolis Theatre Fringe Festival, a/k/a IndyFringe, Aug. 15-25, 2019 on Mass Ave downtown. Info, etc., at www.IndyFringe.org.

By John Lyle Belden

In what Jan Shirley Ann calls her “autobiocomedy,” our stand-up and seminarian presents a clean family-friendly show. In fact, when I saw it, a good number of family and friends were in the audience. But you don’t have to be related or have grown up with her in Gary, Ind., to understand and laugh along with her stories of life’s road that led her here.

Yes, she’s from the hometown of the Jacksons, and even was in a singing group that called itself The Jacksons’ Five (note the placing of the apostrophe to avoid confusion). She tells of dissecting frogs in Vacation Bible School, using a Jamaican accent for no reason, learning Japanese, teaching the Japanese to speak English (badly), and of the exceptionally handsome man the Lord used to persuade her to attend Butler University. 

Not often you see a comedian-storyteller who is also a minister in training, but that could explain why an hour with her feels like such a blessing.

She only has so many relatives and bff’s; y’all need to come out and enjoy this show, too. Performances are Friday through Saturday nights at ComedySportz, 721 Massachusetts Ave. 

IndyFringe: Make Me A Match

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This show is part of the 15th Annual Indianapolis Theatre Fringe Festival, a/k/a IndyFringe, Aug. 15-25, 2019 on Mass Ave downtown. Info, etc., at www.IndyFringe.org.

By John Lyle Belden

One of the creators of last year’s “Paper Swords,” Matt Day, wrote this musical with Jordan Brown and Josh Brown, a story of love and empowerment taking place on a TV dating show.

On “Make Me a Match,” a bachelorette — on this occasion, Beth (Emily Sanders), an internet Influencer — gets to pick which of the three male contestants she has to marry. The bachelors are smooth rich boy Steve (Kerrington Shorter), cocky horndog Todd (Ryan Powell) and kindergarten teacher Brad (Josh Brown), who didn’t know he was living in a musical.

Smarmy host Danny Sharp (Ethan Mathias) is treated like a god, while he treats cue-card intern Meredith (Riley Iaria) and makeup girl Lexi (Jordan Brown) like crap. 

There is also a security guard (Aaron Williams) for when things get intense.

One thing that was impressive was that even though there was an on-stage band, the actors didn’t use or need mics. Also, to complete the immersive experience, the audience is the show’s studio audience, and we have an important part to play near the end. 

Mathias makes an excellent bad guy. Sanders counters your expectations of shallowness to show Kardashian-types aren’t quite as dumb as they look. And Iaria and Jordan Brown have appropriately righteous fire. Josh Brown, caught in the middle of this, supplies many of the comic moments. 

This #MeToo musical is better than a lot of what’s actually on television, and more fun. 

Performances are 9 p.m. tonight, as well as 7:30 Thursday, 9 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday (Aug. 20-25), at The Oasis (Shriners’ entrance of the Murat, on the north side), 502 N. New Jersey St.

IndyFringe: Schoolhouse Rock LIVE, Fringe Edition

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This show is part of the 15th Annual Indianapolis Theatre Fringe Festival, a/k/a IndyFringe, Aug. 15-25, 2019 on Mass Ave downtown. Info, etc., at www.IndyFringe.org.

By John Lyle Belden

Though this is at Fringe, note this is not a parody or deconstruction or any avant garde thing. This is the stage show based on — and performing — the various educational commercial-length shorts you (or your parents) likely grew up with back in the days of Saturday morning cartoons.

This production is by the energetic and highly-talented teens of CYT Indy (the local chapter of Christian Youth Theater). In the stage show, a young teacher is having trouble sleeping because she is worried about her first day at school. So the denizens of School House Rock come to her in a dream, to show how “learning is power” and that it lies within her, too.

This being a Fringe-length show, there are only several select numbers the kids get to do, but they do them well. And we even get a reference to the Pluto controversy when Interplanet Janet comes flying around.  

Support future artists, enjoy the memories, and maybe learn something. Remaining performances are 6 p.m. Friday and 1:30 p.m. Saturday at The Oasis (Shriners’ entrance of the Murat, on the north side), 502 N. New Jersey St.

 

IndyFringe: BRAIN-O-RAMA — Mentalism and Mischief

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This show is part of the 15th Annual Indianapolis Theatre Fringe Festival, a/k/a IndyFringe, Aug. 15-25, 2019 on Mass Ave downtown. Info, etc., at www.IndyFringe.org.

By John Lyle Belden

Kevin Burke is a brave soul, and I’m not referring to him calling himself “the world’s only psychic comedian” or how he plays Russian roulette with staple guns — meaning we either get a mentalist trick or a sideshow geek act — but because he has the audacity of leaving the sound-effects for his show totally in the hands of the venue tech.

At ComedySportz.

At the show I attended, the goofball up in the tech’s crow’s nest was Mark Cashwell, which meant that Burke’s hilarious antics just got that much funnier.

Goofy noises aside, Burke demonstrates his “telepathetic” powers in various ways, and even teaches us a trick. He also leaves some of the mentalism in the hands of the amateurs he brings up on stage so if it works, he’s a genius; if it doesn’t, it’s your fault. Bur regardless, you will laugh — a lot.

See and experience yourself this Friday, Saturday or Sunday (Aug. 23-25) at ComedySportz, 721 Massachusetts Ave.

IndyFringe: And Then They Came For Me

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This show is part of the 15th Annual Indianapolis Theatre Fringe Festival, a/k/a IndyFringe, Aug. 15-25, 2019 on Mass Ave downtown. Info, etc., at www.IndyFringe.org.

By John Lyle Belden

The Carmel High School theater program — practically a professional company, considering the quality of its shows — presents this historical drama, written by James Still (playwright-in-residence at the Indiana Repertory Theatre).

Consider it a companion piece to “The Diary of Anne Frank,” as it relates the stories of people who knew her, but with events she couldn’t have known about while in hiding. The focus is on two young people — Eva Geiringer and Helmuth Silberberg — whom we know much about because they survived the Holocaust. The acted scenes are intercut with audio and video footage of these two from recent interviews.

The student actors give stunning performances: Maddie Nagel as Eva, with Austin Audia, Kelsey McShay and Luke Vreeman as her family; Ryan Yauger as “Hello” Silberberg, with Kate Barthuly and Jack Sullivan as his parents; and Emily Chrzanowski as Anne, looking like she just stepped out of one of the old photographs. Sullivan also has the unfortunate but important role of a Nazi Youth, showing the contrast of the regular German’s life of indoctrination and exploitation of his naive faith in the Reich.

The narrative itself is riveting, with events of miraculous survival, as well as stories of those who perished so close to their potential liberation.

Direction is by Maggie Cassidy, with student assistants Madi Diehl (sound), Delaney Kibler (costumes and lights) and Gabrielle Marshall (projection, poster and logo design).

To see both the future of Indiana theatre, and a stark reminder of humanity’s past, remaining performances are 10:30 p.m. Saturday and 6 p.m. Sunday at the IndyFringe building, 719 E. St. Clair.

IndyFringe: Tasty Bits – The Magic and Stories of Taylor Martin

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This show is part of the 15th Annual Indianapolis Theatre Fringe Festival, a/k/a IndyFringe, Aug. 15-25, 2019 on Mass Ave downtown. Info, etc., at www.IndyFringe.org.

By John Lyle Belden

Locally-based magician Taylor Martin — popular for his historical and drag characters — has accumulated a lot of interesting experiences. He has been posting them on Facebook, each under the title “There’s a Story to be Told.” One reader said the snippets of his life are like “Tasty Bits,” and thus Martin had a title for his latest Fringe Show.

That’s also a story he told.

I know Martin well enough to recognize that was his Jethro Tull album playing as we entered the venue. We are totally in his element. 

We meet Rodney the Younger, Rodney the Elder, and Madame Esmarelda, but what’s more unusual, we get to know Taylor Martin himself.  He has so many “Bits” — from touring, his past as a singing telegram, and all the interesting and famous people he has met — that he has placed many of them into envelopes. In true magician style, audience members are asked to pick the next one he will tell. These he will only tell once during the run of the show, so each performance is different. Others he will tell every time, like how he came to be friends with Penn & Teller. 

Martin has performed and produced in nearly every IndyFringe, but this show is unlike any other he’s done. There will be illusions, such as his 100-year-old magic box; but you also get the story of how he now has a 100-year-old magic box. 

If you know him at all, you know this is going to be good. If you don’t, well, he has some stories to tell you. Performances are today through Friday and Sunday by the Indy Firefighters’ Museum, 748 Massachusetts Ave.

IndyFringe: The Last Man

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This show is part of the 15th Annual Indianapolis Theatre Fringe Festival, a/k/a IndyFringe, Aug. 15-25, 2019 on Mass Ave downtown. Info, etc., at www.IndyFringe.org.

By John Lyle Belden

This sci-fi drama starts out strong, taking us down a path of eerie possibilities. 

Colin (Craig Kemp) runs into The Party Shop at a local mall, where the cheerful clerk, Delta (Caity Withers) hardly notices that his clothes are torn and he is stained with blood and grime. He insists on having some of the water and snacks from the shop, but, “Sorry sir, that’s for customers, only,” she smiles. So he says he wants to plan a party, Christmas in August, and he tells her a story of advances in Artificial Intelligence and Nanotechnology. And how in the 22nd century, out of nostalgia people built shopping malls that echoed the 20th century. And how there were AI “people” that were so convincing, not even they could recognize they weren’t human.

“That’s silly,” Delta says with a perfectly happy and helpful face.

Back in the 21st century, Erica (Alfton Shepard), a Professor of Advanced Nanotechnology, has recruited a couple of promising students, Charlie (Claire Shutters) and Bill (Manny Casillas) to help her with her next breakthrough. First, she is in need of emergency heart-valve surgery, and Dr. Toowan (Steve Jerk) assures her that the odds of failure are extremely low — but a phone message from the future is insisting she not go through with it, and that the fate of the world is at stake!

Local doctor and author L. Jan Eira panned this little thriller, which features some tech that is only a couple of breakthroughs away, and even temporal tinkering that acknowledges “time travel” has its limits. Hardcore sci-fi fans may recognize the plot beats, but it is kinda fun to play “spot the replicant.”

The acting is great, but this script really needed two full acts to explore its potential. The dynamite opening scene is followed by some good ones; then a rushed climax to a chunk of closing exposition. But it’s an interesting story nonetheless. Don’t let its weakness stop you; Fringe tickets are inexpensive, and you can say you saw it first when this story gets a bigger, better treatment — later in the 21st century.

Performances are today and Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday (Aug. 21-22 & 24-25), by the Indiana Firefighters Museum at 748 Massachusetts Ave.

IndyFringe: Lady LIVES

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This show is part of the 15th Annual Indianapolis Theatre Fringe Festival, a/k/a IndyFringe, Aug. 15-25, 2019 on Mass Ave downtown. Info, etc., at www.IndyFringe.org.

By John Lyle Belden

For those who saw Monica Cantrell as Billie Holiday in “Lady Day” earlier this year, it was easy to presume that this was a rehash of the same material — but this is not a copy, rather it’s a companion-piece. Where in “Lady Day,” we go back to the past to visit Ms. Holiday, in “Lady LIVES,” she comes to us.

It has been announced that the immortal Billie Holiday, who passed from us in 1959, is going to make an appearance in Indianapolis today. Anything is possible in the theatre, so a place is made. And sure enough, there she is, in a shimmering robe — singing 1970s hit “Hello, It’s Me” as though Todd Rundgren had written it for her.

Apparently you can keep up with things here from the Beyond, as she takes on a couple of other contemporary hits (she even says, “More cowbell!”) but she also sings a couple of her own classics, including the biting reminder that “Strange Fruit” once hung from America’s trees. 

As I said during her earlier show (produced in March by Fonseca Theatre Company), Cantrell can channel Holiday perfectly, nailing that unique voice without sinking into parody. It’s as though the Lady truly visited us. Perhaps she did!

This production is conceived and directed by Bill Myers, produced in association with The Timeless Music Project and The Chatterbox. Remaining performances are 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Saturday, 4:30 p.m. Sunday at the District Theater (former TOTS location),  627 Massachusetts Ave.