New York City Fringe (formally the FRIGID Fringe Festival) is an open, lottery-based theater festival that gives artists an opportunity to let their ingenuity thrive in an environment that values freedom of expression and artistic determination. In true support of the Indie Theater Community, 100% of box office proceeds go directly to the artists whose work is being presented.
In Harmony
The second song in this thoughtfully constructed musical entertainment features “The Beanstalk” from Renascence, one of my favorite musicals over the last decade. In Harmony uses songs selected from both theater and popular music to vocalize the foibles and fables, the journeys and side tracks, the hits and misses one experiences during the maturation process into adulthood.
A young man sitting on the floor opens a book then sings “when I grow up I will be smart enough to answer all the questions that you need to know the answers to before you’re grown up”. This gorgeous Matilda tune paves the way for the exploration that follows. A dozen and a half winning performers ranging in age from 20’s to early 30’s meditate on life’s journeys using an assortment of thematically linked introspective lyrics.
Variety mirrors the diverse individuals represented on stage. Comedic turns and ballads. Solos, duos, trios and more. “Make up your mind to explore yourself” is the plea (Next to Normal). About twenty selections make up this show and there are no lulls whatsoever. The performance joy exhibited by this cast is infectious.
Youthful missteps (“Why do we play with fire?”) and serious reflections (“I’m getting older too”) nicely sit side by side with vivid storytelling numbers such as “Changing My Major” from Fun Home, one of In Harmony’s high points. Composers who have metaphorically spoken to this creative team are celebrated here but also employed to show others, who are not yet as self-assured, that there truly is a way forward.
Microphone issues marred the performance I saw. Another one of life’s punches live and unplanned. How these performers handled the unfortunate technology issues added to the overall effect. Addressing the onstage drama head on during “I’ve Got Life” from Hair resulted in a hilarious delivery of the line “and bad times too”.
This show ends simply and perfectly with the young man once again sitting on the floor. Humans are never truly finished. There is always more to learn. Life can be compared to ascending the giant beanstalk on a glorious adventure to meet the Giant. Even better to sing about the wandering journeys each of us takes in our own way. “La, la, la, la, la, la, la… what a climb!”
theaterreviewsfrommyseat/renascence
Walt Kelly’s Song of the Pogo
The long running (1948-1975) syndicated cartoon strip Pogo featured an opossum, the title character. It incorporated social and political satire. Walt Kelly’s Songs of the Pogo was an illustrated collection of his original songs. I must have missed that piece of info during this show so I was just confused.
This musical revue “suitable for the whole family” is a mash up of these songs interspersed with Kelly’s personal memoirs and a magazine interview with the comic book creator Gil Kane. Frank Farrell and Ben Masterton adapted these sources and placed the action at radio station WOGPI in 1969. The radio setting idea provides a nice framework for this material.
I remember enjoying Pogo as a kid and I clearly recalled “I have met the enemy and he is us” when the line was spoken. That, however, was a long time ago. The musings of the interview and the silly song presentations were difficult to connect with. The show feels like inside baseball. If you know the material perhaps you will smile with recognition. I cannot fathom what a newbie to the world of Pogo would think.
Some jokes are funny (both the carpenter dog and the short girl). The cast of six works diligently to yuck it up. Danny Crawford was quite good developing a persona for Mr. Kelly. He ably carries it through regardless if we know what he is talking and singing about or why. Greg Horton was an inspired Larry King-like radio interviewer.
Scattered within this hodgepodge are some interesting nuggets like “a cartoonist should be angry about the times he lives in”. Those moments speed by and it’s back to the Okefenokee Swamp. We hear that this cartoonist’s work is the best darn work being done out there. Super fans created this homage. Novices need a lot more focus to be able to engage and comprehend the obvious passion behind the creation of this work.
The most well-known ditty (thank you Google) in Walt Kelly’s published song collection is “Deck Us All With Boston Charlie”. This number is performed early on. Each year at Christmas time, it was traditional for the strip to publish at least the first stanza (fun fact). The purposefully ridiculous last line is “boola boola Pensacoola hullabaloo”. This hullabaloo wants us to be excited about Mr. Kelly but it’s hard to understand what the fuss is all about.
The New York City Fringe runs through April 21, 2024 at three locations: The Wild Project, 14Y Theater and UNDER St. Mark’s. Most shows are also livestreamed.