“Sometimes it isn’t so good to go inside your head, Sylvia,” declares her mother Frances in this hands-down, must-see world-premiere drama by Any Grau Duvall.  It is the impressive work of a talented local playwright and it moved the Apothecary audience to tears as well as swift applause and genuine contemplation. [Read more...]

With over 130 shows happening at Fringe this year, marketing can be a bit of a problem.  Illegal Sex Acts: Live on Stage asks the question “How do you fill seats while pleasing both the audience and the critics?” Most people’s answer is a thought provoking entertaining show with some good laughs.  What this audience gets instead is a very disjointed and deadpan show that feels thirty minutes longer than it actually is. [Read more...]

[Best Imitation], written by Jeremy F. Richter, is a musical with an odd assortment of plot twists and songs that fail to define any purpose behind the existence of the show.  The musical opens with Jeremy F. Richter, as the character “Me”, walking through an apartment door in the middle of the stage. [Read more...]

McSwiggin’s Pub, a one-man drama/comedy performance starring Second City alum and Hill staffer Sean O’Brien, comes complete with some funny moments, fake beer drinking and a little audience participation. [Read more...]

Santa’s Helper follows Jack (Joel White), a middle-aged serial child molester, as he kidnaps 8-year-old Jim (Jarrett Ley) on Christmas Eve.  Moved by something about the boy, Jack claims to be Santa Claus and offers Jim the chance to be his helper, which Jim eagerly accepts.  [Read more...]

Love Noir: The Music of Lenny, Kurt & Harold is a two-person cabaret show staring Lonny Smith and Maris Wicker.  The show presents eighteen songs from the songbooks of Leonard Bernstein (best known for writing the music for the classic Broadway shows West Side Story, On the Town and Wonderful Town), Kurt Weill (composer of “Mack the Knife” and “Sing Low”), and Harold Arlen (composer of the score for The Wizard of Oz including the classic American standard “Over the Rainbow”). [Read more...]

Having witnessed countless Shakespearean takeoffs that were both intentionally funny (e.g., the Reduced Shakespeare Company) and unintentionally funny (a country-western version of Romeo and Juliet comes painfully to mind), my expectations were uncertain for Romeo and Juliet: Choose Your Own Ending.  Yet the ability of theatre to surprise, astound, and amuse is again demonstrated by this charmingly hilarious production. [Read more...]

This reviewer had a confession to make- until last night, I was a drag show virgin, and I have no idea why I waited so long. Special Agent Galactica is a stunning lip-sync artist and she takes her audience through numbers ranging from country and gospel, to rock and jazz standards. Aided by her Boys – a trio of sequin clad backup “singers”- Special Agent Galactica gives a truly magical performance. [Read more...]

When seeing a show called Singing Eggs & Spermless Babies, you know you are going to be seeing something….different.

Singing Eggs & Spermless Babies takes place on a Gay Cruise attended by a frustrated lesbian couple who have been trying to conceive. Miraculously, there is a fertility doctor on board whose research with lizards has led him to believe that he can create a human fetus using two eggs and no sperm. Oh, and there are some giant pink human eggs running around. [Read more...]