Ladies Room: The Musical at Orlando Fringe

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Ladies Room: The Musical presented by Bikini Katie Productions was an absolute delight. The audience sat in folding chairs place in each stall. One stall was empty, so I plopped myself down as I travel with my own chair. Bikini Katie quickly warned me that that particular stall would be used during the production. I erased the sketch I had started and began fresh. I was particularly panicked since this show is just a half hour long. A bearded pianist sat at his keyboard in the handicap stall.

Once the audience was settled in, four women entered the ladies room. They sang about poor dates, societal expectations, and friendship. One woman hadn’t dated for a long time and she was on a date with a guy who turned out to be a real jerk. She seriously didn’t want to go back out to face him, fearing she might not make it through the night alive.

A woman wearing a tiara was having her birthday with friends and she was getting as drunk as possible. Her song was interrupted when she ran into the stall I had sat in and hurled. She was the only woman who noticed the musician in the handicap stall. It was a fun way to break the fourth wall.

A thin fashion model of a woman changed her dress and hair styles several times. She seriously had multiple dresses and wigs. Any time she lost interest in a guy she would change her look and find a new guy.

The fourth woman in the group was sort of the mom figure. She had everything in her purse that might necessary to help her younger and misguided friends. She was there for her sage advice. These four woman banded together to help each other get through the night.

Without giving away more details, I can just say that this show was such a fun time. It was the most unique venue this year for sure and the music and performances were amazing. This is my favorite musical so far this year. I hope the show is ultimately fleshed out even further. Definitely get in line for the Ladies Room you will be glad you did.

Patron’s Pick for Murder at Fringe

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Mallory Sabetodos Vance produced Patron’s Pick for Murder which was a truly interactive “who done it” at the 2018 Fringe Festival. Patrons met outside the Firehouse Museum behind the Shakes and it was in this pre-show quay that the cast mingled with patrons. The mystery was already a foot. Michelle Papaycik played the part of an actress in a show called “Michelle and Lars go to Mars“. This was clearly a spoof of some of the Fringe’s worst possible shows. Rabid fringe fans mingled with actresses and self appointed theater critics. A simple 2 by 4 door frame was the entrance to the main staging area up on a slight hill under a huge live oak tree. I focused my attention on the line of patrons as they mingled with the cast.

Bikini Katie was the guest star for this press preview and she played up the part of being a true diva. A sip from her water bottle resulted in her immediate demise from poison. After this the patrons could interact with the cast asking questions to try and surmise who had killed Katie. Strangely enough you could even ask the corpse for her thoughts, which is a real luxury for a detective to have. As I was sketching, Pam Schwartz was working the crime scene to try and solve the mystery. She is a born detective, but she was not able to solve this crime. The final motive when reveled was quite simple, but I will keep it to myself should you ever have a chance to experience this show for yourself. The show becomes more exciting when you ask the right people the right questions. You would get out of the show what you put into it.

Pianos to the Death Game Show at Fringe

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Pianos to the Death Game Show is the deadliest, rocking game show, where three musicians play their way to survival, and the best part – the judges are you, the live studio audience! Join our Host and his sexy assistants on stage, as you help choose the music, get in on the action, and even pick a demise or two! All in this blood pumping spectator game, where you decide who drops the beat, or just drops dead. Isn’t it time for you to be in control?

Producer, Sarah Hester Ross, from Orlando, FL was one of the contestants. She had fiery red hair, an amazing voice and some real talent behind the keyboard. When we entered the black box theater, two fit trim and silver clad performers worked the crowd up into a frenzy. Since we were a studio audience, we had to bring the energy up like in professional wrestling. There were two pianists competing and a drummer, who acted as judge. I didn’t fully understand the rules. Contestants kept changing seats, so I never did sketch the male drummer. 

The competition was  fierce and the energy high. Midway through the competition two people were pulled from the audience to dance suggestively. Bikini Katie was  one of the people pulled from the audience and she shocked us all with her stellar twerking abilities. Two guys were pulled from the audience to dance suggestively in front of a woman and their performances were lackluster in comparison. Regardless the results were hilarious and fun to watch.

The ending of the show in which performers were electrocuted for loosing was hard to swallow. Perhaps it is too soon after Pulse, but the thought of finding gratuitous violence funny or entertaining left me uncomfortable. Pam suggested that a pie in the face would be more satisfying. Despite this, the show was highly entertaining and there was some real powerhouse talent showcased. I give the show 4 out of 5 pianos.

Pianos to the Death Game Show is in the Green Venue at the Orlando Reertory Theater, 1001 E Princeton St, Orlando, FL. Tickets are $12 plus a $10 Fringe button needed to get into any Fringe show.

Remaining  show dates are:

5:00 PM

Bikini Ad Space turned heads at Fringe.

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Katie Thayer, an attractive local actress and comedian, came up with the idea of Bikini Ad Space at the Orlando International Fringe Festival several years ago. The idea is pure genius and simple. She wears a sexy bikini and you can body paint your message on any of her prime body parts. Her lower shins, and her upper or lower arms, front and back go for $5 each. $10 gets prime exposure on her upper calves, front and back, and her belly. You can “get cheeky” by purchasing ad space on both butt cheeks for $15. Of course the most expensive ad space is the $20 chest ad which can nestle in her cleavage.

We bumped into Katie on the first day of the Fringe Sketch Tour and arranged to sketch her the next day. She works inside the Shakespeare Theater lobby which is always crowded with people buying tickets and waiting for shows. She had her leg propped up on a table covered with show flyer’s. The layer of flyer’s was an inch thick which meant you often had to dig down to find a flyer for the show you were interested in. Usually clients had the opportunity to paint their ad on Katy’s flesh. In this rare instance Katy was painting her own ad to get people to vote for Bikini Ad Space as the best “Bring Your Own Venue” in The Daily City Audience Choice Awards. I don’t know if she won that honor.

Cootie Catcher in the red venue had purchased the prime cleavage ad space while Valence had invested in belly ad space. I saw valance, an introspective dance performance that inspected touch in human interactions, but I never saw Cootie Catcher. My sketch protege sketched me sketching Katy and I’m sure photos were shot which made it a very “Meta” performance. The day before, Katy had left her kit of brushed behind and it vanished. Luckily she found a loose brush in the bottom of her bag, but it was a rather blunt brush which meant she couldn’t add any refined touches. I offered her one of my brushes but she was too proud to take it. I hope that the ads she sold will help pay for a new set of brushes because quality brushes are expensive. Her palette was a clear plastic plate. Friends stopped to ask her advice on the best shows to see. Katy had seen tons of shows, so she was a great resource.

Jem Rolls Off the Tongue

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This is Jem Rolls 93rd Fringe Festival. He hails from Edinburgh in the United Kingdom. He worked the Fringe lines hard here in Orlando pointing out to anyone who would listen that the flier’s back had an austere simplicity. It was blank. The show offered a solid hour of poetry, at times funny and at times mystifying. This wasn’t a performance that gave any linear narrative. His subjects were all over the map. His energy and enthusiasm are contagious.

One rather funny poem was titled, “We split up because the sex was too good.” He claims to be working on the sequel which will be, “We stayed together hoping the sex would get better.” In one poem he personified words that resisted his every attempt to wrangle them into a poem. He grimaced and leaned towards the audience to show how determined, selfish and difficult words can be. He recited a poem about how the British always win. “We won! We Won, Wewonwewon, we Won!” He blamed the American Revolution on the fact that Germans were doing the fighting not the British.

The poems came out so fast and furious that at times I didn’t know how to react. Bikini Katie sat across from me. Craig’s Lust had purchased ad space on her bare mid drift. Fried cheese curds had an ad on her right thigh and I believe Ship Happens had prime ad space above her cleavage. I could only squeeze a small bit of Lust into the sketch.

Mitzi Morris in “If Looks Could Kill”

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I decided to slip in and sketch “If Looks Could Kill” at Fringe simply because I noticed the line to get into the yellow venue was long and it started to move. “That’s what she said!” Bikini Katie was in the front row along with Logan Donahoo. Logan’s show, “A Field Guide to Gays” was constantly sold out. Anyway back to the stage. Mitzi Morris played a 60’s style American spy who seduces her way to the truth. She battled a ferocious Russian spy, played by Jamie-Lyn Markos, who poured out of her tight leather outfit. The most hilarious moments in the production were when this lusty Russian spy spoke like a sexy Natasha from the Bullwinkle cartoons, to her henchman on her cell phone and his every response to her orders was “Da”.

There was mystery and intrigue and Mitzi Morris squeezing in a musical dance number. She lost one of the orbs that decorated her hair as she danced. As it bounced into the audience, I began to suspect that this spy just might be a guy. No, impossible, since every guy onstage instantly fell in love with her. It was a fun hour and Mitzi triumphed over evil.

Fringe National / International Preview

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On Wednesday May 15th the Fringe National / International Preview was held in the Orange Venue at the John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center. 44 shows from out of town performers had two minutes to get patrons interested in their show. If and performer went beyond two minutes, Bikini Katie would get up and escort the performer off stage. Michael Marinaccio, Fringe’s producer, and Chase Padgett hosted the event.

The first performer up was Miss Hiccup, Shoshinz from Tokyo Japan, and I placed her in the sketch.  Her show is called “A Day in the Life of  Miss Hiccup“. Her loud flower covered costume was hard to resist. Her physical comedy looks like it could be a fun show. Alexa Fitzpatrick from Aspen Colorado told us about her show called “Serving Bait to Rich People.” Alexa works as a bartender at a Colorado dive in a mountain town where men outnumber women two to one. She got serious for a moment, “I’m in the middle of a break up.” She paused to let that sink in. “But I’ll  be OK, the couple was already having trouble.” I laughed out loud.

That reminds me, there was a guy seated in the front row who had the loudest guffaw of a laugh, I’ve ever heard. One performer commented, “I love your laugh, It’s like you’re hurling acceptance at me.” Oddly a woman in the audience chimed in saying she hoped it would stop. Chase was very diplomatic and stressed that different people have different laughs, and at the Fringe , laughs from all walks of life are accepted. Sadly the guy seemed to have become self conscious and didn’t laugh as loud or as often. Then again, seeing 44 previews in a row can wear an audience member down.

I was impressed by the performance of Qurrat Ann Kadwani from NYC. First off she lamented that her parents gave her a name that no one could pronounce. I can identify with that. She switched
characters often as she talked about what it was like growing up Indian
in the Bronx. I circled “They Call me Q” in my program. Jason Nettle educated us about Fetishes. He said Bronnies and Clappers are individuals who get off on “My Little Pony.” He said he could explain why Michael keeps asking George for a Blimpkin. I obviously have much to learn, so I circled “Fetish” in my program. 

Patrick Combs got one of those fake checks from publishers
Clearing House for $95,000 dollars. He thought it would be funny to
deposit it at his bank signed with a smiley face. He forgot about it and
later discovered that his Bank (Bank of America) had cashed the check
and he was $100,000 richer. When he went to the bank to straighten
things out he was greeted by armed gun men in black suits. His two
minutes were up at the mic, and the audience all went awww. Because we
all wanted to know what happened next. Bikini Katie walked him off stage
with “Man 1, Bank O” written on her thighs.

Chase Padgett and Paul Strickland teamed up to do a guitar duo.  They made up lyrics on the fly and Chase came up with lyrics about laughter that tied into the evenings ongoing theme. I circled, “Chase and Paul: Solo Shows are Hard“. Gemma Wilcox from London took us for a ride in her “Magical Mystery Detour“. She played a dog, a driver and a motorcycle side car, switching between characters in an instant. I suspect this show is a must see, although she moves so fast and so often, she might be hard to sketch.. “Little Pussy“ by John Grady isn’t about Sex, but about a little kitten named faith that he rescued from sprawling LA traffic. Martin Dockery is a master storyteller. I saw him last year and recognized his frenetic energy. I definitely want to see “The Dark Fantastic“.