Pepe made an appearance on the outdoor stage at Fringe. Pepe is flamboyant and colorful. His spiky red Mohawk could be spotted from across the lawn. He spoke with a thick rich Spanish accent calling everyone, mommies and poppies. Logan Donahoo joined Pepe to talk about the Fringe show he was directing called, Cannibal! The Musical. Pepe is always funny. He made fun of the fact that he had been reduced to performing on the outdoor stage.
Ruby Darling, dressed in a Star Trek uniform got on stage to promote Skill Focus Burlesque. She performed a sultry dance number and the uniform went flying. She then told Pepe she had a superpower. A male performer got on stage with her and she said in a commanding voice, “Take off your clothes.” He complied. Pepe perked up and shouted his glee. Women in the audience screamed and laughed. Skill Focus burlesque had been called to perform at the Fringe at the last minute when another show canceled. For this reason, they weren’t even in the printed program. They had to rely on word of mouth and a little skin to promote their show.
I went to a performance of Hysteria Repeats Itself! Mike Maples was in the cast and the executive producer, Kelly Rands introduced himself when Terry and I entered the Blue venue. I knew that Hysteria would be a series of fast paced skits, so for once, I left the sketchbook closed. This was the first night’s performance and unfortunately there were fewer than ten people in the audience. Much of the show was political satire. The performance was funny and intelligently written. Several Sondheim show tunes were given new lyrics that were fun and fast paced. Terry was laughing loudly. Later Mike commented that her loud laughter made up for the size of the audience. The next performance was sold out which made perfect sense.
