2015 Hollywood Fringe Preview: Shows We Can't Wait to See

It’s the time of year when theater explodes in Hollywood for four short weeks.  Over 1300 performances of nearly 300 works will be staged as part of the sixth annual Hollywood Fringe Festival – the largest performing arts festival in LA.  This uncurated festival has proven to be a platform for untested, bold, experimental (and, yes, sometimes disastrous) new plays.  Most are works in progress – more doodles than final drafts; some are experiments; a handful could be considered complete pieces.

This festival isn’t necessarily for typical theatergoers, and it has received much criticism for this misunderstanding.  If you value polish, professionalism, and a budget, by all means, go elsewhere.  This festival is for people who believe art is living and not static, more process than destination. It's for people who know tests aren’t failures, and that connections and resources shouldn’t determine an artist’s access to audience.  This is for those who know that every beginning carries a spark of possibility.

In just one week, Hollywood Fringe will bring us 300 sparks.  Here are a few that we think will catch fire. 

1) WOMBAT MAN
If you thought the 1960s Batman TV show just wasn’t quite campy enough, this is the Fringe show for you.  Armed solely with “punches and puns,” Wombat Man is on a quest to capture the Trix rabbit who has become a hardened serial cereal killer after decades of rejection and bullying.  If this parody is half as good as the website, then we should be in for a good time.

For more information visit: http://wombatman.net
http://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/2274
                                           








2) MIRROR, MIRROR

For anybody who has ever thought that Imitation of Life should have been a musical comedy, allow me to introduce Mirror, Mirror.  After several showcases in New York City, Mirror, Mirror is scheduled to make its West Coast debut over just two staged readings at the Fringe.  This modern, coming-of-age take on Snow White centers on Mandi Gottadolla who is soon to discover she is not quite as white as her Disney predecessor....

For more information visit: http://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/2358

 

3) THE MERMAID WARS
The United States vs. Mermaids.  Not quite sure who I’m rooting for yet.  
For more information visit:  http://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/2173

4) MY GAY HUSBAND

Retroactively correcting the lack of gay representation in the 1950s television landscape, My Gay Husband serves as an unaired pilot episode about those kooky Jones' and their sexual repressions and frustrations!  When loving beard Dottie’s suggestive anniversary gift for Beau falls into the hands of a nosy neighbor, hilarity is bound to ensue.  The show promises to be very tongue-in-cheek.  And a few other places. 

For more information visit: http://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/2196

5) SMILE, BABY

Yo!

Yo, Ma!  

I’m talking to you, Sexy.  Come see this show with me, alright?  It’s a sketch show about street harassment and men being obnoxious and scary and some bullshit like that.  I could protect you.  Plus, it’ll put a smile on that pretty little face you got.  Why aren't you smiling?  Where you going?  Why are you walking away?

Whatever, you was fat anyways!  

So, we still going, right?

For more information visit:  http://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/2239

6) HEARD RICK DIED

Fucker still owes me 20 bucks.

For more information visit:  http://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/2335

7) THE 7TH ANNUAL ONE-MAN SHOW WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 

 After encountering a few earnest failures and self-absorbed life’s works (as one is prone to during a proper Fringe experience,) The 7^th Annual One-Man Show World Championships sounds like the perfect chaser to end the fest.  This loving send-up is guaranteed to contain oversharing, exploitation of a deceased celebrity, and at least one impassioned, voice-cracking, spittle-producing monologue.  Bring the tissues.  Especially if you’re sitting in the first row.    

For more information visit: http://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/2061

This article was written by Dan Johnson, a freelance writer living in Los Angeles, who is currently covering the 2015 Hollywood Fringe Festival for Cinesnatch.