The 3 Best Shows at The 2016 Hollywood Fringe Festival

With hundreds of shows to choose from, how can you get the most from Hollywood Fringe Festival 2016? Easy. See these three plays and be glad you still see theater.

Lawrence Meyers / Via Courtesy of photographer.

The Hollywood Fringe Festival brings together a couple of hundred plays and musicals over a 3-week period across two dozen theatres in Hollywood. There are many to choose from, and many are terrific. Having exhausted myself with seeing more shows than I can count, I had to settle on just one big one for this column (but with more to come, I hope!), and a quick mention of 2 other great ones.

1. Porn Rock: An Unintentional Comedy

In 1985, a Senate committee held a hearing to examine labeling rock music albums with a warning sticker, in the event they carried offensive lyrics or sexual imagery. The bizarre event made worldwide news, and became what playwright Lawrence Meyers calls, “the most unintentionally hilarious Senate hearing in history”.

Tipper Gore formed the Parent’s Music Resource Center (PMRC) and leveraged her political power with her husband, Senator Al Gore, to get the hearing.

“On C-SPAN, and before international media, the PMRC provided examples of the very language and imagery they objected to. Consequently, the filthiest, most outrageous, most ridiculously over-the-top explicit rock lyrics were read aloud into the Congressional record,” as Meyers describes.

Opposing the PMRC was Frank Zappa, Dee Snider of Twisted Sister, and John Denver.

Meyers adapted the already hilarious transcript, and added his own sparkling, sly wit to the proceedings. The one-hour piece moves briskly, giving each actor a chance to shine, and providing ample basis to defend the First Amendment.

Yet the play’s solid scripted foundation is built upon by an outstanding ensemble of actors; and smart, lean direction from veteran Frederick King Keller, who keeps the action moving while keeping the audience’s focus directly on the talented cast.

Elizabeth Dement, as gleeful totalitarian Senator Paula Hawkins, shines. Her comic timing and delivery are flawless, alternating between laughably shrill and arrogant outrage to smug self-righteousness. Her reactions to Tipper Gore’s reading of offensive lyrics take the comedy right to the edge without going over the top.

Speaking of Tipper, Leisel Kopp delivers the PMRC founder with a sweetness and earnestness that she then brilliantly undermines by speaking the most inexplicably freakish music lyrics. Kopp transforms Tipper into a woman so desperately cloying for censorship that you almost want her to win over the committee.

The rest of the cast is equally top-notch. Don Schlossman not only channels Al Gore’s smarmy attitude, but hilariously flips Gore on his head by playing him to the buffoonish hilt, as written by Meyers. Dennis Delsing delivers Sen. Ernest Hollings as Foghorn Leghorn come to life, in a comedic caricature of every southern politician, while also dropping in some lovely authenticity during a few crucial lines.

Edgar Allan Poe IV (really) delivers Senator John Danforth with a delightfully realistic taciturn edge, his stone face slowly contorting into panic, as the hearing slowly spirals out of control.

The three actors playing the musicians each bring an idiosyncratic performance, creating contrasts and strong delineations between them. Drew Fitzsimmons does a remarkable job as Frank Zappa, as he surgically eviscerates Tipper Gore and the committee with his sardonic approach and turns of phrase. He becomes the intellectual center of the show.

Scott Nelson delivers John Denver as a soulful neo-hippie, elevating the real Denver’s respectful appearance into something approaching poetry. Nelson brings us a Denver that is emotional, caring, and kind, who delivers an emotional and thoughtful soliloquy to the audience putting the issue into broader perspective.

Last, but certainly not least, Terry Tocantins gives an unforgettable spin on the legendary Dee Snider. Sporting a wig approximating the real Snider’s hair at the time, Tocantins offers an indignant and outspoken Snider. Yet the actor maintains Snider as plain and direct, speaking more to his own fans than to the committee, grounding him in language and mannerisms that make his appeal to common sense impossible to ignore.

All in all, Porn Rock delivers better than one could ever expect from a Fringe production. It’s a must-see.

2. You

In just 45 minutes, co-directors Megan Foley Marra and Chuck Marra take 13 stories delivered by 13 actors across all ages, and provide audiences with nothing but gratitude. Fans of storytelling shows like The Moth and Taboo Tales will be touched and moved as each story of personal honesty and truth are beautifully related in an intimate space.

One story may be about a sexist male boss determined to break a woman (Jodi Adler, heart-wrenchingly authentic). Another will bring us a tale of a mother whose children leave home and leave her torn to pieces (Laura Lanoil, equally heartbreaking). Another woman (Jessa Pyette, soulful and loving) talks about being taken in by a Mormon family.

Why the title? Each actor speaks to the audience as if we are the person they are speaking about. With each voice, every member of the audience is placed repeatedly in a position of being thanked. The effect is profound, as we are each transported into our own memories, thinking about those we mean everything to.

3. War Stories

Some Fringe productions reach for the sky. War Stories soars. The ability to pull off a subtle, nuanced drama in Fringe is a challenge, at best. Most audiences are probably looking for some gimmicky treat.

The play gives us a look into the lives of four Angelenos: an actress, a writer, a therapist, and an actor. However, we discover each hides a part of themselves from those that they love – not at all unlike real life. That’s the premise and it is carried brilliantly through the entire piece, as that knowledge informs every moment, every interaction, every expression.

We know what’s hidden, and along with it, the tragedy of not revealing it. Kudos to actors Sarah Schreiber, Clayton McInerney, Sarah Kelly (also the writer), and Brian Guest for keeping every moment real, and every relationship heartfelt. Stacy Raposa has taken these terrifically talented actors and given them room to find who these people really are.