Kathy Marfa

Kathy Marfa

Switch to the mobile version of this page.

Magazine

News

Arts

Life

Music

Calendar

Guides

Crossword

About

WXXI

Advertise

Browse News

News

Editor's Notebook

News & Opinion Archives

Browse Music

Music Features

Classical

Choice Concerts

Music Reviews

Local Music Guide

Homestage

Music Archives

Browse Arts

Art

Comedy

Dance

Literature

Theater

Revel in the Details

art/WORK

Arts & Entertainment Archives

Browse Calendar

Event Listings

Choice Events

Choice Concerts

Submit an Event

Browse Restaurants

Dining Reviews

Restaurant News

Browse Guides

Hidden Gems: Adventure Guide

TOAST: A Holiday Guide

Rochester Burger Week

Beyond the Fold

Browse About

Contact Us

Donate

Looking for CITY?

Get Home Delivery

Sign up for our Newsletter

Browse WXXI

Newsroom

Television

Radio

The Little

Education

Browse Life

Public Lives

Food News

Culture

Food Reviews

Movies

What Ales Me

Kathy reviews 'Something From Nothing (Marfa)'

By Kathy Laluk

click to enlarge

PHOTO BY CATHERINE RAFFERTY

click to enlarge

PHOTO BY CATHERINE RAFFERTY

click to enlarge

PHOTO BY CATHERINE RAFFERTY

With scripted sketches, improv, video, plenty of pop music and, of course, a secret handshake, Thank You Kiss — comprised of Marc D’Amico, Megan Mack, John Forrest Thompson, and Beth Winslow — makes a hilarious return to the Blackfriars Theatre stage for the first time since 2017. “Secret Handshakes” begins with everyday situations at places from the office, to suburbia, the dentist office and a moving car, and twists them into unexpected and bizarre outcomes.

With its straightforward title, the utterly delightful “Muffin Theatre Presents: A Show With Cookies” delivers exactly what it promises. The entire solo show follows Katherine Marino’s chipper hostess as she decides to bake some cookies.

One of the things I love most about Fringe is I always learn something. Usually it’s a life lesson or a new way of looking at something, but Friday night, I learned all of that, as well as the life story of iconic performer Josephine Baker.

Garth Fagan has been a fixture in the Rochester community for nearly 50 years for a reason — he has a distinct style that is instantly recognizable, but he is constantly coming up with fresh ways to present his style of dance.

A symphony orchestra in a Fringe Festival? It sure makes sense when the orchestra gives an entire program of recent music by four American composers, all very much alive.

Rochester Fringe 2019, fringeCITY19, The Memory Palace

Brooklyn-based duo Charming Disaster was charming as hell, but the only thing disastrous I could see and hear was the two girls sitting behind me that wouldn’t shut up. That notwithstanding, the band put out a dark set of sense, of sensuality, and of grace.

Before entering the gymnasium venue of “Brave Space” at the School of the Arts, the audience is instructed to watch a short introductory video to let us know what to expect from the show we’re about to see. We’re told to prepare to get cozy with one another, and that audience members may be asked to assist the performers at certain points throughout the act.

There’s something raw and vulnerable about telling a personal story. It’s the stuff of memoir, autobiography, of poetry and prose.

Three producers, five writers, five directors, 14 actors, 24 hours. “The 24 Hour-Plays,” an ever-popular Fringe act, returned to Writers & Books on Monday night for two performances at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m.

If you know what you’re doing, you don’t need a long time to convey emotion and a point.

Rochester Fringe 2019, fringeCITY19

Most parents may shy away from bringing their kids to a performance of “Stomp.” But what if you removed some of the volume and injected some humor perfect for young audiences? You’d get “Rhythm Delivered.” The troupe of dancers and percussionists use their bodies, as well as miscellaneous objects (paint buckets, cardboard boxes, plastic tubes, and more) to make music, art, and straight-up fun.

The French company Plasticiens Volants made up for Friday night's forced cancellation due to high winds with two spectacular shows on Saturday night. It was mighty cool, it was mondo epic and truly amazing how they brought these enormous inflatable sea creatures to life over the heads of thousands of mesmerized souls, as their jaws hit the Parcel 5 gravel in awe.

I always try to make a point of attending the annual Fringe program from RIT’s School of Film and Animation, which presents a host of films (34 this year) produced by the students of SOFA. The works are selected to represent every year of the school’s graduate and undergraduate programs, as well as every genre of film — so there’s bound to be something for everyone among the offerings.

Language is a funny thing. It's even funnier when Sufian Zhemukhov takes command of it to tell his story of coming to America from Russia and finding out slowly (and sometimes painfully) that the language of love is not international.

Just to put it up front: “Dogfight” is a musical with a book by Peter Duchan and a score by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. I mention this because their names are mentioned nowhere on the program for OFC Productions’ Fringe Festival presentation.

Seven minutes before his 7 p.m. curtain on Friday night, performer Michael Burgos was on the first floor of Writers & Books, nervously milling around the long line that had formed outside the stairway to the second floor theater. A house manager cleared her throat.

The infamous Colma, California is a small town just south of San Francisco where, thanks to a significant chunk of the city’s land being devoted to an absurd number of cemeteries, the dead outnumber the living by a jaw-dropping 1,000 to 1. With roughly 1800 living residents, that’s a lot of stiffs.

“Charlie and the Siberian Monkey Goddess” manages to be something you’ve seen before — the zany “Who’s the crazy one?” debate in a psychiatrist’s office — and something a bit different, in that the debate is between Charlie Chaplin (or an imposter) and someone who might be a doctor, or the goddess of the title, or possibly Princess Anastasia (all of whom affect a Boris-and-Natasha Russian accent). Don Nigro’s one-act play isn’t quite as brilliant as it thinks it is, but it is concise and consistently clever.

After debuting at last year’s Fringe Festival, the Frazee Feet Dancers are back with a new work titled “Somewhere in Between.” Utilizing original written works, newly composed music and contemporary dance, the small but nimble group tells stories about love, life and acceptance. The written pieces, which are read by its author Reilly Hirst, serve as pacing interludes and introductions to each of the seven pieces, which are accompanied live by musician Greg Woodsbie.

With more than 500 shows running in 12 days of Fringe, most folks won’t be likely to choose Shakespeare first.

Candles flickered around the event space off the main dining room at Nox in Village Gate on Wednesday evening, adding to the ambiance of the large, Victorian-esque room. A server flitted around delivering drinks tableside, and a makeshift stage area set apart from tables and chairs was lit with red and blue lights, casting purple rays across the faces of three young black dancers who began the show with a moving interpretive dance set to music thick with bass drumming.

It takes quite a show to upstage a venue, but the folks behind "The Cirque du Fringe" spectacular each year consistently knock it’s capacity audience out. The show is loosely held together by your charming hosts Matt and Heidi Morgan, who wrangle this sideshow as much as they perform alongside attractions from around the globe.

CITY Newspaper will offer extensive coverage of the 2019 Rochester Fringe Festival. Check back right here for daily blogs, with photos and reviews, during the fun of the festival (September 10-21) And let us know how your Fringe is going on social media with the hashtag #fringeCITY.

Alt-theater impresario, fringe of The Fringe, and madman John Borek said adios to The MuCCC performance space on Tuesday night after reigning there for 10 years with contrarian and maniacal delight. The attendees in the joint expected this producer of some of the worst theater to pull off the unexpected and Borek didn’t disappoint; he did exactly the expected, which no one expected —- the fools.

-All Dates-

Thursday, August 25

Friday, August 26

Saturday, August 27

Sunday, August 28

Monday, August 29

Tuesday, August 30

Wednesday, August 31

Thursday, September 1

Friday, September 2

Saturday, September 3

Sunday, September 4

Monday, September 5

Tuesday, September 6

Wednesday, September 7

Thursday, September 8

Friday, September 9

Saturday, September 10

Sunday, September 11

Monday, September 12

Tuesday, September 13

Wednesday, September 14

Thursday, September 15

Friday, September 16

Saturday, September 17

Sunday, September 18

Monday, September 19

Tuesday, September 20

Wednesday, September 21

Thursday, September 22

Friday, September 23

Saturday, September 24

-All Categories-

*ONLINE

  Virtual Event

LIFE

  Activism

  Black History

  Call for Participants

  Classes

  Culinary

  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Remembrance

  Earth Day

Hottest Babe Porn
New Nude Pictures Of Kim Kardashian
The Fappining.Com

Kathy Marfa

Report Page