Reviews – What The Critics Are Saying:

“director Jenna Worsham has elicited some fine performances…(and) Mitarotondo intrigues us repeatedly with character connections that hold the tantalizing promise of a clarity that never materializes. He has an original way with language (“May she rest in pieces,” “People sink into sepia”) and creates some splendid images (the show’s closer is stunning and affecting). Ultimately, though, “Sparrow” is too emotionally inarticulate and verbally overarticulate. Those elusive essences aren’t quite jelling yet.”
Backstage

“With her Texas lilt and gentle demeanor, writer-performer Faye Lane serves up a Southern-fried cabaret show that’s sweeter than banana MoonPies and RC Cola. In fact, one might say that this autobiographical solo performance verges on saccharine if Lane’s sugariness weren’t so darned genuine.”
Backstage

“While each scene carries emotional weight, the play is also filled with humor and a satisfying dose of absurdity. Under the direction of Jenna Worsham, the cast, which also includes Brenda Currin, Lila Dupree, Heather Oakley, and Ruby Ruiz, handles Mitarotondo’s lyrical script with grace and just the right amount of levity.”
New York Theater Review

“There are some funny moments, but the vastness of its themes makes this a heady, contemplative piece. It seems like one of the goals of this production is to be, if not lifelike, then to be as true to the experience of being alive as possible….At times, the complex structure of the play can be fatiguing, though the gorgeously staged ending is a satisfying payoff. Those interested in an inventive, challenging piece of theatre will find a lot here to digest, and everyone should be looking out for what this innovative theatre company, The Common Tongue, produces in the future.”
NYTheatre.com

Remaining Performance Schedule

VENUE #4: Teatro LATEA
Th 25 @ 6:45
Fri 26 @ 3:30

Reviews – What The Critics Are Saying:

“a surreal journey through the weird and wonderful mind of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet James Tate. Based on a collection of his poems, the intermissionless show unfolds in a series of short, often amusing, vignettes…the show has its ups and downs — one particularly tedious scene features unnamed characters fixing a radio with bizarre tools like a can of beans — but there’s an undeniably magical sense that permeates the show.”
TheaterMania

“The first scene grabbed me and held me until the last scene. I can easily see why producers Lunar Energy chose Tate as their subject for a stage adaptation. His work is reflective and character-driven and makes for an evening of brilliantly fresh theater…Tate’s postmodern take on poetry is a good reason to start reading poetry again and Gates’s ingenious adaptation of it is a very good reason to go check out some downtown fringe theater.”
NYTheatre

Remaining Performance Schedule

VENUE #11: The Kraine Theater
Sun 21 @ 7:00

The moment we’ve all been waiting for has arrived.

The 15th Annual NYC Fringe Festival is now underway and as always the NYCFringeGuide will be posting our own reviews and compiling critical snapshots from attendees, papers, bloggers, and other websites covering all the magic and mayhem.

Reviews from the first week are rolling in even faster than usual, and you’ll see the first compilations here early Friday morning. Bookmark the homepage, subscribe to the twitter feed, and join our email list so you don’t miss a single cheer or jeer.

For those wanting a few quick and dirty pointers before reviews are available, our own top picks for the week (based on pre-2011 FringeNYC productions) are:

COBU: Dance Like Drumming, Drum Like Dancing
Greenland
You’ve Ruined a Perfectly Good Mystery!
Stimulated! (Les Enfants Terribles)
PigPen Presents: The Mountain Song

Also worthy of note are the following list of the hottest selling shows thus far. Keep in mind that this is not necessarily a marker of quality, simply pre-fest popularity and buzz. A number of shows every year sell out early and still wind up stinkers. That said, if any of the shows on this list happen to be of particular interest, it would be wise to nab tickets in anticipation of potential sellouts.

Yeast Nation and Facebook Me are both entirely sold out.

The following have all sold out at least one performance:

Felony Friday
Hush The Musical
This One Time in Last Chance
The Apartment: A Play with Four Sides
The Bardy Bunch
Bella and the Pool Boy
Bette Davis Aint’ for Sissies
The Lost and Found
Pearl’s Gone Blue
PigPen Presents: The Mountain Song (NYCFG Top Pick)
The Bardy Bunch: The War of the Families Partridge and Brady
THE LEGEND OF JULIE TAYMOR, or The Musical That Killed Everybody!
What the Sparrow Said
Infectious Opportunity
Swarupa
Smoking Section
Bongani
Elysian Fields
2 Burn
Whale Song

While not yet selling out, these shows have also been leading in early ticket sales:

Jersey Shoresical
Winner Take All
PARKER & DIZZY’S FABULOUS JOURNEY TO THE END OF THE RAINBOW
Welcome to Eternity
Destinations
Sammy Gets Mugged
Books on Tape
Pawn

Stay tuned for updates!