The New York City Fringe (formerly FRIGID Fringe Festival) ran until 18 Apr, and I chose a few of the livestreamed shows to review from the UK for the second successive year.
Following two sold-out runs, the devised musical theatre production In Harmony came to the New York City Fringe this year.
In Harmony takes musical gems and oddities and weaves them into a broad story of what community might be, through vocal harmonies, movement, dance, and spoken word.
Eighteen performers take to the stage tackling numbers from Songs for a New World, The Book of Mormon, the classic Kander & Ebb catalogue, Next to Normal, Hair (a fun “I Got Life”), Dear Evan Hansen and a beautiful reimagining of “In The Air Tonight”.
Yang Chen and Bridget Rose Perrotta act as co-directors and producers, Maddie Allen and Kevin Ivey Morrison as co-choreographers and fill the stage with movement and energy. This is an accomplished concert which lasts 76 minutes but I wanted more
These performers are ridiculously talented and although I wanted the camera to get a little closer at times so I could see the singers properly, the sound was excellent and I really got the sense of being “in the room” in this curated exploration of growing up and being ‘you’ through the power of song.
****
The Bluebird Theatre Company bring a female-centric version of Hamlet to the stage in Gracie Rittenberg’s hour-long comic play A Little Less Than Kind , set in the modern day with one Hannah (Rittenberg herself) as the heir to a Silicon Valley company. With modern vernacular and a tongue-in-cheek exploration of both the Shakespeare play and the cut-throat world of 21st century commerce.
Hannah still gets to encounter the parental Ghost, but this time it is her mother, Helen, and initially she is having none of it. Directed by Slaney Rose Jordan, this play is a lively watch with some observations on female leadership and parental dynamics – the Polonius-type character (CK Fernandez) still has his version of the “neither a borrower not a lender be” speech – but turns some of the plot on its head.
The sound is very low, so I had to turn it up to max and even then missed some nuances of the script, but the visuals are fine, if a little poorly lit for a camera, and I did enjoy the idea and the performances. It’s not the first time Hamlet has stepped into the corporate world, but it feels a good fit for the story.
Claudius becomes Claudia (sister of Helen, with both roles played by Kimberley Rose), and it is her hasty remarriage to Hannah’s dad, (Garrett) that has raised eyebrows. Hannah has her own romantic issues with her girlfriend Ophelia (Hallie Chametzky) which seems a genuine love match, but she still descends into her anxiety and wordy vulnerability after Helen’s Ghost recounts her murder.
As Claudia enlists Lawrence (Michael De Los Angeles) – neither of them like Hannah or want her as CEO – to get rid of the heir, the play gets dark as they team to push away the blot on their plans. Then there’s Harry (Daniel Sbriglio), a happy dope addict, who stands for Horatio and is probably Hannah’s greatest ally, plus Rosa and Gilda (Amanda Stamm and Georgia Gabriele), who are definitely not.
Fun for Shakespeare fans, this showcases a young company with a lot of potential and ideas. The scene changes could speed up a bit (and the music between them was too loud against the dialogue) but I liked this Bard-lite play quite a bit.
***.5
For more on the New York City Fringe go here.