Ernest Kearney

REVOLUTIONARY LOVE (Gold Medal) This celebration of the life and work of Turkish poet and social activist Nazim Hikmet (Ryson Allman) is structured as an operetta of poetry. Director Fulya Diner expressed this was a labor of love, and that truth is proven by the stunningly beautiful staging of the show. Elif Savas fulfills a trio of functions, as Hikmet’s wife, as his muse and as the country he so loved despite his imprisonment in it and eventual banishment from it. This is a visually b... full review

THE THREE MUSKETEERERS – CLOWNS WITH SWORDS (Gold Medal) Mauricio Gomez as Pono, Jeff Heapy as Klaus, Alec Tomkiw as Hugo and Cassandra Gonzalez as Sookie are featured in this absolutely inspired broil of swashbuckling silliness and clowning in the truest sense of the word. As they gyrate and gambol about the stage, there is no missing in their performance the style and masterful physical tomfoolery of people who take clowning very seriously. Watching their antics one is almost intoxicated b... full review

RESERVE CHAMPION (Gold Medal) A sincere, heartfelt solo show by Christopher Piehler concerning the period of his childhood when he rode in youth equestrian competitions and the relationship he had with his horse “Atom Ant”. The show succeeds in touching the funny bone while tugging on the heart stings. An endearing work, with a delicacy and brevity of a haiku. Thomas James O’Leary directs. FOR MORE OF MY REVIEWS OF THE HOLLYWOOD FRINGE GO TO: THE TVOLUTION.COM ... full review

THE DEVIL YOU SAY (Gold Medal – chiefly for the puppeteering) This is a beautifully constructed show that begins with a classic Punch and Judy puppet show and ends with a philosophical diatribe by the devil. The puppets are magnificently fashioned, and the puppetry is of the first order. Yet for all its visual splendor of the instruments and the skill of the performers, the show is basically a lecture to the audience by the devil done with poetic elegance. For more of my reviews of the ... full review

BOOZE, BALLS AND BLUEGRASS (Gold Medal) One of the mainstays of any Fringe is of course the solo show. Under that heading, there are many sub-genres, and the most frequent seen of those is the bio-presentation wherein the performer calls upon their personal history for the subject they hope to shape into a theatrically viable show. This is not as simple a task as many might think. But when successfully achieved, it can be among the most satisfying of any staging you might attend, by the p... full review

Talent is a lovely thing. Not the end all be all, but a lovely thing. Talent tempered with ambition is something all together different. Something spectacular. Sam Johnides and Tony Gonzalez have the promise of spectacular about them. “Annabella” harkens back to the golden era of operas. A travelling puppeteer, (Gonzalez) haunted by an unnamed guilt and tormented by the accusing voices of his puppets is driven over the edge of sanity where he is lost within the darkness of his own sou... full review

“NO TRAVELER” (Platinum Medal) Written and flawlessly performed by Penny Pollak, with Lindsey Hope Pearlman directing “No Traveler” reveals itself part dance, part psychodrama, part vaudeville, part morality play and all diamond. I doubt that any tale of pain and despair has ever seen a wittier staging or suicide viewed in such a frisky light. Pollak portrays Abigail, an angst driven party girl who dances (literally) herself into an act of self destruction. She awakens to f... full review

THE LEGEND OF BOBBY DARIN: AN UNAUTHORIZED AUTOBIOGRAPGHY (Platinum Medal) At first glance Cliff Todd comes across as the quiet, unassuming sort. Hardly the guy you’d think of in connection with Bobby Darin, the brash crooner of “Splish Splash” and “Mack the Knife” fame, who died tragically young at 37. But at the start of this loving bio-play of the singer, Todd is suddenly gone. There in his place is Bobby. Todd captures Darin’s singing style and mannerisms perfectly, and under Miles Chap... full review

GLITCHES IN REALITY (Platinum Medal) Simon Coronel is a soft spoken lemur-faced Aussie who manages to accomplish two rather remarkable things in his show. First he meticulously deconstructs the entire stock in trade of the professional magician, describing in detail methods used to achieve the desired illusions, nonchalantly revealing secrets of the trade, at one point even enquiring who in his audience wants to know how a card trick is brought about, and who doesn’t . Then the “ignorance i... full review

BRIGHT SWORDS (Platinum Medal) “Bright Swords” tells the remarkable story of Ira Aldridge (1807 – 1867). Born in New York, the son of a freed black minister, Aldridge was fortunate in attending the African Free School in that city, established to provide the children of free blacks and slaves with a classical education. It was here he was introduced to the world of theatre. Aldridge would go on to become one of the most renowned actors of the time, reaping praise for his Shakespearian por... full review