For the past six years, “lake effect” has had a new meaning with several local theater companies coming together to host a month-long celebration of local theater called the Lake Effect Fringe Festival.
Running through March 2, the event features a plethora of productions ranging from musicals to improv.
TJ Corbett and Mary Beth Quillin at the WKTV station.
“You are going to see works that are not produced in the larger theaters in town or works by local playwrights,” said Mary Beth Qullin, one of the organizers. “There is a lot of comedy or improv that goes on during the Festival. It is something different almost every weekend.”
The Lake Effect Fringe Festival features smaller productions of two character shows, musicals and improvisational pieces with the audience almost sitting in the round with seating on three sides of the stage.
“We have a very vibrant theater company, but this is a way to kind of bring to the forefront some of the small more edgy groups that not many people know about,” Quillin said.
TJ Corbert, of Hole In the Wall Theatre Company, said he bugged organizers to let his company perform at the annual event, because you couldn’t get more “fringer” than with the Hole in the Wall Theatre Company. The company performs commedia dell’arte, a form of theater characterized by masked types. The style began in Italy in the 16th century and was the first time actors — and actresses — make a living through the theater by traveling from town-to-town performing improvised shows based on sketches or scenarios.
“It is similar to Looney Tunes in that you might see Yosemite Sam, where in one he might be a sheriff and in another one he might be a sultan,” Corbett said. “But he is always Yosemite Sam. He behaves a certain way. He has that certain personality.”
On Feb. 24 and 25 — which by the way Feb. 25 is Commedia dell’Arte Day — Hole in the Wall Theatre Company will present the original comedy “Yes, We’re Closed,” one of the first shows the company ever produced. The story centers around a shopkeeper who is suddenly locked out of his store with the money he owns to a vicious loan shark locked inside and the entire neighborhood getting pulled into the madness. Hole in the Wall Theatre Company also is hosting the 10 Minute Play Festival on Feb. 22 and 23 featuring short plays written by local playwrights.
Qullin is actually one member of the two-person theater team GEM Theatrics. Her husband, Gary E. Mitchell and her will present “2 Across: A Comedy of Crosswords and Romance,” by Jerry Mayer, who worked on such TV shows as “M*A*S*H,” “The Bob Newhart Show,” “Tabitha,” “Punky Brewster,” and “The Facts of Life.” The GEM Theatrics production is this weekend, Feb. 16 – 18.
All performances take place at Dog Story Theater, 7 Jefferson Ave. SE. For more about the Lake Effect Fringe Festival, visit lakeeffectfringe.com.
GEM Theatrics, featuring Gary E. Mitchell and Mary Beth Quillen, will be performing “2 Across: A Comedy of Crosswords and Romantic” Feb. 16- 18. (Photo by Terri Foley)
By Mary Beth Quillin
The Lake Effect Fringe Festival kicks off its 6th season of bringing new theatre to West Michigan all through the month of February on Thursday, Feb. 1, at 8 p.m. with a performance by No Outlet Improv.
Troupe members Nick Milbratz, Kristen Hirtsch, Sean Francis, Eirann Betka, and T.J. Corbett bring short-form, fast-paced, interactive fun to audiences of all ages.No Outlet is a Grand Rapids original entertainment group that is working throughout West Michigan to promote and perform improvisational theater.
There is a full calendar of events that are guaranteed to have something for everybody scheduled at the Dog Story Theater, 7 Jefferson SE, Grand Rapids throughout the month of February, right into early March. Again this year, Dog Story’s popular Comedy Outlet Mondays will continue throughout the Festival (Feb. 5, 12, 19 & 26) at 7 p.m. each Monday night, for the low price of just $6 Comedy Outlet Mondays (COM) is an experimental comedy hub in the heart of downtown Grand Rapids. From 7-8 p.m., audiences only pay $6 to watch a variety of local artists performing brand new comedy from improv, to sketch, to puppets and music and beyond!
The second hour opens up the stage for those who wish to watch, or participate in, a free open comedy lab. Here, anyone can try new games, network, and may even be inspired to create an act and return as a performer. COM has become an ongoing circuit of performing, playing, producing, and polishing, all leading back to establishing new artists/art forms in Grand Rapids. It is brought to the community by No Outlet Improv Troupe and Dog Story Theater.
This year’s full schedule includes:
Auditions!! – Jan. 30
The 10 Minute Plays and 24-Hour Theatre will be holding auditions at the Dog Story Theater, 7 Jefferson SE, Grand Rapids on January 30 at 7 p.m. More info is available on the Dog Story Theater website; www.dogstorytheater.com
Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company – Feb. 2, 3 at 8 p.m. and 4 at 3 p.m.
The Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company will present The Knight of the Burning Pestle, by Francis Beaumont; this play within a play is a 1607 burlesque of citizen drama and chivalric romance. Pigeon Creek’s productions present Shakespeare and his contemporaries’ works in a lively, audience-interactive, and accessible atmosphere that brings the plays to life for modern audiences. This play by one of Shakespeare’s contemporaries blurs the boundaries between audience and actors with absurd comedy. Join us for all of the fun! The Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company is Michigan’s only year-round, touring Shakespeare Company.
The Brutal Sea – Feb. 8 & 9 at 8 p.m. and Feb. 11 at 3 p.m.
Local group The Brutal Sea presents Chaos & Entropy, by local playwrights Kimmy Snyder and Declan Maher; a multidisciplinary collage. It involves short plays, sketch and improv comedy, performance art, video content, and poetry. This piece offers the audience a space for emotional exploration, catharsis, laughter, and expressions of hope and forgiveness. It contains strong language and is not suitable for children.
Last year’s production of “Love & Semiotics” at the Lake Effect Fringe Festival. (Photo by Hunter Pamer)
Dog Story Theater – Feb. 10 at 8 p.m.
24-Hour Theatre Local playwrights, directors and actors will work all day and present their completely original works to the audience at 8 p.m. One performance only. (Actors interested in participating should attend auditions for the 10-Minute Plays on January 30 at 7 p.m.)
GEM Theatrics – Feb. 16 & 17 at 8 p.m. and Feb. 18 at 3 p.m.
The husband and wife performance team of Gary E. Mitchell and Mary Beth Quillin return to the LEFF with the Michigan premiere of 2 Across: AComedy of Crosswords and Romance, by Jerry Mayer. The play first premiered at the Santa Monica Playhouse, in Southern California, in 2004. The Los Angeles Times said of the original Santa Monica production, “2 Across strives to entertain and succeeds admirably. This is a charming, character-driven comedy.” Two strangers, a man and a woman, board a San Francisco BART train at 4:30 am. They’re alone in the car, each is married, and both are doing the New York Times crossword. She’s organized and sensible. He’s a free spirit. She is a crossword pro, he always quits. When he tosses his puzzle away, she snaps, “Crosswords are a metaphor for life; those who finish, succeed, those who don’t, fail.” Boy meets girl, does boy get girl?
10-Minute Play Festival – February 22 & 23 @8:00 pm
Titles of plays will be announced soon! Local directors and local actors will take on scripts submitted by local playwrights for an evening of 10-Minute Plays produced by Hole in the Wall Theatre Company.
ACTORS: auditions will be held on Jan. 30 at Dog Story Theatre at 7 p.m. Directors need to plan to be present for these as well, so you can cast your shows.
Casting will be announced that week. Directors will be responsible to coordinate rehearsal schedules with their cast.
Hole in the Wall Theatre Company – Feb. 24 at 8 p.m. and Feb. 25 at 3 p.m.
J. Corbett leads Grand Rapids’ only Commedia Dell’Arte troupe in the original comedy, Yes, We’re Closed. A shopkeeper is suddenly locked out of his store, with the precious money he owes to a vicious loan shark locked inside…the neighborhood gets pulled into the madness, as desperate measures, scandalous revelations, and questionable prescriptions run wild in the streets.
Alternative Acts Theatre Company – Feb. 24 at 3 p.m.
Hole in the Wall presents the premiere production of Alternative Acts Theatre Company, a group of students from Aquinas College. I’m So… is a theatrical exploration of the stigmas and societal noise surrounding mental health issues. One Performance Only.
No Outlet Improv – Mar. 1 at 8 p.m.
No Outlet Improv returns with one more fun evening of interactive improv! Final Festival Improv Event
The University Wits – March 2 & 3 at 8 p.m. and March 4 at 3 p.m.
The University Wits present The Last Five Years; a musical by Jason Robert Brown, directed by J.J. Lindke and starring Emily Diener and Steffan Copenhaver.
The story explores a five-year relationship between Jamie Wellerstein, a rising novelist, and Cathy Hiatt, a struggling actress. The show uses a form of storytelling in which Cathy’s story is told in reverse chronological order (beginning the show at the end of the marriage), and Jamie’s is told in chronological order (starting just after the couple have first met). The characters do not directly interact except for a wedding song in the middle as their timelines intersect.
The Lake Effect Fringe Festival seeks to highlight performer-focused theater in a non-traditional theater space, creating an intimate performance experience for audiences who can expect different seating configurations and differing levels of interaction with the performers at any given performance. Along with the Dog Story Theater, organizing partners include; GEM Theatrics, Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company, and The University Wits. All performances take place in the black box performance space of the Dog Story Theater, 7 Jefferson SE, Grand Rapids. Tickets for all events can be purchased in advance on the Dog Story Theatre’s website: www.dogstorytheater.com, and are $14/adults and $8/students and seniors. Comedy Outlet Mondays are just $6.
Will Oltman, aka Will Juggle, courtesy his Facebook page
See a real-life introvert juggle as an extrovert on-stage. No mean feat, this, but it helps to take on a name that’s an incomplete, future-tense sentence. I mean, who’s juggling here?
The answer, of course, is self-explanatory.
Will Oltman, aka ‘Will Juggle,’ works corporate events, birthday parties and street performances, but perhaps the grandest audience of all was the U.S. President.
This month, Will performs in Grand Rapids and Kentwood at two venues:
Nov. 7 – performing as part of Comedy Outlet Monday at Dog Story Theater, 7 Jefferson Ave. SE, Grand Rapids. Show starts at 7 pm. Tickets are $5.
Nov. 11 – performing at Flowerland’s Holidazzle, Kentwood Flowerland, 4321 28th St. SE, Kentwood. 6-9 pm, free and open to the public. Registration required at myflowerland.com.
