FESTIVALS

FrenetiCore presents the 5th Annual Houston Fringe Festival, August 30-September 15, 2012.

The Fringe is turning 5 and it’s bigger and badder than ever! The Houston Fringe Festival is an annual performing arts festival presented by FrenetiCore in Houston's East End. This year’s festival takes place over three weekends at three different performance venues, offering the best independent theatre, film, dance, music and visual arts from Houston area artists and beyond.

The 2012 Fringe welcomes performers from all over Texas, Atlanta, Massachusetts and New York. Featuring disciplines ranging from puppetry and burlesque to drama and contemporary dance, these shows will entertain, thrill, and provoke audiences. Experimental art veterans perform alongside daring newcomers, with each piece presented between 15-60 minutes in length.

Look out for more information about upcoming Fringe Workshops taught by performers, after parties at Houston’s hottest venues, visual arts exhibits and the ‘Anything Goes’ Weekend September 14-15: two fast-paced, decidedly chaotic evenings featuring Houston’s best performance artists.

Join us, and Get Your Fringe On!

Schedule at a Glance:

Weekend 1, August 30 & 31, September 1 & 2, 2012:
(Exact dates/times for shows To Be Announced)
Theatre performances by Outspoken Bean, the Joanna Gallery, Kevin J. Thorton Entertainment, Morningstar Theatrical Productions, Rogue Improv, Justin Davis and Edge Theatre. Dance performances by Jessica Capistran, Alexandra Di Nunzio, Houston Burlesque Revue, Dem Damn Dames, Out On A Limb, jhon stronks, Corian Ellisor, Alex Abarca and Sobers & Godley. Musical performance by Ken Jones.

slangin' and singin' in this house of black gods and purple jesus by there in the sunlight (Houston, TX)
Venue: Frenetic Theater
Discipline: Dance
Length: 1 hour
Recommended for: Ages 13 and up
Show Description: “slangin’ and singin’ in this house of black gods and purple jesus” is a collective body of organic dance movements inspired by reflection of personal, spiritual, and physical experiences. “black gods” is a living journey montage exploring, confronting and reconciling privilege, gender, sexuality and race.

jhon r. stronks combines the fundamental elements of choreography, dance technique, and authentic movement in an effort to create dances that speak truthfully and promote honest conversation.

Liberators: A New Musical Revue by Morningstar Theatrical Productions (Houston, TX)
Venue: Frenetic Theater
Discipline: Theatre
Length: 30 minutes
Recommended for: Ages 13 and up
Show Description: In Liberators, a filmmaker helps HIS grandfather, a holocaust survivor, deal with the ghosts of HIS past and as a result, unites three families.

Eric Jones is a lyricist, actor, musician and librettist and the chief creative officer of Morningstar Theatrical Productions. This is Mr. Jones & Mr. Winkler's first musical theater collaboration to be produced at the Houston Fringe Festival. Alex Winkler is a songwriter, musician and singer and the composer of Liberators: A New Musical. He is currently a composition student at U of H's Moores School of Music.

Le Canard Imaginaire by Jessica Capistran and Alexandra Di Nunzio (Houston, TX)
Venue: Frenetic Theater
Discipline: Dance
Length: 15 minutes
Recommended for: All ages
Show Description: It is through both the imagination of Alexandra’s dream, the nostalgia of Edith Piaf’s music, and the choreographic creativity of Jessica Capistran and Alexandra DiNunzio that Le Canard Imaginaire was born; It is the idea of something that seems and feels so real to you, yet it is nothing but imagination.

Jessica Capistran is a native Houstonian and a graduate from the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. She holds a BA in Dance from the University of Houston and is currently dancing with Karen Stokes Dance Company. Alexandra DiNunzio has studied dance for over 10 years, dancing with the Houston Metropolitan, graduating from the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, and dancing at the University of Houston. She is currently a senior at UH and will be graduating May 2013 with majors in Dance and Spanish.

Dem Damn Dames (Houston, TX)
Venue: Frenetic Theater
Discipline: Dance
Length: 30 minutes
Recommended for: Ages 16 and up
Show Description:  Dem Damn Dames’ unique mixture of classic and neo burlesque acts, sexy singers, hypnotizing belly dancers, naughty comedy, and oh-so-much more is guaranteed to please and always looking for an excuse to shake their tail feathers.

Under the Flannel Sheets by Houston Burlesque Revue (Houston, TX)
Venue: Frenetic Theater
Discipline: Dance
Length: 30 minutes
Recommended for: Ages 16 and up
Show Description: Under the Flannel Sheets is a new twist for the ladies of shimmies and rhinestones who have been seen around Houston performing their version of burlesque; mixing signature cabaret with classical dance, as they present a tribute to the 90s grunge era in an exploration of their darker, alternative and even juvenile sides that feature topics such as love, vanity, pain and human nature showing the burlesque community that these ladies have a lot more to offer than just high kicks with a smile.

Houston Burlesque Revue is a tasteful blend of entertainment, humor, glamour and technical dance with a twist of traditional burlesque. Bursting on the burlesque scene with an "Audience Favorite" award at the 4th annual Houston Fringe Festival in 2011, the beautiful ladies have been giving Houston a burlesque fever with their high kicking legs, drop dead looks and confident ability to tease! The Houston Burlesque Revue has had the opportunity to dance at the 4th Annual Dallas Burlesque Festival, Kiki's Sordid Sideshow, private events for Bombay Sapphire & Salon Matos, The Moonlight Show at Prohibition and can currently be seen at the Bayou Music Center in their live music shows with the Bayou City Outlaw Band.

The Galileo Prize and Best Served Cold by Edge Theatre (Houston, TX)
Venue: Bohemeo’s
Discipline: Theatre
Length: 40 minutes
Recommended for: All ages
Show Description: In The Galileo Prize, a scientist speaks at his daughter’s college commencement, preaching against foreign entanglements. He is approached later by two “agents” who menace him, and advise him that this is not the right time to give aid and comfort to the enemy. In a tacit submission, he agrees, in order to protect his daughter. In Best Served Cold, three male Army clerks whose job is to keep track of detainees, discuss the rules and procedures for questioning them, and the “loopholes” in those rules, as they brief a new and 4th addition to the ”team”.

Jim Tommaney reviews the smaller theaters for The Houston Press, and is Artistic Director of Edge Theatre, which has produced over 150 plays since opening in 1995, most of them in South Florida. Jim has written eleven full-length plays, and eight one-acts, most of them produced. His play Breakthrough won an Audience Favorite Award in Houston Fringe '11. He is delighted that he moved to Houston from Miami two years ago.

Witness an Empire's Decay by Ken Jones (Houston, TX)
Venue: Bohemeo’s
Discipline: Music
Length: 30 minutes
Recommended for: All ages
Show Description: Witness an Empire's Decay is a music and video project commemorating the 20th Anniversary of the Los Angeles Riots.

Ken Jones is a poet and songwriter who lived through and participated in the 1992 rebellion. He wrote the majority of Witness an Empire's Decay prior to the event while living in Los Angeles.

Speed Harold by Rogue Improv (Houston, TX)
Venue: Bohemeo’s
Discipline: Theatre
Length: 30 minutes
Recommended for: Ages 16 and up
Show Description: Rogue will be performing a Speed Harold, an updated version to the traditional long form improv Harold. We will create and completely explore an entire universe before our audience's eyes.

Rogue Improv has been a staple of Houston improv comedy for years and in June of 2011 joined up with The New Movement. Rogue has most recently been seen in Moontower Comedy Festival and just got invited back to Out Of Bounds for 2012.

Well Ripened by Corian Ellisor and Alex Abarca (Atlanta, GA)
Venue: Frenetic Theater
Discipline: Dance
Length: 30 minutes
Recommended for: All ages
Show Description: Alex and Corian know there are certainties, that as beings, we exist within; we're born, we live, we die. As we mature, we discover that life doesn't come with an instruction manual.

Alex Abarca and Corian Ellisor are both from the Houston area and are currently dancers with CORE Performance Company in Atlanta, GA and Houston.

We Us Them Ya’ll by Sobers & Godley (New York, NY)
Venue: Frenetic Theater
Discipline: Dance
Length: 30 minutes
Recommended for: Ages 13 and up
Show Description: We Us Them Ya’ll is a non narrative dance theater piece that explores self identity within a relationship. With original text and music by Nina Simone. We Us Them Ya’ll will take you on a journey through a series of vignettes that depicts the couple's raw emotions for each other but also the quest for self discovery.

Sobers & Godley, founded in 2009, is a duet repertory company based in New York City. Fusing sensuality, musicality, and athleticism, Sobers & Godley aim to grasp their audiences with compelling work. Sobers and Godley received a 2011 Houston Fringe Festival Critics Choice Award.

Character: Drive by Out On A Limb Dance Company (Waco, TX)
Venue: Frenetic Theater
Discipline: Dance
Length: 30 minutes
Recommended for: Ages 13 and up
Show Description: Character:Drive is a concert bringing together artists from all around Texas. L. Brooke Schlecte’s Out On a Limb Dance Company has invited Christie Nelson-Sala’s Grid Dance Theater to put together an explosion of movement, ideas, personalities, and conversations about what dance and dance making means. The collection of works includes solos, duets and a quintet.

L. Brooke Schlecte is the founder and artistic director of Out On a Limb Dance Company since 2003, she holds a Masters of Fine Arts in Dance from Texas Woman’s University in Denton, Texas, where she received the “Excellence in Choreography Award” in 2007, as well as honors in her Bachelors of Fine Arts in Dance from the University of Texas at Austin. Her company has performed extensively around Texas and Oklahoma most notably at American College Dance Festival’s Gala, in Fort Worth, TX, Out of the Loop Festival in Addison, TX, EXCHANGE Dance Festival Gala, Tulsa, OK, and MAMandSCHLECTE, Dallas, TX.

Converse: Introspects, Live, Word by Outspoken Bean (Houston, TX)
Venue: Bohemeo’s
Discipline: Spoken word
Length: 45 minutes
Recommended for: All ages
Show Description: Converse is selected performance poetry work from Outspoken Bean. Also, it is a conversation with audience about the development of Bean's poems that gives life to the play and leaves you with full understanding how a poet gets comes up with what to write and perform.

Performance poet Outspoken Bean now calls Houston, TX home, where most stages in this city he has performed on. The Prairie View A&M, theatre graduate has been hailed as "phenomenal" by Ewan McGregor and his work sought after by world renowned theatre producer/director, Robert Wilson.

Salon by The Joanna Gallery (Houston, TX)
Venue: Bohemeo’s
Discipline: Theatre
Length: 15 minutes
Recommended for: All ages
Show Description: Nick is in the hot seat in Salon, a short, partly improvised play exploring all we’re really asking for—and stand to lose— when we request just a trim.

Curtis D’Costa is entering his third year of teaching English at Lone Star College and HCC. He is pleased to be working with The Joanna Gallery, whose openings/hootenannies he has reveled in since their doors opened in 2006.

Kept Boy or Cougar by Roy Hamlin (Houston, TX)
Venue: Super Happy Fun Land
Discipline: Theater
Length: 1 hour
Recommended for: Ages 16 and up
Show Summary: Kept Boy or Cougar is an adult musical comedy about adult men engaging in adult sexual practices.With eachother. It's about the transition from being the obect of affection to the affector who can afford pretty objects, and the wild jungles in between. Singletons, regardless of gender/gender preference, of ages twenties, thirties and beyond can relate. Unleash your childlike sexy beast and play along!

Weekend 2, September 6, 7, 8, & 9, 2012:
(Exact dates/times for shows To Be Announced)
Theatre performances by Audacity Theatre Lab, Jim Mackenzie, Margo Toombs. Dance performances by Melissa Watt, Cori Miller, ANIKAI Dance Theater, China Cat Dance and FrenetiCore. Music by George Heathco, Luke Hubley, The Dirty Verbs, Psychedelic Blues Collective, the Chip Tune Crooner. Film by Cameron Frederick Sands, Nataly Linares, Gary Watson and The Sleepy Border Town Insomniacs.

The Knocking Within by ANIKAI Dance Company (Sommerville, MA)
Venue: Frenetic Theater
Discipline: Dance
Length: 1 hour
Recommended for: All ages
Show Description: The Knocking Within draws on Shakespeare's tragedies to create a portrait of two lovers and the nightmares that plague them and unveil their insecurities, their fears and the violence that lies just beneath the surface. The Knocking Within is a one-hour dance-theater duet that draws on a dizzying array of movement styles and tradition - Capoeira, Kalaripayattu, Bharat Natyam, West African, and a wide range of Contemporary dance forms, with text in English, Hindi and American Sign Language.

Wendy Jehlen’s work has been evolving since 1996 in India, Italy, Japan and the US. Her performances weave together music, dance and storytelling, secular and sacred, aural and visual. Pradhuman Nayak is a graduate of the prestigious National School of Drama in India. He has performed throughout India and the US and has been performing with ANIKAI since 2006. The Knocking Within is a collaboration between Jehlen and Nayak’s resulting in a deeply bi-(multi-)cultural work probing the universal world of the subconscious.

Loose Ends by ChinaCat Dance (Houston, TX)
Venue: Frenetic Theater
Discipline: Dance
Length: 1 hour
Recommended for: All ages
Show Description: Loose Ends is an eclectic blend of ChinaCat works ranging from glowing swans to stray cats and overprotective mothers to child beauty pageants. There's something for everyone in this range of dances that will take the audience on a funtastic romp through the world of the ChinaCats.

ChinaCat Dance strives to produce enlightening, engaging, audience friendly dance works that are accessible to diverse communities and age groups. But maybe most importantly, we are always moving forward in joy and love through dance.

am I the only one going through a quarter life crisis? by cori dances (Houston, TX)
Venue: Frenetic Theater
Discipline: Dance
Length: 17 minutes
Recommended for: All ages
Show Description: am I the only one going through a quarter life crisis? performed by cori dances draws upon varied perspectives of the quarter life crisis. Through narrative, movement, and improvisation, I will explore with my fellow performing artists to find an answer or at least entertain the people that are watching us.

Cori Miller graduated with her B.F.A. in Dance from the University of Texas at Austin; she is an arts administrator having worked at notable organizations like Dance New Amsterdam, Danspace Project, and Baryshinkov Arts Center. She recently presented her work at the Big Range Festival this summer.

Mad Madam Mel's Magnificent Magical Mysterious Mundo and Movement Mélange and More by Melissa Watt (Denton, TX)
Venue: Frenetic Theater
Discipline: Dance
Length: 45 minutes
Recommended for: All ages
Show Description: Come one, come all and enjoy a whimsical world of dance, variety, comedy, and song in Mad Madam Mel's Magnificent Magical Mysterious Mundo and Movement Mélange and More (M10). Prepare your pipes to laugh out loud, giggle with glee, and chortle with your chums while enjoying intriguing characters and modern day spoofs that come together to entertain audiences of all ages.

Melissa Watt has performed in dance works of New York International Fringe Festival Audience Favorite nominee Realm Dance Project and theatre works of Viva la Vulva, both of Austin. She enjoys entwining dance with technology and theater and continues to create work that utilizes these mediums.

Margo 0-60 and Insensitive by Margo Stutts Toombs (Houston, TX)
Venue: Super Happy Fun Land
Discipline: Theatre
Length: 1 hour
Recommended for: All ages
Show Description: Margo 0-60 and Insensitive is a variety show with monologues, songs, dances and multi-media selections. “Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.”

Margo Stutts Toombs is an internal humorist – she makes the audience laugh on the inside. She enjoys writing and performing pieces that embarrass her family.

John Cage: Happy 100th by George Heathco and Luke Hubley (Houston, TX)
Venue: Super Happy Fun Land
Discipline: Music
Length: 45 minutes
Recommended for: All ages
Show Description: September 5th, 2012 marks the 100th birthday of famed experimental American composer John Cage (1912-1992), and the electric guitar and percussion duo of George Heathco and Luke Hubley is performing a concert in celebration of the composer’s life and works.

The George Heathco/Luke Hubley duo is a new contemporary music ensemble on the Houston music scene. By combining elements of classical, popular and improvised music, the duo seeks to develop and present a contemporary alternative within the Houston community, and to serve as a bridge to connect those on the fringe, distanced by the boundaries of genre and style.

Hommage Avec Toupies Jouets by Cameron Frederick Sands & Nataly Linares (Houston, TX)
Venue: Super Happy Fun Land
Discipline: Film
Length: 30 minutes
Recommended for: All ages
Show Summary: Hommage Avec Toupies Jouets (Homage With Spinning Toy Tops) is a performance art piece with spoken word and music set to a video. The video/performance, in three acts, is an homage to Claude Monet and his practice of capturing his painting subjects with transitory light.

Cameron Frederick Sands is a visual artist from Houston, TX who focuses on painting, mixed media, and video. Nataly Linares is a musician/double bass player from Bogota, Colombia, currently studying for her Master’s Degree at the University of Houston.

The Professor: Improv Inspired By Doctor Who by Justin Davis (Austin, TX)
Venue: Super Happy Fun Land
Discipline: Film
Length: 60 minutes
Recommended for: Ages 13 and up
Show Summary: This is not Doctor Who. This is The Professor. He may seem incredibly similar to The Doctor, but that’s just a coincidence. Or a hiccup in the space time continuum that created a parallel universe. Come see this Doctor Who-inspired show about the Professor and his (or her) companions as they travel the cosmos and timestream in search of new adventures through improv.

The Professor: Improv Inspired By Doctor Who is directed by Justin Davis and has an incredibly talented cast, who have had successful runs at The Institution Theater in 2011 and with Gnap! Productions in 2012. This year, The Professor is so far scheduled to take part in the Houston Fringe Festival, Out of Bounds Comedy Festival, and the Improvaganza Festival in Hawaii.

Brain by Psychedelic Blues Collective (Houston, TX)
Venue: Super Happy Fun Land
Discipline: Music
Length: 30 minutes
Recommended for: All ages
Show Summary: Brain is a grandiose, yet humorous exploration into the effects of dreams on the waking psyche. Featuring dancing, all original music and a live band, “Brain” is barrels of fun for the whole family.

Psychedelic Blues Collective is a ragtag faction of H-town’s funkiest musicians, dancers and artists. Spearheaded by guitarist Michael Anthony “The Shankster” Shanks, this psychoactive assembly is sure to bring some heavy grooves and freaky good times.

Visual Stomp by The Dirty Verbs (Houston, TX)
Venue: Super Happy Fun Land
Discipline: Music
Length: 30 minutes
Recommended for: All ages
Show Summary: The Dirty Verb's Visual Stomp combines the band's danceable musical formula with synchronized visualization projected on a background screen. This musical and visual experience is 100% original.

Formed in Houston, TX in the summer of 2010, The Dirty Verbs play old-school instrumental funk/soul music with modern-day energy and beats so rhythmic it inspires audiences to stand up and dance. This quartet of skilled musicians is influenced by The Meters, James Brown, Soulive, and The New Mastersounds.

CYRANO A-GO-GO by Audacity Theatre Lab (Houston, TX)
Venue: Bohemeo’s
Discipline: Theatre
Length: 1 hour
Recommended for: Ages 13 and up
Show Summary: CYRANO A-GO-GO is semi-autobiographical exploration of one restless theatre artist's fascination with the play Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand. A chance encounter with the script at a suburban public library at the age of 15 leads to a cruel and wonderful calling. Mixing the personal, historical and literary into a journey through Rostand's play and the behind-the-scenes story of its creation, McEntire presents the piece as an old-school "oration."

Brad McEntire is a playwright and performer based in Dallas, Texas. He is the Artistic Director of Audacity Theatre Lab. His show CHOP won a "Producer's Pick" Award at the 2011 Houston Fringe Festival.

Crawling With Monsters by The Sleepy Border Town Insomniacs (Edinburgh, TX)
Venue: Frenetic Theater
Discipline: Film/Theater
Length: 1 hour
Recommended for: Ages 13 and up
Show Summary: Crawling with Monsters is multi-media documentary about a children’s theatre company embroiled in an under-reported war-zone on the Mexico-Texas border. With secretly-recorded interviews, the actors give a voice to people who have been forced to endure in silence as their way of life is degraded and destroyed.

The Sleep Border Town Insomniacs is an anonymous ensemble of theatre artists from the United States – Mexico border affiliated with and sponsored by the University of Texas – Pan American in Edinburg, TX. They began the Crawling with Monsters Project in March, 2010, after being forbidden to perform a children’s play in Mexico due to the violence.

Body Language by Gary Watson (Houston, TX)
Venue: Frenetic Theater
Discipline: Film
Length: 15 minutes
Recommended for: Ages 16 and up
Show Summary: Body Language is a collection of five short figurative art videos that explore the human body as a storytelling instrument. Some of the videos consider the relationship of humans and the environment, humans and gender identity, and humans and mortality while others merely observe the intricacies of the organics shapes of the human body in abstract form.

Gary L. Watson is an award-winning, Houston-based filmmaker and video artist who has worked for many years in traditional narrative and documentary projects. More recently he has used his expertise to create non-narrative, experimental videos that present unadorned human figures in thought-provoking and unsettling environments.

Can’t Get Next To You by FrenetiCore (Houston, TX)
Venue: Frenetic Theater
Discipline: Dance
Length: 40 minutes
Recommended for: Ages 16 and up
Show Summary: Can’t Get Next To You is a reflection on love, lust and longing. The show includes groundbreaking gay love duets for men and women. Directed by Rebecca French and featuring choreography by Kira Boerkircher, Rebecca French, Mallory Horn and Mollie Haven Miller.

FrenetiCore offers creative community experiences to the public through the presentation and promotion of original theater, dance, film, and music. FrenetiCore Dance maintains a company of artists who perform collaborative and innovative multi-media dance under the direction of Rebecca French and Robert Thoth.

Jim Mackenzie’s One Man Show by Jim Mackenzie (Houston, TX)
Venue: Frenetic Theater
Discipline: Comedy
Length: 1 hour
Recommended for: Ages 16 and up
Show Summary: This one man comedy show features numerous vaudeville and circus sideshow skills.

Jim Mackenzie, a Houston native, began his professional performing career street performing at the Houston Festival in 1986. He has since entertained crowds at colleges, comedy festivals, Renaissance festivals, and theme parks around the country.

‘Anything Goes’ Weekend, September 14 & 15, 2012
Fast paced, over-the-top shows in any discipline by Houston’s best performance artists! More details soon…

Visual Arts Exhibit curated by Rachel Harmeyer, on display at Frenetic Theater during the entire festival, featuring artwork by some of Houston’s hottest new artists.

Photo FrenetiCore - Can't Get Next To You by Lynn Lane.