ORLANDO FRINGE | There Ain't No More: Death of a Folksinger (Willi Carlisle)

There Ain't No More: Death of a Folksinger, a solo show performed by Willi Carlisle, is not the show I thought it would be. It features a large volume of folk songs played on banjo, guitar, harmonica, and more, well-sung by Carlisle and performed with all sorts of twists (watch that banjo twirl). More to the point, it's a moving and touching story about too many things to describe that knit together into a whole. This show was talked about a great deal at the Tampa Fringe and now comes to Orlando.

When There Aint No More starts, you think it's going to be just another one of those USO tribute shows that are so popular in period films. Pretty soon, you get the feeling that there's something deeper going on. By the end of the show, you wonder how you got from that to explorations of sexuality, memory, aging, and war – but it all makes sense. The acting is solid, the characters many, the music so varied but well-performed that you wonder what other tricks he has up his sleeves...especially after a puppet pops out. Hey, it's Fringe – it works, and it works well.

This show is hard to summarize, but easy to enjoy. Come for the music, stay for the story, enjoy all the way.

Fringe Pick

ORLANDO FRINGE | Blindside (Stephanie Morin-Robert)

This one-woman show by Stephanie Morin-Robert is part of a hail of Canadians from Vancouver. Much of the story involves around her glass eye, which gives a mix of squick and comedy that the audience ate up. It's just not my cup of tea, but the timing is excellent and it's very much the type of humor that you only find at Fringe. Well-performed.

ORLANDO FRINGE | The Last Five Years (Really Spicy Opera)

Lovingly lit, powerfully sung, heart-gripping.

Musical fans of a certain age adore Jason Robert Brown like a previous generation loved Andrew Lloyd Webber and Stephen Schwartz. He writes complex music and collected a couple Tony Awards, but the real cult show in his arsenal is The Last Five Years. It's a heartbreaking tale of love that didn't work out.

The problem with The Last Five Years is usually that there's more yelling than singing. It's hard music and when that shows, it really shows. Mics don't really help – if you don't have the notes, you don't have the notes, and screaming doesn't help. Really Spicy Opera gets around this with two classically trained singers, Steven Halloin and Nicole Korbisch, as the doomed lovers Jaime and Cathy. It makes all the difference.

One of the other common problems with this show is that it loses momentum in the second half as voices get tired and the staging becomes one-note. Instead, the last four songs here are a swirl of shimmering lighting and powerful singing that propels the characters and the audience to the conclusion. Watch the lights swirl ominously in Halloin's dark "Nobody Needs to Know", or the subtle sliding of time, mood, and facial expressions in Korbisch's "Audition Sequence". It's an unusual amount of lighting (two designers are credited, Carrie Hurst and Basil Considine), but it makes all the difference.

Fringe Pick

ORLANDO FRINGE | Caws & Effect (Mind of a Snail)

Mind of a Snail's Caws & Effect is a remarkable gem buried in a sea of shows. It is timeless, ageless, clever and witty. It could be a Saturday morning cartoon or a Pixar short and do very well. Seeing this shadow play is a lovely experience.

Two actors from Vancouver, Canada create this show with simple costumes, two overhead projectors and a lot of ingenuity. You want to stare at their hands to see how they make these great visuals, but that means that you'd miss out on what's happening on the screen. Simply brilliant!

Fringe Pick

ORLANDO FRINGE | Bitch, Perfect (Orlando Gay Chorus)

Walk into Bitch, Perfect, sit down, and get blown away. If you did nothing but follow the line, you better buckle your seat belts. This is a comedic and sometimes heartbreaking tale of coming out, a cappella singing, and more. It's hands-down the most impactful show that I've seen at Orlando Fringe this year.

The first hint that this isn't business as usual is the Orlando Gay Chorus being listed as the producer. Next is the title – yes, it's a play on Pitch Perfect, but it's also the title of an infamous (or notorious) episode of RuPaul's Drag Race. These are your framing devices in case you want to prepare yourself for some of the references and why's it this ways.

This show has a large cast, but hinges on four excellent performances: Blake Aburn as Cameron, David Lowe as Cameron's father, and the snarky commentators Brandon Lopez and Danielle Irigoyen as John and Joanne. (The latter are one of the main reasons you might want to watch Pitch Perfect first). As you might expect, coming out doesn't go entirely smoothly, but there're songs to smooth it out. Bring tissues – this show is worth crying over.

Smartly directed by Donald Rupe.

Fringe Pick

ORLANDO FRINGE | La Reina Yolanda (Leesa Castaneda)

First: to see La Reina Yolanda, you're going to have to trek to Winter Park. See it early, or it's bye-bye parking space! This is a life-in-an-hour show that deals with that devilish disease: Alzheimer's. Perhaps we're all getting older, but Alzheimer's-related shows seem to be everywhere...not that this makes this one any less enjoyable.

La Reina is a powerful biographical tale that starts in Puerto Rico and follows a mother and daughter in adventures across the United States. It's a riveting solo show, well-told and powerful. The life on this stage is ugly sometimes, but it's not all peaches in real life, either.

Fringe Pick

ORLANDO FRINGE | Mo' Manada (BoylesqueTO)

What's Mo' Manada? Oh, god, you had to ask. Now they're singing and stripping while they explain it.

Burlesque is alive and well in Orlando, and now "boy" burlesque is, too. If you want to see lots of bananas (if you know what I mean), you might want a different type of club – but if you want to see a lot of bananas covered by glittery g-strings, boy do I have the show for you!

Burlesques don't usually take home prizes for plot. This is no exception – there's something of a framing narrative involve Justin Trudeau fantasizing about Barack Obama and Donald Trump, but really, you're here to see lots of hunks stripping and cavorting onstage. This certainly delivers. The pre-gamed audience was clearly having the time of their lives, and at a late night performance, too. 

If you like bananas, this is that in spades. It also shows that you don't have to have perfectly ripped bodies to attract men's and women's eyes – clearly, it's how you use it that got people roaring. Mo' Canada, Mo' Manada.