FringeNYC 2013: America's Breath Of Fresh Air
A reality show explodes Bob Summers' dead end life as a department store salesman. For better? His mom's pumped! For worse? His girlfriend's pissed. And Bob? Which Bob? Come ride the roller coaster of an Everyman's unwarranted celebrity. Also, sex.
Official production websiteShow details/ticketing at FringeNYC
Review by Maura Kelley · August 19, 2013
America's Breath of Fresh Air, the new musical at the New York International Fringe Festival is not only fresh but strange, funny and most of all ridiculous. I’m wondering what Arnie Roman, the play's author has for breakfast each morning after having weaved these nonsensical ideas into a feasible charming story.
This musical spoofs so many things, the main one being reality shows. It begins with Bob Summers played by the talented, Howie Michael Smith, a nice guy, in love with his girlfriend, Jen (sweet-voiced Mackenzie Bell). He desperately wants to propose to her; however, Jen, a Life Coach is too distracted with her client, ex-boyfriend Jake played by the comical David Perlman. To impress Jen, Bob becomes a contestant on, "Americas Breath of Fresh Air” where no one is allowed to brush their teeth.
The ridiculous builds on the more ridiculous with songs like “I Kissed a Donkey" and the theme song, “America's Breath of Fresh Air”. Kudos to musical director Mark Berman because the harmonies are tight. The choreography by Natalie Malotke supports the farcical feel. Director Joey Murray displays a well-rehearsed show and the actors dive head first into the insanity. What makes this show so enjoyable is that everyone is having fun.
The plot moves on and Bob, after achieving notoriety, gets a new talent agent, Ronnie played by Connor Moore. Moore is so funny and creative with his role that sometimes he cracks himself up. Then there is his affair with Bob’s Mother, Harriet, played by Lorraine Ferro. Ferro has a strong singing voice but her acting is too heavy-handed that it messes with the comic timing. Sometimes less is more.
The ensemble consisting of Melanie Brook, Lindsay Lake and Michael Lorz are the highlight of the show. All of them play multiple roles to madness: the pathetic woman addicted to mouthwash (Brook) or a donkey that needs to get kissed (Lake) - but it’s Michael Lorz, a blonde skinny dude, so young that puberty looks like it happened yesterday who becomes the bright spot of the show. I couldn’t stop watching him. Lorze’s characters ranging from an angry, black woman – to a neck-licking groupie - to a controlling director, are all so specific and outlandish. I keep waiting for what he is going to do next.
There are some sound issues when the band played. Next time around and I hope there is, they should all have body mikes. Fun!
Preview: Interviews with Artists from America's Breath Of Fresh Air
Gianfranco Lentini reviews Waiting For Waiting For Godot
“There’s nothing [everything] to be done” about Waiting for Waiting for Godot at the 2013 New York International Fringe Festival. Written by Dave Hanson and directed by...
Julie Congress reviews The Magic Mirror
The Magic Mirror, an opera with 14 singers and a live orchestra of seven (plus a conductor!), has a sound of a magnitude unlike any other FringeNYC show. Yet while an auditory...
Andrew Rothkin reviews The Young Olympians and The Most Amazingly Awesome Adventure Ever
What do you get when you combine ancient Greek mythology with puppetry, pop
culture, a wacky quest, and some fun and catchy new tunes? If you’re the
talented cast and crew of The Maryland...
Jason S. Grossman reviews The Famous Play
Two actors appear on stage and post an enormous sign with the playwright's contact information. A narrator enters and identifies himself as the playwright and describes what the audience is...
Kimberly Wadsworth reviews unbidden
Geneticist Julia Lamb, the woman at the center of Joanne Hudson’s Unbidden, is something of a mess. While researching a study into the human genome, Julia (Chelsea Leigh Barrett)...
David Koteles reviews Marshall's Law
A man and a woman are locked in a basement. A basement where dark secrets seem to be kept, waiting to be revealed. We learn the man and woman used to be best friends, until he “stole”...
Fred Backus reviews Mercedes Benz Awkwardly
Arriving from Australia to help close out the 2013 New YorkInternational Fringe Festival in its final week is Mercedes Benz Awkwardly, a raucous one-woman comedy about a first time...
Bob Stewart reviews The TomKat Project
The TomKat Project by writer Brandon Ogborn is a great example, (by this reviewer) of a perfect FringeNYC Show. It has 7 players, (including the playwright as narrator) 7 chairs, a few...
Pamela Butler reviews The Unfortunates
The late 19th century in London’s East End was not a safe place for young women plying the trade of prostitution. Women who for one reason or another fell into desperate situations, were...
Robert Weinstein reviews Quake: A Love Story
Ain’t Real Theatre Company’s Quake: A Love Story begins in the basement of a sparring couple as they go through their collective possessions after a bitter separation....
Gianfranco Lentini reviews William
1592. The end of the Renaissance is rapidly approaching, and the Baroque period is about to take the stage. Henry VI (Parts I-III) has been publicly performed, and the audience cries for...
Mitchell Conway reviews And It Spins Twice
For those interested in contemplating the implications of string theory, And It Spins Twice is a good introduction to some of the concepts that are radically altering our understanding...
