by Brendon Mustaciola

The 2017 Rogue Festival is almost here. KRL will be featuring several Rogue Performer Preview articles between now and the beginning of the Festival on March 3. You can find all of the Preview articles so far in our Arts & Entertainment section.
We will also be reviewing many of the shows, and we may even do some more video interviews. Check out our Rogue Performer event page for more information as it becomes available, and you can also check out the Rogue 2017 website.

An original play by Andrew Champagne and Brendon Mustaciola.
Directed by Andrew Champagne.
Co-produced by Andrew Champagne and Brendon Mustaciola.

Husband. Father. Wrestler. Drill sergeant. Presidential candidate. Vampire. Non-smoker. Demidicus Rex, the new satirical slice of life from Andrew Champagne and Brendon Mustaciola, examines the lighter side of populist demagogues, modern mental illness, dysfunctional sixth marriages, the increasing disregard for public well being by the media, faith, terrorism, blood sucking, live impalement, and mother in laws. All in The Family, but with dementia.

“This show is the culmination of our feelings about everything going on in America over the last 18 months. We were tired of almost everyone in the media, conservatives and liberals alike, only speaking to their little bubble without taking responsibility for their own glaringly ridiculous short comings. We’re showing Nero fiddling as Rome burns.” —Brendon Mustaciola, cowriter/coproducer

“We wanted to explore mental illness, but we didn’t want to depress everyone. We tried to boil down everything about today’s America into this one massively, MASSIVELY dysfunctional nuclear family. Don’t worry, this isn’t a ‘feel-bad,’ it’s actually got a very uplifting moral ending.” —Andrew Champagne, writer/director/producer

“This is a pretty new thing for me. I’m a stand up comedian, I’ve never acted in a play like this.” —Tony Lee, comedian making his acting debut in the role of Tanner

“This show goes in weird directions. I’ve never played a character like this before. I don’t think anyone has. It’s exciting for me because of the dynamic set of characters we have. I’m excited at the way it is coming together as we try to get it a more real feel, by keeping characters moving and interacting in the background, which I think gives the play a very natural flow and ambience. The script is an engaging one both in its colorful characters and interactions between one another. Its vibrance can be felt leaping from its pages. I think it’s a great advantage to have the creators at the rehearsals because communication is clear, and we can confidently make decisions together regarding the progress of the production. Much in the same vein, with Andrew as director, this same collaborative process is enhanced, as we discover the strengths in the performers’ interpretations of their characters and the script as a whole. I have worked with Andrew in the past, and once again it is a great pleasure to work with him again on yet another amazing project. I also feel fortunate to have met him, Brendon, and to be working with them on “Demidicus Rex.” Their comments and insights are always welcome.” —David Palimore, actor in the title role

“As a comedian I think the show is brilliant, I love that my character is kind of the most grounded, and the fact that I can be a total dick is just the most fun in the world, I think Brendon and Drew did a great job with the script, and Drew is doing a great job directing! I just got done directing an indie film, so I know how stressful it is, and he’s handling it really well.” —Tosh Martin, comedian/filmmaker, as Sander, son of Demidicus

“Working with the writers is cool because if they like whatever direction you’ve taken with their character they’ll work it in; also they give you an insight into what they were thinking when they wrote a certain part, so it really helps you to get the scene better.

These guys are hilarious, being the only girl in the cast I thought I’d feel left out, but it’s really comfortable. We bond great before rehearsal and during we make sure we set the job done while still having fun. Drew and Brendon are very communicative if they don’t like it, they will tell you…that’s all I can say. It reminds me of something you’d see on adult swim after you’re done doing whatever it is you’re doing at 1a.m…like you didn’t care it was on but now that it’s on you wanna finish watching it…and maybe see if it’s OnDemand or Netflix so you can start from the beginning before you order the merchandise off of hot topic or Amazon.” —Akila Medina, actress in the role of Cordelia, wife of Demidicus

“We knew going in that we were gonna have some morally repugnant dialogue spewing from Demi’s mouth, so we wanted to cast someone with a lot of charisma; we didn’t want the audience to see him as either a hero or villain.” —Brendon Mustaciola

Tickets $9 (see official Rogue website for details) Fresno, Tower District (Olive & Wishon Avenues)

Join us on Facebook Demidicus Rex
The Vista (Formally The Voice Shop)
Performance Dates & Times
Friday, March 3 at 9:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 4 at 8 p.m.
Sunday, March 5 at 5 p.m.
Friday, March 10 at 5 p.m.
Saturday March 11 at 3:30 p.m.