by Terrance McArthur
The Rogue Festival is here! It is taking place March 1-9 in the Tower District of Fresno. Here are more Rogue show reviews, with still more to come over the next few days! You will be able to find all of our reviews, and our performer preview articles, and our article about Rogue 2024 in our Rogue Festival section here at KRL, and you can find more Rogue Festival information on our Rogue event page over on KRL News! There you will find press releases and extra info! You can also go to the Rogue Festival website for more info and to purchase tickets.
Janice Noga: The Only Virgin in New York City
Janice Noga is sparkly, and I’m not only talking about her outfit. She is vibrant with life, excited about every day, and has a timeless voice that fills the VISTA Theater and spills out onto N. Wishon Avenue when she hits the stage for her Rogue show, Janice Noga: The Only Virgin in New York City.
Noga tells stories about her time in NYC, and she sings. Oh, boy, does she sing! The Broadway catalog is her oyster, and she harvests the pearls from it. Some songs you might not remember (“Hey, Look Me Over” from Wildcat!), others are ones you should know (“Oh What a Beautiful Morning” from Oklahoma!, “On My Own” from Les Misérables, “Send In the Clowns” from A Little Night Music), and all of them shine with a jewelry-grade luster.
When she first went to New York, her twin sister stayed with her for a while at the YWCA in an all-white room. Janice went to auditions, was pursued by agents who had less-than-honorable intent, auditioned for—and won—a major Broadway role (which she never got to perform), and met –and rejected—a famous blue-eyed celebrity.
The nimble-fingered Terry Lewis is Noga’s musical accomplice on keyboards, and the audience gets to join in a sing-along.
The VISTA Theater is at 1296 N. Wishon Ave., Fresno. Remaining performances of Janice Noga: The Only Virgin in New York City are March 7 at 5:30 pm and March 9 at 5:00 pm. Come and see Janice Noga. You can sing along, too!
Booger Red
Revival preaching and solo theatre—they seem worlds apart, but they come together in Jim Loucks’ Rogue presentation Booger Red at the VISTA Theater.
Jim Loucks
Jim lovingly presents his father, singing his songs, quoting his sermons. He honestly presents himself, admitting his failings, showing his abilities. He is a powerful force on the VISTA stage. References to Death of a Salesman and the relationship of Willy Loman and his son Biff pop up repeatedly, giving a resonance and subtext that enhances the experience. An experience it is, one that gives a peek into the lives of a father and a son, a peek that shows their differences and their similarities.
Remained performances at the VISTA Theater is at 1296 N. Wishon Ave., March 8 at 5:30 pm, and March 9 at 3:30 pm.
Music to Get Your Rogue On—Tony Imperatrice
Tony Imperatrice helps churches install their pipe organs. Does that mean he’s an organ-izer? Tony has put together an amalgam of keyboards, computers, and rolling platforms to bring his music to the Fresno Rogue Performance Festival in a program of original music, Music to Get Your Rogue On, at Hart’s Haven.
In the time of Covid, Tony began experimenting with different ways of making organ music. Instead of making an entire track of a background theme, he made loops that he set in motion while he played other melodies. He managed to get all the pipes and stops of a major pipe organ digitized and loaded into a computer. With echo effects and keyboards, he had the workings of a musical Merlin’s laboratory, and that’s how he makes his organ-ic music.
His Rogue 2024 program includes five pieces he composed: “The Inescapable Past” has a spookiness reminiscent of waves of Phillip Glass striking the shore, “Autumn Colors” conveys the reverence of leaves changing from green to gold and orange, the counter-melodies of “Hitting Bottom” mirror the despair and frustration of the pandemic, “The Last Elephant” is a lullaby for extinction, and the multi-layered “Don’t let the Waterfalls Die” is an ode to climate change.
Tony’s music washes across the ears, begging to be heard again and again. Luckily, his recordings can be purchased at tonyimperatrice.bandcamp.com.
Hart’s Haven is at 950 N. Van Ness Ave. The final performances of Music to Get Your Rogue On are March 7 at 5:30 pm and March 9 at 12:30 pm.
Confessions of a Women’s Prison Guard
A TV reality-show host (Tony Sanders) enters a women’s prison to interview a female guard (Lydia Bustos). He encounters a young African-American woman (Arium Andrews) in on drug charges, a Death Row inmate (Karan Johnson) in her seventies, and a manipulative prisoner (Susanne Peterson) gaming the system by manufacturing complaints against the staff to cover up her illegal actions.
The events portrayed in the short play by P. M. Balekian are based on facts and the actual experiences of a female prison guard. She avoids violent confrontations trying to defuse situations instead of using force. The inmates push the limits, hiding drugs in books, flying contraband into the prison by drone, and attempting to provoke a physical response. The feelings are raw and uncomfortable.
Bustos, outfitted in uniform and gear, seems slight compared to some of the convicts. She shows patience, but the psychological toll on her is telling. Emotions erupt into tears as she explains the conditions she puts up with.
Andrews, an imposing presence, shows mental stress, appears unable to obey commands, and doesn’t seem to adapt to incarcerated life—she’s lost. Peterson is confrontational, feigning persecution and innocence, yet creating hazardous situations. Johnson rolls the stage in a wheelchair, angry, snarling at all times, playing the disabled and harmless cards. The characters Sanders plays are a fish out of water, oblivious to the realities of life behind bars, an unwitting carrier of contraband, as clueless as most of the population outside of custody.
It’s not a friendly play. What you see of prison life in movies and on TV is not close to what really happens. The goal is to erase the images of The Green Mile and Cool Hand Luke and Orange Is the New Black. What’s left is brutal…for the guards.
The Lotus Room, the back room of what was once the Revue (now Component Coffee) is at 626 E. Olive Ave., Fresno. Remaining performances are March 7 at 7:00 pm, March 8 at 8:30 pm, and March 9 at 12:30 pm.
The Rogue Shows
Don’t try to categorize The Sump Pumps as they perform The Rogue Shows on the Veni Vidi Vici patio. They play what they like, whether it’s an original tune or a cover, and it’s good.
An older group they are, with a goodly amount of gray showing. Andrea Phillips plays guitar and sings, with songs she wrote, dispensing such wisdom as “Never turn your back on a nine-year-old.” Brad “Dude Boy” Rogers raps percussion on the conga a potato-peeler-like object, as well as strumming a guitar. E. Z. Marc coaxes smooth tones from a fiddle and wields a mean four-string tenor guitar and what looks like an aluminum-plated armadillo, singing in a style reminiscent of Leon Redbone. Michael Ault sits off to the side with an electric bass and what appears to be a heavyweight ukulele.
Is it rock? Folk? Americana? Jazz? Who cares? It’s a friendly group, happy to be playing together. You’ll be happy to listen.
The Veni Vidi Vici patio is behind 1116 N. Fulton St., Fresno. The last show of The Rogue Shows is March 7 at 5:30 pm.
If you love theatre, be sure to check out Mysteryrat’s Maze Podcast, which features mysteries read by local actors. You can find the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, and also on podbean.
Check out more theatre reviews & other local entertainment articles in our Arts & Entertainment section. You can also find more theatre coming up on KRL’s Local Theatre event page.
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