by Kurt Fitzpatrick

Here is another Rogue 2015 performer article. We will be posting several more over the next few days until Rogue opens. After it opens, you will also find many Rogue show reviews. To learn more about this year’s event check out our Rogue 2015 preview article, and check out our Rogue Performer event page to learn about more of the performers this year. You can find all of the Rogue articles as they go up in our Arts & Entertainment section.

In the one hour span of this comedy romp, all eighty-seven Academy Award winning films are lampooned, from Wings to On the Waterfront to Silence of the Lambs. Even Schindler’s List and 12 Years a Slave must be done to comedic effect. Can it be done? Order up a heaping bucket of hot buttered popcorn, a box of Raisinets the size of a DeLorean, grab a comfy seat, and find out. And live theatre is ALWAYS in 3D!!

Best Picture started to come into existence back in June of 2012 at the London Fringe Festival when Kurt suggested to his pal Jon that they do a show together. About a year later, after watching Kurt in Cathedral City at the Orlando Fringe, Jon remembers an idea that had been pitched to him years ago: a show in which all the Oscar winners would be performed in the tight space of an hour. That was the show to do! A few weeks later, they went to the London Fringe and asked Tara Travis to join them in their endeavor. They were off and running!

Then Kurt began watching the movies. Every. Single. Movie. He wrote a script and the trio hired Jeff Culbert, who performed in Archy and Mehitabel in Rogue 2010, to direct. They all met up in Toronto in July last year and rehearsed and banged out a show in two weeks. Dressed in tuxedos, they started performing it at the Winnipeg Fringe, and it began a successful run that keeps on running. The show was named Patrons’ Pick for being one of the highest selling shows in Winnipeg. It went on to great acclaim and sold out multiple shows in the Vancouver and New Orleans Fringe Festivals.

While Jon and Tara are Canadians coming to Fresno for the first time, Kurt Fitzpatrick is a Rogue warrior, having appeared in every Rogue since 2009. He played to standing-room only crowds during last year’s run of Bromance with the Rev. Nuge and his show Cathedral City was named one of 2013’s top cultural events in Fresno by the Fresno Bee. He will also be acting in Marcel Nunis’ new play Dancing in the Mist at this year’s Rogue.

Come to the Fresno Soap Co. (formerly the Broken Leg Theatre) and walk the red carpet before the show. You can be one of the many celebrities attending!

Tickets are $10. Dates and times are: Tuesday, March 3 @6:30 p.m., Wednesday, March 4 @11 p.m., Thursday, March 5 @9:30 p.m., Friday, March 6 @6:30 p.m., Saturday, March 7 @12:30 p.m. + 9:30 p.m.

For tickets and more info: www.RogueFestival.com. Check out an interview with those involved in Dancing in the Mist, another show that Kurt is a part of at this year’s Rogue Festival.