It is almost time for the Rogue Festival again--it will be taking place March 1-9 in the Tower District of Fresno. Here are 3 more Rogue Performer Preview articles and we will be posting 3 more next week before Rogue starts! We will also be posting several show reviews once the festival begins!
The wonderful arts festival known as the Rogue Festival, which takes place in the Tower District of Fresno, is nearly upon us again! This year it will be running from March 1-9. While the general idea of the Festival remains the same each year, there are always subtle differences, so we took a moment to chat with the always witty Jaguar Bennett to find out what this year’s Rogue has in store for us! Hopefully, we will get him to tell us about his show this year as well!
I’m glad to be coming back to Fresno for my eleventh Rogue festival! A lot has changed since 2009 when I first was here performing Hooray for Speech Therapy. At the end of 2019, I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma, a form of cancer that attacks the lymph nodes. Which brings me to my current show, The Jester of All Maladies, which is the story about my cancer journey from diagnosis to remission.
The idea for this play came from a full-length play I've been working on where the supporting character Marty dominated the script even though that play doesn't revolve around him. The original full-length play is my "Covid play," and centers around a firefighter's journey from childhood to promotion, featuring the people who helped him along the way.
Have you ever been fired? Imagine getting fired from your first job ever. That’s what happened to me when I was 16. I was working at Arthur Treacher’s Fish and Chips, a fast-food chain in New York, all the way from London. When I got hired, my mother told me to ask them if they had a pension. Apparently, she thought I’d have that job for a long time. It lasted three weeks. The exact reason why I was fired is a blur. The indignation that I felt at such an impressionable age would last for years to come. Little did I know that I would be fired from a series of jobs to follow for the next two decades.
“Hello darkness, my old friend...”
Is darkness a friend to a blind woman? In Wait Until Dark, the thriller Visalia Players production at the Visalia Ice House Theater, darkness can turn out to be an ally.
Terrance saw way more shows than I did in 2023 so he takes the lead on this one. I will share a few of my thoughts at the end, and there were many more shows in this Valley that we weren't able to make it to. When it comes to theatre, this Valley is blessed!
This week we continue our series of interviews with the current board members of Reedley’s very own theatre company, River City Theatre Co.(RCTC)--many of whom are also local actors themselves who have been on the RCTC stage many times over the years. This time we are chatting with Co-Treasurer Jacob Alvarado.
On Friday, February 2 at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT, Alyssa Maxwell’s first Gilded Newport Mystery, Murder at the Breakers, will be premiering on the Hallmark Movies & Mystery Channel. The movie stars Ali Skovbye (Firefly Lane) as series sleuth Emma Cross and Danny Griffin (Get Even) as Police Detective Jesse Whyte. We had the chance recently to interview Alyssa about the movie. We are also reposting here our review of the latest book in the series, Murder at the Elms.
The Visalia Players at the Ice House Theater present the timeless and suspenseful play, Wait Until Dark. Directed by Central Valley theater favorite, Joseph Ham, and featuring an outstanding cast, including Ice House veterans Christa Reiber as Susy and Alex Quezada as Roat, this production promises to keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish.
