Blame it on Uncle Joe. Local professor, playwright, and director of spooky spectacles, Maria Coon, credits this beloved family member with inspiring her love of horror literature and films. And just in time for Halloween, Maria will once again be sharing her favorite genre with a part audience-immersive, all scare-the-pants-off-you production, Red Fiend.
“I’ve been a fan of silent movies since before I ever saw one.” Those are the words of well-known local entertainer, Nate Butler. One of his many passions, Nate began reading about classic cinema when he was a kid. His fascination with old movies and their history began when he got his first library card at the age of seven, and he’s been soaking up information like a sponge – and generously sharing it – ever since.
If you were asked to name something you’d find in the Central San Joaquin Valley, historic movie theaters probably wouldn’t be the first thing that would come to mind, but from Merced to Visalia and Hanford, there are at least eight. They were all built between the mid-1920s and late 1940s and function primarily as entertainment venues today.
Dance like no one is watching. You know – don’t worry about what others may think, just jump around and wave your arms with wild abandon in an exuberant statement of self-expression. What if you sang like no one is listening? Or played a guitar or kazoo, or beat out a rhythm on a drum or box with a complete lack of self-consciousness, just for the sake of making music?
For thousands of years, the human race has been captivated by outer space. And ever since Galileo got a close-up look at the moon, stars, and planets through his telescope in the early seventeenth century, it seems we just can’t get enough of those celestial bodies. They’ve been celebrated in paintings, songs, and films. In 1889, Vincent Van Gogh presented his interpretation of the galaxies with his now famous painting, “Starry Night.”
Dorian Follansbee’s Rogue show, Other People’s Showers, begins just there – in a shower. Speaking from behind a shower curtain over the sound of running water, Dorian offers musings on showers in a lengthy, charming monologue. But when she emerges, in her fuzzy bathrobe and hair in ponytails, the atmosphere changes.
The Rogue Festival is here! Here are more of our Rogue Festival show reviews! There will be many more to come! We also have several Rogue Performer Preview articles that have been going up over the last few weeks.
Most of us have seen one-person shows. Whether it be stand-up comedy, a dramatic monologue, or a musical presentation, it would appear that producing and performing in this simple form of entertainment is a piece of cake. You write and memorize your lines, jokes or songs, practice (maybe in front of your friends and family), then walk onstage to thunderous applause.
There was a time when, if a person wanted to pursue an acting career in film and television, moving to Los Angeles was a necessity. You had to be near the action and readily available for casting calls and auditions. But thanks to twenty-first century technology and, to a certain degree, the Covid 19 shutdown of 2020, a serious actor no longer has to relocate to La La Land in order to find employment. Just ask Kp Phagnasay, a successful working actor who makes his home in Fresno.
Take one hundred ninety-eight legs, sixty-two ears, six wings, and countless costumes and accessories, and what do you have? It’s not a parade, a military pageant, or an anime character. It’s something much better.
