My overall impression
MAGIC. META. MUSICAL. I became a fan of Peter Michael Marino’s after seeing “Desperately Seeking the Exit”— his hilarious autobiographical account of having written the book for “Desperately Seeking Susan— the Musical” that ended up flopping on the West End. What I appreciated about that show in the context of the ED Fringe is it was the show ever performer who is badly reviewed threatens to make— a show about their bad review. I loved how meta it was to watch a show about failure and theater and culture mistranslation in the setting of a festival in the UK where that was happening all around.
LATE NIGHT WITH LANCE doesn’t disappoint in the same way. It’s what I’d call the “FRINGE of FRINGE shows” and a great treat for festival goers who’ve been packing away show after show into their viewer schedule and want that funny breather that really calls to the “now” of where they are and the craziness of Fringe Theater culture. It’s not autobiographical (though has many self referential moments) and references a lot of the tropes of fringe festival culture and one man show culture. Especially appreciated is how Peter hilariously and playfully calls out Bitter Lemons for profiting off the backs of theater artists (by charging for reviews? WTF? Call that out Peter!). Also how he brings guest artists from the festival up to do “commercials”. There are some brilliant audience improv moments. And some amazing recaps of great American musicals. Also, shout out to the tech for some great cameos.
FINAL WORD: YOU CAN’T LOSE WITH LANCE!
