A Mess of Things: A New Documentary Musicplay

LA Weekly's Steven Leigh Morris says it best: http://www.laweekly.com/2011-06-16/stage/hollywood-fringe-festival and again at http://blogs.laweekly.com/stylecouncil/2011/06/stage_raw_hollywood_fringe_rev_1.php... full review

I'm sorry, but Pauline Adamek's review of this performance posted below is definitely from a lady who walked out just MINUTES into the performance--very disruptively I might add. The show takes a bit to really get started, but then draws you in more and more. The only thing that sucked about Saturday night's performance (hence the only 4 stars for Effectiveness), was that Fringe Central was hosting a VERY loud live band karaoke party just outside the door to the theater. It must have been impossible to concentrate on performing with badly sung Elton John tunes wafting through the door. Otherwise, the show was very cool, though it lacked the mugging and clowning around of most of the shows at Fringe Central, which tend towards the, shall we s... full review

The listed description -- "Rich with sonic detail, A Mess of Things layers sounds and images which move fluidly between intimate storytelling..." is extremely misleading. There is no storytelling, just a lot of taped recordings of family members vaguely talking about a hoarder while an introspective guy with long hair obsessionally fiddles with his guitar equipment, occasionally commenting on the taped voices and every once in a while gently strumming his guitar. Perhaps I missed something profound (?) but I thought this show truly sucked. Pauline Adamek -- ArtsBeatLA.com... full review

Tony Frankel, theatre critic for Stage and Cinema here. Here is a link to my review of A Mess of Things: http://www.stageandcinema.com/2011/07/17/hollywood-fringe-2/... full review