New York Int'l Fringe Festival 2009

It's August - that means it's time for thousands of performers to descend upon lower Manhattan for a giant theatre festival celebrating artists from all over the world. The New York International Fringe Festival is notorious for offering myriad options of productions ranging from silly musical comedies to serious dramas to dance to clowning to puppets to performance art...and pretty much everything in between.

This year, FringeNYC is billing itself as "New York's best staycation." Well, if you take advantage of the festival's offerings (nearly 200 shows), there is certainly a lot to do below 14th Street from August 14th through August 30th. And $15 tickets make FringeNYC extra recession-friendly.

If today's FringeNYC press preview at the Minetta Lane Theatre taught me anything about this year's festival, it's that satire is in and so are the 1950's. Nine shows performed at today's preview and although they represent a mere sampling of the festival, they indicate goofy good times and some solid new theatre, too. Here are some of the previewed shows that your Theasy writers are excited to see.

• Scattered Lives
beautifully choreographed Japanese swordfighting set to traditional music as well as rock...the athleticism and grace are impressive and the bad-ass-ness is reminiscent of the Kill Bill movies

• Devil Boys From Beyond
a self proclaimed "outrageously insane comedy" involving cross-dressing camp at its goofiest...from Ridiculous Theatre Company

• The Event
a comedic, self-referential one man show about what it's like as an actor on a stage and the relationship made with the audience during a performance

• Vote!
a new musical about high school student council...this show includes a large cast and Broadway names and is sure to be a hot ticket

• Far Out
a new musical spoof of 1950's B-movies about alien invasions

Other FringeNYC shows Theasy will be reviewing include How Now Dow Jones, The History of Cobbling, America's Next Top Bottom, Citizen Ruth, The Boys Upstairs, Abraham Lincoln's Big Gay Dance Party, A Time to Dance, Willy Nilly, Natural History, Just Don't Touch Me Amigo, Live Broadcast, Powerhouse, and others.

Check back to theatreiseasy.com throughout the next two weeks for FringeNYC coverage, reviews and information. And let us know if you see anything good! For more information about FringeNYC, visit their website at fringenyc.org.