More Theater Monday - The Rave Theater Festival: Girls on Tap, Just Laugh, and Waiting for Johnny Depp

The year marked the inaugural Rave Theater Festival, a brand-new festival of  new shows in New York City.  During the festival which occured from August 9 - 25, 20 new shows were presented along with several readings. We had the honor of covering the below shows for review purposes. Any and all opinions expressed here are our own.

Girls On Tap

Me - Girls on Tap was a good show. It was not a show with a plot. It was a dance show. They mostly did tap dance and sing. They also did a little bit of other dancing too. One of the girls also played the piano. I liked tap dancing so I enjoyed the show although I prefer shows with a plot. The girls were very talented. I loved their Australian accents. It was really cool when one of the girls was tap dancing, singing, and playing piano all during the same song. That was my favorite part of the show. It was a really fun and cheerful show.

Mom - Girls On Tap are a talented troop of tap dancers from Australia. As tap dancing is mainly the province of men in Australia, this group is all about female power. While this is definitely reflected in the choice of material presented in the show, it is not done so in over the top manner so anyone male or female could enjoy the show. Although, the show did not have a storyline, it was not just a tap dance show, it also included other types of dancing along with singing and music playing. There was also a little bit of dialogue here and there to set up numbers. The dancing was terrific. The singing voices were good for the most part. The show at just about an hour was just long enough without being too long.  All  in all, it was a fun show.


Just Laugh

Me - Me - Just Laugh was a show about a family. In the beginning a baby was born, and then he grew up through the course of the story. It was a very unconventional show. It wasn't like any other show I have seen. Things happened differently than they normally do in other shows. For instance, they sang a happy song about getting a divorce instead of happy song about getting married or something. I liked that it was different that made it more interesting. It was also a very funny show. The story and characters were both very unique. The characters didn't react in ways you would think they would. The songs were good. They were funny, but they were also very different than you would expect. All in all, it was very enjoyable show..

Mom - Just Laugh was a delightfully unique and unpredictable show about the life of  man named Timmy. The show started with his birth and quickly moved through the major milestones of his life from childhood through adulthood. The acting was great especially that of Julian Diaz-Grandos as Timmy and Casi Riegle as his girlfriend and later wife, Claire. The story and the songs were both hilarious. One of the many highlights in a show that had quite a few of them was the ridiculous love duet between Timmy and Claire that didn't quite match up either lyrically or harmonically. It is a little hard to explain in writing but believe me it was hysterical. Just Laugh is the perfect title for this clever show because that is what you will do if you ever see it.


Waiting for Johnny Depp

Me - Waiting for Johnny Depp was a good show. It was about a woman who was doing all these things to get a part in a movie. It was funny. It was very original. I have never seen anything like it before. The story was interesting and amusing. The songs were good, but I don't remember them now. The songs were funny. There was only one person in the show, but there were voices of other characters too. The actor playing the main character was good. Her singing voice was nice too. Over all, it was a really fun show.

Mom - Waiting for Johnny Depp was another hilariously funny show. It was the story of a woman named Rita who basically lets her life fall apart while waiting to be signed for a part in a Johnny Depp movie. While that may not sound very funny in writing, it plays hysterically on stage. The story and songs were both greatly amusing. Donna Vivino was fabulous in the lead of role of Rita in this basically one woman show (there were some prerecorded voices here and there throughout the show but no other characters appeared on stage). Although not all one person shows can hold people's attention for an extended period of time as it can get boring watching one person on stage basically talking to themselve for a whole show, this show nevers does get boring. It is extremely amusing and entertaining from beginning to end.

To sign up to receive information regarding any future Rave Theater Festival's visit http://ravetheaterfestival.com/

And that's our view.  Tune in tomorrow for Tips for Tuesday.