You’ll laugh, you’ll cry

I shouldn’t have worried that a local audience that’s already gagging on pixie dust might not respond fully to the Oops Guys’ Bitches of the Kingdom, in which nine pissed-off Disney princesses sing out their dissatisfaction with their lot as 2-D icons.

As I now realize, any such audience is likely to include at least a few actual park performers – some of whom have even been felt up on the job! – thus ensuring an hour’s worth of foot-stomping, gut-busting catharsis. It helps that the show is practically a tour de force of composition and pacing and that the immensely gifted ensemble sells the material like it’s band candy. Yet director Fiely Matias and writer Dennis Giacino have also wisely made room for a few moments of gentle, wide-eyed introspection, hinting that the true goal of their playful mockery is not to condemn, but to question and ultimately comfort. That crucial distinction is what makes them the standard-bearers of the Orlando Fringe – now, and maybe forever after.

> Email Steve Schneider