LEDE: The fourth annual San Diego International Fringe Festival ended last night with an awards show. KPBS arts reporter Beth Accomando highlights some of the winners. WINNERS 1 (ba) :44 This year’s San Diego Fringe boasted more than a hundred artists from 10 different countries and the diversity of their work was reflected in the awards handed out last night. Outstanding circus went to “Embers,” outstanding physical theater went to “Cocooned in Kazan,” and the twisted fringe award went to Windy Wynazz: Rich and Famous.” Wendall Smith won best drama for Gifts From My Deaf Father and his signed speech was translated into spoken English. WENDALL SMITH (through interpreter) I was so thrilled I was able to share this with you and you guys already know but I guess I could tell you, the whole hands in the air thing that’s how you clap. Dancer Jennifer Curry Wingrove won her second Fringe awards in two years for “Mythos – Opening Pandora’s Box.” JENNIFER CURRY WINGROVE This has given me an opportunity to produce, I never had that opportunity and it has given us a platform to show our magic so thank you so much. Choreographer Michael Mizerany took home a best writing award for “Bedrooms and Boyfriends.” MICHAEL MIZERANY I’m actually a dance maker and I took a six week workshop at the Old Globe led by Katherine Haroff and… so this is my first play. The big winner was the one-woman show Josephine, which took best of fringe as well as the solo performer award for Tymisha Harris. The show’s producer Michael Marrinachio said he had wanted to fly under the radar with this work in progress. MICHAEL MARRINACHIO: We didn’t know what we had coming here so thank you to you guys to all of you for letting us know that we have something special. A complete list of winners is online at kpbs.org-slash-cinema-junkie. Beth Accomando, KPBS News.
Beth's Picks
I saw 35 of a hundred plus shows and here are my picks for the best. The diversity of shows made the decision difficult. Plus I wish I saw more!
Best of Fringe
“1918”
“Josephine”
“Mythos”
“Gifts From My Deaf Father”
“A Regular Little Houdini”
“Killing Buddha”
“Bedrooms and Boyfriends”
“Bella Culpa”
“Will You Swear Your True Love?”
“Cocooned in Kazan”
“I Got Guns”
“Windy Wynazz: Rich and Famous”
Spirit of Fringe
“The Phantom of the Empire”
“Ozombie Bin Laden”
The fourth annual San Diego International Fringe Festival ended last night with an awards show.
This year’s San Diego Fringe boasted more than a hundred artists from 10 different countries and the diversity of their work was reflected in the awards handed out Sunday night.
Outstanding Circus Arts went to Lighthouse Circus Theatre's “Embers,” Outstanding Physical Theater went to Royal Kung Foolery's “Cocooned in Kazan,” and the Twisted Fringe award went to "Windy Wynazz: Rich and Famous.”
Windell "Wink" Smith won Outstanding Drama for “Gifts From My Deaf Father.” He signed his speech, which was translated into spoken English.
“I was so thrilled I was able to share this with you and you guys seem to already know but I guess I could tell you, the whole hands in the air thing that’s how you clap,” Smith said.
The big winner was the one-woman show “Josephine,” which took Best of Fringe, as well as the Outstanding Solo Performance award for Tymisha Harris. The show’s producer Michael Marinaccio said he had wanted to fly under the radar with this work-in-progress.
“We didn’t know what we had coming here, so thank you to you guys, to all of you for letting us know that we have something special,” Marinaccio said.
I highlighted the show in my Cinema Junkie Podcast Episode 82.
Dancer Jennifer Curry Wingrove won her second Fringe award in two years for “Mythos – Opening Pandora’s Box.” She and her company Astraeus Aerial Dance Theatre won Outstanding World Premiere this year for "Mythos." Last year she produced her first show for Fringe, “Save Our Soul,” and took home the Best of Fringe award. Before Fringe, she was a dancer who waited to be cast in other people’s shows.
“This has given me an opportunity to produce, I never had that opportunity and it has given us a platform to show our magic, so thank you so much,” Wingrove said.
Choreographer Michael Mizerany was surprised to take home an Outstanding Writing award for “Bedrooms and Boyfriends.” He shared the award with Jonathan Hammond and Sam Ginn.
“I’m actually a dance maker and I took a six-week workshop at the Old Globe led by Katherine Haroff, so this is my first play,” Mizerany said.
Here is a complete list of winners:
Best Of Fringe and Outstanding Solo Performance
“Josephine”
Tymisha Harris (Orlando, FL)
Critic’s Pick
“1918”
Le Moana (New Zealand)
Artists’ Pick and Spirit Of The Fringe
“Bella Culpa”
A Little Bit Off (Portland, OR)
Outstanding Solo Performance
“A Regular Little Houdini”
Daniel Llewelyn-Williams / Flying Bridge Theatre Company (Wales)
Outstanding Direction
“I Got Guns”
Sanctuary Stage (Portland, OR)
Outstanding Actor
Tinamarie Ivey of “I Got Guns”
Sanctuary Stage (Portland, OR)
Outstanding Puppetry
“An Excruciatingly Ordinary Toy Theater Show”
Zach Dorn (St. Petersburg, FL)
Outstanding Writing
“Bedrooms and Boyfriends”
Michael Mizerany / Compulsion Dance and Theatre (San Diego)
Outstanding Actor In A Drama
“Bin Laden: The One Man Show”
Knaïve Theatre (England)
Outstanding Physical Theatre
“Cocooned in Kazan”
Royal Kung Foolery (England)
Outstanding Magic Performance
“Distorted Reality (and Fuzzy Math)”
Kevin Viner Productions LLC (San Diego)
Outstanding Actor In A Drama
“Eleanor's Story: An American Girl in Hitler's Germany”
Offending Shadows (Fullerton)
Outstanding Circus Arts
“Embers”
Lighthouse Circus Theatre (Chula Vista)
Outstanding Drama
“Gifts From My Deaf Father”
Windell “Wink” Smith (Washington, DC)
Fringe Hustle Award
“Hateful Hands”
Ellipsoid Players (San Diego)
Beyond The Fringe Award
“Hidden Geographies”
Contracuerpo Laboratorio Escenico (Tijuana, México)
Outstanding Storytelling
“Killing Buddha”
Theatre Dojo (Deming, NM)
Outstanding Improv
“Lipshtick”
National Comedy Theatre (San Diego)
Outstanding World Premiere
“Mythos - Opening Pandora's Box”
Astraeus Aerial Dance Theatre (San Diego)
Outstanding Writing
“Naked”
Strada Company (Arizona)
Outstanding Solo Perfomance
“Paper Glass”
MonTra Performance (Boulder, CO)
Outstanding Variety
“Scot Nery's Boobie Trap” presented by San Diego Theatres
Scot Nery (Hollywood)
Outstanding Dance Performance
“SILO”
somebodies dance theater (San Diego)
Outstanding Music Ensemble
“Still Moving”
bkSOUL/Collective Purpose (San Diego, CA)
Outstanding Ensemble
“Strangers, Lovers, Family, Friends”
Company of Cohorts (Salt Lake City, UT)
Outstanding Comedy Duo
“The Black And The Jew Go Buddhist!”
Epstein and Hassan (New York, NY)
Outstanding Adaptation
“The Heart of a Goof”
Green Raven Theatre (San Diego, CA)
Outstanding Musical
“The Test”
Katie Brady Productions in partnership with Theatre Arts School of San Diego
Outstanding Comedy / Fringe Of The Fringe
“Will You Swear Your True Love?”
Theatre Group GUMBO (Japan)
Twisted Fringe Award
“Windy Wynazz: Rich & Famous” (San Francisco, CA)
