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Friday July 12th, 2002

By GLENN SUMI

TICKET STRATEGIES

We're nearing the final weekend of the Fringe, and you know what that means. Big lineups. Like around the corner lineups. Expect to stand in line comparing notes with fellow Fringers for bona fide hits like Top Gun! The Musical, Tale Of The Scorpion, Job: The Hiphop Musical and One Man Star Wars Trilogy. Most of their final shows are already sold out of their advance tickets. The only way you can get tickets is by lining up for the same-day cash-only "at the door" tickets – and which make up half of the theatre. These go on sale an hour before the show, but count on a big lineup (and then a lineup after you've got the ticket and are waiting to get a good seat in the theatre). Here's a hint. You can buy up to four tickets per person. If you and a couple of friends are going to see some of the popular shows, take turns waiting in line. You can alternate going for drink runs, then meet one another before the show begins.

PATRONS' PICKS

One of the best things about this year's Fringe is that the most popular shows at regular venues get an added show on Sunday afternoon. These are called Patrons' Picks, and are based on the number of ticket sales for each show's first four performances.

This year's Patrons' Picks are:

Job: The HipHop Musical (at the Tarragon Mainspace Sunday at noon)
From Mint Condition To Badly Used (at the Tarragon Extra Space at noon)
Escher's Hands (at the Poor Alex at 12:30 pm)
Breaking Character (at the Glen Morris at noon)
One Man Star Wars Trilogy (at the Helen Gardiner Phelan at 12:30 pm)
Tale Of The Scorpion (at the Robert Gill at 12:30 pm)
Top Gun! The Musical (at the Factory Mainstage at noon)
The Tourist (at the Factory Studio at noon)
Life And How To Avoid It (at the George Ignatieff at 12:30 pm)

Since this is a Fringe fundraising event, revenues from each of these Sunday performances are split between the company and the Fringe. Enjoy. You asked for these shows. And if you see Charles Ross looking exhausted Sunday afternoon, buy him a drink. His One Man Star Wars Trilogy gets a bonus performance right before his regularly slotted performance at 2:30 pm. That means back-to-back performances (with one hour in between) in one of the most taxing roles at the entire festival. May the force be with him on Sunday.

OTHER SHOWS

I saw the bulk of my Fringe plays last weekend, but here are some other shows I've seen in the past couple of days that I recommend catching before the fest ends:

Be A Man (at the Poor Alex Cabaret, July 12 at 7 pm, July 14 at 6:30 pm) The testosterone-charged quartet of Andrew Bursey, Jon Paterson, Bob Rasko and Dave Stone use song, story and even the casual kicking around of a soccer ball to illustrate what it's like to be a 20-something guy today. The piece is episodic but cleverly constructed, and scenes of silly truths nudgie up against darker themes of violence and competitiveness, with a couple of repeated stories and motifs – a guy experiencing his girlfriend's abortion, three wannabe mechanics trying to figure out what's wrong with a car – artfully interwoven into the show. The performances feel completely natural, the observations genuinely felt. This is a show I can see touring across the country – guys will like it because they see themselves; women will like it because they'll get to understand guys. With some luck, this show could even become a franchise.

The Elephant Club (at the Poor Alex July 13 at 2:30 pm, July 14 at 9 pm). Australian Nicola Gunn performs what might be the most charming yet misleadingly named show at the Fringe. She plays Rhoda, a passive office worker who has dreams of romance and adventure but is stuck in a monotonous job and life. Gunn's a wonderfully compassionate and sly performer, able to evoke Rhoda's neighbours, co-workers and fantasy characters with a master caricaturist's attention to detail, creating a fully realized world that we can see although there are few props. But what's with the lumbering title?

Dandelion Clockwork (at the Victory Cafe, July 13 at 7 pm, July 14 at 8:30 pm) This stylish homage to silent film and Grand Guignol horror theatre is an unexpected treat. Something bloody's happening in the subterranean catacombs of an insane asylum, and an innocent young woman tries to unravel the mystery before she's the next victim.There are some beautifully staged and scored scenes - especially one in which the woman explores the catacombs – and the gore and carnage at the end is wickedly funny to watch. The artists – Tricklock Company, from New Mexico – also use the tiny Victory Cafe stage well, creeping up and down the aisles and running into a galley using sound suggestively.But there's a style-over-substance problem to the show. Eric Woolfe's Sideshow Of The Damned (at SummerWorks 2001) had more flourishes to its script.Still, how often do you get to see works inspired by Grand Guignol? It's wickedly good.

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