Calculating the Fringe Reviews

Being a theater reviewer is an arbitrary task. Why you like or dislike something is a very personal issue. Just because I say a show is good doesn't mean you'll like it.

Keeping that in mind, I was nevertheless astounded by Jackie Demaline's effusive Enquirer review of Calculus: The Musical at the Cincinnati Fringe Festival. "Really — it's a hoot," she exclaimed. "Get your tickets now, the buzz is going to be huge."

This is the same show that CityBeat’s Rodger Pille graded a B- and noted, “You simply have to credit the creators Marc Gutman and Sadie Bowman (who double as the performers) for their game try. Whether it entirely works is somewhat in question.”

Demaline also noted that it was recently an audience pick at the Orlando Fringe Festival. I thought it would be worth seeing what kind of comment I could find from Florida. Aside from being unable to find any mention of audience picks on their Fringe Festival’s Web site, I did find a blog review by Elizabeth Maupin of The Orlando Sentinel. Here it is, in its entirety:

First a disclaimer. I know nothing about calculus. I have never studied calculus. But there’s someone in my household who has, and does — and Calculus: The Musical! is meant for him, not me.

Marc Gutman and Sadie Bowman’s piece will appeal to math geeks everywhere, as well as to the stray engineer. But this little creation of Austin, Texas-based Matheatre, which someone in my household tells me is very funny, won’t mean a thing to those of us whose brain is stronger on the other side.

If you understand it, you’ll get a kick out of the Little Isaac Newton action figure, the math rap, the guy in the tree dropping apples on Sir Isaac and the lyric “acceleration’s rate of change is impulse also known as jerk” set to the tune of “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major General.”

I, in the other hand, was mystified throughout, and it didn’t help that Gutman’s singing voice seems to have gone kaput. This is musical comedy for the in-crowd; the rest of us have remedial work to do.
— Elizabeth Maupin

CityBeat critic Tom McElfresh and I sat through a performance of Calculus on Saturday evening; in his estimation the show was reminiscent of those skits we used to put on at the end of a week of summer camp. In other words, amateurish and sophomoric, although full of high spirits.

Perhaps spurred on by Demaline’s froth, the show got a big round of applause and lots of laughs. It has some genuinely funny moments. But if Calculus: The Musical was the best that audiences had to see in Orlando — and I have no real confirmation that it was — then we’re very lucky here in Cincinnati. I’ve seen at least five Fringe productions that have much more to offer.

See all of CityBeat’s Fringe reviews here.

— Rick Pender

Comments

[Proof]

Although the Orlando Fringe site no longer mentions anything about any of this year's shows, here's the proof of the award for Calculus: The Musical!:

(third paragraph)
http://bloggingfringe.com/2007/05/28/hi-we%E2%80%99re-blogging-fringe-and-we-know-our-sht/

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_stage_theat/2007/05/read_about_patr.html

(fourth paragraph)
http://retrolowfi.com/2007/05/29/matheatre-%E2%80%93-calculus-the-musical-self-released-2007/

Also, 'Calculus' won Patron's Pick for its particular venue, not the entire festival.

[Robert Greene]

Their entire run sold out, and a Saturday performance was added due to popular demand. Wow, you look stupid, and I hope you feel humbled. I pray you will keep this embarrassment in mind next time you let your petty feud with Demaline dictate your opinions. I can imagine no other explanation (aside from a lack of taste or whimsy) for your panning this -- I found it utterly charming, as did everyone else I've spoken with who's seen it. You used this show and its actors/creators as ballast in your little war, and I hope you're smarting from being hoisted by your own petard. This has hurt your standing as a credible critic. I'm glad I saw the show before reading this ridiculous and petty piece, and I will be disinclined to read the arts section of your publication in the future.

Grow up.

[pbm]

Robert Greene -

What part of ...

"Being a theater reviewer is an arbitrary task. Why you like or dislike something is a very personal issue. Just because I say a show is good doesn't mean you'll like it."

did you not understand?

This is a credible review that is, in fact, rather illuminating in the way that it reveals critical differences. You obviously missed this. In no way does it hurt Rick's standing as a credible critic. It strenghtens it. If anything, your diatribe proves your own ignorance. Please, take your own advice and grow up.

[Ryan Price]

You should be fired for writing this or at least given a job that doesn't require use of the Internet - it is totally misleading. In your first comment, someone links to three reviews that mention Calculus as the Patron's Pick. BTW, it's called Patron's Pick because they sold more tickets than anyone else in their venue. There are 9 venues at Orlando Fringe, so they are one of 9 Patron's Picks. Do your research.

[jimbo]

sigh...

ryan -

high box office numbers do NOT equate critical success.

remember how many people saw that dung-heap Spider-Man 3?

intellectual laziness is ugly.

[Ryan Price]

Jimbo,

If you look at what I'm saying, I'm trying to call out Rick for spreading the misinformation. He didn't get the name of the award right.

Besides that, Orlando's 2nd biggest industry belangs to aerospace and military contracts (a space shuttle launched here earlier today), so our engineer-heavy audience responded well to the show.

I also didn't appreciate the re-posting of 1) the entire review and 2) only acknowledging negative reviews when there are clearly good reviews out there (with the correct information in them).

[Elizabeth Maupin]

Rick, what "Calculus: The Musical" got at the Orlando Fringe is called a Patrons' Pick. It's not a value judgment (the Orlando Fringe is completely against value judgments, interestingly enough). It just means that it sold more tickets than any other show in its particular venue -- which, in this case, was a 100-seat-or-so theater.