FRINGE REVEIW: No Rest for the Wicked

Laurel Hill Cemetery is the perfect setting for a cabaret of death-themed songs like "Bang, Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)."

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FRINGE REVEIW: No Rest for the Wicked

POSTED: Friday, September 21, 2012, 4:20 PM

Filed Under: Arts On the Fringe

Every year, there's hundreds and hundreds of performances at the Philly Fringe and Live Arts Festival, and unless it's one of the big shows, it's sometimes hard to tell what you're going to get. Here at Critical Mass we're sending writers to as many shows as we possibly can for 75 pocket-sized reviews over the course of the fest. Check back in with us at On The Fringe every day for real talk on what these things actually are!

SHOW: No Rest for the Wicked

GROUP: REV Theatre Company

GENRE: Cabaret

ATTENDED: Thu., Sept. 20, 8 p.m.

CLOSES: Sat., Sept. 22

BRIEF SELF-DESCRIPTION: Sip a cocktail or two as darkness falls and lost (singing) souls appear through the mists of Laurel Hill Cemetery. All with music from Bessie Smith to the Scissor Sisters, Cab Calloway to Nirvana, among many others. Complimentary drinks at 7:15; performance at 8pm.

WE THINK: Depending on your temperament, the prospect of spending an evening in a graveyard either sounds like a ball or fills you with complete and utter dread. Let's be real, though: Free drinks plus cabaret plus cemetery ambiance equals a big win. No Rest for the Wicked is a total blast. Between climbing on top of tombstones and literally dancing on people's graves, the troupe marches through the hour-long set with blazing enthusiasm. Working from a catalog that includes familiar death-related joints like Nancy Sinatra's "Bang, Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" and Nirvana-by-way-of-Leadbelly's "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?" and lesser-known songs like "Pistol Packin' Mama" and "Send Me To The 'Lectric Chair", the performers deliver lively, rousing arrangements. Cabaret is frequently defined by its setting, and Laurel Hill Cemetery proves to be pretty damn ideal.

—Chris Brown

Posted by Chris Brown @ 4:20 PM Permalink | Post a comment

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Featuring everything from event roundups to concert reviews and sex talk, City Paper's Critical Mass is a space for off-the-wall coverage of Philly's A&E scene.

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