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Orlando Fringe Festival reviews: Witches, sinners and Disney traitors

By Matthew J. Palm, Orlando Sentinel The Tribune Content Agency

Updated May 20, 2026 5:56 AM

Here are Orlando Fringe Festival reviews of “Heated Ribaldry: An Opera of Musical Proportions,” “Once Upon a Traitor: Faithfully Ever After,” “Ozma: A New Musical,” “Sin: A Modern Musical” and “We Got Got.”

‘Once Upon a Traitor’

In the delightful spoof “Once Upon a Traitor: Faithfully Ever After” (Green, 60 minutes), Iwriters Derick Taylor-White and Danielle Ziss place favorite Disney characters in the TV competition, hosted by Alexander Mrazek - in turn droll, deadpan, cutting and sporting an over-the-top Alan Cumming brogue - as Magic Mirror.

The actors are all in on the fun, with some particularly adept in using their voices to conjure their cartoon counterpart. Kenneth Nisbett has Scar’s sneering purr, and Chris Fahmie sports Gaston’s condescending baritone (not to mention his biceps).

The writers have paced the story well, and there’s actual suspense in Ziss’s direction - you may be dismayed when your favorite player is murrrrh-derrrrh-ed, as Mrazek says. This top-notch parody has me wanting to watch “Traitors,” visit Walt Disney World and experience this fun again.

‘Ozma’

In “Ozma: A New Musical” (Peach, 75 minutes), writers Bryan Jager and Tyler Scott take an idea from L. Frank Baum’s “The Marvelous Land of Oz” - that a boy named Tip is really a beautiful princess on the inside - and smartly and entertainingly give it a modern twist.

Drag queens play a quartet of Oz witches with typical diva pizazz: Glinda is sassily told “Get in your bubble, girl” and the like. It’s fun but sometimes at odds with the more heartfelt tone of the rest of the story. Yet one could argue the queens keep the tale from being too saccharine, while the heart keeps it from being vacuous.

Tip (an appealing Natalie Rodriguez) learns lessons about friendship and self-confidence through various adventures, not all that read equally well. Ayọ̀fẹ́mi Jeriah Demps radiates calming strength as an Ozian earth mother (if Oz were on Earth), and Cherry Gonzalez makes a splash as mechanical pal Tik-Tok. She performs the strongest of Mikayla Thompson’s songs (with lyrics by Scott), but the entire score works well, and I was particularly enamored of some tight-harmony ditties by the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion.

Emily Holcomb’s costumes slay, from the witches to Emerald City residents to Scraps, the Patchwork Girl. David Dodgen’s sharp scenic design, and puppets by Jager and Dodgen delight as well.

As director, Scott doesn’t always keep the focus as tight as he could, and evening out some tonal inconsistencies would be wise. But as big Fringe musicals go, this one is over the rainbow.

‘Heated Ribaldry’

Opera del Sol is staging a high-energy parody of TV’s cult-favorite gay-hockey player show (who’d ever thought we’d be saying that?) in “Heated Ribaldry: An Opera of Musical Proportions” (Orange, 60 minutes). It’s good fun - you should have heard the “Heated Rivalry” fans whooping it up at my viewing - and it hits the high points of the show with tongue firmly in cheek.

Eli Hamilton, as sweet Shane, and Ethan Garrepy, as dour Ilya, are in fine voice and blend very well in duets. Writer-director Eric Pinder leans more heavily on musical theater than true opera with tunes from “Rent,” “Chess” and an over-reliance on “Masquerade” from “Phantom of the Opera.”

But there are visual gags and puns - a sequence of sports announcers speaking jargon that clearly has a different overheated meaning (“He takes it up the ice”) is one of the best bits. The highlight, for sure: A ridiculously comic “ballet.”

‘We Got Got’

Fringe performers KK Apple and Kerry Ipema had a tough break. A really tough break. A break-your-heart tough break involving betrayal and theft. Refreshingly, though, their “We Got Got” (Silver, 60 minutes) is far from a pity party. Instead, it’s an inventive way to reclaim their artistic spirit and maybe, just maybe, achieve a bit of revenge.

The longtime performing partners have a delightful rapport; they can literally finish each others’ sentences. The duo employs silly voices, crowd participation and a funny framing device about the business of making theater: “You can have it all - money and art!”

A new show, this could be a little tighter in its execution. And, unfortunately, because it’s based on a real story, the ending isn’t what anybody wants. But watching these women take back their power is a welcome ride.

‘Sin’

I can think of a pair of other Jesus-loves-Judas Fringe shows, as well as other Lady Gaga musicals in years past, so maybe that’s why “Sin: A Modern Musical” (Peach, 75 minutes) doesn’t feel particularly fresh.

Jamie DeHay and Matthew Wyss have written a plot about the return of Jesus, played by Richie Barella, who is appealing but overshadowed at every turn in his own story. Some characters, like JC and Judas (Sahid Pabon, a strong actor and singer) are played with emotional realism. But others, like “Mary Mags” feel like caricature or, as in the case of apostle Alejandro, an out-and-out clown.

There are clever ideas - the gospel writers are now a social-media team - and the underlying concept that branding, image and online judgment have replaced faith and compassion is a good one. The Lady Gaga songs fit into the plot without too much shoehorning. Lauren Anne Andersson has a fun turn as a harried middle-manager angel (her “Telephone” is a highlight), and Christian Inrio was a smooth-talking God at my performance.

But with its Fringe name dropping, meta references and pat ending, “Sin” feels more like a reconstituted show than new divine inspiration.

mpalm@orlandosentinel.com