Reviewed by Tracey Paleo, Gia On The Move

It’s ok Lance.

Wanna-be cruise ship entertainer on the Skating Show Spectacular owned by his two gay dads, celebrity stalker and pathological musical theater fanatic Lance has suffered for his art.  But not so much as at the 2015 Hollywood Fringe while putting on his first live one-night talk show having raced over from the Hollywood dock and then waiting for favorite famous guests who never show up.  He’s also reeling from the extraordinary cost of $50 just to SAY “Bitter Lemons” on his show!  But he’s past all that for now…

Hugh Jackman, Liza Minelli, Miami Sound Machine? Did they call?

No Lance.

Ah ha. Ok. Just keep me posted.

Forced to call up the most uninteresting substitutes on the planet from the live audience, including one industry person who tried to upstage Lance on his debut evening, Peter Michael Marino aka human ball of energy Lance does his best to take each failure after the next in stride by following his highly prepared and personalized flash card format to the letter, coopting a cohost who is never allowed to talk, sharing TMI stories about theatrical life on the road and filling the space in between with Fringe commercial breaks and his own momentary insecure outbursts.

“It’s never too late to be what you might have been.”

Kiss Me Skate, West Glide Story, South Polecific. These are the glory performances he salivates for – the chance to finally be cast as a lead in one of the skating shows on the ship and fulfill his theatrical destiny.  Incredibly enough, after all of the depressive disappointments all night his wish comes true.  But instead of abandoning his audience altogether, he departs with his very own completely unglamorous, Dreamgirls farewell of a lifetime!

Old school comedy sweetly done, Late with Lance is wildly insane and dearly funny – that is when all the glue sticks – which doesn’t always happen for him in this show.  He manages, however to improv his way through every screw up and reward his audiences every time with a favorite musical number.  A definite stop over for Fringe this year.

Recommended

Synopsis:

Meet Lance…wannabe cruise ship entertainer, celebrity stalker, and pathological musical theater fanatic. Lance got a taste of fame from the moment he was born on the ice during an ice rink show. After failed auditions for the High School of Performing Arts and numerous rejections from dozens of Off-Off-Off-Broadway shows, he was finally cast as the head of Big Bird in “Sesame Street Live: On Ice!” After being let go for “not giving good head”, Lance began stage managing and understudying for the Broadway-themed ice shows on his two gay dads’ cruise ship, the S.S. Spectacular. Now, Lance is docked in town for one night only and since he’s never been on a talk show, he’s hosting his own! This variety-talk show with a twist features Lance’s original songs, clever dances, and witty rapport with his special guests Liza Minnelli, Hugh Jackman and Miami Sound Machine. If they show. Lance has suffered for his art. Now it’s your turn.

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