Edgar in the Red Room Wins at Montreal Fringe Festival

Edgar in the Red Room, a creation of VPA’s Matt Chiorini and Greg Giovanini, with projections by Lindsey Voorhees and lighting/technical design by John Czajkowski, triumphed in Montréal at the St-Ambroise Montréal Fringe Festival, winning the award for Outstanding English Production, the top honor of the festival. (For an idea of the depth and breadth of competition, click here.) Members of the production are shown above with the award.

The show had six performances during the festival’s run from May 27 to June 16 and received rave reviews. Bailey B. Carter (Bailey’s Reviews) noted “…this show was flippin’ impressive…[and] the cast/crew were a well-oiled machine, hitting every emotional note and every technical cue.” Stuart Nulman (Stuart Nulman’s Grapevine) called it “riveting,” “top notch” and “gothic tragedy at its best.”

The cast and creative team includes a mix of current students Hannah Mendillo, Carly Nicolai and Tim Kelsey; alumni Kylee Galarneau, Aidan McKenna and Patrick Burke; along with Maya Dwyer and Anka Chiorini. This show is part of a Musical Theatre Incubator project launched this spring by the Department of Visual and Performing Arts through the support of many individuals, the Keenan Center and the Stanley W. Metcalf and D.E. French Foundations. Next stop on the incubator journey is Kafka’s Metamorphosis: The Musical! With Puppets! on the world’s biggest stage at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.