FRUIT FLIES LIKE A BANANA
★ ★★★ out of 5 Stage 37, Suzanne Thibodeau Amphitheatre It’s not until someone presents you with classical musicians on synchronized hoverboards that you realized that you needed to see it.
And it was quite an opening to Massachusetts-based trio The Fourth Wall’s music-variety show Fruit Flies Like a Banana.
This is the kind of Fringe confection that’s a nice bit of refreshment, midway through a run of seeing dark comedies, or satire, or something just plain weird.
This is a solid hour of strong performance from a group of talented musicians, who offer dance, slapstick and feats of strength (high-art vaudeville, if you will).
Hilary Abigana plays flute, C. Neil Parsons is on bass trombone, while Greg Jukes rounds out the odd trio with vibraphone, accordion and toy piano.
This isn’t a classic classical arrangement by any means, but the three make it work, diving into nearly two dozen classical and modern compositions with a couple of good jazz numbers thrown in.
And if solid playing wasn’t enough, they liven up the show with some great choreography. Let’s see you hang upside down on someone’s back while playing the flute. Or mix in a complete tango number while wielding a massive trombone.
It’s quite something to see the three of them jockey for position, hip-checking and ducking without missing a note through Bach’s famous Toccata and Fugue in D minor, or spinning on wheeled stools while offering up the graceful melody of Vince Guaraldi’s Skating.
This is family-friendly Fringing that is a treat for the eyes and ears.