“The show was born out of a totally healthy obsession with “Titanic” that my family absolutely did not mock me about.”
WHO: Alice Fishbein
WHAT: “It’s been 84 years… or 26, since April 1999, when six-year-old Alice was finally allowed to watch James Cameron’s classic, Titanic, on VHS. Presenting a one-woman parody re-enactment of Titanic in which Alice plays all the parts and the scenes are selected at random (but with the same emotional gravitas, she swears). In this show about how childhood obsessions shape who we are as adults, nostalgia for aging ’90s media, and claims of boats too big to sink, you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, your heart will go on (even though Jack’s does not!).”
WHERE: Dram at Gilded Balloon Patter House (Venue 24)
WHEN: 22:00 (60 min)
MORE: Click Here!
Is this your first time to Edinburgh?
I spent a few days in Edinburgh in October 2023 while doing a (mostly) solo trip in Ireland and Scotland and I can’t wait to be back! But this IS my first time doing Edfringe or any large festival, which is so thrilling as a performer. The idea of performing every day for 17 nights while everyone around me is doing the same thing is a performer’s dream! Now let’s just make sure I remember to drive on the other side of the road (just kidding, I’m a New Yorker, I don’t drive) and that my airline lets me bring all of my props on the plane (yes, that includes the infamous scene-deciding wheel)!
What are the big things you’ve learned since 2024 and have you absorbed any of the lessons yet?
The biggest thing I’ve learned since 2024 is if a man is emotionally unavailable, you will not be the one to make him available and it’s a lesson I have worked hard not to absorb! If you mean show related lessons, I’d say in the last year, I’ve learned that audiences are unpredictable and that’s part of the fun! One audience might laugh harder than you’ve ever heard at one moment and another audience might laugh even harder at a completely different moment, and neither is wrong or correct, it just is, and that’s the beauty of live performance (and sometimes the joke needs to change in the moment and I’ve learned how to do that because that’s showbiz, baby!).
Tell us about your show.
Leo Still dies in the End was written by, produced by and performed by me (though of course, the Titanic elements were written by none other than James Cameron but don’t tell him that) and directed by the talented Ryan Lind. The show was born out of a totally healthy obsession with “Titanic” that my family absolutely did not mock me about and it was out of total love that my sister and our friend during a trip to Portugal in 2019 started saying, “Alice, do Titanic” when they wanted some dinner theater. And so I did, parodying scenes line by line and interjecting with my own thoughts about the scenes, dialogue, and movie in general.
From there, the show grew into a mini version which premiered at a solo show festival in NYC in 2023, my director Ryan came aboard this unsinkable ship (we stayed on land), and the show went on to have a few sold-out previews in NYC before now coming to Edinburgh! I’m hoping to run it again in NYC after the festival and then take it on tour but I’m open to ideas if anyone has any (no, really, throw the possibilities at me! Shout them out like you’re on a boat that’s sinking and need to let the entire Atlantic Ocean know!).
What should your audience see at the festivals after they’ve seen your show?
Everyone should go see every show they can at the festival (I know I will be)! I’d say head over to Lily Blumkin’s Nice Try if you want to see quite the assortment of characters! I got to see it here in NYC and I’m looking forward to seeing it again.
I’d also recommend any of the other amazing shows that were awarded the Keep It Fringe US grant alongside me. I can’t wait to see them while I’m in Scotland!
I’m also really excited to see Woody Fu’s One Man John Wick – this will make me blush with embarrassment but years ago, he did Keanu on a character show and it is still one of my all-time favorites so I’m very excited to see the whole show.
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