Wrapping Up Hollywood Fringe 2025 Highlights, Musicals & Limited Extensions

Dan Ruth
Jul 7
5 min read

Updated: Jul 9

Cierra Watkins, Robbie Canevari, Gigi Gray, Kasmira Buchanan, Hann Crews, Sara Bunge, JD Morabito and Bar Yosef Ashkenazy are having a blast in the JAXX Theatricals HFF high-energy production of "Pippin."

Monday, July 7th, Los Angeles, CA

written by Entertainment Editor, Dan Ruth

A hearty congratulations and a well-deserved rest to all participants in the 2025 Hollywood Fringe Festival, which came to an end this past Monday. Like so many fringe seasons before it, 2025 proved to be an outstanding year that once again placed the Hollywood Fringe Festival on top of must-see entertainment in the Los Angeles area. While personal family issues prevented me from seeing more shows, what I saw was extremely inspiring. As I watched the closing ceremonies on Monday, July 1st at the Los Angeles LGBT Center, it was clear that Top of the Fringe winner, And Her Children is to be watched closely, as is Dog of Carnage (which has added extented performances in October), and the Edinburgh-bound, Murder Oops!

Please look for a partial list of shows that are going to be continued or have extensions at the bottom of this article! In the meantime, here are some notes on a few musicals that I was very pleased to have seen.

As I skimmed through all the HFF possibilities, I was surprised to see a production of Pippin amongst the ranks. Primarily because it is a full length show with an intermission, but that didn’t matter because come hell or high water, I had to go see it, as it remains one of my favorite musicals of all time. JAXX Theatrical’s production of Stephen Schwartz’s dastardly delicious take on the reign of King Charlemagne and his son Pippin, was more than what I expected from a full-length Fringe musical. This cautious tale of religion, power, sex, and the ransacking of Europe in the name of the holy mother church couldn’t be more timely, and this cast was more than up to the task. If it wasn’t timely already, this production made it even more so with references to contemporary entertainers, award shows, social media and current political headlines. Boasting a live orchestra and a wonderfully down and dirty performance space, Pippin has more than its share of standout performances, with Lisa Stanley’s Berthe nearly blowing the roof off of the theatre. But the real star here is the complete ensemble, along with director Jeremy Lucas, whose keen eye for detail is only usurped by his prowess as a choreographer; this show is quite possibly one of the best dance pieces I’ve seen in years outside of New York City. Pippin remains a stand-out musical and this extremely energetic and high-powered production, along with it's hat-tip to Bob Fosse, seduces as it continues its run July 11^th, 12^th and 13^th at JAXX Theatre, 5432 Santa Monica Blvd. so don’t miss it! With Cierra Watkins as the Lead Player, Jacob Walters as Pippin, Kara M. Young as Catherine, the highly entertaining Brian Whisenant as Charlemagne, Jill Marie Burke as Fastrada and JD Morabito as Lewis. Spoiler alert: #puppycuteness

For my next outing, we moved to a different part of France, Paris, namely, for a very inspired and ambitious musical, Mona Lisa is Missing! The Musical! With music by David Arkenstone and Wayne Moore, and book and lyrics by Steven Vlasak, Mona Lisa is Missing! The Musical! tells the little-known story of the 1911 disappearance of the original Mona Lisa painting from the Louvre Museum in a whodunit-style musical that is quite thrilling. Being one of “those people” who have never been to Paris for fear of retribution for not speaking the language, I would hope that being in Paris would be as jolly and fun as this production suggests. The creators of this piece succeed in not only transporting you to turn of the century Paris, but they will make you fall in love with everything you see, which leads me to say that at this show's end, I wanted more. This entertaining tale, with its beautifully rendered music and infectious dancing (choreography by Alison Sinclair), are complimented by effective lighting, sets and costumes (designed by Christine Vlasak), all framed by glorious and colorful moving projections, created by David Arkenstone. Mona Lisa is a real package deal, with stand-out performances by Chad Anderson, Jordan Mullins, Alison Sinclair and the often-infectious Michael Gabiano. Here’s hoping that team Mona Lisa, along with director, Christopher Strand, will continue to develop this show, let’s hope that Mona Lisa reappears again at the Eastwood Mainstage Theatre, arguably one of the finest performance spaces I've experienced at the Fringe.

Finally, I was able to catch a performance of EXES The Musical, which exemplifies this year’s large sampling of solo musicals, and although the storyline of rifling through stories about ex-boyfriends that didn't quite make the cut, might sound a tad trite, do not fear. What stands out in this high-energy show is the music and the performance by its star, Anne Digiovanni; I would pay good money to hear her sing the phonebook. With presenting pop rock and punk anthems, one must be careful to be heard and to be remembered, so suffice it to say that with Digiovanni’s power-house voice, you’re in badass hands. The music in EXES, The Musical may be drawn from the well and wheelhouse of performers such as Avril Lavigne, Kelly Clarkson and Hayley Williams, but these stories belong to Digiovanni, who paints them with her own experiences from an often dark and lonely pallet. Writing with fervent passion and many, many hooks, this music is memorable, and Digiovanni, at her vulnerable vocal best, is nothing short of pitch perfect. I would hope to see more from Anne Digiovanni, Joseph Lewczak and team EXES, as this music is not only infectious but memorable. You will walk out of the theater, humming the songs. If you don't believe me, take a dive into her band Deegie and you’ll be cleaning your apartment and throwing things around the room soon enough!