BWW Interviews: Fringe Spotlight: RSVP RIP (REALLY INTO PARTYING)

Katie Molinaro brings a dose of dark humor to the Fringe Festival this year with her latest one-woman musical RSVP: RIP (Really Into Partying). Written and performed by Molinaro with music by Dana Wells and additional book & lyrics by Shawn Northrip, it is the story of a girl named Janey who, though she's done nothing to deserve it, has everything, but still feels under-appreciated.

One day she takes an online quiz that predicts the date of her death. When she finds out she has only five days to live, Janey decides she needs to get famous fast so people will come to her funeral...and she'll do whatever it takes.

RSVP: RIP is an acoustic journey through Janey's life and her strange fixation on celebrity status and death. One woman. One guitarist. One face melting rock musical.

Why did she decide to do a rock musical about a girl planning her funeral and trying to get famous? Katie gives us the rundown:

"Besides loving dark humor and musicals, I was super depressed when I wrote this. I was in a creative rut. I got into a car accident that wasn't my fault in February and, when that happened, I felt powerless. I actually thought, 'If I died today, would anyone even care?'

That got me thinking about celebrities who died this past year like Cory Monteith, Paul Walker, and Philip Seymour Hoffman. There were so many people posting about their deaths on Facebook and how tragic and sad it was, but if they were alive, no one would be pouring their hearts out saying how great these people were! They wouldn't. When people get more recognition for their work after they die, it's absolutely ridiculous. There's this weird fixation people have on celebrity status and death. That's what Janey wants. She wants to get famous so people will come to her funeral. I wanted to write a character that everyone hates, but is still likable.

I think Fringe shows should be messy, fun and barely hang together! Fringe is totally punk rock! Fringe is about people trying new things and not being afraid to fail. Don't we all want to try and live our lives that way? I know I do. What annoys me, and I'm sure I'm going to get a lot of shit for this, is when people produce shows during the Fringe that aren't original.

What's the point of doing a fringe show if it has already been produced off Broadway, or anywhere else, for that matter? I've been involved in Fringe shows since 2007 and it's far more interesting to see someone try something new and fail than to play it safe... and probably still fail.

You like how optimistic I am? In 2011, I produced my first one woman rock musical, On the Rag to Riches at The Capital Fringe Festival in DC and after four successful shows with packed audiences and taking home the award for Best Solo Performance, I brought my show to the Hollywood Fringe Festival. We had a horrible turnout as far as audiences go but we were still nominated for Best Musical. This year we're using what we learned and coming back to melt some Fringe faces.

Fringe-goers will love seeing this show because, not only is it hilarious and dark, but you'll also learn something about yourself. Think Hedwig meets The Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs and Tenacious D.

I'm very excited for people to hear the kick-ass punk rock music composed by Dana Wells (Texts From My Exes). I think people will honestly be surprised because they really don't know what we're capable of. We've done Fringe Cabaret for the past two years and people have seen us improvise text messages, but a rock musical? Man, you guys are in for a treat!"

RSVP: RIP (REALLY INTO PARTYING)
June 8, 13, 20, 23, 28, 2014
Cupcake Theater
6520 Hollywood Blvd.
Tickets: $10
www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/1795

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