Don't Stop Believing: A Theatric Remix of the 1980s at the Pittsburgh Fringe Festival

Dramatic comedy about “coming of age” in the 1980s, mashing hundreds of iconic 80s songs and movies into alternating dialogue and song (a la Moulin Rouge). Clever witty writing. Sassy theatric performance. Crafted by award-winning artist Torrey Shine.

Genre: Theater

Rating: PG-13

Show Creator(s): Torrey Shine

About the Performer(s): Torrey Shine is a free spirit with an analytical mind. Her writing and performance art mashes us poetry, storytelling, comedy, music, and improv – blending personal narrative with social commentary – engaging the audience through a mix of rhythm, rhyme, wordplay, wit, body movement, humor, and soul.

As a storyteller, Torrey is a 3-time Moth StorySLAM Champion, and a National Storytelling Network GrandSLAM Finalist. She has performed on the PBS GBH World Channel series “Stories from the Stage.” The Pittsburgh City Paper featured one of her winning stories in their write up of the new storytelling series “StoryClub Pgh.”

As a producer, Torrey produced and starred in a mixed genre show “Mashed POET-atoes.” The show streamed live on Twitch through Pittsburgh’s Steel City Theater, featured an international bonus episode as part of the 2021 Pittsburgh Fringe Festival, and was nominated as the “Best Theater Production” by the Pittsburgh City Paper Readers’ Poll two years in a row (2021 and 2022). Torrey’s solo version of Mashed POET-atoes was awarded “Best in Fest” at Camp Improv Utopia East Tiny Fest (2022), and has gone on to feature at the Steel Stacks Comedy Festival, the Magnet Theater, Tin Pan Alley, and during GRIT Storytelling GrandSLAMs.

As a poet, Torrey published her first poem on Boston’s WLVI-56 when she was eight years old. She has since gone on to compete and perform in poetry slam events at the national and international level. Torrey has twice featured as a poet at the UK Glastonbury Festival (where she regrettably set-clashed with Dolly Parton and Cat Stevens). This 2-time (undefeated) champion of the Jam Cruise Gong Show was nominated as “Best Poet” in the Pittsburgh City Paper Readers’ Poll three different times.

During her 9-year residency in Pittsburgh, Torrey was a regular performer with Steel City Slam, coached the University of Pittsburgh’s poetry slam team (Hot Slam!), and she featured regularly at places like Acousticafe (at Mr Smalls Funhouse), Hambones Acoustic Brunch, Millvale Music Festival, Lawrenceville Art Crawl, and the Arcade Comedy Theater. She has represented the city of Pittsburgh (and two other cities) at the US National Poetry Slam, and has also qualified and competed as a solo poet at the Women of the World Poetry Slam, the Individual World Poetry Slam, and the UK National SLAM Finals – where Torrey tied for 4th solo poet in the UK.

Torrey has more recently begun to experiment with both scripted and improvised music and comedy. She performed on a house sketch comedy team (Rococo), as part of NYC’s Magnet Theater’s LiveWire Sketch Comedy Series (2023-2024). She also writes and produces her own comedy sketches. Her musical and non-musical improv indie teams have featured across NYC at venues like the Magnet Theater, The PIT (People’s Improv Theater), the Brooklyn Comedy Collective (Main Stage), Caveat (Cage Match), Tin Pan Alley, The Producer’s Club, Young Ethels, Funny’s Improv, and Otto’s Shrunken Head – to name a few. Recent features as a solo performer in NYC have included places like The Nuyorican Poets’ Cafe, Parkside Lounge, House of Yes, Under St Marks, QED, and the Pine Box Rock Shop.

As a social scientist, Torrey’s research has been featured on TEDx, NPR Here & Now, US News and World Report, PBS News Hour, Wired, The World Economic Forum, The Guardian, Slate Political Gabfest, The Monkey Cage (via The Washington Post), and on the cover story of New York Times Magazine. As we said, she is a free spirit with an analytical mind.

Links: 

https://linktr.ee/torreyshine

Social Media: 

https://www.facebook.com/TorreyShine

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