Rochester Fringe Festival 2025
Cirque du Fringe: Claws Out
Kitty Ross
Genre: Acrobatics, Aerial Theatre, Circus
Venue: The Spiegeltent
Festival: Rochester Fringe Festival
Low Down
Beloved socialite and renowned opera singer, Kitty Ross, cordially invites you to be her guests of honor for this unforgettable evening of breathtaking talent and outlandish comedy. Featuring glamorous aerialists, mind-blowing acrobats, a swashbuckling swordsman, and Las Vegas legends and festival favorites, Matt and Heidi Morgan.
Review
If you are attending the Rochester Fringe Festival, Cirque du Fringe: Claws Out is an absolute must-see. This entertaining showcase is located at the heart of the festival inside of the Spiegeltent at 1 Fringe Place. The performance brings circus favorites with a fun feline twist. That’s right, the cast wears unique cat-like costumes throughout the entire performance. These quirky performers entertain the audience with creative cat puns and plenty of Andrew Lloyd Webber Cats references to go around. The show opens with our lovely host, Kitty, introducing us to her pussies (don’t worry, it’s not what you think! Just humans dressed as cats). The audience is greeted with a variety of Rochester-themed puns, including classic references such as the Inner Loop, Wegmans, and Eastman Kodak.
The first act featured Storm, a talented aerial artist who amazed the audience with aerial pole dancing. Her flexibility and strength returned later in the evening on the trapeze. Cody, the baton twirler, gave a memorable display involving twirls, spins, and balancing that had everyone cheering. As the act progressed, he added more and more batons to the mix, with lots of juggling and quick, coordinated movements. And we can’t forget the Kenyon Golden Lion Acrobats, who performed shocking stunts, including one acrobat balancing another entirely on his head, as well as energetic dancing and an exciting game of limbo.
A highlight of the evening was the sword swallowing act, where one of the performers chose an audience member at random to join him on the stage. He gave step-by-step instructions on how to remove the sword from his throat during the act, encouraging her not to twist or push the weapon further into his body. He even offered her the opportunity to practice before they started. The audience raved with laughter at his quick jokes and audience interaction. He then offered larger swords and multiples of swords, awing everyone with this dangerous performance.
And of course, the ending was one to remember. Four new performers came to the stage, but these were no cats. A man and his three well-trained dogs showed off their tricks by making the dogs disappear, prompting the dogs to jump over high obstacles into their human’s arms, and having the dogs climb onto his back.
Cirque du Fringe: Claws Out embodies the spirit of fringe in a colorful, high-energy, interactive performance that audiences of all ages will love.
