Attention Fringe shoppers: Debbie Andrews and Mike Blaxill’s dreary sci-fi rock musical about the corporatization of society is a real rip-off in both senses of the word. Despotic Mr. ICE (Luis Villabon) rules with an iron fistful of dollars as his barcoded subjects are mined for data and forced into consumer debt; anything free is illegal, including music, books and love. How long before rebel Dorna (Mairys Joaquin) and disgruntled insider Nest (Wes Haskell) take down the system while shoving tongues down each other’s throats? This by-the-numbers bore recalls a slew of superior dystopian satires, especially Mike Judge’s Idiocracy and original Fringe hit Urinetown, but with less wit and subtlety, plus lots of obvious Occupy Wall Street references. There are a couple of catchy tunes (James Rado of Hair fame worked as creative consultant) and its political heart is in the right progressive place. But as entertainment, it deserves to be left on the shelf.—Raven Snook
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