The Lunatic Fringe

It seems that even the fringe has a fringe element, which is to say that a few of the festival's offerings promise to be either daringly original, riveting as train wrecks or some terrifying combination of the two. In any event, a visit to the following is strictly at your own risk.

FROZTY THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN A corn cob pipe, a button nose and an uncontrollable bloodlust meet in this tale of a beloved wintertime figure made evil by a botched science experiment. Oh yeah, it's a rock musical, too. Saturday through July 30 the Woolly Mammoth Theatre rehearsal hall. $15.

LA CORBIÈRE You know how, during World War II, the Nazis filled a boat with French hookers, intending to deliver them to love-starved troops, but then the boat sank? Nope, we didn't either. Still, we're intrigued, not least because this site-specific production was still looking for a site at press time. Thursday through July 30. $15.

UNMAPPED Choreographer Daniel Burkholder and musician Jonathan Matis may well be the hardest-working men in fringe business. The pair will attempt to stage 24 consecutive one-hour improvisational dance extravaganzas (Kiefer Sutherland, eat your heart out) on Friday and Saturday at the Warehouse Theater main stage. $15 buys a 23-hour pass; the 24th hour requires a separate $15 admission.

RIDING THE DRAGON: RAW AND BAREBACK Three gay men ponder the dangerous appeal of condomless sex in the age of AIDS. Vivid public service announcement or theater of titillation? You be the judge. Sunday through Wednesday at the Warehouse Theater main stage. $15.

AN EVENING WITH GEORGE BURNS So, when an oft-caricatured celebrity dies, what is the statute of limitations for impressionists? Find out for yourself when Alan Devalerio makes an ill-advised decision to conjure up the cigar-smoking centenarian. Friday through July 29 at the Goethe-Institut. $15.

VAUDE RATS Two questions to ponder:

1) How often do you get to see a ukulele operetta? 2) Is there a reason for that?

K. Brian Neel's musical creation posits a romance between a dwarf and a vaudevillian (of course!). Sunday through July 30 at the Warehouse Theater main stage. $15.

BEAUTIFUL FREAKS AND FEATS OF WONDER And if that's not enough, the name of the production team is Cheeky Monkey Sideshow. Want more? The salute to old-timey sadistic thrills promises sword swallowing, a bed of nails and a not entirely PC-sounding "gender-bending half-and-half." Sunday through July 29 at the Warehouse Theater main stage. $15.

POP UP DANCES Surely the first terpsichores to unabashedly claim VH1 as an inspiration, the artists of Momentum Dance Theatre plan to just, well, show up at places around town and start dancing. Where can you find them? At that celebrated venue "Various Locations," of course! Free (if you can find them). Check the festival's Web site for news of sightings.

JILL KILLS VOLS. I & II Meet Jill, the love child of Quentin Tarantino and Dear Abby, a pistol-packing relationship expert with a penchant for gunpowder conversion. Expect a revenge fantasy of which Uma Thurman would be proud. Saturday through Tuesday at the National Building Museum. $15.

POE AT THE WILLARD Lucky you, oh tourists from Peoria who happen to be vacationing at the Willard Hotel. Edgar Allan Poe is staying there, too. Well, actually Poe doppelganger David Keltz is staying there, performing a show about Poe, who once stayed in that very hotel. Well, actually it was the predecessor to the Willard on the same site. Oh, forget it. Sunday at the Willard InterContinental Washington Hotel. $15.

-- Scott Vogel