HAGNIFICENT
Written & Performed by Deborah Fromm
Presented by the New York City Fringe Festival
April 4, 2026 - April 11, 2026
If you told me I’d see two shows that include doing Kegels in the NYC Fringe this year, I would not have believed you. Step into a world where aging is celebrated. Life is too short so embrace it – using humor, grace and unapologetic badassery. Hagnificent is a love letter to the women who came before, a middle finger to the patriarchy, and an invitation to meet the last stage of life not with fear—but with fire. Deborah Fromm is doing a Ted-esque talk on the Triple Goddess - Maiden, Mother, Crone. Or is it Maiden, Mother, Mystic . . . Maniac . . . Mother^ucker . . . Magnificent! But what kind of magnificent? Hagnificent!
“The change was tough, but being changed is awesome.” Ms. Fromm walks us through the three stages, with extra special attention given to the third. There are 5000 mammals on Earth but only 5 who experience menopause. (Whales make us the other 4.) Evidence that women have evolved to have value after their reproductive years. She extolls the virtues of living every day – well, the alternative isn’t so great.
Fromm’s gentle tones invite the ear so even her most radical of ideas is palatable. She shares the stage with Athena the owl, her AI companion, much like Alexa but without the trademark. She ponders aloud about a world run by women and if we would impose the same restrictions on their bodily autonomy. But that is not the world we’re living in, so, she must impart her Hagnificent wisdom before she hits the streets to protest, again.
By the way, it is true . . . whenever someone mentions Kegels, you can’t help but do them too.
Click HERE for tickets.
Review by Nicole Jesson.
Published by Theatre Beyond Broadway on April 11, 2026. All rights reserved.
