Philly Fringe 2025: Dan Kitrosser is KAREN TENDERNESS in QUEER WINDOW!

As Karen, a suburban wife who has never consummated her marriage, Kitrosser exudes, well, care and tenderness. She is no internet “Karen”—she is warm, self-effacing, and determined to bring joy into the world, even as darker undercurrents of desire and danger creep into the story. After she causes a scene at the local “best wife competition,” Karen is forced to hide in a strange windowless building, or as she puts it, an erection. There she comes into possession of the titular queer window. Through it she can observe the inner desires of her neighbors.

The show deftly balances multiple tones: the campy playfulness of audience participation, the creeping dread of suburban thrillers like Rear Window and The Stepford Wives, and the raw vulnerability of cabaret. All of it is bathed in a distinctly queer aesthetic that celebrates spectacle while interrogating shame. The range of Kitrosser’s writing moves from jokes about Karen’s hometown Butte Creek to Sondheim-esque ballads with pointed community analysis. Occasionally, the pointed sexual innuendo can become tiresome, but Kitrosser’s sense of balance keeps those moments few and far between.

Kitrosser is, above all, a master of audience engagement. He knows exactly how to select, coach, and coax willing spectators into becoming his fellow suburban wives or even his mysterious object of attention, Miss Lonelyheart. The effect is both funny and moving, pulling the crowd deeper into Karen’s cracked-lens view of her world.

The production is resourceful in its design. The props, designed by Kitrosser and Jordan Siegel, may be crafty, but they are never cheap; each choice feels witty and precise. The show, which could be successful anywhere, feels so special in the studio (not the famous Magic Gardens museum on South Street, but the studio space about a mile south). Karen’s bright personality at times feels like a Zagar mosaic brought to life. Musically, Kitrosser proves himself a dynamite songwriter. His melodies are instantly catchy, while his lyrics land both jokes and moments of unexpected beauty.

Directed with sly precision by Jordan Siegel, QUEER WINDOW! manages to be camp, thrilling, and tender all at once. It is a love letter to queer spectacle, a send-up of hetero suburbia, and a reminder of the power of live performance to pull us into its strange, joyful orbit.