For every transplant who relocates to Los Angeles to be an actor, there are nine more who move here to be stars. What's the difference between the two? Actors endeavor to tell stories that elevate the human condition. Stars want to be famous. Actors hustle three different survival jobs and reinvest their meager earning into classes until they make their big break. Star wannabes chug vodka Redbulls until last call, sleep until noon and hope someone will magically cast them in a major motion picture. Needless to say, most star wannabes bail on their aspirations by their mid to late 20s, and start focusing on a more practical life plan, for instance, securing a stable sugar daddy.

Fortunately, true actors in SoCal can take solace in the return of the Hollywood Fringe Festival. Back for its third year, this independent theater event, spanning June 14-24, serves as a safe haven for underground and emerging artists. With over 200 productions to choose from, the Hollywood Fringe can easily overwhelm a neophyte audience member. Frontiers has compiled a list of this year's most promising LGBT-themed shows to simplify your search and support the real actors of Los Angeles.

Blood Fruit
Lounge Theatre, 6201 Santa Monica Blvd.

Voted Best in Hollywood Fringe Fest 2011, Blood Fruit returns for another round of Iraqi-born Madj Murad "airing out his dirty laundry." This one-man comedy tells the autobiographical story of Murad as he comes to terms with his homosexuality and finds the courage to come out to his Catholic Iraqi family, despite the fear of being killed for his “choice.” Director Kiff Scholl (Expecting to Fly, Our House) beams, "Majd's unique perspective as a gay, Iraqi Catholic is only enhanced by his winning demeanor and huge heart. I feel lucky to have gotten to work with him on this show."

Love Is A Battlefield
Fringe Central Mainstage, Open Fist Theatre Company, 6209 Santa Monica Blvd.

Written by and starring Barry Brisco, a veteran of both the Edinburgh Fringe and New York theater scenes, Love is A Battlefield combines dynamic characters with explosive themes, resulting in a Pulp Fiction-esque sensibility. Fans of the Hudson Theatre's recent revival of Rent will be pleased to see several familiar faces in the cast. The well-balanced ensemble offers a plethora of talent, with notable performances by Cy Creamer and Anna Villafane proving their rising star power. LIAB aspires to answer, "What is Love? Is it something worth fighting for? Is it something worth dying for?"

Tape
Artworks Theatre, 6567-6585 Santa Monica Blvd.Richard Belber's most identifiable work, Tape tells the story of three friends, a past transgression and a tape recorder. Beneath its suspenseful, high-stakes surface, Tape asks the question: who decides your truth? The production spotlights the talents of Donald Rizzo, Juliana Long Tyson and Jason Karasev. Avid theater goers will easily recognize Karasev from his notable performance in the Ovation Award-nominated Mercury Fur. Admittedly, this show doesn't fit into the traditional LGBT mode, but the troika of talented young actors that comprise the cast are worth checking out, regardless of your sexual preference.

Follow
Celebration Theatre, 7051 Santa Monica Blvd.

L.A.'s premiere gay theater proudly presents this one-night-only staged reading of playwright Michael Patrick Spiller's new work. Protagonist Marcus wants to marry his life partner in the inner-city Black church where he was raised. In a time of boycotts and culture wars, at the intersection between civil rights and gay rights, which road do you follow? From a theater that has presented such hits as F**king Men, Take Me Out and The Women of Brewster Place, audiences can expect a satisfying, highly intelligent story.

Four Clowns: That Beautiful Laugh
Fringe Central Mainstage, Open Fist Theatre Company, 6209 Santa Monica Blvd.

Conceived by Strangers With Candy alum Orlando Pabotoy, That Beautiful Laugh follows a wise old man and a troupe of clowns on a poignant quest to rediscover 'that beautiful laugh' in a world that has forgotten how to do so. Production company Four Clowns is no newbie when it comes to the Fringe circuit. Their original eponymous Four Clowns show won Best Physical Theatre and Dance at the 2010 Hollywood Fringe, and their adaptation of Romeo and Juliet received the Top of the Fringe Award in 2011, as well as Best World Premiere and Best Physical Theater and Dance Awards.

So Much To Celebrate!
Theatre Asylum, 6320 Santa Monica Blvd.

2011 Best Show nominee Jackie Loeb returns to the Hollywood Fringe with her brand-new show that tackles turning 40, moving to Hollywood and 20 years in show business. The Australian comedienne is armed with electric guitar, keyboard and 'kick arse rock star vocals.' Loeb, a series regular on the award-winning sketch comedy show Full Frontal and an International Finalist on NBC’s Last Comic Standing, jokes, "This performance is an all-­inclusive celebration, so if you’re a Born Again Gay Heterosexual Jewish Mormon with African Asian and Viking heritage...this is the show for you!"

Nightmare in Bakersfield
ComedySportz L.A., 733 Seward Street

Les Kurkendaal made a splash in last year's Fringe Fest with his hilarious one-man show, Christmas in Bakersfield. Kurkendaal returns to his own private hell in this year's follow-up, Nightmare in Bakersfield. When his boyfriend Mike is invited to his high school reunion, Les decides to join him but Les doesn’t realize that this is going to be the ride of terror because none of Mike’s classmates know that Mike is gay. Kurkendaal is a charismatic storyteller whose tale of bigotry and homophobia is both endearing and entertaining. This comedian is a must-see and promises to be a rising gay star.

Anaconda
Fringe Central Mainstage, Open Fist Theatre Company, 6209 Santa Monica Blvd.

Written and directed by Sarah Doyle, this production takes an honest look at the aftermath of bullying and the search for redemption. The story is influenced by both Sydney’s Trinity Grammar School abuse scandal in 2000, where male boarders committed molestations against other male boarders, and Joe Paterno's cover up at Penn State. “One thing these incidents all have in common is the silence," says Doyle. "The silence of the victims, the perpetrators and the cultures surrounding them which permit these atrocities.”

hollywoodfringe.org