Friendly Persuasion (first in a series)

(or, Which Friends' Shows are actually worth seeing?)

Don't forget the Fresh Fringe.

Illusion Theater is extending its annual Fresh Ink series of new work into Fringe territory to give us even more new material to sample.

It's a little hard to find these shows on the website because they have only the most basic information attached to them - no genre markers, no listing of the artists involved - so they won't turn up on most normal searches.

Quickest way to find them, just run a search with Illusion Theater as the identifier and nothing else. That'll turn them all up at once.

Why are they worth it? Here's the lowdown (in no particular order)

Six Steps by Brent Doyle
Brent's an incredibly talented Twin Cities actor who's popping up everywhere lately, on both stage and screen (having just finished a run in the world premiere of Craig Lucas' new play "Small Tragedy" and seen in the local film festival in Patrick Coyle's movie "Detective Fiction" - the first Minnesota film ever to make it to Sundance). But Brent is also a very talented playwright. Last year's Fringe featured his play "Ellen's Empty Chair." This year, it's "Six Steps," a tale of superheroes afraid of sitting idle too long. However, the use of the phrase "evildoer" in the blurb makes me think there's more going on here than standard comic book fare. Definitely worth checking out.

Tell Me On A Sunday - Patty Nieman has one of the most pure and beautiful voices currently working in the Cities. She has been involved in a number of projects on the Illusion and History Theater stages (Vanishing Point, Cocoanuts, The Christmas Schooner and Sisters of Swing, just to name a few). She has such a lovely voice and such engaging stage presence that I'm even going to see this show - a one woman show by, shudder, Andrew Lloyd Webber. This is a testament to her drawing power with me like none other.

Buy Me A Mockingbird - Tod Petersen, Patty's male counterpart in the fine singing voice category, brings another new show, full of his signature humor and showmanship. Queer content, for those of you who get nervous about that kind of thing. But give him a shot. Great voice, great laughs, the most family friendly kind of gay artist I can think of.

If You Don't Really Want To Know - Then Don't Ask Me - Kim Hines reprises her role as Mae-Belle (from Don't Let 'Em Catch You), a psychic who can't stay out of everyone else's business. Sure to be a hoot.

So check out the Fresh Fringe. Illusion Theater has all winners in this year's Fringe.