Friday, September 21, 2007

Friday Night Fringey Goodness - Pregnant Buckets, and more...

First, think about giving the Fringe a helping hand...

Then if you're suffering Fringe withdrawal, the Fringe hits revival continues tonight over at the Actors Theater of Minnesota in St. Paul.

There are shows all weekend, this weekend, and the next several into October.

If you missed these shows the first time around, now's your chance to catch 'em.

And if you did see 'em, well, you know they're good, why not go back and bring friends?

Be adventurous. Cross the river. Discover a new little theater space.

Laughs, music and dance abound tonight with a double feature of

From Here To Maternity from the always hilarious Joshua Scrimshaw and Shanan Wexler at 7pm (I saw a couple of preview bits of this and it's a hoot. If you need a laugh to close our your work week, this is the place.)

Notable local critics who've seen the whole thing say...

“...clever and inventive voices in comedy theater...”

-- Graydon Royce, Star Tribune

“As a duo, they are intellectually and comedically agile.”

-- Dominic Papatola, Pioneer Press

“Two remarkable performers tackle a topic that is perfect for comedy.”

-- Chris Kidder, TC Theater by the Numbers

“I’ve already seen the entire “From Here to Maternity” show with Joshua Scrimshaw and Shanan Wexler. Trust me, it is really really funny on an intelligent and skillful level. It’s really hard to do over-the-top comedy and still steer clear of mere gags, delivering true humor instead. They do it. Go thou and see it.”

-- John Munger, Choreographer and Fringe Blogger

followed by

Buckets and Tap Shoes at 8:30pm (they'll give you an end of the week energy boost to send you into the weekend - great music and dance)

Those more articulate about music and dance say...

Feeling down, blue, traumatized? This show'll fix you right up. It 's the new tap generation, and it's funky, fantastically fast, a little bit Zen, and lots of happy. Since Buckets and Tap Shoes debuted at the 2004 Fringe, the Ausland brothers (Rick and Andy) have tightened and brightened their routines. Gone is the wild novelty of their earlier iteration. Now they're downright professional, but still totally fun. Along with the Auslands, the carefree Kaleena Miller and flat-out amazing Ricci Milan twirl like ballerinas, suspend themselves on their toes in tap freezes, pitter patter both melody and rhythm with quicksilver speed, and suddenly fold flung out arms, legs and feet into a meditation position. Om!

-- Camille Lefevre, Star Tribune

"Stomp on steroids reaches new heights." by David Trudeau
...
Not only are these musicians and dancers incredibly talented, but they are so dedicated to giving their high energy to us, that they have obligatory changes to dry clothing half way through. The four-in-unison tap routines are knock-em-dead and they just don't stop, piling one on another. These artists should be decorated for their huge efforts to go beyond the call of performance, drumming and dancing themselves into a lather, while we, the audience with mouths agape just can't quite believe they can do what they do so well. And they just keep on going, never missing a beat. See this!

Tomorrow night's Saturday night double feature will be...

7pm - more Buckets and Tap Shoes

8:30pm - the much beloved one-woman show Blue Collar Diaries from Michelle Myers

with more to follow on Sunday afternoon

And don't forget that

I Hate Kenny G - from Allegra Lingo and Commedia Beauregard (my five star review of the show is here)

and

Take A Left At The Giant Cow - A Beginner's Guide to North Dakota - from Fringe spoken word artists Curt Lund and Laura Bidgood (my four star review of the show is here)

will be back again next weekend, too.

More updates to follow.

The space is the great new little black box, the Lowry Lab - 350 St. Peter Street in downtown Saint Paul (not to be confused for bingo central, it's around the corner in the same neighborhood)

All tickets are $12 and available at the door or by reservation (at no extra cost).

*Receive a $1 discount with a 2007 Fringe button*

To reserve your tickets for a performance, please call the Actors Theater box office at 651-290-2290 anytime Monday-Friday 9am-5pm.

Complete schedule and show summaries can be found on the Actors Theater website at www.actorstheaterofminnesota.org

If you're not into any of that, there's always theater in a graveyard after dark - featuring some familiar Fringe faces...

or you can click on the multiple link in the Theater Recommendations section on the front page of my website - www.matthewaeverett.com - to dig up something you like.

See theater - there's tons of it.

Enjoy!

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