Sunday Afternoon Fringey Goodness - Blue Double Feature

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

Then if you're suffering Fringe withdrawal, the Fringe hits revival continues this afternoon 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.

Today it's an afternoon of theater, two back-to-back performances of

the much beloved one-woman show

Blue Collar Diaries

from Michelle Myers at 1pm and 2:30pm

After feeling stalked by the long shadows of her blue collar upbringing in St. Paul, Michelle does an about face and gratefully acknowledges the remarkable people who cast them. Eight characters of different gender, race and age reveal a community of people who truly understood that a persons' testimony was not in their uniform alone.

(The preview I saw I was quite impressed with. The link will take you to numerous glowing audience reviews from its Fringe run. Other Fringe bloggers had this to say...)

"I've been complaining a lot about how static most of the one-man previews have been, and this was a good counter-example of a speech that was physically dynamic in a way that underscored what was being said." - Phillip Low

I loved this preview. She was powerful and funny, and this three minutes is still intact in my memory. I'm very excited to see more; I predict a hit. -- Caitlin Gilmet

"Michelle Myers with "Blue Collar Diaries" was my first major discovery for this year. This was a dead-on solo performance depicting a hard-working woman past her own transitory youthful bloom and now dealing with life in the real world as exemplified by her hubby, that idiot, and the neighborhood kids to boot. How to fill three minutes so they seem timeless, evoking a much larger scenario and yet complete in themselves." -- John Munger

Next offerings will be on

Thursday, September 27th,

with a returning laugh-filled double feature from...

the always hilarious Joshua Scrimshaw and Shanan Wexler and their show From Here To Maternity at 7pm

followed by

Take A Left At The Giant Cow - A Beginner's Guide to North Dakota - from Fringe spoken word artists Curt Lund and Laura Bidgood at 8:30pm (my four star review of the show is here)

And if you missed this week's other artists...

Buckets and Tap Shoes

and

Allegra Lingo's I Hate Kenny G (my five star review of the show is here)

they shall return - but don't wait too long - the event ends October 14, and artists are rotating in and out

From Here To Maternity will conclude their run in the mix this coming weekend.

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!