Fringe 2023 - Top 20 - #20 - A Jingle Jangle Morning

A Jingle Jangle Morning
Spektakular Theatre

Inspired by imagery from Bob Dylan's song Mr. Tambourine Man, this is a heroine's journey space odyssey with a cast of whimsical characters, large cardboard puppets, and clowning --perfect for ages 5 -105.

Venue: Rarig Center Arena
Tagged for: Flashing Lights, Loud Noises
Content Warnings: Kid Friendly, Audience Participation, Puppetry, Sci-Fi, Clowning, Comedy, Original Music, Storytelling, Physical Theater

The fact that this one’s 20 on the Top 20 list isn’t a reflection on its merit compared to other things higher up on the list.  Last year, #19 on my list, Stars of the Twin Cities, from Sam and Bethany Walker, was so enchanting and fun I went back to see it a second time (which I rarely do).  Who knows?  This quirky bit of weirdness might hit me the same way.

Their video preview is goofy and looks like fun.  The fact that the show is inspired by a very particular Bob Dylan song is also intriguing it.  They describe the show on their Instagram account like this: “A Jingle Jangle Morning is a love song to Bob Dylan. Born and raised In Minnesota and a legend in the arts, we listened to Mr Tambourine Man over and over pulling imagery and themes from it to build this show. And the lead character is built in tribute to Bob himself.”  (There are also some amusing behind the scenes bits on their social media accounts as well.)

I thought for a minute they were visiting from out of town, but no, they’re local, just brand new. They describe themselves thusly: “Spektakular Theatre is a Minneapolis based company focused on physical theatre, clown, puppetry and good storytelling. We were established in 2023.”

In addition, the bios of everyone involved have an almost intimidating level of experience from all corners of of the theatrical arts - everything from improv comedy and a host of recognizable names of established local Twin Cities theater companies to other notable, national artistic entities.

Let’s just take the bio of the director/playwright/puppet builder Micael Gauger as an example:
“Micael Gauger is a clown, activist, and playwright. She works to bring laughter, creativity, & circus together with storytelling, and social justice. Micael has produced two award winning Fringe Shows at the San Francisco Fringe Festival (2015 & 2017). She is a Neo-Futurist alumni, Clowns Without Borders Volunteer, Naked Empire Bouffon performer and trained at Dell'Arte School of Physical Theater. She is a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, Fulbright Fellow and has an MA in International Peace Studies from American University.”

(Phew!)

Those awards mentioned were:
Best of the San Francisco Fringe Festival 2015
Sold Out Audience Award San Francisco Fringe Festival 2017

So, you know, these folks seem to know what they’re doing, but from the evidence of the video don’t take themselves too seriously, which I appreciate.  So they’re on the list.  Give ‘em a look yourself.

(Update: while I was composing this, they messaged me because I followed their Instagram account, wanting to be sure their show was on my radar, and said, “It’s a funky fresh large cardboard puppet play that we’d love you to check out.”  Funky fresh large cardboard puppet play, what’s not to like?) 

Update, their Fringe preview:

Here's some handy links to this year's Top 10, and Top 11-20 Lists, plus the full list of all returning favorites at this year's Fringe, plus a link to all the 2023 Minnesota Fringe Festival coverage.