tweet review - #mnfringe show 2: Allegro, freakishly great integration of sound and performance; art about artists normally leaves me cold but this demonstrated the power of the music while still remaining human and funny and willing to admit that people are sometimes jerks - 4.5 stars
Just on the face of it, Allegro is the kind of theater that shouldn’t work for me. Our protagonist is an aspiring composer, and art about artists frequently feels like intellectual masturbation rather than entertainment intended for others. Audiences are frequently asked to just take it on faith that this artistic character is talented, and that art is a very, very important thing, and anything which gets in the way of the art (like a job or another person) is very, very bad. The sympathy and suspension of disbelief required for a lot of these stories (and a great many of them end up surfacing at Fringe time) is sometimes too much of a hurdle for me to fully invest in the story as an audience member. (And to be clear, I’m playwright myself, and this genre still tries my patience and often finds me rolling my eyes.)
“I know this looks like an anti-depressant commercial.”
In the past, the exception to my aversion to “art about artists” is when the character is a fully-formed person first and an artist second. Allegro appears to have found a second exception, when I can experience the art as a part of the production myself sitting in the audience. Allegro, like most Fringe shows, may not have much of a set, but it exists inside of a rich and all-encompassing soundscape that is enormously impressive.
“We talked about being popular.”
“And erections.”
Ben (Garrison Shea) wants to compose music for film soundtracks. Since he was a child, Ben has always heard a music soundtrack playing in his mind, which accompanies the ups and downs and emotions of his own life. Depending on how close a person is to him, such as family members like his sister Sarah (Nora Coyle) or his best friend and roommate Justin (Michael Rogers), they can hear it, too. Strangers, like Justin’s girlfriend Karina (Kendra Yarke) don’t hear the music. This musical accompaniment is sort of a double-edged sword - Justin can read Ben’s state of mind easily just by listening to the music; Ben can’t really hide anything from him. As audience members, we get to hear this music, and we also get to hear Ben’s internal monologue, which is how the production can unload a lot of exposition in an economical and amusing way.
“You sound like a serial killer right now.”
Garrison Shea, in addition to performing the role of Ben, is also Allegro’s writer, director, composer and musical director (phew!) A writer also directing and performing the lead in his own work can sometimes be a recipe for disaster, but here again, Allegro is the exception. That doesn’t mean that Ben is the most likable central character in the world, in fact, he’s often quite the jerk. But the production knows that and is in on the joke with the audience. Ben can be self-involved, entitled and unreasonable, but the play doesn’t try to convince us that “it’s OK, because he’s an artist.” Part of the story of Allegro is a young artist realizing he needs to grow up, get over himself, and think of other people first once in a while - which is a welcome departure from the standard plots of the worst of this genre. Oh, and I keep forgetting to mention it’s often very funny.
“The better I am, the more invisible I become.”
Also, just on degree of difficulty, big points to Allegro for pulling off being a production based largely around long complicated sound cues that come off perfectly. It can’t be easy acting inside of a lot of music and voice-over narration, but the cast of Allegro makes it seem like every play is done this way. Hats off to stage manager Brad Mondloch, and of course the Fringe technicians at the Southern, for keeping the sound and light cues rolling uninterrupted, because on Allegro that’s more of a challenge than most other productions have to deal with.
“I was so happy I couldn’t hear the music anymore.”
Now, do I wish the queer content wasn’t a gay guy’s unrequited love for a straight guy? Sure. Do some of the ways Ben gets shoehorned into the context of the production of a musical Justin and Karina are working on, and the presentation of “how theater works,” and the personal dynamics there, all strain credulity? Sure. Could Ben’s estranged relationship with his family be sketched in with more than one-sided phone calls, voice mail messages and his sister dropping by to yell at him periodically? Absolutely. Is this probably a full-length play that got squeezed into 60 minutes so it could be done in the Fringe? Yup. Would I be happier if the play had the extra time to address all these concerns adequately. Yeah. But for a Fringe show with this steep a hill to climb for me to connect with it, Allegro did a pretty amazing job.
“Silence is an instrument, too.”
I’ve seen almost 30 shows in the Fringe so far this year, and Allegro stands out as being unique in concept, and impressive in execution of that concept. There’s a lot of vision and talent here, so you should definitely check out Allegro if you haven’t already. Garrison Shea is someone to keep an eye on. It’s fun to see a Fringe show like Allegro really swing for the fences like this, and get so close to completely knocking it out of the park.
4.5 Stars, Very Highly Recommended
Here's some handy links to a rundown of 5 and 4.5 Star shows I've seen this year, also the 4 and 3.5 Star shows, and the rest, plus this year's Top 10 list, and Top 11-20 List, and the full list of all returning favorites in the 2023 Fringe, plus a link to all the 2023 Minnesota Fringe Festival coverage.
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