Fringe 2024 - Returning Favorite - Phantom Chorus Theatre

Show Me Your Wings
MaMa Faerie Productions - Rhiannon Fiskradatz – Phantom Chorus Theatre

Show Me Your Wings is a traveling, experimental, multidisciplinary rock opera created from music by MaMa Faerie. It features a live band, projections, movement, puppetry, installations, and a visual art show!
 

Venue: Squirrel Haus Arts
Tagged For: Drama, Musical Theater, Original Music, Physical Theater, Puppetry, Storytelling, Audience Participation
Content Warnings: (none)
Ages 12-15 and up

So, two years ago, Phantom Chorus Theatre was in my pre-Fringe Top 20 list because it was a sci-fi show with puppets.  And when I saw the production it was indeed… a sci-fi show with puppets.  Not perfect, but a lot of fun, very inventive, it got 4 stars out of me (though it was late in the festival and I wasn’t able to unspool a full-length review on the thing).

But when I saw that this was a collaboration between the new (to me) MaMa Faeirie and Phantom Chorus Theatre, I thought, well that’s definitely worth learning more about.

Rhiannon Fiskradatz (aka, MaMa Faerie), the creator, narrator and lead vocalist of this production, is also a core member of Phantom Chorus Theatre.  And her Phantom friends are all over this thing (hence the collaboration credit).

In Rhiannon’s write-up on the show she gives a bit more detail:

“MaMa Faerie is a name that was originally given to me by two young girls when I worked for the circus. I regularly wore wings to be easily seen during big events so that people wouldn't have to scream my name to get my attention, but the name was also a reflection of my role as an orchestrator of whimsy and “good trouble” when I saw goings on that needed to be called out. It’s a name I’ve held on to with pride and I use it now to tell the story of how I became the woman who earned it.”

What I missed in the show listings and didn’t catch until preview night is that Shanan Custer is also part of this show (listed as Conductor, so color me intrigued).  Shanan was actually getting a bit emotional during her introduction for Rhiannon’s singing for the preview, which is not something you see every day (Shanan being much more prone to laughter than tears).  Anything that has her this invested, I’m on board.

There are musicians listed for this that are credited for cello, bass, beats, auxiliary percussion, wheels of steel and keys (piano and perhaps harpsichord?!), plus a backup vocalist.

There’s lots of people listed on puppetry detail.

There’s also an artist listed as doing live painting at select performances.

All of which is quite intriguing.

It’s at Squirrel Haus Arts, which is a venue I have unknowingly driven right by countless times, just off Hiawatha at 35th Street, on my way to movies at the Riverview Theater.  So, basically just ten minutes from my house, if instead of driving to West Bank venues, I drove in the opposite direction.  Very handy.

It’s also an art gallery and there will be an associated exhibit on display during the run of the show.

Honestly, what’s not to like?  Very Fringey in both concept and execution so I’m interested in fitting it into my schedule.

Here's some handy links to this year's Top 10 list and Top 11-20 list, also a full list of all returning favorites to this year's Fringe, plus a link to all the 2024 Minnesota Fringe Festival coverage.

While I have your attention, please VOTE :) 

Minnesota is currently in the early voting period for our Congressional and local primaries (I had the U.S. Senate, Congress, and the Minneapolis school board on my ballot) - final day to vote in the primary is Tuesday, August 13th, but you don't have to wait until Fringe is over, go vote right now :)

Early voting for the Presidential Election itself in Minnesota starts on Friday, September 20th. We're lucky to have a lot of time to get our voices heard, so cast your vote, and then make sure everyone you know and love is registered and gets to the polls to vote. Election Day, your final date to vote, is Tuesday, November 5th.

As a queer playwright and theater maker, I want a government that's compassionate and competent enough to keep us all safe and healthy, keep theaters open and running, and personally, I'd just like to be legal myself and keep the weirdos out of government and out of my personal business (and the things I post on this blog, for instance). We all have our reasons, so let's make sure we get the leaders we need and deserve, and get our friends, family and co-workers to raise their voices, too.

Find where to vote and what's on your ballot (with links to candidate websites) and other resources at the Minnesota Secretary of State's website.

For other resources on how to register, volunteer or donate, locally or nationally, check out Vote Save America.

Vote.  Raise your voice. We're not going back.