Over the years since 2003 when I first got drafted to start this blog about the Minnesota Fringe Festival, I’ve accumulated quite an ongoing list of Top 10 and Top 20 artists I was anticipating. Each year I cleared out the list to make room for more. So here’s some favorites of the past making returns this year - links to fuller write-ups will be added as I post them. Meantime, you can’t go wrong giving these folks a try (I think I caught them all. It's entirely possible I missed someone. I'll update as necessary):
Marcus Anthony (2014 Top 10) of
Hey Rube - Be Your Selfie
Amber Bjork (2012 Top 10) of
The Winding Sheet Outfit - The Memory Box of the Sisters Fox
Allison Broeren (2007 Top 20) of
La Vie Theatre - Debacle: Stories of Life’s Ultimate Fiascos! - some reasons why
Josh Carson and Andy Kraft (2012 Top 10) of
Outlandish Productions - The Wright Stuff, or You’ll Believe They Can Fly! - some reasons why
Laura and Zach Delventhal (2015 Top 20) of
Delve Theatre - Making It Home - some reasons why
Ferrari McSpeedy Theatrical Productions (2007 Top 10) - Sevlin & Devlin Presents: Seven Evans In Heaven
Matthew Foster (2003 Top 10) of
American Civic Forum - Themselves They Made Immaculate: Clara Barton at Andersonville - some reasons why
The Fourth Wall (2015 Top 20) - Fruit Flies Like A Banana: World Tour - some reasons why
Katherine Glover (2012 Top 10) Presents - Ronald Reagan: Time Traveler - some reasons why
Andy Gullikson and Robb Krueger (2011 Top 10) of
SaMi Productions - The Perils of Steve
Keith Hovis (2014 Top 20) of
Devious Mechanics - Jefferson Township Sparkling Junior Talent Pageant
Ariel Leaf (2015 Top 10) and Scot Moore (2013 Top 10) of
Mermaid Productions - A Mermaid Abroad, and A Fish Out of Water - some reasons why
Howard Lieberman (2009 Top 20) in
2Lorens - 1967
David Mann (2005 Top 20) - The Best of All Possible Worlds
Maximum Verbosity (2007 Top 10) - Serpentine - some reasons why
Tyler Michaels and Tyler Mills (2016 Top 10) of
Bearded Men Improv - Swords & Sorcery: The Improvised Fantasy Campaign
Mike’s Brass (2015 Top 10) - Rumpus
Derek Miller (2006 Top 10) of
The Miller Conspiracy - The Banana Wars - some reasons why
Mame Pelletier (2015 Top 10) of
FurTrader Productions - F@*k the 90s - some reasons why
Jeffrey Peterson choreographing (2010 Top 10) for
First Daughter Dance - So Goshdarn Warm and Fuzzy! - some reaons why
Potter Presents - Sean Neely (2014 Top 20)
Victoria Pyan (of Little Lifeboats (2015 Top 10), and director for Delve Theatre) also in
Oncoming Productions - The Last Bombardment - some reasons why
Tom Reed (2008 Top 10), involved in both:
Weggel-Reed Productions - Couple Fight 3: Weddings!
(including 2014 Top 10'er Shanan Custer)
and
Turd Spout Productions - Stranger-er Things: Netflix and KILL - some reasons why
Rough Magic Performance Company (2014 Top 20) - Much Ado About Nothing (as told by Dogberry and Verges) - some reasons why
Ben Sandel (2006 Top 10) - Spec - some reasons why
Scream Blue Murmur (2009 Top 20) - Atlas Dynamo’s Burnt Offerings - some reasons why
Joshua Scrimshaw (2005 Top 10) of
Comedy Suitcase - Intermediate Physical Comedy for Advanced Beginners
also in
Tim Uren’s (2004 Top 10)
Ghoulish Delights - The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society
(also including 2014 Top 10'er Shanan Custer)
Sheep Theater (2015 Top 10) - Pinocchio - some reasons why
Siege Perilous Films (2014 Top 10) - Small Time Dicks
Lucas Skjaret (2014 Top 10), directing for
Market Garden Theatre - On The Exhale
Kirsten Stephens (2008 Top 20), producing for
Laughing Nomad Productions - Never Wonder Land
Rachel Teagle (2008 Top 10) of
The Rachel Teagle Effect - Queen of Delicious Animals - some reasons why
Paul von Stoetzel (2009 Top 10) - directing for both
The Park Theater Company - Blackbeard’s Revenge
and
Headcanon - The Tragedy of Obi-Wan Kenobi
Check out the links, put some shows on your Fringe calendar. Enjoy!
And here's some handy links to the full list of this year's pre-Fringe top 10, and 11-20, and all the random shout outs in these Top 10/Top 20 posts - links all gathered in a single list to take you to fuller posts and Fringe pages. Enjoy!