Fringe 2010 - Fringe Preview Season Is Upon Us

The marathon of Minnesota Fringe Festival previews is about to hit with a vengeance.

You can see the full list of acts ready to dazzle you with excerpts on the Fringe's showcase page.

Monday, July 12th kicks off the two-part Fringe-For-All preview explosion, with 30 acts taking the History Theater stage in St. Paul at 7:30pm

Part 2 will be next Monday, July 19th at 7:30pm at the Ritz in NE Minneapolis, another 30 Fringe groups to get a peek at.

In between, there will be three smaller preview events...

Wednesday, July 14
Kids' and family-friendly showcase at
R.H. Stafford Library
8595 Central Park Pl, Woodbury

(there's some overlap in acts, but two we won't have had a chance to see yet - Benny The Illusion, and The Little Prince)

Thursday, July 15
General showcase at Lyric at
Carleton Place
765 Hampden Av S, St. Paul

(again, more overlap, but some acts not part of the Fringe-For-All lineup - Indifferent, Mismatched, and Pop Goes The Cherry)

Saturday, July 17
General showcase at
Minneapolis Central Library
300 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis

(some more overlap, and yet still another handful of acts not previewed elsewhere - Condoleeza's Rites, Mixed Reality, SlapDash)

All in all, nearly 70 of the Fringe shows vying for your attendance as an audience member will be getting their act out there for you to sample. Still not quite half the offerings of the entire festival, and yet a mighty impressive chunk. Could be enormously illuminating, and help you make some of the tough choices of the weeks ahead.

All this will of course culminate in the Out of Towner showcase at Bedlam the night before the Fringe begins, Wednesday, August 4th, where the visiting acts get a chance to say hello. And that should put us close to, if not over, the halfway mark in terms of sampling. Phew.

Sadly, I won't get to the three mini-previews (getting in those hours at the day jobs, in advance of my theatergoing vacation with Mom). But I'll be there for the Fringe-For-Alls (FFA), and the Out of Towner (OOT) Showcase, dashing off little bloglets to toss my opinion in the mix.

Oh, for the Fringe-For-All, admission is the act of buying your $4 Fringe button - which is then good for the whole festival, and for Fringey discounts year-round. Can't wait to finally get mine (and a spare, to keep in the car, since I'm reliably forgetful).

Have fun everybody!

Interregnum 2009-2010 - Blog of the Time Between - Project 515

This is a collection of the links related to my work with The Flowershop Project on their production related to Project 515 - a group working for equal civil rights for gay and lesbian couples in Minnesota...

6/24/10 - My Strategy For Being More Gay This Weekend
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

Interregnum 2009-2010 - Blog of the Time Between - Shameless Plugs

I see theater between Fringes, really I do. Sometimes I even remember to write about it ahead of time, so maybe other people know it's out there, too. So here are some shameless plugs for things that happened since the last Fringe...

6/29/10 - Kick My Asthma
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

6/26/10 - Twin Cities Improv Festival 4
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

4/17/10 - Maximum Verbosity - Pissing On The Great Wall
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

10/17/09 - Playwrights' Center Gathering
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

10/13/09 - Vaudeville Extravaganza
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

8/28/09 - Minnesota Shakes - Good Boys
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

8/26/09 - Red Letter Theater - Phaedre's Love
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

Fringe 2010 - Returning Favorites

Here's a bunch of handy links to all the write-ups on Fringe acts this year that were spotlighted in past Fringe Top 10 and Fringe Top 20 lists on this blog. (We'll see if I have enough time to get to them all this year. They tend to keep piling up...)

Aspect I Studios/Damian Sheridan (Top 10 2004) - 7/6/2010
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek

Ben Egerman (Top 10 2008) - 7/11/2010
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek

Joking Envelope (Joseph Scrimshaw) (Top 10 2005) - 7/8/2010
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek

Partizan Players (Top 20 2009) - 7/10/2010
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek

Shelby Company (Top 10 2009) - 6/22/2010
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek

Rachel Teagle (Top 10 2008) - 7/11/2010
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek

Interregnum 2009-2010 - Blog of the Time Between - Reviews

The Twin Cities Daily Planet has given me my own little byline page, and has me reviewing shows outside the confines of the blog, too, these days. Like anyone in the Twin Cities, I still miss more theater than I end up seeing. But here's the write-ups on the things I managed to catch since last Fringe...

7/10/10 Theatre Pro Rata - Traveling Light
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

6/23/10 Jungle Theater - The Mystery of Irma Vep
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

6/21/10 Off-Leash Area - Le Squat
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

6/21/10 Prospero Theatre - Baby With The Bathwater
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

6/10/10 Swandive Theatre - The Baltimore Waltz
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

6/8/10 Minnesota Shakes - Hamlet
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

5/23/10 Killing Joke Productions - The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

4/21/10 Park Square Theatre - Dead Man's Cell Phone
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

4/17/10 Naked Stages 2 - Kelley Meister and Mire Regulus
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

4/2/10 Naked Stages 1 - Julia Elizabeth Babb and Julian McFaul
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

3/15/10 Theatre Pro Rata - The Spanish Tragedy
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

2/20/10 Walking Shadow - Mojo
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

2/7/10 Gremlin Theatre - The Homecoming
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

1/11/10 3AM Productions - Dumb/Sex
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

11/11/09 Sandbox Theatre - .faust
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

11/9/09 Workhaus Collective - The Sense of What Should Be
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

11/8/09 Hardcover Theater - She: Immortal Witch Queen of a Lost World
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

11/8/09 Prufrock Theatre - Landscape of the Body
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

10/17/09 The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later - An Epilogue
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

10/17/09 The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later - An Epilogue - Q&A
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

10/6/09 Theatre Pro Rata - Marisol
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

10/5/09 Open Eye Figure Theatre - Mark The Encounter
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

9/27/09 Urban Samurai Productions - Homeland Prayer
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

9/4/09 Minnesota Shakes - Good Boys
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

8/30/09 Red Letter Theater - Phaedra's Love
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

6/23/09 Twin Cities Improv Festival 3 - Preview
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

Fringe 2010 - Returning Favorites - Ben Egerman & Rachel Teagle

It's a two-for-one deal on this returning favorite. Ben Egerman and Rachel Teagle teamed up as the Questionable Company Theatre to present Orange (a farce about terrorism) that landed on my 2008 Fringe Top 10 list. The show itself got a 4 star review out of me, and a wide variety of opinions out of their audiences.

Not long ago, Rachel moved down to Atlanta, and Ben remained here in Minneapolis. And now they've both got their own show in the 2010 Fringe.

Ben (as The Great Ben Egerman Theatre Adventure!) is currently touring his show Do Not Kill Me, Killer Robots! around Canada and the east coast of the United States, before he brings it back home to us. (You can follow along on his blog or facebook if you like)

So, about that show...

"The place is here. The time: the very near future. Humanity has been all but eradicated by a horrible robot army. Ben Egerman is the only human left. You are the robot army. Get ready.

Set in the very near future, 'Do Not Kill Me, Killer Robots' presents a world where the entire human population has been reduced to one (namely, writer/performer Ben Egerman) by a murderous horde of robots. Locking himself in as secure a building as he could find, he prepares for the robots’ inevitable arrival. Luckily, he knows the robots’ only true weakness—the line of their programming code that inexplicably prevents them from killing during a one-man show. Presenting stories from the horrible robot wars and elsewhere, Egerman plans on enticing his audience with his own unique brand of absurdist humor, with healthy servings of sci-fi kitsch, lo-fi props, and some electronic gadgetry to taste. Learn what happens when all of your facebook friends join a group called “We Need More Grenades!” and become fans of either 'The Book of Revelations' or 'Mass Suicide.' Discover the magical and sexy origins of the robot hordes, what makes astronauts lonely, and the precise conditions under which an adorable kitten can win in a battle with a nurse shark. But most of all, discover the bloodthirsty automaton within, that you never knew was longing to break free."

His website - www.benegerman.com

His show page

Rachel, this time around as a national Fringer visiting our fair cities, presents Rachel Teagle Believes in Ghosts

"Rachel Teagle's new apartment is haunted. And she wants to tell you all about it.

She has always had a secret, nerdy interest in the supernatural, and moving to Atlanta with its decaying mansions and ever-present graveyards was like hitting the spectral jackpot. In this world-premiere solo show, she delves into her own haunted history: from California's Winchester Mystery House to the disappearing cemeteries in Savannah. In exploring and conquering her haunted apartment, built on a Union Army campsite, Rachel discovers urban legends, murder ballads, unexplained phenomena and tales passed down from the women in her family who see ghosts. Through her discovery of the ghost in her apartment, Rachel explores many aspects of the super natural, from the spirit knocking of late 19th century mediums to the modern day ineptitude of 'Ghost Hunters.'

These stories range from creepy to beautiful to ridiculous and are told through words, music, and dance. Rachel Teagle Believes in Ghosts is a wry journey through the supernatural with detours into the unexplained, the frustrated, and the ridiculous. While one needs not believe in ghosts to enjoy the show, anyone who has been relieved to learn they were not alone will connect to these stories from below the Mason-Dixon line and beyond the grave."

Rachel also gets good kharma for directing Katherine Glover's truly fantastic solo storytelling show A Cynic Tells Love Stories in the 2009 Fringe. It was in the second half of my Fringe marathon last year and thus didn't get nearly the praiseworthy electronic ink it should have from me. Man, I really loved that show. An excerpt of it performed at the Kick My Asthma benefit last week just reminded me of that anew. One of the best last year. Katherine Glover shall be front and center on any new Top 10 list when she does her next Fringe show, trust me.

For now, however, back to Rachel...

Her blog

Her show page

And here's a bit of video from where this show was born (Rachel warns that there's more swearing than normal because at the time she did this stand-up routine, she was still in college)

Fringe 2010 - Returning Favorites - Partizan Players

Unfortunately, Partizan Players last year ended up being one of those acts that I pimped on my 2009 Fringe Top 20 list, and then managed to completely miss all the performances of
Something Witchy. I'm hoping to correct that this year.

And what better year to do it than one in which Partizan revisits their 2005 Fringe hit (which I also missed, what is up with me?), The Princeton Seventh - a show so universally beloved back then that for this year's Fringe page, they just re-posted all their audience praise from last time to convince you to come out this time around. Can't argue with that strategy.

I also can't argue with the cast, which includes not only the talented Alex Cole and Ari Hoptman, but the lovely and talented Alayne Hopkins, who recently played a werewolf for me in a Thirst play I wrote. Added incentive to go, as if I needed more.

Their website - partizanpictures.com

Their show page

Fringe 2010 - Returning Favorites - Joking Envelope (Joseph Scrimshaw)

Speaking of deals with the devil (see the post on The Collectors)...

"'What's Up, Satan?' is the hottest pilot in LA. Only three actors remain in the audition room of hell. What won't they do to land the lead role of Lucifer? An evil comedy about every day evil.

Using the Hollywood dream of fame and success as a backdrop, the show explores the concept of "everyday evil". Putting aside demons, Nazis, or super-villians--what choices do we all make on a day-to-day basis that we are less than proud of? Is there really such a thing as good and evil? What won't we do to get what we really want in life?"

Yes, Joking Envelope (aka Joseph and Sara Stevenson Scrimshaw) is back in this year's Fringe with a new Joseph Scrimshaw comedy

The Damn Audition

Sample lines from The Damn Audition...

"Did you know that in Los Angeleles 'is that normal?' is the most frequently asked and least frequently answered question?"

"In America, wanting to be famous is like having herpes. Even if you're not experiencing an outbreak, it's always there, living in your spine."

"I am a Lutheran. The closest I have ever been to an orgy is a really successful potluck."

The cast is so good, it almost isn't fair...

"The show features a truly all star cast of Twin Cities acting talent: Equity actor and star of the Guthrie’s recent production of “M. Butterfly”, Randy Reyes*, as an inexperienced actor brand new to LA; Fringe Favorite David Mann* as a frustrated LA character actor; John Middleton as a deranged former child star; and Maggie Chestovich* and Joseph Scrimshaw as artistically obsessed casting agents.

*Member of Actor’s Equity Association"

If I knew nothing about these people, I think the press materials would have had me at "deranged former child star." John Middleton as a deranged former child star? Even better!

I did a big returning favorite write-up on Joseph in 2008 (both the Scrimshaw Brothers made the Top 10 list on my blog back in 2005), so I won't go repeating myself on that score. And here's the seemingly inevitable five star review from me for his outing in the 2009 Fringe, The Tragedy of You, as well as a variety of audience and critical response

From the Joking Envelope website jokingenvelope.com...

"Here at Joking Envelope... we believe three simple absolute truths about comedy.

Number One: Comedy is fun. You shouldn’t take it too seriously.

Number Two: Comedy is a deadly serious art form. It exists to ignite impassioned intellectual responses and provoke the cathartic emotional release commonly known as laughter.

Number Three: There is no reason comedy can't be both at the same time."

Amen, brothers and sisters.

Their Fringe show page

Fringe 2010 - Creepiest. Panda. Ever.

When I first heard there was going to be a panda in Junkyard Theater's Bedroom Eyes, I thought. Oh. Panda. Cute.

This panda? Not so much.

Creepiest. Panda. Ever.

Not that this is a bad thing. To explain further...

This video. I swear...

Just so you know what you're getting into - it's an elaborately costumed drag queen (Mistress Ginger, aka Justin Leaf) lip-syncing to Nina Simone, but then...

There's a guy wearing a panda mask.

In a business suit.

Who sits watching in a empty theater.

And then gets up to dance with said drag queen.

Then the panda man appears to change size.

And has sex with the drag queen in a men's restroom.

The drag queen then has to take a pregnancy test.

The panda man has impregnated the drag queen.

The drag queen has her panda baby.

And abandons it in a shopping cart at a grocery store...

No. Really.



Wow. Just... wow.

Now that's Fringe, baby.

The show's Fringe page says that the video itself, part of a previous mounting (no pun intended) of Bedroom Eyes last summer, isn't part of this Fringe outing, but its spirit "most certainly" is. So, there you have it.

Also part of the spirit would be this video (no panda warning needed, bonus parts for cute personal trainer...)



I've seen a lot of theater (and a whole lot of Fringe), so I'm not easily dazzled, but Justin Leaf (Mistress Ginger) has quite the pedigree - BFA in dance performance from Julliard, 2001 Zaraspe Prize for Outstanding Choreography, a 2007 Minnesota SAGE Award for Best Performance, and a 2009 McKnight Artist Fellowship for Dancers. Has danced with both the James Sewell Ballet and Minnesota Dance Theatre. So, to paraphrase Yogi Bear, smarter than the average drag queen.

And let's face it, shows like Bedroom Eyes also exist to remind me just how gay I am.

The press release says, in part...

"Junkyard Theater’s Bedroom Eyes is a glittering mélange of song and dance starring the “flawless and lawless” Mistress Ginger, who’s had many lovers but longs for something more. She welcomes the audience into her bona fide boudoir where she sings and dances her way through a slew of old standards, including songs by George Gershwin, Cole Porter, and Johnny Mercer. A love story unfolds as Ginger must confront the truth of her own self if she is ever to realize that which she seeks: true love. It’s comedy, romance, music, and dance, worked over with Junkyard Theater’s transgressive twist."

mélange
Gershwin
Porter
true love

Clang, clang, clang went the trolley...

"...Mistress Ginger, the pink-haired diva who made it big in the notorious “Broadway Bound…and Gagged” at the Bryant-Lake Bowl in 2007."

Neil Simon joke (for the theater geek in me)

Ding, ding, ding went the bell...

And finally, panda man, aka Joey Clark.

"dancing panda bear (and would-be love interest) played by actor/singer/dancer Joey
Clark."

That's actually - per elsewhere in the press release - actor, musical director, director, teaching artist, private voice teacher and composer.

Bonus points of course - given the evidence of pictures on facebook, and anyone who saw him perform last fall in Theatre Latte Da’s production of The Full Monty - if his other character (Joseph) gets him out from under that panda outfit.

Handsome, smart, talented people just wreck the curve for the rest of us. That's all I'm sayin'.

Oh, Mistress Ginger. How you taunt me.

For further info, check out...

www.justinleaf.com

www.junkyardtheater.com

Their Fringe show page

Fringe 2010 - Returning Favorites - Aspect I Studios/Damien Sheridan

Damian Sheridan/Aspect I Studios was part of my 2004 Fringe Top 10 List for their delightfully cheesy sci-fi adventure The Judas Cradle.

This time around it's

The Collectors

"The dark business of the corporate squeezing of America has never been so funny, or so Faustian. You will resonate with the original story and score behind this bold new musical. Get ready to leave singing."

which is sort of vague (and corporate subject matter tends not to interest me), but the Faustian tag makes me think it may still be along the lines of their working title and show description, which was

Soul Collectors

A musical about a person who works for a third party collection agency employed by Hell to collect on "deadbeat" souls.

So I'm curious to see them in action again. We should have more to go on shortly, as they're part of the upcoming July 12th edition of Fringe-For-All

Fringe 2010 - Seals Who Turn Into Women, and The Men Who Love Them

We've got a lot of weird two-fers in this year's Fringe.

Two examinations of (shudder) George W. Bush - Shrubs - A Bush Musical Comedy and The Bush Monologues - cue The Vagina Monologues jokes... now

Two Twilight spoofs - SemiDarkness and Bite Me, Twilight (or Oops, I F**ked A Vampire)

But none odder (to me) than the double feature dealing with a legend of seals who turn into women, and then fall in love with men.

Scotia Productions
The Selkie

"This juxtaposition of traditional Scottish dance and contemporary movement tells an eerie love story of seals who peel off their skins to take on the form of alluring women and the men who seek to possess them."

Here's a video preview...



and

Isabel Nelson
Ballad of the Pale Fisherman

"What happens when a fisherman falls in love with a woman who happens to be a seal? Faced with the dueling calls of land and sea, which will she choose?

Ballad of the Pale Fisherman is a re-imagining of the Irish/Scottish folktale of the seal-woman, or selkie. In this timeless fable, a fisherman falls in love with a beautiful seal-woman, and takes her as his wife. But a love that defies the laws of land and sea is never simple (see: Little Mermaid, The), and the seal-woman must eventually make a choice borne of betrayal and self-sacrifice. Will she choose her past or her future, her heart or her home?

Using song and movement to portray fisherman and sea creatures, curmudgeonly storytellers and sweeping landscapes, this newly-formed ensemble creates a world that is as magical as it is moving, as lyrical as it is heartfelt. The performers hail from backgrounds and trainings as varied as Live Action Set, Sandbox Theater, the Minnesota Shakespeare Company, the University of Minnesota B.F.A./Guthrie program, and the Lecoq-based London International School for Performing Arts (LISPA). From such far-flung experiences, these eight physical theatre creators have come together in collaboration to build this re-imagining of the selkie folktale through original music and storytelling.

There will be physical theatre, but it's not a dance piece. There's an accordion, but not a polka to be found. It's family friendly, but it's not a kid's show. It's a fairy tale with depth, with sharp edges and deep longing. Above all, it is imaginative.

Come see for yourself!"

And thanks to the Pale Fisherman cast list, I'm much more likely to come see for myself. This is where more information is a useful thing. Some shows haven't posted their casts yet, but I'd encourage them to. Here's an example of why...

I might have just passed the Pale Fisherman by, but then I found Derek Miller's name in the cast list.

Derek Miller works these days with Sandbox Theatre, which gave us June of Arc in the 2009 Fringe. He's also one of the driving forces behind Perpetual Motion Theatre Company, which gave us the "play in a pool" The Depth of the Ocean in Fringe 2006, and the scrappy little musical One Night Only With Mike Mahoney in Fringe 2008. So, based on his involvement alone, I'm much more interested in finding a way to wedge Ballad of the Pale Fisherman into my schedule this year.

(Everybody knows somebody. The more names that you have associated with your play, the more likely someone will trip over someone they know, connected to your show, and might be more inclined to come and see it. Your cast and crew are great publicity, Fringers. Use 'em to your advantage.)

Fringe 2010 - I Am Trying To Break Your Heart

Well, the weeping and gnashing of teeth starts early this year.

The Minnesota Fringe Festival website is up and running in a big way.

It looks amazing, and already has tons of useful information, with more to follow.

For instance, you can download the entire Fringe program - now.

And you can download the entire schedule grid, or download individual daily schedule grids - now.

There is a full list of the artists currently slated to be part of the two-part Fringe-For-All preview on July 12 and 19, as well as several mini-preview showcases in between, with links to all of their show pages.

With all this information already in hand, the enormity of the Fringe becomes readily apparent so much earlier than it did last year.

And even a hard-core Fringer like myself must face facts.

Even if I saw a different show in every one of the performance slots, including the encore slot - I could only see a total of 56 shows.

The Fringe has 169 this year.

So not only is it physically impossible to see everything in the Fringe - no matter what you do, you will still end up missing twice as many shows as you see.

That is a wonderful and terrible problem to have.

And one must be ruthless, and make decisions.

And once you make those decisions, the schedules need to align.

And you have to be realistic about just how far you can travel in less than half an hour between shows ('cause let's face it, it's not just the travel, it's parking time)

Then there's the beloved Mom Fringing factor. I know how fast I can move. But I am not running my 70something year old mother that hard. This is supposed to be her vacation. Relaxation, not stress. Together time, not relay race time. So the first seven days of the Fringe will see a lot of picking a general locale, and staying within that hub (of which, thankfully, the Fringe has several, so options are plentiful no matter where you situate yourself.)

Doubtless I will fall in love with a show or two and want to go back, which knocks out another couple of slots with repeat viewings.

And the more I get to know the various shows, the more I want to see them. My list is growing, not shrinking.

The great thing about all that is, well, the Fringe seems poised to kick my ass again this year, and show me some really amazing, varied theater. With a little luck and honest planning, I may be fortunate enough to see over 50 shows, and not hate a single one of them.

Didn't happen last year, but hope springs eternal.

And everyone keeps bringing their "A" game.

Which makes my job as an audience member harder and easier at the same time (both in a good way).

Now it's time to start rattling off all the things I'm looking forward to, and the oddities I keep tripping over.

Go poke around the Fringe site, folks. It's only a month away now.

Fringe 2010 - Woman, Made From Flowers, Turns Into Owl

Is it weird that this plotline sounds familiar to me?

"Bloddeuwedd, a one-person show based on a Welsh legend, will receive its world premiere at the Minnesota Fringe. The show tells the story of a young woman who is magically fashioned from flowers, becomes enmeshed in a brutal marriage and a passionate affair, and is punished by being turned into an owl."

Oh, wait a minute...

This is a variation on the same legend which was brought to the Fringe in 2005 as a musical (?!) by the group we would come to know as 3 Sticks. It was an ensemble show, rather than a one-person show, and it was called Mythed.

It was part of my Fringe Top 20 that year. It got some nice reviews, both from me and others.

This time, it's less musical, and a wee bit darker.

"It is both a literary horror story, recounted in poetic language, and a feminist fable about a woman’s ultimate empowerment in the face of brutal circumstances and her systematic repression. Like the myth that inspires it, the story is full of unexpected twists and turns, behavioral insights, and fantastic events. Dealing with both sexual themes and violent episodes, Bloddeuwedd is intended for mature audiences."

They ain't kidding, check out the video trailer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjrj8rfZiqA.

OK, so more than a wee bit darker.

The press release also provides a handy pronunciation guide...

Bloddeuwedd (pronounced “Bluth-a weth,” with the “th” sounds resembling the “th” in the word “the”)

Because I truly would never have gotten that one. Phonetics would have failed me utterly.

I have to admit to chuckling at the press release when they wrote

"A video trailer is available on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjrj8rfZiqA (or by searching YouTube for “Bloddeuwedd trailer”)."

Because, honestly, I'm just as likely to type in the URL address correctly as I am to ever spell Bloddeuwedd correctly. Hee hee.

I also enjoyed the title of their press release...

WOMAN TURNS INTO OWL AT MINNESOTA FRINGE

(Something like that happens every year.)

Some other info on the show...

"Written and directed by Mark Hunter and featuring a performance by Erin Daly, Bloddeuwedd was developed at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa. Hunter is a free lance professional director and a professor of theatre at Cornell College. While he has directed more than 80 theatrical productions in both professional and academic settings, Bloddeuwedd represents his debut as a playwright. Daly is an artist and a student as well as an actor, mixing her theatrical work with her interests in art history and classical studies. This show was created specifically for her to perform and was showcased last May as part of a larger site-specific theatrical venture known as The Owling Project."

Here's the Bloddeuwedd show page on the Fringe site.

Fringe 2010 - Cheekiest Star Wars Reference (So Far)

Actual press release...

EWOCs DO IT IN 10 MINUTES OR LESS WITH THEIR UNIT

Minnesota’s Collective Of Urban Playwrights Taking A Blender To Conventional American Theater With 9 Short Plays At The 2010 MN Fringe Festival

(Minneapolis, MN) What happens when you give nine EWOCs (Emerging Writers Of Color) and their Unit a theme, three weeks to write short plays, one day to find directors and cast the scripts, and thirty minutes to rehearse before the curtain opens? Madness.

Urban George Lucas muppets they are not, the EWOCs can be seen writing their butts off in an off-kilter improv theater that's setting new standards in MN. For the past eight months, The Unit collective of Emerging Writers of Color and their roster of some of the Twin Cities best actors and directors have staged over 72 short plays as part of a monthly series called Madness at the Minneapolis Playwrights Center.

From pop culture and sci-fi, to zombies and dramatic interludes informed by the great stage classics of the 20th century, the themes and scripts come from the minds of playwrights who were finalists for the Pulitzer, have nationally toured their work, and are winners of numerous competitions.

The same EWOCs will have five nights at the University of MN’s Rarig Center to showcase nine of their best works as part of the 2010 Minnesota Fringe Festival.

Directors Ki Seung Rhee and Harry Waters Jr. will control the helm with two separate bills working with a cast of 12 who will be acting in scripts written by:

Indira Addington
Joe Louis Cedillo
Reginald Edmund
Jessica Huang
Eric ‘Pogi’ Sumangil
Saymoukda Voungsay
May Lee Yang
and 2010 Pullitzer Prize Finalist, Kristoffer Diaz.

Catch the EWOCs and their Unit during the MN Fringe Festival at the Rarig Center. Tickets are $12 in addition to a $4 MN Fringe Festival Button.
Aug. 6th 10pm
Aug. 8th 7pm
Aug. 11th 8:30pm
Aug. 12th 10pm
Aug. 13th 7pm

******************

Blogger note - While I don't really know the work of any of the writers (well, except Kristoffer Diaz, but after "The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Diety" everyone knows Diaz). However, I've enjoyed Ki Seung Rhee's work as an actor in things as varied as Sun Tzu's The Art of War and Measure for Measure, and I just think Harry Waters Jr. is a really cool and talented human being, so if they're in the directors' chairs, I'm curious to give this show a look. I'd recommend it to you all as well.

Fringe 2010 - Drag Show Without The Drag Queen?

Maybe it was the Liza Minnelli impersonation that put me over the edge.

But when I was watching this video trailer for the visiting Fringe show, Skinny Dipping: Not Your Mama's One Woman Show, one of my first thoughts was, "That looks like it might be a really interesting drag show."

Except it's not a drag show. It's a biological woman.

I hasten to add that I consider this a compliment, though I'll grant you it's an odd one.

Perhaps the writer/performer Shanna Shrum has an untapped market - she can franchise. Because after Judy Garland, many old school drag queens (and their audiences) have a real soft spot for Liza (no disrespect to the Beyonce, Celine and Madonna impersonators out there).

As much as one-person, multi-character shows by women often intrigue me, this one had my brain flipping the gender switch in casting and wondering what curious results might occur.

All of which is to say, this makes me curious about Skinny Dipping: Not Your Mama's One Woman Show (though the subtitle clearly has not met my Fringe-going mama).

And I always like to support the visiting artists as much as I can. Plus, Shanna Shrum is one of four acts doing the new Midwest Fringe circuit this year. She'll hit Kansas City before she hits the Bryant Lake Bowl stage. And she's already toured this show of hers last year. Which leads me to believe it's mighty polished and audience-ready by now.

So check out the video, and her website, and see if it might be something you want to add to your Fringe schedule this year when the site goes live with all the information on Thursday.

Here's her gay-friendly press release (Wizard of Oz reference, first sentence - see, it wasn't just Liza).

Shanna Shrum Strips Down and Dives Into

Skinny Dipping: Not Your Mama's One Woman Show!

Chicago, IL (June 8, 2010) -

Twinkies, wigs and a Liza Minnelli tribute? Oh my!

It’s all in funny lady Shanna Shrum’s nationally touring, Skinny Dipping-Not Your Mama's One Woman Show! Prepare to strip down, dive in, and find out what might happen! Because when you’re Skinny Dipping, what MIGHT happen is the best part!

Chicago based actress, writer and comedian, Shanna Shrum, hits the road again with Skinny Dipping-Not Your Mama’s One Woman Show! Shanna pulls out all the stops in Skinny Dipping including improv, audience participation and a dash of cabaret to strip down and bare the souls of six intertwined woman, ranging from a brassy washed up Liza Minnelli obsessed diva to a sweet unassuming handy-woman in love with her gay best friend. With gut busting comedy and heartfelt honesty, Skinny Dipping has it all.

In 2009, Shanna independently produced Skinny Dipping’s first national tour, which made stops in St. Louis, Kansas City, Chicago and New York City. Shanna will continue Skinny Dipping with audiences in 2010 at the Kansas City, Minnesota, Indianapolis and Chicago Fringe Festivals.

Not only did Shanna Shrum create a show about, "Finding out what might happen, because what MIGHT happen is the best part." She also took the leap herself by quitting her cushy corporate job in downtown Chicago to sleep on couches and carry 75lbs of wigs and costumes around the country. To her, living life the way you want, not as you should, is what Skinny Dipping is all about.

Skinny Dipping will continue its Midwest Fringe Tour at the Minnesota Fringe Festival and can be seen at Bryant-Lake Bowl the following dates:
Friday, August 6th at 10:00pm
Saturday, August 7th at 5:30pm
Sunday, August 8th at 1:00pm
Thursday, August 12th at 5:30pm
Saturday, August 14th at 7:00pm

What the critics are saying about Skinny Dipping:

“Shanna Shrum channels a series of increasingly complex personalities…with impressively precise and sincere characterizations.”-The Chicago Reader

“One of the top five things to do in Kansas City.”-Brian Mctavish, KC Confidential/KCUR Radio

Tickets are $12 plus $4 admission button and are available at fringefestival.org or call (866)-811-4111

Passes and discounts are available.

To view the Skinny Dipping reel please visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xw2R5UcQSI8

For more information please visit www.fringefestival.org or www.skinnydippingshow.com

Bryant-Lake Bowl is located at 810 West Lake Street, Minneapolis, MN

Shameless Plug of the Day - Kick My Asthma

"Between an asthma attack, an induced coma, and myriad other medical misadventures, Allison Broeren and her boyfriend and sometime performing partner Marlow have had a woefully eventful year. But never fear -- you can help, and all by attending the wildest, weirdest fundraiser this side of the Mason-Dixon line."

I really can't top that as an opening line, and so I scavenge the press release.

This Tuesday night, June 29, 2010

Kick My Asthma
a fundraiser for Allison Broeren and Marlow
featuring the Rockstar Storytellers

Raffle at 7pm
Performances start at 8pm

Recommended donation of $7.00 at the door

All at Kieran's Irish Pub's new location on Block E in downtown Minneapolis (600 Hennepin, Suite 170 - the corner of 6th Street and 1st Avenue)

I've often written before about the talented and enthusiastic Allison Broeren both in the context of her solo shows in the Fringe, and her work as a spoken word guru. In fact, they quoted me in the press release for the fundraiser. She's good people. Smart, funny, and enormously entertaining. (More official bio below.)

Her boyfriend Marlow made a hilarious cameo as both a shark, and a drunken sea captain in Allison's Fringe show last year. So, though I don't know him all that well, that brief bit of stage time makes me think of him fondly.

I can't think of two people more deserving of a break, and the roster of talent involved makes it wonderfully entertaining and easy for us all to do so.

The evening features raffle prizes and performances by some of the Twin Cities' leading spoken word artists, including Rockstar Storytellers Laura Bidgood, phillip low, Courtney McLean, Ben San Del, and Joseph Scrimshaw, as well as special appearances from Allison's co-Slam Master Wonder Dave, Northstar Storytellers Paula Reed Nancarrow and Katherine Glover, Monday Night Comedy Show host Andy Brynildson, and creator of the Fringe hit "Parry Hotter and the Half-Drunk Twins" Tom Reed!

WARNING: This show contains adult language.

Can't think of a better thing to do on a Tuesday night, or an easier seven dollars, or more, to part with, given that line-up. Join me there, won't you. I fear I shall miss the raffle because I'm working the second job, but I'll head on over as soon as I'm off duty to put my money in the jar and show some Fringey/artist solidarity.

BIO

Allison Broeren is the co-Slam Master of the Minneapolis Poetry Slam at Kieran's Irish Pub. Allison comes from a competitive speech background and performed her first one woman show, All the Things I Never Told My Mother, in the 2007 Iowa and Minnesota Fringe Festivals. She has detailed her long medical struggles in 2008's I'll Marry You For Health Insurance, and teamed up with Marlow in 2009 to perform My Sinking Ship. She has also performed in Women Stand Up! A Comedy Cabaret, been on KFAI's Write On! Radio, and finished a writing mentorship through Intermedia Arts and SASE: The Write Place.

PRAISE FOR ALLISON BROEREN

"Her words come out at such a dazzling rate...it's a flurry of clever turns, comical juxtapositions, and the occasional random pop cultural reference that elevates everyday conversation to an art form."

- Matthew Everett, Twin Cities Daily Planet

Take it from me, and me, you want to be there.

Shameless Plug of the Weekend - Twin Cities Improv Festival 4

This is the thing I'm most bummed about missing this weekend, so if you have the chance, *you* definitely shouldn't miss it. (Yes, you.)

Because just like Christmas and the Minnesota Fringe Festival, the Twin Cities Improv Festival (TCIF) comes but once a year. And the time is now.

And what a great line-up they have, once again. (I seriously need to plan my summer better next year.)

TCIF (#4) has already begun. Last night's improv fiends included visiting acts from Philadelphia, Chicago and New York, in addition to our local comic geniuses in Fingergun, What If? and Stevie Rays's.

Tonight (Friday) the double bills...

7 pm
Rampleseed
(Tom Reed and Tyler Samples don't get to play together as much since Tyler moved to Chicago, so this is special treat)
and
Phoenix's troupe, Apollo 12

8:30 pm
Comedy Sports TC
with
Austin's Parallelogramophonograph

10 pm
Dishwater Blondes from Denver
and locals, the Gay Straight Alliance

11:30 pm
Confidence Men from Austin (improv David Mamet style? well, f**k me)
and Jill Bernard's wonderful Drum Machine

12:30 am
Chicago sends us a Stripper's Picnic
sharing the bill with
our own Five Man Job

Saturday, June 26 holds...

6 pm
Storybox from Chicago

7 pm
The Reckoning, out of Chicago
with our own
Brave New Workshop

8:30 pm
FrankenMatt
plus our own
Splendid Things

10 pm
the mind-boggling SCRAM (which I still remember two years later)
and our beloved weirdos
Ferrari McSpeedy

and to cap it all off on Sunday, June 27
we have the four-car pile-up of local comedy that is...

8 pm
Foterson
HUGE
Mustache Rangers
Beatbox

My Strategy for Being More Gay This Weekend

Each year as Gay Pride approaches, I wonder...

"You mean, I have to be *more* gay this weekend?"

Since I live near Loring Park, Gay Pride normally means it's just a little more difficult to get in and out of my neighborhood if I wish to get anything done. I feel like that cranky old man shouting, "Hey, you kids! Get off my lawn!"

I think the last time I went down to Loring Park deliberately during Gay Pride was, strangely enough, to help promote a Fringe show. By performing a scene in a pair of pajamas, with a guy wearing tights and a cape as my acting partner. But he was cute, and we got to kiss. So all things considered, pretty gay.

But that was 10 years ago. Pre-blog.

This year, there is no Fringe show. There is no man in tights.

In fact, I'm working most of Gay Pride over at the Guthrie in the box office. Which means I'm also missing most of the Twin Cities Improv Festival (which I actually regret missing more).

However, a bit of a script of mine will be at Gay Pride in my stead.

I'm working with The Flowershop Project on a production they're doing with Project 515 about civil rights for gay couples in Minnesota. Another writer, a choreographer, and a couple of musicians are creating material alongside me, all dealing with the long list of laws that treat gay couples differently than their straight counterparts here in our fair state.

The Flowershop crew will be on the Rainbow Stage in Loring Park (near the intersection of Grant and Willow Streets - close to the big dandelion-style water fountain on that side of the park).

3pm, this Sunday, June 27th

One of my scenes will be in the mix. Just keep an eye out for the gay cops. It's a comedy routine that involves a dead body.

You can check out the scene here if you like - along with some others.

So, enjoy Gay Pride, everybody. My writing will be there, even if I will not. So I'm thinking of you. And glad Pride exists, even if I don't feel compelled to participate.

I promise I'll continue to be gay the other 363 days of the year, just to balance things out.

The full Project 515 show will be hitting the stage at Patrick's Cabaret this fall. More on dates and times as autumn approaches.

Fringe 2010 - Top 10 - #s 6 through 10

#6

Yvette

Action Theater Project

For all the reasons listed here

Their Fringe Page

Mom and I are seeing their first performance on Thursday 8/5.

#7

Open And Affirming Fairy Tales

AWOL Productions

For all the reasons listed here.

Their Fringe page

Mom and I are seeing their first performance on Thursday 8/5.

#8

Ballad of the Pale Fisherman

Isabel Nelson and the Ensemble

For all the reasons listed here.

Their Fringe page

Mom and I are seeing their first performance on Saturday 8/7.

#9

I Remember You

Jess Dunne and Connor Molloy

For all the reasons listed here.

Their Fringe page

Mom and I are seeing their second performance on Saturday 8/7.
(Their first performance is on Friday 8/6.)

#10

The First Five Minutes Are Slow

Tamara Ober/Present State Movement

Though the genesis be a bit convoluted, yet I look forward to getting it on my schedule for all the reasons listed here. (Plus they're gathering some nice reviews already from the Winnipeg Fringe.)

Their Fringe page

Not sure where this one lands on the schedule yet. Their performances are
Thursday 8/5, Sunday 8/8, Tuesday 8/10, Friday 8/13, Saturday 8/14

Fringe 2010 - Lottery Stuff

Let the cross-referencing begin! I've started posting Fringe-related blogs again on the site for Twin Cities Daily Planet, so I figured I'd set up some handy links to the posts here. First up, something on the Fringe Lottery system...

6/17/2010 - What's Wrong With A Lottery System?
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

Fringe 2010 - Returning Favorites - Shelby Company

Of the 54 different shows I saw last year at the Fringe, there were only two I loved so much that I found a way to go back and see them a second time.

Only one of the companies that produced those memorable shows is back again in this year's Fringe.

That would be Shelby Company.

Their show this time around...

Uncle Shelby’s Traveling Treasure Trunk

- described as "A scaled down traveling version of the Shelby Company Cabaret"

This could be a variation on their current production...

Uncle Shelby's WunderPantry of Possibility

which is described thusly...

"A cabal of talented, emerging writers create a plethora of material. Through alchemy and editing they summon up a cohesive evening of mischievous merriment that zigs, zags and finds a straight path to the brain, heart and lungs. This inspired collection of music, scenes, jokes, theatrical burps and dramatic hiccups will make you laugh, gasp and think.

written by Jonathan A. Goldberg, Dan Moyer and Ben Forster"

Dan Moyer wrote last year's mind-bogglingly good Shelby Company Fringe show "Winnemucca (three days in the belly)" - a script so good just reading Scene 1 vaulted them into my Top 10 list for the 2009 Fringe. The production itself lived up to the script's promise - 5 stars all the way. (Plus they did a wonderfully odd preview at the Out of Towner showcase.) And the Shelby Company folks were also delightful people offstage.

And if you need more convincing, read this, or some of this...

So I was mighty happy to hear Shelby Company's number get called in the Fringe Lottery back in February.

And I almost don't care what they're doing. Whatever it is, it's going to be good. And I'm gonna be there, with Mom in tow, opening weekend.

If this blog is good for anything, hopefully it'll help spread the word and swell their audiences. Shelby's coming from New York, the least we can do is cross town to see them at whatever venue they're at.

I see a lot of theater. I don't get excited about a lot of theater. Shelby Company does theater I get excited about. Give 'em a look.

You can learn more about them at www.shelbycompany.org

My coverage of them last year can be found via the links above, or here, here, and here.

Fringe 2010 - What's Wrong With A Lottery System?

During the theater conference I just attended a couple of weeks back, I was singing the praises of the Minnesota theater community, as I tend to do whenever anyone asks, and sometimes when they don't. The subject of the Minnesota Fringe Festival came up. Things were going well, people seemed excited at the prospect of such a big eclectic festival, when I mentioned the lottery system. And one of the women I was speaking to made a face as if I had just taken a dump in her hand. "A lottery? That's terrible."

I resisted urge to punch her in the face.

Or call her an elitist bitch.

Or both.

A few months back, some theater people I quite like were talking about the lottery results and someone said, "Does anyone else think it's an abomination that (so and so who shall remain nameless) got a slot in the Fringe and we're stuck down well below 100 on the wait list?" When I started piping up in defense of the lottery system, someone else thought there really should be some kind of way to ensure that certain companies had a better shot of getting in.

An abomination? Quality control?

It's theater. Not cancer research.

What is it about the phrase "unjuried" that's so repugnant to some people?

Do some artists really think they're so important or so popular that the Fringe just simply wouldn't be the same without them?

Honestly, I love you all, but get over yourselves.

I mean, a healthy dose of self-esteem is lovely, and important to functioning in the world, I'll grant you.

But the Fringe is the one time of year when you don't have to wait to be invited, because everyone's invited.

(Yes, your ping pong ball has to be drawn, but don't you think it improves the odds of a better festival - completely at random - if we've got so many applicants we could have another Fringe and a half from the number of artists on the wait list? 19 acts so far have gotten in off the wait list anyway.)

You don't even need to know what you're doing. You just need to commit to doing *something*

You don't need an extensive resume. You don't need to have done anything at all before in the theater.

Does this mean some turkeys get through?

Sure. But established artists can stink just as badly, if not worse, than newbies. Personally, I'd rather accidentally see "well-intentioned but inept" over "hopelessly pretentious" any day of the week, any week of the year.

Good art can be created by procrastinators who run in to the Fringe office at the last minute to hand deliver their application on the day of the cutoff just as easily as bad art can come from people who make sure their application lands in the Fringe mailbox the first day applications are accepted.

I saw 54 different shows in last year's Fringe. Only one of them was painful (and that was from artists I normally love, and even it had its redeeming moments, just far too few of them). Most of the things I saw were great. Some were just good. A few were wonderful. Two I liked so much I went back and saw them again.

This is coming from the blog of someone who has seen a LOT of Fringe over the past 8 years, and studied it in detail - The Fringe is getting better, not worse. It's getting more popular, not less. And the artists are getting better, because they're getting practice, because the Fringe gives them the support structure to learn as they go, get new work in front of audiences, and understand what works and what doesn't - from marketing to performance. The Fringe seeds the ground for new writers, new performers, new directors and designers, new theater companies. It raises audience expectations and expands their horizons. It waters the ground for the rest of the year.

And it does this because everyone is welcome, whether you've heard of them, or consider them worthy, or not.

I don't want someone else deciding what I get to see for 11 days out of the year. The other 354 I'm at the mercy of programmers from the Guthrie and Park Square on one end, to Red Eye and the Bryant Lake Bowl on the other. They all have good intentions. They're all devoted to theater. Some may share my aesthetic. Some may not. But I don't get to decide. They do.

And I don't want my aesthetic to shrivel up and atrophy from lack of exercise.

11 days out of the year, I get a chance to pick from a ridiculous number of wildly different offerings. A lot of them end up being fantastic. And nobody had to program anything.

A group of artists whose work I really enjoy resisted submitting themselves for the lottery for several years, as if it was some kind of indignity. Some of them had come from elsewhere, where the festivals were juried, and their work had been chosen a few times. They felt since their work was judged to be of high quality, they shouldn't have to put themselves at the mercy of a random lottery. Well, they finally did enter the lottery last year, got in (first try), had a very successful show and even got picked up for a remount elsewhere. See, that wasn't so bad was it? You got in via a random lottery, and someone later still picked you out of a lineup - non-juried and juried all in the same year. It happens.

No one's entitled to a Fringe slot, because everyone's entitled to a Fringe slot. That's the beauty of it.

Theater should be open, not closed. And the Fringe is one of the few times of the year when that actually happens. Embrace chaos, people.

I get my own work judged and rejected enough the rest of the year, thank you very much.

In the Fringe lottery, I stand just as good a chance of getting in as anybody else. Because no one's judging. They're just turning a chicken wire cage, grabbing ping pong balls, and calling out numbers.

(For the record, the company I'm working with didn't get in. Fine by me. Makes the logistics of the Fringe with Mom less tricky. I get to relax and just watch other people make theater, and I get to see more shows. Nothing's keeping me from writing anyway. Nothing's keeping me from collaborating with people who are going to produce my work. For a couple of weeks this summer, I get a break. And after some grumbling, everyone else in the company admitted to being pretty happy they had the summer off, too. If their number suddenly came up off the wait list at this point, I don't think they'd do it. Which just means there's room for someone else below us on the list who *is* wishing the call would come.)

Those who got themselves a slot, I'm looking forward to seeing what you have to offer.

[Sneak peeks are coming up with the two part Fringe-For-All, Monday July 12 and 19, and the Out of Towner showcase on Wednesday August 4, the night before the festival begins! And of course, before all that, the Fringe site goes live with all the show descriptions and schedule info in just a couple of weeks!]

Those, like me, who didn't get in? There's always next year, or, you know, there's nothing stopping you from self-producing the other 11 months of the year between Augusts. (Harder than during Fringe season, sure, but not impossible. People do it all the time.)

Relax. Unclench your sphincters. You'll live longer.

Long may the ping pong balls spin!

Fringe 2010 - Five Fifths of Sherlock Holmes

The Fringe returned to the tried and true old formula, one story, chopped in five pieces, given to five different groups of theater artists, and put all back together again for a one-night-only fundraiser for the Fringe. This year, it was...

4/29/10 Shameless Plug of the Day - Five Fifths of Sherlock Holmes
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

Shameless Plug of the Day - Dramatists Guild/Playwrights Center Sunday Events

A play of mine is being read at the Playwrights’ Center this Sunday, October 18th.

If I’d typed that sentence sometime between 1994 and 2002, it wouldn’t seem all that strange.

Typing it in 2009 seems pretty strange.

But I’m happy to be typing it. And a bit hopeful.

I’m not really hopeful for me.

I’m not really hopeful for anybody who’s already gotten fellowships or core memberships or writers already involved with the Workhaus Collective and the like because, really, they’ve always been taken care of, one way or another.

The people I’m hopeful for are the general membership. The playwright who’s trying to get that first production. The playwright who’s trying to arrange the first public reading of one of their scripts. The playwright who has never actually finished a play yet, but who wants to do so. All the regular joes and janes off the street who have an idea, and a desire to put it on stage, but they haven’t been recognized by the larger theatrical community just yet.

It feels like the Playwrights’ Center might be interested in local writers again.

The event on Sunday is a first step.

The Dramatists Guild and the Playwrights’ Center are teaming up to bring local playwrights of all stripes together in the same place.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

3:30 pm - Dramatists Guild Town Hall Meeting/Dramatists' Rights Workshop

Guild members and non-members are invited to attend an information session that will detail an overview of the Dramatists Guild, discuss new programming in its future and then an open Q & A for all. Following that Q & A, the Dramatists' Bill of Rights will be explained and explored with participants. With Gary Garrison (DG Executive Director of Creative Affairs), Roland Tec (Director of Membership), and John Heimbuch (Twin Cities Regional Rep).

(Oops. Sorry. The RSVP date on this first part of the day is past, I just noticed. I’m working my second job, so it was already out for me, hence my lack of urgency in posting. Apologies. But fear not. If you’re not on board for the opening salvo, the evening has much more to offer that’s wide open to all.)

5:00 - Social gathering with hors d'oeuvres and drinks


(Let the awkward banter among strangers begin!)

5:30 - A reading of two short plays:


Dandelion Snow by Matthew Everett 


and 


How to View The Comet by Anne Bertram

(Hey, I know those two! They wrote a Fringe play together in which a guy played a dog, among other things.)

5:55 - Discussion: What the Playwrights’ Center and the Dramatists Guild can do for the careers of playwrights, including how the organizations are the same, and how they’re different.

7:00 - Representatives of small, medium and large-sized theatres and service organizations will discuss trends in theatre, playwriting and dramaturgy with Gary Garrison, moderator. As guests are finalized, the list will be updated.

Panelists so far include:

Hayley Finn (Playwrights’ Center)


Gary Garrison (The Dramatists Guild)


John Miller-Stephany (The Guthrie Theater)


Ben Krywosz (Nautilus Music-Theater)


John Heimbuch (Walking Shadow Theatre Company)


Ron Peluso (the History Theatre)


Trista Baldwin (Workhaus Collective)


Steve Busa (Red Eye Theatre)


Anne Bertram (Theatre Unbound)


Elissa Adams (The Children’s Theatre Company)

Reservations are recommended.

RSVP to 612-332-7481 x10

For more information go to: http://www.pwcenter.org/events.php?pid=1113

For a period of about nine years, the Playwrights’ Center was a second home for me.

Then quite abruptly, it wasn’t anymore.

It was strange to go from being one of the Center’s biggest cheerleaders, to being... not one of its cheerleaders.

For the last seven years, I’ve rarely darkened the Center’s doors. The occasional production my friends were putting on, renting the black box space. Fringe Festival season. Other than that, I stayed away.

I don’t go where I don’t feel welcome.

All this went down before I started blogging, so the words The Playwrights’ Center have turned up in the blog rarely if at all, and then never as a subject, only as a location, mentioned in passing.

To be honest, I know pretty much nothing at all about the current configuration of the Center. I didn’t visit the website, I didn’t link to the website (even though a great many of my plays were developed there, and thus it’s all over my online resume and production history of various scripts), and I have to admit I actually ripped up any mailing that came from the Center without even reading it. (Though no longer a member of the Center, since I gave them money during the capital campaign to renovate the place from ramshackle former church building into its current much spiffier state, I was permanently ensconced on their mailing list.)

The Center and I had a mutual sort of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” kind of relationship.

“George, if you existed, I’d divorce you.”

At first, the split made me angry. Then it just made me sad. Eventually, I just decided to stop expending emotional energy on a situation that didn’t look like it was ever going to change.

I didn’t blog anything about the Center, because I didn’t have anything constructive to say.

Now, here I am blogging about the Center.

Why the thaw?

Anna Peterson, the Membership Manager & Literary Associate at the Playwrights’ Center.

She sent me an email in March, curious about the background regarding my lapse in membership, wanting to meet me and pick my brain.

She had coffee with Anne Bertram, learned I used to run one of the Center’s new play reading series for several years, and was thus even more curious.

When I got past my work on the Medea play, we met for lunch and she got an earful.

Back around 2001-2002, the Center had a major shift in focus. The culture of the place seemed to turn its eyes to becoming more of a national presence on the theater scene. All to the good. Higher profile for the Center means higher profile, and access, for its members.

The trouble, as perceived by me and a number of other general members, was that the Center seemed to forget that Minnesota was also part of the nation.

It always struck me as a missed opportunity. If suddenly there was this outpouring of amazing scripts and writers from Minnesota, and the Center could take credit for helping develop that, it seems like everybody wins.

There used to be a weekly new play reading series, open to anyone, you didn’t even have to have your script written yet.

Ten months out of the year, a new play every week.

Actors volunteered their time. No rehearsal, often they could read the script ahead of time if they wanted, but it was basically a cold read. Seat of your pants theater at its most basic.

Fellow writers came to be part of the audience, and to circle the chairs and offer constructive feedback after the reading was over.

Often, those who could stay longer would adjourn to the local bar or coffeehouse just down the block and continue the discussion and the camaraderie.

A grassroots community of writers, supporting one another’s work, and each other as writers, grew up.

The shift happened. The reading series and that community doesn’t exist anymore.

Which is too bad, but water under the bridge. Spilt milk. A bell that can’t be unrung.

The refugees of that community found other places to congregate and develop their work. Writing groups, the Minnesota Fringe Festival.

Those writers have moved on. They have productions, get grants, run their own theaters, make films.

But it would be nice to think that the writers they used to be, in need of a nurturing place to act as a launching pad to start their careers in theater, could find a home again in the Center, rather than have to work around it or succeed in spite of it.

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

When Anne and I were asked to submit short works to be read as part of the event on Sunday, there was a moment’s hesitation.

The gesture has been made. If we return the gesture, we’re saying we’re invested on some level in facilitating this moment of change. As Anne put it, “Are you ready to climb that hill?”

I am.

Local writers, the Playwrights’ Center seems genuinely interested in re-introducing itself to you. It wants to let you know what it has to offer. It wants to find out from you what you feel you need.

The door is open. I’m walking through it in order to peek around, see if I can purge a little of the bad juju, because that’s the kind of curious and hopeful fool I am on my better days.

Care to join me?

(And hey, those of you who wondered when I was going to have some kind of local reading again - this would be it.)

5pm - treats

5:30 - plays

5:55 - the dialogue offstage begins...

The Playwrights' Center is located at 2301 Franklin Avenue East in Minneapolis

Its website is www.pwcenter.org

Shameless Plug of the Day - Vaudeville Extravaganza

It's the final weekend for this event, and it's entertainment for a most worthy cause, so I thought I'd give it a shout-out. The artist involved is someone who did a really fine Fringe show back in 2005 - Swim Home - which removed a lot of the stigma off of miming for me. When done well, it can be pretty amazing. And he does it well. When he's not fighting for his life, which at the moment, he is.

A friend emailed me about this event last week and she says it best, so...

"Dear Friends,

A friend of mine is fighting a hard battle with leukemia. Leukemia that he developed from his treatment for colon cancer last year.

His name is Mikael Rudolph.

My friend is a long standing member of the local performing community that you may know, or have at least seen perform. He delights both children and adults and has a generous heart and spirit as a professional clown. He competes and teaches ballroom dancing. He is also an actor that has graced many a Twin Cities stage.

But, even if you don't know him, I want you to know about him, because he's fighting a really hard battle to save his own life right now.

And his friends in the performing community have gathered together to form their own 'army' to fight one battle for him - his growing medical bills. Their 'battle' is taking the form of a two week cancer benefit aptly titled the "Vaudeville Variety Extravaganza". It opens today, Wed Oct 7, and runs through Sun Oct 18.

Please take a moment to check out the website to see the list of performers: www.pushpinpush.com

I hope you'll consider going - it promises to be very entertaining (even for the kiddies!) and it helps give back to someone who has contributed to our rich performing community.

Tickets are available only at the door (no pre-sales) and the Box Office will open one hour before each performance.

And even if you can't go - you can still go to the website and make a donation. Every cent helps!

Thank you for letting me share Mikael's story with you."

So, if you're looking for a fun outing Wednesday through Sunday this week, with the added benefit of helping out an artist in need, this fits the bill nicely. Check it out.

More info here, and here plus more about Mikael at www.mikaelthemime.com