Fringe 2024 - Day 3 In Brief

The day in Threads

Back on the West Bank again, walking between four different venues for Saturday’s seven shows

Threads review, mnfringe show 9, Thy Hard - it isn’t Christmas until Hans Graber falls out the window of Nakatomi Plaza, in iambic pentameter; comedy word wizard Michael Shaeffer does it again - 5 stars (my Fringe returning favorite write-up)

Threads review, mnfringe show 10, The Light Bringer: personal, often harrowing story of a Muslim girl who grows into a young woman her conservative family can no longer control - 4.5 stars (my Fringe Top 20 write-up)

Threads review, mnfringe show 11, As Above, So Below: enormously compelling, sometimes funny (horror) story of family dysfunction and mental illness so personal and vivid you genuinely want to ask the artist after the show if they’re really all right (because even though they’re still here and there’s a show… damn) - 5 stars (my Fringe returning favorite write-up)

Threads review, mnfringe show 12, Transmasculine Cabaret starring Vulva Va-Voom: so much queerness in one show, singing, jokes, interactive sound cues, arias, truths both hard and soft, my mind is still spinning - 5 stars (my Fringe Top 20 write-up)

Threads review, mnfringe show 13, The Wind Phone: a disconnected phone in the middle of a sculpture garden allows grieving people to talk to dead loved ones, be they spouses, mothers, mentors or dogs; smartly written and executed, and just the right level of heartfelt - 4.5 stars (my Fringe returning favorite write-up)

Threads review, mnfringe show 14, The Camp Out: a half dozen of the Twin Cities’ best improvisors, as a group of messy friends who don’t camp, gathering in the woods to say goodbye to an old friend, if they can hold their own sh*t together long enough to do so, delightfully awkward and very funny - 4.5 stars (my Fringe returning favorite write-up)

Threads review, mnfringe show 15, Juliet and Juliet: Improvised Shakespeare - a new short play fully improvised by just a suggestion of subject matter and two names, all in iambic pentameter, so funny that even the performers sometimes had to suppress smiles (and corpses moved with laughter); the skillset here is off the charts impressive; great fun you don't need to be high-brow to enjoy (the Bard loved dick jokes, after all) - 4.5 stars (my Fringe Top 20 write-up)

 

 

Here's some handy links to coverage of shows I've seen in the Fringe this year getting 5 and 4.5 Stars (Very Highly Recommended), 4 and 3.5 Stars (Highly Recommended) as well as the shows ranking 3 stars or less; also 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.

 

 

Fringe 2024 - Review - A Horse Walks Out Onto the Stage and Dies - The Fringiest Thing I'll See This Year? - 5 Stars

Threads review, mnfringe mind f**k part 1, show 7, A Horse Walks Out Onto the Stage and Dies: honestly don't have fully coherent thoughts about this yet; hilarious, touching, weird, because it is very much the title, and very much not, just the Fringiest f**king thing I've seen in quite some time - 5 stars

Writing about the Fringe show A Horse Walks Out Onto the Stage and Dies is challenging because I don’t want to spoil it.  Part of the fun of seeing the show is having no idea what’s going to happen next.  Yes, a horse walks out onto the stage, and yes, it dies. But also, it’s a guy in a horse suit who acknowledges his dual human and horse faces, and the fact that he’s walking around on two legs and not four, and that he’s talking, all of which are not normal horse things to have going on. And death on stage… it can be, and is, handled in a number of ways. And it’s not a snuff film - the actor does rise again and take a bow.

“I’m a horse.  I am God’s immaculate machine.”

So much of this rests on the broad equine shoulders of the creator/writer/Horse of this story, Sam Sweere, that I feel like I have to start there. Because a lot of this performance is about a Horse wanting to create a life that matters, that means something, that has worth. And the creation of this show was about a lot of the same impulses. So, as ridiculous as this sounds, even as you are laughing at this very funny Horse and his over the top efforts at self-aggrandizement, the depth of feeling is real. This Horse doesn’t want to die feeling his life has been wasted.  This Horse doesn’t want to die on someone else’s terms.  And this Horse is also an indictment (albeit a hilarious one) of an audience gathered to watch him suffer.

“I like the way the air fills my lungs.”

Sweere addresses the audience so much that there are only shreds of a fourth wall, and some audience members don’t know how to navigate without clear boundaries.  But it’s not (really) an interactive show, and it’s not an improv show that the audience can push in one direction or another. Sweere, in real time and in character, had to push back more than once on over-eager audience members, insisting in the plaintive voice of the Horse, “This isn’t that kind of show” and at one point simply imploring, “Stop.”  Protecting this integrity of this wonderfully odd little show while still staying fully inside it but also always pushing the boundaries of performer/audience engagement is quite a tightrope to balance on, but Sweere never topples.

“If I cry, are you guys gonna get mad at me?”

I could talk about the opening dance number, or the multimedia show, or the puppets, or the shadow puppets, or the merch, or the rat riding a remote controlled car, or the intrusions of farmers and stage hands, but going into too much of any of that would spoil the surprises, and there are many of them, and they are more fun if you have no idea how and why they happen. Suffice it to say that Sweere and his band of horse enablers (Annika and Kate Bakke, Beau Bauer, Marsh Kelly, and director Hannah Steblay), know the conventions of theater, and how to gleefully exploit and subvert them. Every minute of this show is filled with the joy (and resulting laughs) of what live theater can do.

“It’s sort of like Mamma Mia meets To Kill A Mockingbird.”

As someone who has been affected by friends who committed suicide, I have to say I’m not a fan of popular culture romanticizing the act, particularly when it is followed by the cheat of seeing the person in the afterlife, no longer deformed or in pain, reunited with their loved ones who have gone before (see the movie Iron Claw for the most recent egregious example, or don’t). It was challenging sitting through the end of A Horse Walks Out Onto the Stage and Dies, because although that doesn’t happen, it also kind of does.  Weirdly it still worked for me, maybe because it’s a guy in a horse outfit and it’s live theater.  And choosing to die on your own terms isn’t always suicide, but… that’s a very gray area (a horse of a different color, if you’ll pardon the pun because I really needed to lighten up this paragraph). All of the above is, weirdly, not a spoiler because, again, it’s in the title.  And I still haven’t told you how the horse dies.  But the horse dies.  So be prepared.  Is it a funny death scene?  Yeah.  Probably one of the funniest I’ve ever seen.  So you also have that to look forward to.

“Do any of you have friends in the animal rights industry?”

I know it’s only the second day of the festival, but A Horse Walks Out Onto the Stage and Dies is quite possibly the Fringiest thing I’m going to see this year.  You should see it, too.  Things like this don’t really happen anywhere else but the Fringe.

5 Stars - Very Highly Recommended.

 

 

Here's some handy links to coverage of shows I've seen in the Fringe this year getting 5 and 4.5 Stars (Very Highly Recommended), 4 and 3.5 Stars (Highly Recommended) as well as the shows ranking 3 stars or less; also 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.

 

Fringe 2024 - Day 2 In Brief

The day in Threads

Over to Uptown to spend the evening at the Phoenix

Threads review, mnfringe show 5: Francis Grey and the Case of his Dead Boyfriend - inspired lunacy, Dickensian murder plot full of wigs, blowup dolls, video, and even puppets; a one man ensemble piece - 4.5 stars (my fringe Top 10 write-up)

 

Threads review, mnfringe show 6: Gasthaus - Cold War border between East and West Germany runs right through the middle of a family’s home; good cast but too much plot/characters to cram in a hour, more outline than story - 3 stars

 

 

Threads review, mnfringe mind f**k part 1, show 7, A Horse Walks Out Onto the Stage and Dies: honestly don't have fully coherent thoughts about this yet; hilarious, touching, weird, because it is very much the title, and very much not, just the Fringiest f**king thing I've seen in quite some time - 5 stars (my Fringe Top 20 write-up) (my full review)

 

 

Threads review, mnfringe mind f**k part 2, show 8: A Number - a father is confronted by the multiple clones he made of his son; some of the encounters go better than others; some of them go very, very wrong; a meditation on life and identity, offspring and parenting; funny and haunting in equal measure - 5 stars

 

 

Here's some handy links to coverage of shows I've seen in the Fringe this year getting 5 and 4.5 Stars (Very Highly Recommended), 4 and 3.5 Stars (Highly Recommended) as well as the shows ranking 3 stars or less; also 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.

 

 

 

Fringe 2024 - Review - Mae West’s The Drag - Lively Farcical Period Piece With Some Very Modern Drag Queens - 5 Stars

Thread review, mnfringe show 2: Mae West’s The Drag; sleek and slimmed down adaptation of a naughty period farce with very modern drag queens, what’s not to like? - 5 stars

This is one of those instances when writing a review where I have to stop myself, because I’m trying too hard to find things wrong with a show, because my inner snob is whispering, “This can’t be a 5 star show, you have to deduct points for something.” But honestly, there’s nothing wrong with The Feral Theater Company’s Fringe-length adaptation of Mae West’s play “The Drag.”  It’s exactly what it wants to be, which is true to the spirit of West’s original, while keeping things clipping along at a brisk pace (sparing us long, old-fashioned scenes full of exposition that aren’t necessary for a modern audience to follow the plot), getting to the good stuff, and leaving room for three abbreviated drag performances to boot. I had been worried it might be too creaky and old if it cleaved to closely to the original, or lose the charm of West’s sense of humor by making it too modern.  But Braden Joseph’s adaptation and direction here strike just the right balance between the two.  You feel like you’re watching a classic Hollywood screwball comedy, and at the same time, you’re enjoying the very modern sensibility about gender and sexuality that, of course, you’d expect out of Mae West, even a hundred years ago. (Would Ms. West have enjoyed drag queen The Duchess performing in a sequined evening gown to a big band version of Britney Spears “Toxic”? Probably.  The audience sure did.)

“You’ve always been better at decorating than I have.”

Oh, the audience.  The performance I attended definitely had some friends/fans/regulars in the crowd of the acts of the three drag performers involved.  They were an added layer to the entertainment, hooting and hollering like they were at a bachelorette party (and for all I know, they were).  They gasped when someone shouted the word “faggot!” (though, to be fair, so did most of the rest of the audience).  They also leaned right in on the sentimental moments with audible “Awww’s.”  If your audience does not include such a contingent, your enjoyment mileage may vary.  As it was, these ladies definitely added to the queer joy of the opening performance.

“I just love engineers.”

Rolly (Mitch Vosejpka) and Clair (Abby Wagner) are married, but not exactly happily.  They were best friends since childhood so when Clair’s dad the doctor (Brand Willey) and Rolly’s dad the well-to-do judge (Jeremy Williams) suggested their children get married, they complied. But Clair yearns for something more (not another man, perhaps not any man, is she lesbian or just asexual? the play never confirms a single answer) Her aunt Barbara (Taylor Ruder) is concerned enough to plot a trip to Europe to clear the poor girl’s head. Rolly had to give up a happy relationship with David (Basil Jenkins) in order to maintain the good family name.  That doesn’t mean that the local contractor Grayson (Zach Sain) doesn’t still catch Rolly’s eye. But will those feelings be mutual, or is Rolly heading for scandal that could tarnish the family’s reputation?  Grayson isn’t the only way Rolly is living life on the edge.  The family butler Rosco (Jordan Girard) and their mutual friends The Doll (Dee Jackson) and The Duchess (Chad Burke) are unfurling a fabulous party while Clair is out of the house - or so they think.  Hijinks, and unexpected new friendships, ensue amidst twists and turns I won’t spoil here.

“I need this party or I shall go mad!”

The acting style fits the arch period dialogue, and the production is very much in on the joke with the audience in a way that draws spectators in rather than putting them off.  It’s a neat trick, and not everyone could pull such a thing off.  But these actors are well suited to this story, and fully committed to providing some gay pride and hope in a conservative time, and much like those trans women at Stonewall, the show’s drag queens (with an unexpected den mother reveal) are leading the charge.

“They’re with a version of you that doesn’t exist.”

Mae West’s The Drag is fun, silly, and takes itself just seriously enough that one can’t entirely dismiss it as fluff.  The show has something important to say. but it isn’t afraid to have a good time saying it.  I feared, given the time period the script came from, that we’d be assaulted by a lot of “homosexual suffering as entertainment.”  But, in a pleasant surprise, it’s just entertaining, and the homosexuals refuse to suffer for long.

“Are you going to do anything to make the world a better place?”

If you’re looking for a good time, Mae West, as always, is happy to provide.  This time, in the form of The Feral Theater Company’s production of her play, “The Drag.”

5 Stars - Very Highly Recommended

 

Here's some handy links to coverage of shows I've seen in the Fringe this year getting 5 and 4.5 Stars (Very Highly Recommended), 4 and 3.5 Stars (Highly Recommended) as well as the shows ranking 3 stars or less; also 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.

 

 

 

Fringe 2024 - Review - Musical Settings for Shakespeare - A Returning Musical Workshop Turns Things Up A Notch - 4.5 Stars

Threads review, mnfringe show 3: Musical Settings for Shakespeare; again, title couldn’t be more clear on this one :) workshopping random songbook for random script cuttings, great singers plus a trio, drums, bass, keyboard - 4.5 stars

Something you should know up front about the Fringe show Musical Settings for Shakespeare is that it’s not a show with a plot.  It’s a songbook of compositions from Ken Takata, who did a variation on this show at last year’s Fringe and has been presenting it around town in the months before and since.  His purpose here is to showcase the compositions he has created as the setting for the words of Shakespeare.  In some cases, it is actual songs incorporated in Shakespeare’s plays (we got a sampling at this performance in that vein from As You Like It and Hamlet).  In many cases, he has set speeches of different characters to music that were not originally intended to be songs, but Takata was drawn to their poetry and thought they made good song material.  Samples of these song stylings at this performance highlighted passages from Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, The Tempest, Measure for Measure, plus a little more Hamlet and As You Like It text.

“The isle is full of noises…”

Each performance is different, with different songs and performers.  The opening performance I attended featured the beautiful and powerful voices of Sarah Ellen Callahan and Sophie Caplin.  Callahan has a rich voice reminiscent of Natalie Merchant (and one of the songs that night had a particular 10,000 Maniacs pop quality to it). Caplan is more classically trained so her voice tends more toward operatic heights.  The musical styles of Takata’s compositions are all over the musical map, from jazz to power ballads to glam rock to pop and on into the American musical theater songbook, from tunes reminiscent of Rodgers and Hammerstein on up to more Sondheim-sounding present day musical styles.

“And will he not come again?”

Takata is the genial master of ceremonies, sort of a soft-spoken, absent-minded professor type, but once he gets to his keyboard, he really fills the theater space (sometimes with a piano sound, sometimes with a harpsichord sound). Last year, it was just him on keyboard, but this year he’s got a trio going, with Eric Struve on the upright bass, and Chris Hepola on drums.  And these guys are professionals, just having a great time jamming with their friend Ken, and the ladies at the microphone.

“To whom should I complain?”

You could probably go back to this show for all five performances and not get the same set list twice.  Takata is using this Fringe framework to test out which songs and styles work best with an audience.  At a couple of junctures, we got more than one version of a song, in a different style, for the same set of lines from the Bard.  You’re sort of watching creation in real time.

“There was a lover and a lass…”

It’s a free-wheeling, eclectic evening of music when you’re hanging out with these folks.  Plus you get high-brow points for all the Shakespeare references.  The performance isn’t structured to build to any kind of climax.  They just sort of play songs until they run out of time (but they don’t run over, again, they’re pros who know what they’re doing).

“Full fathom five thy father lies…”

If you’re looking for a change of pace, to just kick back and listen to good musicians and singers present new music you’ve never heard before, Musical Settings For Shakespeare should be on your schedule.  It’s not for everyone, I’m sure, but if like me, you think you might be their audience, you won’t be disappointed.  (After all, I saw it last year and came back again, and watched Takata turn things up a notch.)

4.5 stars - Very Highly Recommended

 

Here's some handy links to coverage of shows I've seen in the Fringe this year getting 5 and 4.5 Stars (Very Highly Recommended), 4 and 3.5 Stars (Highly Recommended) as well as the shows ranking 3 stars or less; also 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.

 

 

Fringe 2024 - Scheduling Struggles

This is just one example of how behind schedule I am these days.  In years past, I’d have the full first weekend of Fringe, Thursday through Sunday, all mapped out already, before my late mother arrived for her annual Fringe pilgrimage. And if I had slot on the schedule I couldn’t make a clear decision on because, at the beginning of the festival, there are just too many good options for things I hadn’t seen yet, I’d just wait for Mom to get here and lay out the options and get her to help me decide. We’d probably also have her Monday and Tuesday roughly mapped out as well, maybe finishing it between shows over the weekend.

I was not sure yesterday morning when I awoke what I was going to see last night, much less the rest of the weekend.  Yikes.  I was flopping around the 16 options on the West Bank options for four slots on my schedule, particularly between two specific venues that both had four solid options that completely overlapped.  I finally settled on two shows at one and two at another.

Tonight for the four slots of Friday’s schedule, there’s a pull for me between hitting the West Bank again, and heading over to Uptown instead.

I’m settling on a night at the Phoenix for several reasons:

Given the road construction going on right now, I can’t imagine being able to zip back and forth between venues if I include Uptown in the mix, so I could plan on staying put if possible, particularly on a Friday night.

Tonight the Phoenix has two one-person shows (one an artist returning from out of town, another local presenting their very first show), both of which are on my Top 20 list this year of things I really want to see,

Francis Grey and the Case of his Dead Boyfriend: a One-Person Whodunnit - 5:30pm

A Horse Walks Out Onto the Stage and Dies - 8:30pm

plus a show that I don’t think existed a few days ago because they just filled a gap in the schedule when another company dropped out (and one of the actors in the cast was smart enough to send out a Facebook invite, which was what flagged it for me - old school social media for the win).

A Number - 10pm
3 identical sons (Clarence Wethern) confront the sins of their father (Gabriele Angieri) in Caryl Churchill’s thrilling, darkly funny sci-fi psychodrama about the high cost of starting over.

[Editor’s Note - Great playwright, new play from them I haven’t seen before, plus two genuinely great local actors I’ve seen in other wonderful productions before. Sci-Fi Comedy Drama. You don’t have to twist my arm on this one.]

And then there’s also a new play with music from a company that regularly produces in the Fringe with a cast of eight plus multiple other collaborators that probably doesn’t need my attention quite as much.  But I’m there, so why not stay for that as well?

Gasthaus - 7pm
In this historical fictional drama set in 1952, citizens of East and West Germany navigate the tensions and complexities created within a GASTHAUS that sits on the fault line of a Cold War inner German border.

But two one-person shows, and a brand new show that hasn’t had the same time to drum up a crowd?  At a venue penned in by road construction? They probably need an extra person in the audience on the second day of Fringe.  So that’s why I’m drawn to the Phoenix on the night 2.

But I could also make a great case for myself for the West Bank this evening, and it was my default for a while because…

At 5:30pm I could see
Defibrillator
The Camp Out
All The Hullabaloo

At 7pm I could see
The Light Bringer
Dream of Me
Monster Science lecture on Medusa and Pals

 

At 8:30pm I could see
All The Hullabaloo (yes, they have two shows this evening, they’re filling at slot at 5:30pm for another show)

At 10pm I could see
Transmasculine Cabaret, starring Vulva Va-Voom

And that’s just the shows I’ve written about and were on my radar.  There’s nine more in the area over those four time slots, including a dance show at 10pm, 

Something Together, that kicked serious ass in previews because, when the sound board melted down and their music wouldn’t play, they just did some dance moves anyway, providing verbal narration as they went. The perfect “show must go on” kind of attitude to have during Fringe season. I’d be interested in seeing them dance when they actually get some music behind them.

Also Yo-Ho-Hum: A Pirate’s Mid-Life Crisis at 8:30pm, from returning Fringe favorites I haven’t written up yet - writer/director Marcus Anthony’s Hey Rube productions, with a cast including Joshua English Scrimshaw, Kirsten Stephens, and Natalie Rae Wass (who’s in Dream of Me at the same venue in the previous slot, phew, busy night for her).

I can see any of that just by staying in the same general area, all of them in easy walking distance of each other.

So if any of that assortment seems interesting to you, I can’t blame you for tilting to the West Bank instead.

Me, I’ll be hanging at the Phoenix, and leaving myself a lot of extra time to get there and find parking :)

Happy Fringing, everyone!

Now I’ve got some reviews to write.

(And I’ll be figuring out my Saturday and Sunday between shows tonight, probably :)

Here's some handy links to coverage of shows I've seen in the Fringe this year getting 5 and 4.5 Stars (Very Highly Recommended), 4 and 3.5 Stars (Highly Recommended) as well as the shows ranking 3 stars or less; also 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.

 

 

Fringe 2024 - Day 1 In Brief

The day in Threads (I switched over, fewer Nazis and transphobes…)

Spent the evening on the West Bank - solid starting line-up

Threads review, mnfringe show 1: Transition: a Story of 2 Trans People Becoming Themselves; exactly what title says PLUS amazing live orchestral music and singing, which lifts everything basic to another level - 4 stars (my Fringe Top 20 write-up)

Threads review, mnfringe show 2: Mae West’s The Drag; sleek and slimmed down adaptation of a naughty period farce with very modern drag queens, what’s not to like? - 5 stars (my Fringe Top 20 write-up) (my full review)

Threads review, mnfringe show 3: Musical Settings for Shakespeare; again, title couldn’t be more clear on this one :) workshopping random songbook for random script cuttings, great singers plus a trio, drums, bass, keyboard - 4.5 stars (my full review)

Threads review, mnfringe show 4: Minnesota Tonight; late night show in a Fringe-sized package; charming host, 2 very funny comedians plus some sketch comics, house guitarist, and interview guest Josh Carson! - 4.5 stars (my Fringe Returning Favorites write-up)

 

Here's some handy links to coverage of shows I've seen in the Fringe this year getting 5 and 4.5 Stars (Very Highly Recommended), 4 and 3.5 Stars (Highly Recommended) as well as the shows ranking 3 stars or less; also 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.

 

 

 

Fringe 2024 - Returning Favorites - Rev. Matt and Ariel Pinkerton

A Monster Scientist and a Tattooed Anarchist Walk Into a Bar - Mermaid Productions
Rev. Matt and Ariel Pinkerton

Two of the twin cities finest solo performers share a stage - only it's small so they have to alternate! 5 Monster Science shows! One Tattooed Anarchist in Covid Lockdown!

"Put a Needle To Me or How I Got a Full Back Tattoo During Covid Because the Government Gave Me More Money Than Any Food Service Job Ever Has" You know what's fun? Having a midlife crisis that begins with a baby and an undercut, moves onto a divorce and a job at a punk restaurant, and really CEMENTS itself during Covid Lockdown. Might as well go all out and get a full back tattoo on the Government's dime, right? Storyteller Ariel Pinkerton returns with her  tale of transformation, survival, and self revolution.
Performances: Aug 3 and 4, at 4pm, Aug 9 at 7pm, Aug 10 and 11 at 4:00pm

"Reverend Matt's Personal Best" is a series of five award-winning Reverend Matt's Monster Science comedy lectures, as selected by the Reverend - and his infectious enthusiasm for the shines through. A companion to the Fringe 2023's "Monster Science's Greatest Hits," come see shows about Medusa, Pterosaurs, Ray Harryhausen, speculative evolution, and human ancestry! Facts and jokes and Powerpoint - guaranteed!
Performances:
Friday 8/2, 7pm: Kill You As Soon As Look At You - Medusa and Pals
Saturday 8/3, 5:30pm: The Meander of Humanity - Human Evolution
Sunday 8/4, 5:30pm: Bizarrocosms - Imaginary Evolutions
Saturday 8/10, 5:30pm: Original Kaiju and Fightin’ Skeletons - The Monsters of Ray Harryhausen
Sunday 8/11, 5:30pm: Pterosaur Country - A Complete History of Pterodactyls

Venue: The Comedy Corner - Underground
Tagged For: Comedy, Solo Show, Historical Content, Spoken Word, Storytelling, LGBTQIA+ Content
Content Warnings: Adult Language, Drug Content
Ages 16 and up

Also at The Comedy Corner - Underground venue with Thy Hard is an alternating double feature of monster science lectures and solo storytelling from a pair of the Fringe’s best.

Look at the descriptions above.  Do I really need to tell you any more than that?

OK, after a couple of Fringe seasons producing and acting in wildly popular Fringe shows like The Hysterical Woman and Xena and Gabrielle Smash the Patriarchy, Ariel Pinkerton is back to share some personal storytelling (something we had a virtual taste of during the pandemic, but now we’re back live again). She’s already debuted this new storytelling show in this year Tucson Fringe, so it’s all fine-tuned and ready for Twin Cities audiences.

And Rev. Matt has a seemingly unlimited supply of Monster Science lectures, this time ranging from mythology and dinosaurs  through the monsters of old Hollywood and on to discussions of evolution, both human and imaginary.  His vast knowledge, meticulous research, and deadpan delivery are always a delight.

There are a few artists that you know, whenever you happen to walk into one of their shows, whatever they happen to be doing, you’re going to be intrigued and entertained.  These are two of those artists.  I’m so happy they’re on the West Bank among that whole cluster of other theater venues because it increases the odds that the scheduling stars will align and I’ll get to catch them once or twice during the run.

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.

 

 

Fringe 2024 - Returning Favorite - Michael Shaeffer

Thy Hard
Michael Shaeffer

Forsooth! A poet pitches a Shakespearean adaptation of Die Hard. Sonnets and silly soliloquies at Nakatomi Plaza with appearances by Argyle, Holly, Hans Gruber and John McClane. Yippee ki-yay, muckle rucker!

Venue: The Comedy Corner - Underground
Tagged For: Comedy, Storytelling, Literary Adaptation, Shakespearian Elements
Content Warnings: Adult Language, Crude Humor, Mental Illness, Violence, Loud Noises, Gun/Weapon Usage
Ages 12-15 and up

I was very happy to see Michael Shaeffer return to the Minnesota Fringe Festival last year after a long absence, with another fun and clever 5-star show.  What a treat to have him come back again for the second year in a row.

This time, instead of being at Strike, he’s going to be at The Comedy Corner - Underground venue, between the Southern Theater and TRP at Seven Corners in the West Bank cluster.

A Shakespearian gloss on Die Hard?

Well, we do already have a Christmas holiday tradition version at the Bryant Lake Bowl with homicidal puppets each December.

And we’ve seen iambic pentameter spins on everything from Pulp Fiction to Aliens to Roadhouse here at the Fringe in the past.  Why not Die Hard?

If anyone can do it, I’m sure Michael can.  (In fact, it sounds like it was a big hit at the Kansas City Fringe last week, winning Best of Venue.  Lots of glowing reviews posted.)  Michael says it’s the third of his Shakespearian trilogy, Caddyshack and Breakfast Club being the first two classics to get the treatment, so he’s on a roll.

He’s got a video trailer to give you a taste:

 

Audience response in KC has covered all points on the spectrum, from “the funniest thing I have seen in YEARS” to the ever reliable “poignant” (because it is also a bit of a love letter to his grandmother and Bruce Willis, both suffering from mental decline due to dementia and Alzheimer’s disease - and a portion of the proceeds from the show go to support medical research.). Tim Mooney gives it five Yoricks for its impressive level of Shakespeare cred (I’m not kidding, it’s on the More Information tab with the other reviews, and you know Tim Mooney is hard to impress with the classics.). People are throwing around the words genius, masterful, inventive, amazed, incredibly entertaining, and one reviewer reassures potential audience members: “You do not have to be a Shakespearean fan to enjoy this witty fusion of pop culture with Shakespeare's prose.”

There’s also a webinar discussing frontal temporal dementia, Bruce Willis, and the premiere of Thy Hard, if you’re the kind of spectator that enjoys a different level of behind the scenes homework for your Fringe experience:



If you’re on the West Bank one day (or more) this Fringe, and he’s on the schedule, check him out!

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.

 

 

Fringe 2024 - Returning Favorite - Jamie Brickhouse

I Favor My Daddy: A Tale of Two Sissies
Jamie Brickhouse

A gay, alcoholic son uncovers the truth about his martini and bikini loving conservative father in this darkly comic, intimate, enthralling show that shines new meaning on the old question: "Who’s your daddy?"

Venue: Open Eye Theatre
Tagged For: Comedy, Drama, Solo Show, Storytelling, LGBTQIA+ Content
Content Warnings: Adult Language, Crude Humor
Ages 18 and up

You don’t need me to tell you to go see Jamie Brickhouse’s new Fringe show - just listen to what playwright and drag legend Charles Busch said (yes, Psycho Beach Party, Die Mommie Die, Vampire Lesbians of Sodom, that Charles Busch):

“[I Favor My Daddy] scores on so many levels: funny, touching, honest, insightful and most of all a wonderful entertainment.”

Also, Jamie has compiled some of the best one-liners from the show in a video trailer (I think my favorite turn of phrase is “nervous as a sodomite whore in church, which I am”)



If you need more convincing, it’s already won awards at the New York International Fringe Festival, San Francisco Fringe Festival and the FRIGID Festival New York, and has a slew of other complimentary quotes from reviews far and wide listed as well.

Jamie is also nice enough to quote me talking about his last Fringe show here, 2018’s Dangerous When Wet: Booze, Sex, and My Mother -

“Jamie Brickhouse weaves a tale you couldn't tell just anybody’s mother, but my Mom and I both liked it a lot; Brickhouse spares neither his mother nor himself but it’s a hell of a story.”

This is posted right under another glowing quote from John Townsend in Lavender Magazine, which was sort of a one-two punch for me because, well, the last time Jamie was here in the Twin Cities, both my Mom and John Townsend were still alive.  Weird six year gap, with a pandemic in the middle of it, which didn’t kill either of them, just hundreds of thousands of others.  (Morbid turn, apologies.)

All of which is more proof I need a good, reliable, queer hour of laughter more than usual these days, so it’s a good thing Jamie has a new show in town.

Also, check out Jamie’s website if you want to see the bottom half of the image he had photographed for his publicity.  Apparently it only fits well in portrait, not banner mode.

My work here is done.

Go see the show.  I’m planning to.

 

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.