Fringe Festival – Days 3, 4 & 5
I only saw a few shows over the last three days so I waited to combine them into one longer post.
Shelly Bachberg Presents: How Helen Keller and Anne Frank Freed the Slaves: The Musical
This is one of the most polished and professional shows you will see at the Fringe. The performers are uniformly great. The singing is sharp and precise. The show satirizes Michele Bachmann with wit and skill.
So why wasn’t I completely satisfied? I mean, it doesn’t matter really. Everyone else in the audience loved the show. It has already sold out one show and will probably sell out two more. My lingering sense of dissatisfaction is not going to hurt them any.
The reasons the show didn’t rate quite so highly for me were pretty nitpicky. I felt the music was too repetitive. In a fifty minute show, I don’t think you need quite so many reprisals. I thought the final medley went on too long. I thought the satire of Bachmann didn’t go far enough. It was like they only scratched the surface of her craziness.
As I said, this is a highly successful show. My lingering desire to have it be better than it already is will not cost them one ticket.
I’ve seen a lot of good shows at the Fringe Festival but right now, this show is my favorite.
Powered by Joshua Bjoerte’s terrific performance in the central role of Nathan, this comedy about finding love when you have crippling social anxiety is sweet, awkward and very funny. It finds humor in Nathan’s plight without turning him into a punchline. That is a tricky balancing act.
I would expect this show is going to start selling out. I hope it does. Everyone I talked to who has seen the show has been impressed. They should be.
Fringe can often be about finding unexpected gems like these. I expect Four Humors to put on a great show and they don’t disappoint. When you walk into a theatre thinking “well, I’m going to give this one a try” and you walk out ready to sing the praises of the show to everyone you meet, that is a great feeling.
I chose this show because if it’s proximity to where I needed to be at 10:00. I knew nearly nothing about what I was going to see. That can be risky. In this case, it didn’t pay off.
The show was written by a sixteen year old which does not have to be an indication of poor quality. In fact, Abilene Olson shows a lot of promise. But she’s not there yet.
The dialogue in this show was awkward and unnatural. At one point, a character launches into a monologue that lacks any connection to what people would actually say out loud.
Awkward dialogue choices aside, what really sank this show was the conceit of the character being attached by a rope. Instead of being interesting, this conceit was distracting. I spent more time paying attention to the rope than I did to the characters. It was an obvious and clunky metaphor to begin with but at times it became the sole focus of the show, requiring long scene breaks while characters attached themselves to the rope. It just didn’t work.
My final point is nitpicky but it is important: If you are going to play a guitar on stage, make sure you tune it.
A few other notes from the last few days of Fringing:
OK, I admit it: Matthew Everett actually exists
I’ve been involved in the Fringe since 2007. That year, Vilfication Tennis did a fringe preview that offended Matthew Everett so much that he wrote an entire blog entry about it. It surprised me because while we do an offensive show, we didn’t think that particular joke was so awful. But it was awful to Matthew – which is a completely valid response.
So that was a thing. It wasn’t a big thing and frankly, his anger at our bad joke helped boost our attendance so I have no reason to complain it took place. I kept meaning to meet up with Matthew at Fringe central just to say “hi – I’m sorry that we made a joke that you found hurtful.” I never did.
In the years since, I’ve never managed to talk to him. I’ve been told we were in the same room at the same time but since I don’t know him, I had no way of making a connection with him.
Heck, he’s seen (and liked) some of my shows.
For me, it had turned into a joke. I continued to say that I was unconvinced that he actually existed.
Well, I met Matthew on Monday. He’s a very nice guy. As a writer, he grapples with the same questions as me. As a Fringe enthusiast, he shares the unexpected finds with everyone he talks to.
The Fringe brings a hugely disparate artistic community together for a brief time and that is one of the things I find so cool about it. You are always meeting people who share your enthusiasms. They are your competitors and your collaborators and your friends. It is all just so amazing.
Fringe reviews can be helpful and not
I love getting audience reviews when they are helpful. Take, for instance, the reviews of Schrodinger’s Apocalypse that took us to task for having failed to create a convincing prop for “Action Comics #1.” Absolutely right. As the writer, I was frustrated by that myself. It was fixed by the second show in no small part because an audience member complained.
For A Brief History of Irish Music, we’ve been very conscious of complaints regarding the acoustics on the New Century Theatre. We have done everything we can to mute instruments so people can hear the lyrics to our songs. It isn’t enough but at least we are doing what we can.
Reviews of our August 7th show are pretty critical and that’s OK because we weren’t all that good. Our music was off and we blew a boatload of lines. The audience noticed. Not much you can do about that.
One complaint that always bothers me is the “too much swearing” complaint. What does that mean? When I have people swear, it is because I think they are people who swear. I don’t have people swear for shock value. I have people swear because people swear.
What you are really saying is that you don’t like swearing. Which is fine. I’m not sure it is fair to dock a show for your own biases.
People dock shows for their biases all the time. As an artist, you need to accept that.
But that is what audience reviews are all about. People get to tell you what they thought and you have to deal with it. I may not like getting told that I wrote a show with too much swearing but I have put my work out there and told people to tell me what they think. They get to tell me what they think whether or not I find their comments helpful.
It is remakably Democratic and while it can be frustrating, it is part of the Fringe experience that is irreplaceable.
Fringe Festival – Day 3
I opened two shows yesterday and still managed to fill my day with Fringe-y goodness! Here’s what I saw and what I thought.
Are you There God? It’s a New Musical Revue!
Blue Umbrella specializes in musical revues so if you like a bunch of good singers performing a series of songs from musicals, this show is exactly what you want. It is not “Sylvia Plath: The Musical.”
I mention that simply because I think the concept of a musical revue confuses people and they go into a show expecting a narrative. There is no narrative to the show. To the individual songs, to be sure, but not the show itself.
Instead, it is a series of songs about childhood and growing up. The singers are all very talented and your enjoyment of the show will most likely be measured by whether or not you enjoy what they are singing.
I certainly did.
A minor frustration was that I was sitting further back and at times the accompanist overpowered the singers. This was not a constant issue but it was occasionally frustrating.
The title alone is enough to attract attention. The fact this is a Four Humors show made it a must see.
Having recently watched Lolita, I probably got more enjoyment out of this show than the rest of the audience. And the rest of the audience was loving it. My wife said that it was probably one of the best shows she’d seen from Four Humors and the bar is already set pretty high.
Special praise needs to be heaped upon the Ryan Learn, who played Humbert Humbert. Brant Miller may rock the heck out of a polka dot bikini but Miller had some of the most impressive slow takes I’ve ever seen.
Best of all, the show is not just a straight adaptation of the film. Instead, it frequently follows odd tangents that makes it more than a parody.
The only critique I have for the show is that it has effectively ruined Lolita for me. Thanks a lot guys!
I wrote the show so it would be inappropriate of me to review it. I did, however, watch it and I want to say that John, my director and our actors (Cody, Mackenzie and Chris) did an admirable job staging what I wrote.
If you see the show and like it, it is their doing as much as it is my writing. Probably more.
I love a show that starts out as a comedy and turns darkly tragic. If you can execute it well.
All the pieces are in place for this show. Phillip andrew bennet low, Tim Uren and Dawn Krosnowski are three of my favorite Fringe performers. They execute the script with the skill expected of such gifted professionals.
The script is really good but…
It relied, I think, a bit too heavily on narration. Writer Steve Schroer spends more time telling the story than he does showing us the story. That may have been a challenge resultant from adapting the source material.
I still recommend this show, though. My frustrations with the script are probably more personal preference than anything and the acting is some of the best you will see in any fringe show.
Who’s on First? 50 Years of the Doctor in 60 or Less
Being squarely in my geek wheelhouse, there was no joke that went over my head in this show.
Excepting, I’m afraid, the ones I couldn’t hear because the actors were talking too quickly or too quietly. Which happened quite a lot.
There were a lot of laughs left strewn about the stage in this show but the humor was very uneven. Some jokes landed well. Others never landed but turned into running gags anyway. The rule of three is tossed out the window in favor of the rule of as many times as possible.
The attempt to create a madcap rush through the eleven doctors involved several curious choices. Tom Baker received roughly two minutes while the last ten minutes of the show were spent reviewing every Matt Smith episode.
But look, this show is exactly what I expected. The actors are not great but they are clearly enjoying what they are doing. The script is super geeky. Rough edges are what the Fringe is all about.
Fringe Festival – Day 2
I’m opening two shows today so there won’t be much extracurricular Fringing for me this afternoon. Yesterday, however, I got in a good run of shows that crossed the spectrum from very good to very awful.
How to Date a Werewolf (or Lonesome, Wild and Blue)
I make fun of Matthew A Everett because we’ve never actually met in person. I’m actually pretty sure I saw him in the lobby before the show but I was with my wife and I didn’t want to abandon her to introduce myself to someone who may or may not have been him.
I may not have met him in person but I do follow him on Twitter so I know he’s been working on this script for quite some time. His work is evident in a very tight and funny script that isn’t so much about monsters as it is about love, loss and life.
There is a lot to like in the script but one thing I’ll highlight is the way Everett makes his characters lesbians without ever saying “hey look everyone! I wrote a play about lesbians!” The characters in the play are homosexuals but they don’t talk about homosexuality. They talk about dating and life and love and being werewolves (or zombies). Because being a homosexual shouldn’t be different. A relationship between two men or two women or a man and a woman should be normal.
I don’t know if he thought about that while writing the script. I noticed it and in a festival filled with people talking about their sexual identity (which is fine), it is nice to see a show where the characters are just living their sexual identity.
The actors in this show do a great job but Joy Dolo steals every scene she’s in. In fairness to the other actresses in the show, Joy’s part is easily the meatiest and the most fun. She executes every part she is asked to play with remarkable versatility.
So I don’t know if I’ll ever actually meet Matthew. But he writes a really good show.
This very short (less than 40 minute) show is a serious of comic vignettes of varying quality.
The cast is decidedly a-list and therin lies the problem. They are better than the material. The material isn’t awful, mind you. I was never bored. But I was always left feeling like the show should have been better. It was missing a spark that would have made it brilliant.
There was a languid pace to the proceedings that seemed to undercut the comedy. Ari Hoptman did a really good piece about memory that felt too slow because he had to wait for the audience to see multi-media elements. The multi-media elements were funny but did they all need to be there?
As a side note: we went to this show as a replacement for Once Upon a Chalkboard, which sold out. Selling out a show that early in the run means if you want to see the show, reserving your tickets in advance would be a very good idea.
The Press Conference at the End of the World
Kelvin Hatle is a friend of mine and this is his third year producing a one man show at the Fringe. He’s getting better each year.
Kelvin has a dry sense of humor that has a tendency to ambush an audience. You think you know where he’s going but his punch lines tend to catch you completely off guard.
In this case, Kelvin plays a Presidential Press Secretary dealing with the press in what could be a doomsday scenario. He also plays several other characters commenting on the situation. He gives us the information in frustratingly short sound bites that ensure that all we really know is that we want to know more.
My one critique of the show (and it isn’t really a critique) is that I was particularly fond of one character in the show and was disappointed he didn’t show up more often. I think that is more a testament to Kelvin’s ability to create interesting characters than it is to any failure in writing on his part.
So yeah, Kelvin is a friend. He’s also writes really good comedy. Go see this show.
Don’t go see this show.
This one man clown show managed to do something pretty extraordinary. It managed to offend me.
At first, I felt the show was merely boring. The character that was at the core of this one man show simply didn’t appeal to me. He was a clown character with a series of affectations and vocal tics that I was tired of after five minutes.
My issues with his character are my problem. I wouldn’t rip on a show just because of that.
But when he got to a rather lengthy section of the show where he was talking about vaginas and how you needed to give someone something if they let you see vaginas, all I could think was that he was basically suggesting that all women were prostitutes. You give money to some of them. You give flowers or chocolates to others. But basically, you need to pay women to have sex with you.
I don’t know if he even realized that’s what he was saying and that made it even more horrifying.
Later, he said the problem with the world was that nobody loved any babies except their own. I have a feeling that anyone who has an adopted child (or is an adopted child) might have a real problem with that statement. I kept hoping he’d clarify, but he never did.
As someone who creates theatre, I recognize that every show at the fringe, good or bad, is a risk by the artist. I don’t want to see any show fail. I certainly don’t want to hate a show.
But I really hated this show.
I don’t go to a lot of dance shows because they aren’t really my thing.
I go see dance shows that feature Sara Stevenson Scrimshaw because she brings a whimsical sensibility to her dancing that I really enjoy.
HEATWAVE featured seven different dances by a number of choreographers. A couple of them went on quite a bit longer than I felt was needed but I really enjoyed most of the performances. Sara’s two brief dances could have easily been longer. It was clearly pretty tough to dance in red rubber boots but I wish she had.
Sara also did a dance with frequent partner Danielle Robinson-Prater that was beautiful. Any time I see the two of them on stage, I know that I’m really going to enjoy the work that they create.
My favorite piece of the night, however, was the first one. LQ Hustle was a vibrant, energetic dance work powered by a great song. It was just a joy to watch.
So that’s five more shows. Today I’ll be watching my own show from the audience, which is a little strange for me. If you are Fringing, please come see Schrodinger’s Apocalypse at the New Century Theatre at 7:00 tonight and let me know what you think! The script is a rather dramatic departure for me and I’m definitely interested to see how it will be received.
Minnesota Fringe – Day 1
As you may (or may not) know, I’m involved in three productions at this year’s fringe Festival. Somehow, not a single one of them had a performance on opening night so I got to spend the entire evening enjoying shows put on by other people! It was strange! And exciting!
Here’s what I saw:
Co-Produced by the frighteningly talented Dawn Krosnowski, I’m a big fan of the basic concept behind the show. The history of theatre in 60 minutes? I’m in. Every member of the cast was a terrific and versatile actor and the overall conceit is executed very well. I found myself frustrated from time to time because a particular segment of the show would run on a bit longer than I felt was needed. Perhaps that was just because I really wanted more parodies of theatrical conventions rather than longer ones. So that’s probably on me.
What is absolutely true is that I really enjoyed the show and I while I think it appeals to audiences of every stripe, there are certainly a great many jokes that are there just for theatre insiders. I’m totally OK with that. Find a Fringe Producer and we’ll be happy to explain the stuff you didn’t get.
Hickory Minimum Security Correctional Facility Presents: Hoosiers: The Stage Adaptation
Mike Fotis and Joe Bozic are two of the funniest people in the history of people. This allows them to gather other funny people around them, resulting in a perfect storm of funny. Let’s see if I can use the word “funny” a few more times.
Look, the point is this: these guys consistently create some of the best and most intelligent comedy at the Fringe. I’m fairly certain that if they had written The Happening, it would have been a good movie. I could possibly be giving them too much credit but until they produce a show about “The Happening” that sucks, I’m going to stand by my prediction.
Please note, you don’t need to know anything about Hoosiers to enjoy this show. It might help if you knew something about Rudy, though…
Phillip Low can write.
I mean, I can write, too. I’m writing right now. My point is that he can write very well. It isn’t that he’s a good storyteller (he is), it is that his stories are engaging. I’m genuinely sorry when he reaches the end of one of his stories. Not because I don’t like the ending but because I really liked the story itself.
Phillip is joined by Elizabeth Byrd, who manages to match his intensity, which is no mean trick.
This is only one of something like ten shows that Phillip will be doing at the Fringe this year. I’m not in a position to say it will be his best but I’m going to say it anyway.
Bidgood to BidGREAT: Bumps and Blunders on the Boulevard to Brilliance
I’ve been producing at the Fringe for a little while now and that leads to the problem of knowing too many people who produce good work. Inevitably, I spend my entire Fringe trying to figure out how to see one or two shows by companies I haven’t seen before.
And then I like those people and I need to see their shows as well.
It’s exhausting.
I bring all of this up because before this year, I’d not seen one of Laura Bidgood’s shows. I was, therefore, unaware that I needed to add her to my “must see a show by this person” list. Until now.
Laura’s storytelling style just appeals to me. She is sassy and talks so fast, you want to tell her to stop for just a second so you can catch up. Thing is, you also want her to keep going. Unless she’s curling. Then she should stop.
I give this show a resounding slow clap.
Seriously, that’s a compliment.
So yeah, it was a very good night of Fringing. Everything was at least as good as I expected it to be. Tonight, I’m opening a show and I expect I’ll be unable to see anything else. If you are doing the Fringe, I hope all of your choices are good ones. Or at least interesting.
Geeks Without God Talks about the Fringe Festival
My life is about to become all Fringe Festival all the time so it seemed appropriate that this week’s Geeks Without God touched on the theatrical orgy that is the Minnesota Fringe. We brought back former guest Joshua Humphrey to engage in Fringe Nerd conversation.
To be fair, Josh and I are the fringe nerds. Molly and Nick patiently listened to what we had to say and asked really good questions. The conversation covers the origin of the Fringe, the benefits to local theatre companies and some of the challenges as well.
Then Josh got to ask us five questions and they required a fair amount of thought. I don’t know what it is with guests showing up and making us think, but it needs to stop!
If you would like to listen, you can do so here!
One more Fringe Show!
I was not seeking to saturate the Fringe this year but sometimes things come up and someone needs to put together a show with a week’s notice. I’m there to help out.
John Newstrom, who is directing Shrodinger’s Apocalypse also co-created another show at this year’s Fringe. I’m not sure exactly what happened but one of his actors had to drop out of that show last week. And it was a two man show.
Not wanting to lose his Producer’s fee, John asked me if I’d be willing to help mount a last-minute thing. I said yes.
So we present Stop Talking: The Game of Talking!
If the show sounds familiar, that is because we did it at last year’s Fringe. Not to worry, though! The show is an improvisational game show and that means it is different every time!
We’ve pulled together a whole bunch of very talented comedians and performers to help out with this show and if it is anything like last year, it will be a ton of fun.
Hosting duties will be shared by Joseph Scrimshaw and myself. My lovely wife Pat will be handing the timekeeper and scoring duties.
A whole lot of people will be playing the game including (but not limited to): Allegra Lingo, Ben San Del, Phillip Andrew Bennett Low, Molly Glover, Nick Glover, Sharon Stiteler, Bill Stiteler, Levi Weinhagen, Windy Bowlsby, Courtney McClean, Jena Young, Eric Knight, Johnny Packard and Jerry Belich.
We’ll be at the Music Box Theatre on the following dates:
Sunday, Aug 4th at 4:00 PM (hosted by me)
Tuesday, Aug 6th at 10:00 PM (hosted by Joseph Scrimshaw)
Thursday, Aug 8th at 8:30 PM (hosted by me)
Friday, Aug 9th at 10:00 PM (hosted by Joseph)
Saturday, Aug 10th at 1:00 PM (hosted by me)
The show is fast paced, silly and just got added at the last minute. So do us a favor and check it out, OK???
Fringey Fringe Fringe
I’ve got to apologize to myself for failing to do a good job of promoting my Fringe shows this year. With the Fringe just one week away, it is probably time for me to go into full “see my show” mode.
I’ve got two shows in the Fringe this year and I’m really looking forward to both of them.
Back in February, I didn’t have the slightest idea what I was going to do for the Fringe. Not a big deal, I thought, the lottery hasn’t happened yet!
Well then it did happen. And one of the numbers to which I was attached was drawn. Suddenly, I had to come up with an idea.
My idea was “Schrödinger’s Apocalypse.”
Hey look! Three people reading a book!
Fearless Fringe Sponsorship
When we started talking about Fearless Comedy, one of the things I was really interested in doing was a sponsorship program for the Minnesota Fringe.
The idea was pretty simple. I wanted to help encourage comedy producers to give the Fringe a try. I know that navigating the Fringe for the first time can be pretty challenging and the costs can look a little daunting. If we could make navigating that experience a little easier, I felt that it would be a great initiative for our new company and for the Twin Cities theatre community.
Today we announced the Fearless Fringe Sponsorship program and I couldn’t be happier.
A podcast all about The Shat!
On Friday, the hosts of the “Look at His Butt” podcast came to see The Complete Works of William Shatner (abridged). After the show, they sat down to interview the cast, writers and director.
Fortunately, they loved the show. If they hadn’t, it would have been really awkward.
If you’d like to listen to their review of the show and the interview that features me, Bill Stiteler, Windy Bowlsby, Brandon Ewald, Tim Uren, Duck Washington and John Newstrom, you can do that by clicking here!
I am a podcasting MACHINE!!!!
Shit that pissed me off this week – 8/24
Todd Akin says “Legitimate Rape” Rarely Results in Pregnancy
Yeah, yeah, a lot of people are talking about this one so it may seem pointless that I even bring him up so late in the week. Ignoring his messed up statistics and knowledge of biology for a moment, what really has me upset is the concept of “legitimate rape.”
Now by this I assume he meant to insinuate that many women who claim to have been raped are lying. That is a pretty common tactic. Point out that some cases of rape are not legitimate (which is true) and you cast doubt on all claims of rape.
Because we’re stupid, we think that if one woman lies about rape, any claim of rape must be viewed as suspect. That’s what Akin taps into here. He is trying to diffuse the question of abortion in the case of rape by suggesting that women are lying about rape in order to get an abortion.
He may have issued an apology but the language was no accident. He knew exactly what he was saying and to whom he was speaking.
Note that Akin has brought all sorts of other stupid people out of the woodwork who have interesting thoughts about pregnancy and “legitimate” rape.
Grail Diary 