Minnesota Fringe Festival 2019: "The Buttslasher: And Then There Were Buns"

Day: 6

Show: 20

Title: The Buttslasher: And Then There Were Buns

Category: COMEDY / MYSTERY / HISTORICAL CONTENT

By: New Endeavors

Written by: Andy Rakerd

Location: Rarig Center Thrust

Summary: A sequel to the 2017/2018 Fringe hit Buttslasher, about the infamous criminal of Stillwater and the detective who hunts them.

Highlights: If you saw the original, you're in for more of the same cheeky fun here (pun intended). But don't worry if you didn't see the first one, this is a "stand-alone sequel," in which our hero Detective Heck Bills (once again perfectly portrayed by Glen L. Dawson) is invited to a dinner party at which the guests keep dropping - slashed in the butt. Even though Heck solved the crime in the last show, it seems our serial Buttslasher has returned to the dangerous town of Stillwater, or maybe has turned into something even worse - an ass-vampire (which is the set-up for the best/worst pun in the show, "hot cross buns"). The plot is a little convoluted (including deceased wealthy urinal cake tycoon Harry Backside and a senator jailed for slug fighting), but the puns come fast and furious, and the cast (Al Fiene, Cayla Marie Wolpers, Harry Lantto, Joy Rakerd, Thalia Kostman, and Varghese Alexander,) is great fun as they portray these noir-ish characters (and Thalia's mime is, as they say in the show, a delight). I could watch a new episode of Det. Heck and the Buttslasher every year, they really go all in with the theme of mocking yet paying homage to the noir genre, with as many silly puns as possible.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.

Fringe Festival 2017: "Wellstone: A Minnesotan Musical"

Day: 7

Show: 29

Title: Wellstone: A Minnesotan Musical

Category: Musical

By: Albino Squirrel

Written by: Bryn Tanner

Location: U of M Rarig Center Thrust

Summary: A musical about the life and work of Minnesota senator Paul Wellstone.

Highlights: A lot of Fringe shows are outrageous and over the top, so it's always a welcome respite to find a show that's sweet and sincere, like this one is. This is a beautiful portrait of a Minnesota hero, a politician who believed that politics was not about money or power games (what a concept), who fought for and enacted change in campaign finance and mental health care. Of course, anytime you try to shove 40 years of a person's life into an hour it's going to feel a little fast and disjointed, more of a surface overview than a deep dive, and this does. And the five songs come a little out of the blue as the rest of the piece feels like a straight play; a few more songs and perhaps some musical underscoring might make it feel like more of a musical. But the ideals and the heart of the story are there, and the cast (Cayla Marie Wolpers, Christof Krumenacker, Jason Millsap, Rachel Lawhead, and especially Michael Turner as Wellstone) is beautifully earnest in their portrayals (if a bit too young for the older, wiser versions of the characters). As the cast recounted some of the major political happenings since Wellstone's death in a plane crash in 2002 at the end of the show, I had tears in my eyes at the thought of politicians who actually cared about their constituents and making the world a better place. Would we still be where we are if Wellstone had lived and served another six (or more) years in the senate? No one can say, but this show made me feel simultaneously depressed at the current state of politics and hopeful that the Wellstones of the world will eventually prevail.

"We all do better when we all do better." - Paul Wellstone, 1944-2002

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.

Fringe Festival 2015: "The Debutante"

Day: 3

Show: 13 

Title: The Debutante

Category: Drama

By: Abas Theatre Company

Written by: F. Scott Fitzgerald

Location: U of M Rarig Center Arena

Summary: In 1919, a popular and careless young woman falls in love with a writer from St. Paul and has a brief and intense love affair.

Highlights: This is a beautiful and tragic love story, like much of F. Scott Fitzgerald's work. Rosalind (Piper Schatz Akin) is rich and beautiful and enjoys toying with the many men who fall in love with her. Until she meets Amory (John Fries, who looks the part of a young Fitzgerald hero), with whom she falls desperately in love. He is hers completely and wants to marry her, but she rejects him because she needs to marry someone with money who can support her lifestyle. "Oh Amory, what have I done to you?" The play is short and bittersweet and well played by this young cast. In fact it's so short there's ample time for a couple of party dancing party scenes that make me long for the day when beautiful women in dresses danced politely and civilly with handsome men in suits (although I didn't quite get the modern dance scene and the use of remotes to turn on the music). Fitzgerald's words are beautiful to listen to and the period costumes and dancing are pleasant to watch, and the amiable cast does a good job bringing this sweet and sad little story to life.

"Sasquatched! The Musical" by Imagined Theatre at the Sabes JCC Theater

The new original musical Sasquatched!, written by local playwright and composer Phil Darg, premiered at the New York Music Theatre Festival last year and has now come home to a series of shows in the Twin Cities this summer. It's a fun, silly, family-friendly musical with catchy songs that doesn't take itself too seriously. It's nothing ground-breaking, but it's cheesy good fun for the whole family.

In Columbia National Park in the Pacific Northwest, we meet Arthur, a "Sasquatch American" who doesn't fit the image of Bigfoot. Yes he's big and hairy, but he's also intelligent, well-spoken, and kind, a true gentle giant. He's lost and trying to get back to his family when he meets Sam, a lost little boy. In the tradition of a child befriending an alien creature (see also E.T. and ALF), the two become friends and help each other through their predicament. In the meantime, many people are looking for Sam and "Bigfoot," including Sam's "Helicopter Parents," a park ranger, the hosts of a reality TV show called Modern Monsters, and some locals who are hoping to profit from the discovery of Bigfoot. Eventually everyone works together to protect Arthur from those who are trying to exploit him and his kind, so that he can live a quiet happy life in the Sasquatch community in a remote area of the park.

This production of Sasquatched!, directed by creator Phil Darg and his wife Jules, features a new local cast, and I can only assume it was improved from last year's version by Jim Lichtsheidl's "Storieography" (his word for choreography and movement and such). One way it was not improved is by the use of pre-recorded music instead of a live band. The NYMF production lists a music director and assistant music director, so I assume they had live music. As a former band geek I take offense at that, and frankly, canned music just sounds cheap and karaoke-like. How can you respect a musical with no live music? The show would be greatly improved by ditching the track and adding even just a keyboard, guitar, and percussion.

reality TV show hosts with the local
(Rick Baustian, Daniel Flohr, and Cayla Marie Wolpers)

I love a show that knows what it is (namely, silly campy fun) and doesn't take itself too seriously. It even pokes gentle fun at the medium of musical theater with winking comments to the audience like "it's been three dance numbers since we've seen them," and the song "Rhubarb" in which the chorus sings about, well, being a chorus. The large cast jumps wholeheartedly into this spirit with broad comedic performances. Except for Dylan Omsted as Arthur, who really is the straight man amongst the wackos, the calm center with a big deep voice one would expect from Bigfoot. Young Alex Michuda is pretty adorable as Sam, Cayla Marie Wolpers and Rick Baustian provide a great skewering of reality TV show hosts (the latter is a cross between Bear Grylls and Phil Keoghan with a Kiwi accent), opera-trained Roland Hawkins has a gorgeous voice and tongue-in-cheek performance as the proud seismologist, and Ali Daniels is charming as his love interest, the spunky park ranger. The show also touches on issues such as environmentalism, reality TV, the media, and overparenting, albeit in a pretty light-hearted and not very deep way.

Sasquatched! continues this weekend at the Sabes JCC Community theater, followed by free outdoor performances in Maple Grove, and a two week run at the Old Arizona in late July (click here for details). Bring your family for some fun summer musical theater.