MN Fringe 2019: Day Two - Dating and Killers

Taking it easy on day two, we spent our time at Strike Theater in beautiful Northeast with gorgeously ample street parking. We were a little sad that their weird Laffy Taffy and Skittles-rich concession stand wasn't open, but we got over it.

The Tale of The Bloody Benders By The Feral Theatre Company (Strike Theater)
A notorious family of serial killers in 1870s Kansas, the Benders makes a fascinating subject for a true crime-inspired Fringe show. Braden Joseph, playwright and director, begins the show with a campfire storytelling session that leads into an interesting depiction of the Bender family and their unique murdering style. Although short, this is a show with a lot of promise.

Plus, since it was short, we had some time to walk over to Indeed Brewing for a quick drink. (Tattersall Distilling is right in the building, but it's prohibitively crowded and loud for a good post-theater discussion fest.)

#FirstDate By Scammers, Thieves, and The Like (Strike Theater)
We headed back to Strike, suitably fortified and ready for some online dating-based comedy. #FirstDate is a long-form improv show, directed by Molly Ritchie, who created the hilarious improv show Family Dinner, which can be seen at Huge Theater, as well as a number of other improv shows. Advertised special guests include Breanna Cecile, John Gebretatose, and, at our performance: Allison Lonigro. A game cast of improvisers (Nicole Fende, Jackson Melius, Ed Timek and Allison Lonigro) tries to persuade online dater (Patience Nallick) to swipe right on them. An incomplete bio in the program made us wonder about Nallick's background in improv comedy. Or perhaps the intention was for her to play it straight as to set off the improvisation, but it actually tended to take the energy out of the comedy, despite the daters best attempts to engage. That said, Allison Lonigro's farmer girl dater was an absolute treat and a delight to watch.

MN Fringe 2019: Day ONE - Cults, Cons, Shakespeare, and DEATH

We leapt into the 2019 Minnesota Fringe Festival on Friday with a full line-up in Seven Corners/West Bank under the guidance of our friend Cherry and Spoon (who will see seventeen thousand shows--check her blog!).

A Cult Classic By Sheep Theater (Southern Theater)
"The world is really really loud and complicated" read the flyer we were handed as we entered the Southern Theater for Sheep Theater's tale of a doomsday cult. Despite focusing on Mindful Actualizationalism, members of the cult are lost when their leader is missing. They attempt their ultimate ascension (thanks to a foul Cosmic Elixir), but alas, things are not working out so well. A simple set, endearing and funny cast (well-loved by the wildly enthusiastic audience), and an interesting premise made this a great start to our Fringe.

Xena and Gabrielle Smash the Patriarchy By Mermaid Productions (Theatre in the Round)
That title! That promo picture! How could any fan of syndicated action dramas of the 1990s miss this show? We sure couldn't. The perfectly dressed and coiffed Ariel Leaf (as Xena) and Nissa Nordland Morgan (as Gabrielle) are going about their warrior princess and companion business, fighting off bad guys and whatnot, when they come into possession of Circe's magic cup. The cup transports them to a present-day SF/fantasy convention, where they are mistaken for really dedicated cosplayers. Suffice it to say, Xena and Gabrielle kick some ass. Whether it's con staff member Alpha (a hilarious Heather Meyer), unenlightened Ted (Matthew Kessen) who needs a little Xena schooling in his interactions with Leah (Elora Riley), and Coraline (Katie Starks), who is less than happy with Leah's slave girl ensemble, plus Richard "Doc" Woods and Nicholas Nelson, the cast is outstanding.

The script (by Nissa Nordland Morgan) includes plenty of deep show references, tons of fandom jokes, thoughtful exploration of issues, and even song and dance. Director Katy McEwen makes excellent use of the Theater in the Round space and the timing was tight, even at the first show. Whether you're a fan of Xena or not, this show is an utter delight with some excellent substance as well. (And if you are a fan, you will be DELIGHTED with a certain reveal halfway through the show.) Seriously, don't miss this. It's a treat and let's be honest: the patriarchy could use some serious smashing.

Measure4Measure By Rough Magic Performance Company (Southern Theater)
A six-woman cast performs this perfectly trimmed adaptation of William Shakespeare's Measure For Measure--as they call it, the original #MeToo play. Having just seen an excellent full production last season at American Players Theatre, we can say that this version covers all the important parts of the story while emphasizing the powerlessness of a woman against a powerful man. "Who would believe you?" is a chilling line every time it's uttered. Under Sarah Agnew's direction, the terrific cast includes Ashawnti Sakina Ford, Alayne Hopkins, Catherine Johnson Justice, and Mo Perry carrying the heavy drama, with welcome moments of levity from Elise Langer and Taj Ruler. It's a great production, whether you're familiar with the play, or need an introduction to this story. Also, we'd like to see this amazing cast perform all of the Shakespeare, please and thank you.

Reverend Matt's Monster Science Presents How to Come Back from the Dead by Monster Science Productions (Mixed Blood Theater)
If you follow our blog at all, you know we are big fans of Reverend Matt's Monster Science and his blend of well-researched monster lore, well-chosen images (in Powerpoint!), and crack comic timing. This time around, Rev. Matt gets in depth on how to achieve immortality, whether as a vampire, zombie, mummy or a variety of other obscure (but well-explained) creatures from a variety of cultures. Despite being billed (at the Fringe website) as a solo show, Rev. Matt (Matthew Kessen) has a new addition, junior Monster Scientist/graduate student/wannabe vampire (?) Elora Riley (Elora Riley). Although the idea of adding someone to play off of is an intriguing one for this often solo performer, to be honest, we felt that it reduced the amazing connection that Rev. Matt has with his audience and his fantastic solo timing. But that's a small quibble, as Rev. Matt's shows are always hilarious. (And when you see it, can we talk about a certain vampiric Mayberry-denizen joke that is GENIUS?)

And that is IT for Fringe: Day One (since they just REFUSE to do shows 24 hours a day--I guess artists need to sleep?)

Reimagining Done Right: 42nd Street at the Ordway

The Ordway caps its 2018-2019 Broadway season with a smashing production of the old-fashioned musical 42nd Street, playing through August 11.

42nd Street isn't the classic Broadway musical you might think it is: It didn't open on Broadway until 1980, the year after Andrew Lloyd Webber's Evita  premiered.

More about the show's history later, but first, the big question: how do you reimagine a musical that was already a period piece when it opened on Broadway?  You revisit the music and the dance.

This "Ordway Original" 42nd Street reprises a version first performed at Chicago's Drury Lane Theatre in 2017, directed (as is the Ordway's production) by Michael Heitzman. The production features the 2017 show's exciting new musical arrangements and orchestrations by Everett Bradley and amazing choreography by Jared Grimes.

42nd Street is a classic backstage musical, in which a talented newcomer shows up at a Broadway audition and manages to impress the creative team and the cast. When the leading lady can't perform, the ingenue becomes a star. Although the story is, as always, set in 1933, the musical arrangements are jazzier than we are used to hearing, and rather than using just the classic line of time-stepping chorines we expect, the tap dancing of the ensemble is loud, percussive, athletic, and thoroughly exciting to watch.

So You Wanna Fringe: Our Best Bets at Minnesota Fringe 2019

Friends! It's almost time for the Minnesota Fringe Festival, eleven crazy days of wild, adventurous theater fun.

But DON'T PANIC. Even though there are 142 shows in the 2019 Minnesota Fringe & Family Fringe Festivals, we have your Fringey back (ew--you should really do something about that). 

Plan Accordingly: Note that you can only see 62 different shows (in 76 time slots out of 735 performances of 142 possible productions (thanks for the stats, Fringe!), so no need to get overwhelmed. You'll need to make some serious choices. We can help.

Trust the Experts: Follow our friend Cherry and Spoon, an utter Fringe fanatic, and check out the rest of the Twin Cities Theater Bloggers on Facebook for even more Fringetastic reviews and news.

Ease In: By starting off with the Family Fringe, which runs July 26-28 and August 2-4 at the very accessible Barbara Barker Center for Dance on the West Bank. Read more about Family Fringe here!

Need To Know Basis: Here's your link to the Full Festival Line-Up,  the Daily Schedule, Accessibility, and the Box Office and Ticket Info.

Enough Backstory! And now, without further ado, here is our highly personal list of the 25 shows we cannot wait to see at 2019 Minnesota Fringe Festival, divided by genre for your Fringing convenience. Plus, a few more shows that intrigue us. (Text in italics is from the Fringe website.) Let's DO THIS!

Theater by the River - Great River Shakespeare Festival

Last weekend, we headed down to beautiful river town Winona with some theater blogger friends to pay a visit to Great River Shakespeare Festival on the campus of Winona State University.

Although this is only our second year visiting, it's on our can't-miss theater list. (Check out what our friends Cherry and Spoon and Twin Cities Stages had to say about our trip!)

The mixed media piece Sarah Johnson created for the 
16th Season of Great River Shakespeare Festival is 
her interpretation of the varied productions. Learn more here

Great River Shakespeare Festival is truly a thoughtfully programmed theater festival, and each season has a theme with plays and education events that center around that theme. This year's theme, according to the GRSF literature:

"'Don't judge a book by its cover' - it's a tale that, turns out, really is as old as time and one that appears in many of the themes of our sixteenth season. The juxtaposition between what's without and what's within is explored in terms of outward title versus inward nobility, physical appearance versus internal identity, what the world perceives versus what happens behind closed doors and myriad other situations."

Minnesota Family Fringe - Don't Miss It!

Whether you're a hard-core Minnesota Fringe Festival fan or new to the Fringe, do not miss Family Fringe!

What Is Family Fringe? 

"Family Fringe offers children and families interested in new and adventurous work the ability to see shows presented by companies creating multi-generational productions. 

Family Fringe is a separate, juried festival taking place over two weekends (July 26-28 and August 2-4) in tandem with the Minnesota Fringe Festival." (Fringe website) 

Why You Need To Go:

Summer Theater for DAYS - Jefferson Township etc.

Leslie Vincent and Kelly Houlehan in
Jefferson Township Sparkling Junior Talent Pageant

Periodically, the utter abundance of fabulous theater in the Twin Cities gets a little overwhelming. In order to help you, our dear readers, sort through the opportunities, here's our list of what we're looking forward to this summer.

NUMBER ONE: 

Jefferson Township Sparkling Junior Talent Pageant
Jun 14 – Jul 28, 2019

Andy Boss Stage at Park Square Theatre

Why we're excited: We saw this at the Minnesota Fringe in 2017 (twice) and here's what we had to say and we'll say it again and LOUDER.

Go see this. Keith Hovis is a young genius, and this show is just as dark and delightful as his Teenage Misery. The music is fun and the lyrics are hilarious. And the CAST. Kelly Houlehan plays and sings crazy like no one else, and Ryan London Levin, as her reluctant partner in crime and pageantry is delightful to watch. Leslie Vincent is frighteningly perfect as the small town beauty queen hanging on to her crown with all her might. Zach Garcia is perfect as the ex-jock who might just be the most level-headed of the group. Amazingly, in the span of an hour, Hovis fits a clear story, fully-realized characters, and oh, so many jokes! You'll laugh, you'll cry, and you'll laugh again.

NOTE: This was sitting in our blog drafts for an age and we're just coming back to it. We were going to add a bunch more shows, but although there is a lot of great theater coming up, we were not remotely as excited about them as we were about this one! So go!! Darn it!