Show: 6
Category: Comedy / Drama / Original Music / Puppetry / Historical content / LGBTQIA+ Content / Political content / Religious content
By: Melancholics Anonymous
Created by: Rachel Ropella and Timothy Kelly
Location: Rarig Thrust
Summary: The teenage warrior saint Joan of Arc comes back to life to enter a beauty pageant in South Dakota.
Highlights: After selling out shows in smaller venues for the last few years, the Melancholics have graduated to the big stage of the Rarig Thrust, and they fill the space well with this really fun (and a little bit sweet) story of female friendship. What starts out as a stereotypically vicious and competitive beauty pageant, with a hilarious Timothy Kelly as the host, goes a little deeper as we find out each young woman's motivations (played to perfection by Anneliese Garner, Kate Cosgrove, Bee Davis, Meredith Enersen, and Claire Chenoweth in gorgeous gowns, a full face of makeup, and impressive hairdos). The entry of Joan (played by Samantha Miller) throws a wrench into the whole thing, as Saint Michael (Carson Uthe, who also plays the evil pageant "mom") tells her she has to win the crown. But of course, that's not why she's really there, and it turns into a sweet story of female friendship and community (with some minor violence, because this is Melancholics Anonymous, but no blood). I think this may be my favorite Melancholics entry in the fringe (with the possible exception of 2023's A Girl Scout's Guide to Exorcism). It's well written, directed, designed, and acted, and is a lot of fun to watch.
