Minnesota Fringe Festival 2020: "Stuck in an Elevator with Patrick Stewart"

Location: Digital Hub (available anytime)

Length: 60 minutes

Title: Stuck in an Elevator with Patrick Stewart

By: The Theatre Cosmic

Summary: An imagined meeting between Patrick Stewart and a Star Trek fan at a 1988 comic-con.

Highlights: I'm not a Star Trek fan, so in last year's busy live in-person Fringe Festival with over 100 shows to choose from, this one didn't make my list. But I'm glad I had the opportunity to watch this recorded version. You don't have to be a Star Trek fan to enjoy it. Written by Brandon Taitt, it's a funny and surprisingly poignant story about the accidental meeting of two humans who seemingly have nothing in common (one a renowned actor frustrated with his situation, one a nervous teenager with an unhappy home life), but find a real connection. This fictional Patrick Stewart (a convincing George M. Calger) is not happy to be tied to a six-year contract on a silly television show, and having to pass up his dream stage role in Richard III. As the title suggests, he is stuck in an elevator with adoring fan Daniel (an endearing Brandon Caviness). At first it's a situation of - never meet your heroes because they'll disappoint you; Sir Patrick is a bit of a thoughtless jerk. But as the two dig deeper, they discover commonalities, and Daniel convinces Patrick that there is nobility in his Star Trek role, and that he and his friends' obsession with Star Trek as a way to find comfort and hope is not unlike young Patrick's obsession with theater. The camera work is not bad for this type of thing, with a few different angles, close-ups combined with wide shots, so that the live show translates fairly well to this format.

Read all of my Nightly Fringe mini-reviews here.

Read all of my Digital Hub mini-reviews here.

"Musical Mondays" at LUSH, June 2019

Friends, it's been over a year since I attended Musical Mondays, the monthly cabaret series featuring #TCTheater talent. Part of that is my busy regular theater schedule, and part of it is that since moving to their new home at LUSH Bar in Northeast Minneapolis, the space has felt uncomfortably crowded. Great for them for drawing a big crowd, not so great for this introvert who doesn't like crowds. So I was thrilled to hear that LUSH expanded their space just in time for Musical Mondays' annual Pride celebration! I attended the show last night with my blogger friends from Minnesota Theater Love and Artfully Engaging, and was reminded of just what a wonderful, welcoming, educational, and entertaining evening Musical Mondays is. They're taking the month of July off (because summer is busy), but they'll be back post-Fringe on August 12, and the first (or second) Monday of every month for what is hopefully a long time.

"Hairspray" at Artistry (formerly known as Bloomington Civic Theatre)

Bloomington Civic Theatre has recently rebranded themselves as Artistry, and they've set the bar pretty high for the new direction of the organization. Their first production, a new take on the old favorite Hairspray, is fun and lighthearted, has a powerful and very relevant message about equality and self-love, is performed by a dynamic and diverse cast, and is directed and choreographed with great energy and spirit. It's an all-around wonderful show and is sure to be a smashing success (get your tickets now before they sell out). If Hairspray is any indication, I expect Artistry's inaugural season* to be the top-notch!

At this point I'm sure everyone's seen some version of Hairspray, whether the original movie, the musical based on the movie, or the movie based on the musical based on the movie. Normally this would be a recipe for disaster, but this story is so rich and music-filled that each iteration works. Despite not looking like the prim and proper skinny girls on her favorite TV show, The Corny Collins Show (think American Bandstand), Tracie wins a spot on the show and begins to dance on TV. She can't understand why her "colored" friends can't be on the show, so she arranges a protest and is promptly thrown in jail. But she gets out, continues towards her goal, wins the boy of her dreams, and achieves racial harmony through dance.

What does a 2002 Broadway musical based on a 1988 movie set in 1962 have to do with 2015? As it turns out, a lot. Tracie Turnblad is a heroine for the ages, proving that a young woman who doesn't meet society's standards of beauty can live a happy and fulfilling life, fall in love, and enact social change (all while dancing and singing!). And more than 50 years after the fictional events of the show take place, we are still traveling that road towards racial equality. The protest scenes include signs saying "Black Lives Matter" and "Hands Up, Don't Shoot," landing the show squarely in the present day and bringing an even greater poignancy to the song "I Know Where I've Been." Lyrics such as "there's a road we've been traveling, lost so many on the way" and "there's a struggle that we have yet to win" mean even more today. And somehow singing "I Love You Baltimore," and the entire show that's based on John Waters' love letter to his hometown, takes on a deeper meaning after the events that played out there earlier this year. I was moved to tears several times, which is a rare thing in musical that's also this much fun.

Brandon Caviness and Gracie Anderson
as Edna and Tracie Turnblad

Artistry has compiled a fantastic cast, and it's nice to see some new faces among the familiar ones. Starting at the top, Gracie Anderson is everything you could want in a Tracie Turnblad. She can sing and dance with the best of them, but more importantly, she has great charisma and winningly portrays Tracie's huge heart and spirit. As teen heartthrob Link, Nicholas Kaspari is no Matthew Morrison (who is?), but he's got some smooth moves and oodles of charm, and makes Link worthy of Tracie's affection. It's refreshing to see parents as loving and supportive of their daughter and her crazy dreams as Tracie's parents are. Brandon Caviness is fabulous in this role of a lifetime as the hausfrau Edna who learns from her daughter that it's not too late to take her place in the world, and Alan Holasek's Wilbur is all sweet and lanky awkwardness. The two of them make a charming and "timeless" couple.

"The Big Doll House"

2014 Spotlight Award winner Angela Steele proves she's more than worthy of that honor with her terrific performance as Amber, the mean girl everyone loves to hate (and she looks like a blond bouffanted Cristin Milioti). Catherine Noble is hilarious as Tracie's gum-popping sidekick Penny. Is that Melissa McCarthy stealing scenes in a number of roles from the president of the hairspray company to a cop? No, it's Meagan Kedrowski, but she coulda fooled me with her very specific comic creation of these characters, complete with funny voices and weird faces. Last but definitely not least, Bey Jackson's performance as Motormouth Maybelle, and specifically his rendition of the aforementioned Civil Rights anthem "I Know Where I've Been," is a thing of inspiring beauty.

A hallmark of BCT/Artistry is their traditional pit orchestra let by Anita Ruth, but in this show it's so much fun to see them on stage like a big band on a TV show, sitting behind the Painted Ladies of Baltimore on this simple but effective set by Erica Zaffarano. Ed Gleeman's '60s period costumes are fabulous and might make you miss Mad Men a little less, with the men in sharp suits and the women in lovely full-skirted dresses (several of which I would like to own). And kudos to wig designer Paul Bigot for creating the appropriately over-the-top hairsprayed hairdos.

When the director is a choreographer and a former American Bandstand dancer, you know there's going to be some amazing dancing in the show. Michael Matthew Ferrell has teamed with choreographer Kristin Iiams to create a fun and fast-moving show with such sharp, fast, fun, and very '60s dancing that I wish I were born a few decades earlier. In the capable hands of dance captains Emily Madigan and Krysti Wiita and this dynamic young cast, the dancing is a joy to watch. Warning: it's hard to sit still watching this show!

Hairspray is a show that's been done many times in the last 13 years, so you might wonder, why now? Artistry answers that question by bringing a feeling of relevance and immediacy to this poignant and moving story wrapped up in fabulous '60s song and dance. And it's a beautiful thing to see such diversity on stage and in the audience, especially at a theater in the suburbs (other suburban theaters - take note!). Hairspray continues through September 13, get your tickets now because they're going to be hard to come by (also check for discount tickets on Goldstar).

*The musical theater season continues with Yeston and Kopit's Phantom, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, and Fiddler on the Roof. Also check out the plays in Artistry's black box theater.

"Angels in America: Millennium Approaches" by Theatre Coup D'Etat at the Lowry Lab

I had never seen Tony Kushner's masterpiece two-part play Angels in America live on stage before last week (in fact the only time I've seen Kushner plays is at "KushnerFest" at the Guthrie three years ago). But I fell in love with Angels in America through the 2003 HBO mini-series and have since been eager to see it on stage. So when I heard that local theater company Theatre Coup D'Etat (which I'd never heard of before) was performing the first part, Millenium Approaches, I jumped at the chance to see it. It was as I remember the TV adaptation to be - powerful, compelling, perplexing, and moving. After it ended, I found myself wondering when Theatre Coup D'Etat will present the second part, subtitled Perestroika, so that I can spend more time with these sympathetic and/or infuriating characters.

The play centers around two couples. Joe and Harper are a married Mormon couple that is struggling: Joe because he's gay but, like a good Mormon, has learned to "Turn it Off," and Hannah because of her addiction to pills in attempt to cope with that unspoken fact. As a result, she's clingy, terrified, and suffers from hallucinations. Joe has been offered a job in DC but doesn't want to take it because of how it will affect Harper. Joe's co-worker, Louis, is the first to confront Joe with the fact that he's gay. Louis himself is having a hard time because his partner, Prior, has AIDS and is in declining health (Louis is the infuriating character I referred to earlier). He turns his partner's illness into his problem; Prior is lying on the floor in pain, and Louis cries, why is this happening to me! He ends up leaving Prior, unable to handle his illness. It's easy to label Louis as a jerk because of this, but who really knows how they'd react to that situation unless they're in it? We'd all like to think we'd stand by someone we loved going through a terminal illness, but Louis is the embodiment of that tiny part of us that questions if we'd have what it takes. But Prior isn't left totally alone, he has his fiercely supportive friend, the drag queen/nurse Belize. And he has his hallucinations - of his ancestors who also died young, and an angel who comes to visit him in his sickbed. This is where the play ends, with much more to be explored.

Prior (James N. Stone) and Harper (Megan Dowd),
who only meet in a dream

The staging of the play is very simple, with black boxes serving as chairs, beds, bars, coffins. That and the intimate space at the Lowry Lab puts the focus on the actors and the emotions of the piece. At the heart of the piece is James N. Stone as the ailing Prior. He takes the character from healthy and making light of his illness, to writhing on the floor in pain, to dressing in drag as a comfort, and he carries the audience on the journey with him. Veteran actor Steven Flamm (he's been acting in the Twin Cities for over 40 years) is the gay lawyer who also has AIDS, but denies both facts to maintain his reputation as a high-powered attorney. Despite this, Steven manages to make him a likeable and compelling character. Michael Brown (that promising young actor from American Family at Park Square) shows more of his talents as Prior's friend Belize (think True Blood's Lafayette). Megan Down manages to make Harper crazy and sympathetic (in a much different role that her recent appearance in the farce Absolute Turkey at the Gremlin). Also good are Peter Beard as the closeted Joe who slowly comes unhinged, Brandon Caviness as Louis, and Katherine Preble as the wise rabbi who later transforms into a nurse and an angel.

Angels in America: Millennium Approaches continues through August 4 at the Lowry Lab in downtown St. Paul, and will then move across town to In the Heart of the Beast for a few weeks in late August. Definitely worth checking out to see this American classic. But it's not a short play - with three acts, two intermissions, and a total running time of 3+ hours, you'll want to go in fully rested and/or get some caffeine (advice that I unfortunately did not take). And with any luck, we'll have a chance to see Part 2 sometime in the not too distant future. (Goldstar half price tickets available for the Lowry and In the Heart of the Beast).