Fringe Festival 2016: "The Chair-Builders"

Day: 9

Show: 41

Title: The Chair-Builders

Category: Drama

By: Catalog Models

Created by: Gemma Irish and Mark Sweeney

Location: Phoenix Theater

Summary: A couple is building chairs for a dinner party, but really they're figuring out how to build a life together.

Highlights: It's another quirky and delightful musical from Catalog Models* (book by Gemma Irish, music by Mark Sweeney). This one veers into the realm of the fantastical, as a couple meets a woman (Megan Kelly Hubbell) who, in exchange for the two chairs they're attempting to build, will make all their fears disappear. They agree to the exchange, and without fears, their jobs in insurance seem a little unnecessary. He decides to quit and become a lounge singer. She decides to stay, but learn to juggle in her spare time. It's a silly diversion but brings up some important questions. How many of our life decisions are based on fear? Would we make different decisions if we didn't have any fear of the result? Or does our fear serve us in some way? The songs are interesting, well-written, and well-placed within the story (although I would have preferred more live music and less recorded tracks). The Chair-Builders is an oddly sweet little musical journey through life and relationships.

*Listen to Gemma and Mark talk about the process of writing the piece on Mark's podcast Twin Cities Song Story.

2016 Minnesota Fringe Festival Must-Sees

Well friends, it's that time of year again. Time to shirk all responsibilities of adulthood, abandon your friends, family, and pets, and binge on theater for 11 days straight. That's right, the Minnesota Fringe Festival, the largest unjuried theater festival in the nation, is upon us. This year's festival includes 168 shows less than an hour in length showcasing the best (and occasionally the worst) that this theater/art/dance/comedy community has to offer. I've steadily been increasing my Fringe consumption every year from a mere ten shows in 2011, my first year of Fringing, to a high of 44 last year. The maximum number of shows that any one person can possibly see, while still obeying the rules of the space-time continuum, is 56. That means seeing a show in every timeslot available. I thought it might be fun to see if I can in fact see 56 shows during the Fringe Festival. Just once, to see if it can be done, and then I'll likely never do it again. And let's face it, I'm not getting any younger, I better do it now while staying up past 11 pm for 11 nights in a row is still (barely) within the realm of possibility. I've run seven marathons, so obviously I like giving myself crazy challenges, just to see if I can do it. And also because it's fun, right? Keep reading for a list of some of the shows I'm hoping to see, and why.

Fringe Festival: "Into the Unreal City"

Day: 4

Show: 15

Title: Into the Unreal City

Category: Musical theater

By: Catalog Models

Written by: Gemma Irish and Mark Sweeney

Location: a walking tour that begins outside the Rarig Center

Summary: Zeke and Bet are a young married couple struggling with the small and big questions in life. The audience follows them around the city as they discuss, sing, remember their past, and dream of their future.

Highlights: One of four all new "site-specific" shows at the fringe, Into the Real City takes place on the city streets and campus walkways of the West Bank neighborhood.* Musician Zeke and writer Bet are happily married but struggling to find time for each other and their dreams. As we follow them, they run into younger and older versions of themselves. Not much happens; they sing a few songs, ask questions, and look forward hopefully into the future - "the doing and the learning and the figuring." It's unabashedly sincere and romantic - the cynical need not apply. Along the way you get to experience the sights and sounds and smells of the neighborhood in an immersive experience. Yes sometimes you can't hear them, or there's a bit of awkward silence while wait-wait-waiting for the light to change, but that's part of the uniqueness of the experience. The trio of Zekes (Russell Dugger, Tristan Miller, and Mark Sweeney) and Bets (Amber Davis, Laura Mason, and Shaina Ferguson) are all lovely and appealing (and do get as close as you can to the performers, they won't bite, and it will enhance your experience). This is a wonderfully unique theater experience - just what the Fringe is for (this is one that you definitely want to reserve in advance - with an audience of just 20, it's a high sell-out risk).

*You will be walking outside and going up and down stairs, so plan accordingly.