Minnesota Fringe Festival 2019: "The Scranton Strangler: An Office Musical"

Day: 4

Show: 14

Title: The Scranton Strangler: An Office Musical

Category: COMEDY / MUSICAL THEATER / ORIGINAL MUSIC

By: Literally Entertainment

Created by: Literally Entertainment

Location: Rarig Center Thrust

Summary: A musical about everyone's favorite office sitcom, focusing on the case of the notorious Scranton Strangler.

Highlights: From the bad photocopy of an office memo handed out as a program, to Dwight's signature mustard yellow short sleeved shirt, to Stanley's obsession with Pretzel Day, this musical is everything Office fans love. In fact, it seems to be drawing new audience members to the Fringe because of their love for The Office (including teenagers, amongst whom the show is popular even though they were barely born when it started). All of your favorite characters are represented, so many that several members of the 11-person cast do double duty. In this version of the story, Michael Scott is actually undercover FBI agent Michael Scarn investigating the serial killer known as the Scranton Strangler, who starts targeting Dunder-Mifflin employees. But the plot is basically an excuse to stuff in as many Office references and scene recreations as possible, which they do, sometimes in song form. And the cast does a great job of bringing our favorites to life. Written and directed by Travis Carpenter (who also plays Dwight, instantly recognizable as such) with original music and lyrics by Kyle DeGoey and accompanied by Lindsey Fallenstein on keyboard, this show is a gift to fans of The Office. Thank God for Netflix for carrying the series (which I just recently re-watched in its entirety), and for the reliable Fringe team at Literally Entertainment for applying their fun original Fringey musical form (which started with the surprise hit of the 2015 festival - Oregon Trail: A Musical) to The Office. What will they think of next?!

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2018: "The Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist or, Ocean's 'Eh'T?: A Musical"

Day: 1

Show: 2

Title: The Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist or, Ocean's 'Eh'T?: A Musical

Category: Comedy / Musical Theater / Original Music

By: Literally Entertainment

Created by: Literally Entertainment Productions

Location: Mixed Blood Theatre

Summary: A musical spoof of the real life event in which $18 million worth of maple syrup was stolen in Canada.

Highlights: If you've seen any of their past shows, you know what to expect from Literally Entertainment (music and lyrics by Kyle DeGoey, book and direction by Travis Carpenter). Funny and clever songs, a silly and fun story, and enthusiastic performances by the winning cast. This one also features a good old fashioned heist and plenty of Canadian humor (they're so polite, they drink beer, they wear plaid, they speak in funny accents). While the lengthy plot explanation at the end of the show is a bit confusing and goes by too fast to make sense, it's a fun and very fringey musical. And there's a moose! Oh Canada, we love you (and we kind of wish we were you).

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.

Fringe Festival 2015: "Oregon Trail: A Musical"

Day: 9

Show: 44

Title: Oregon Trail: A Musical

Category: Musical Theater

By: Literally Entertainment Productions

Created by: Literally Entertainment

Location: Mixed Blood

Summary: A musical based on the computer game Oregon Trail*, in which a group of intrepid pioneers try to survive a wagon train West.

Highlights: I'm so old that I remember a time before computers, and I clearly remember when my elementary school got its first computer. We had a contest to name the computer (yes, kids, we had one computer for the whole school), and the winner was ETC - Extra Terrestrial Computer (this was clever in the early '80s). The only thing I remember doing on this computer was playing Oregon Trail, and it was the coolest thing ever. Literally Entertainment has turned that very sense of nostalgia into a musical, with great success (they sold out their last two performances and received the encore, which I attended). What a thrill that must be for first time Fringer Kyle DeGoey, who wrote the book and lyrics, directed the piece, and played percussion (with keyboard accompaniment by Lindsey Fallenstein). Everyone in the fresh-faced young cast is so delightfully and campily earnest in their portrayal of these trail stereotypes as they encounter obstacles along the way but never lose their determination. The original songs are fun and catchy and very musical theater-y; it's just an all-around fun show. I think it's safe to say that Oregon Trail: The Musical is the surprise hit of this year's Fringe!


*Fun fact: Oregon Trail was invented right here in Minnesota!