Minnesota Fringe Festival 2025: "Shrieking Harpies Presents: Period Piece"

Day: 4

Show: 15

Title: Shrieking Harpies Presents: Period Piece

Category: Comedy / Improv / Musical Theater / Original Music / Audience participation / LGBTQIA+ Content

By: The Shrieking Harpies

Created by: Lizzie Gardner, Taj Ruler, Hannah Wydeven, and Justin Nellis on the Keys

Location: Barker Center

Summary: An improved musical, set in a period chosen by votes on The Shrieking Harpies' Instagram.

Highlights: Improvisers/singers/performers Lizzie, Taj, and Hannah are such pros at this (accompanied by Justin on keys) that this year they gave themselves a new challenge - a period piece! At the show I attended (the one and only 10pm show for this morning person, that's how much I love them) the period was the 1990s, which for someone who was a fully grown adult in the '90s doesn't feel like a period piece, it feels like a few years ago. So unfortunately I didn't really get the period piece feel from this show that I wanted; it was really just like any other Shrieking Harpies show. Which is to say - beautifully performed, ridiculously funny, with characters and storylines that come to a satisfying conclusion. Go see one of their final two shows, and be sure to vote on what period you'd like to see, hopefully one that's longer than 30 years ago.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here. 

Twin Cities Improv Festival at the Phoenix Theatre

With the closure of HUGE Theater last year, the Twin Cities Improv Festival has a new home - Phoenix Theater in Uptown. For four days, you can watch improv troupes from here in the Twin Cities (and we have a lot of great ones) as well as troupes from around the country and even some from other countries. I attended the first, all-local, night of the festival and had a great time watching some beloved familiar improvisors and some new-to-me improvisors. Each had their own spin on the artform, most started with a suggestion or two from the audience and they took that somewhere unexpected. The Phoenix is a great welcoming location (despite the never-ending construction on Hennepin), with snacks and drinks (including espresso drinks) sold in the cozy lobby. Keep reading for my thoughts on the eight improv troupes I saw (two or three troupes are grouped together in each set, with up to four sets a night), and click here for the schedule of shows continuing through Sunday.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2023: "The Shrieking Harpies"

Day: 2

Show: 4

Title: The Shrieking Harpies

Category: COMEDY / IMPROV / MUSICAL THEATER / AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION

By: The Shrieking Harpies

Created by: Lizzie Gardner, Justin Nellis, Taj Ruler, and Hannah Wydeven

Location: Rarig Arena

Summary: An improvised musical based on audience prompts, new every night!

Highlights: The Shrieking Harpies are another sure thing good show. What you see will be different from what I saw, which was a family friendly gay period piece. But what will be the same is three talented performers, and one talented musician, creating a brand new musical storytelling show before your very eyes. It's so polished, with recurring musical themes, multiple characters played by just three actors, and a plot with beginning, middle, and end, that it's almost hard to believe it's improvised. But the trio of Lizzie Gardner, Taj Ruler, and Hannah Wydeven (with Justin Nellis on keyboard accompanying not just the songs but also providing underscoring for all of the scenes) have been doing this so long that they can finish each other's... harmonies. Like any good improv troupe, they can follow along and see where the others are going, and somehow create a compelling and entertaining story (this one about two lonely men in Jane Austen's England, one with seven sisters, one of whom is pregnant - this might come up a lot since Lizzie is too), with surprisingly great music that I'm still singing in my head ("you're not alone," "go off the edge with me," "white gloves without a spec"). If you've never seen The Shrieking Harpies before at the Fringe or TC Horror Fest or any of the other places they perform, you're just not doing it right. And if you have, you know how much fun their shows always are.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2019: "Edith Gets High"

Day: 5

Show: 17

Title: Edith Gets High

Category: COMEDY / DRAMA / MUSICAL THEATER / PHYSICAL THEATER

By: Devious Mechanics

Written by: Keith Hovis

Location: Rarig Center Arena

Summary: A new original musical about Edith, whose favorite pastime is getting high and playing video games, until she's sucked into a game that feels a little too real.

Highlights: I love Keith Hovis' Fringey musicals, and this one is no exception. But it feels a little different - a little more focused, a little less gruesomely violent, with some physical theater elements (thanks to director Allison Witham of Transatlantic Love Affair). Edith is one of "Four Women Getting High Playing Video Games," including her fiance Ari and a couple of online friends. She gets perhaps a bit too high, and imagines herself inside of a video game in which she has to save Ari, battling imaginary foes as well as a very real troll. The original songs are clever and tuneful, reminiscent of previous Hovis musicals but with some video-game-sounding elements. This fantastic cast is as good at the comedy as the musical parts of the show, starting with the always wonderful Deb Berger as our hero Edith, with a strong and hard-working supporting cast (Cameron Reeves, Colleen Somerville Leeman, Kiko Laureano, Lizzie Gardner, and Ryan Lear) playing multiple characters. There is one unfortunate line, something about how video games makes killing people fun, that is a bit awkward in light of recent events. But on the whole it's a really fun, well-written, brilliantly performed Fringey musical. Recommended to reserve a seat in advance on the Fringe website, or get there early to snag one of the 30% of seats that are held for walk-ups.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2019: "The Shrieking Harpies"

Day: 1

Show: 1

Title: The Shrieking Harpies

Category: COMEDY / IMPROV / MUSICAL THEATER

By: Shrieking Harpies

Created by: The Shrieking Harpies

Location: Strike Theater

Summary: "Shrieking Harpies is a fierce femme powered musical improv trio dedicated to bringing bad-assery to the improv stage."

Highlights: The Shrieking Harpies perform regularly at Huge Theater, usually past my bedtime, so I was happy to finally see a full set from them. It's great fun, very feminist (in the mostly male-dominated world of improv), and a perfect way to start my 2019 Fringe. Based solely on the audience suggestion "astronaut," performers Lizzie Gardner, Taj Ruler, and Hannah Wydeven created an entire story with multiple characters and a beginning, middle, and end, that even mostly made sense! The show you see will be different than what I saw, but I loved this tale of female astronauts (and their moms) finally getting to be heroes in space. Because women were born for space! It's pretty remarkable to watch them create the story live in front of you, and with songs too! They improvise funny, clever, silly, melodic songs (with harmonies), along with Justin Nellis improvising on the keyboard (and playing not just for the songs, but providing an improvised soundtrack for the entire story). If you like improv, and musical theater, and women telling women's stories - don't miss this one!

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.

"City Council Christmas" at Daleko Arts

This was my fourth visit to the very southern-most #TCTheater, DalekoArts in New Prague (pronounced prayg not prahg, because this is Minnesota). I spent the first 15 years of my life in a rambler on a dead-end gravel road less than 20 miles from where Daleko is now, and my parents still live in Lakeville, so the drive to New Prague is filled with nostalgia for me. Daleko has built up a loyal audience over the last five and a half years, and it seems that their original holiday* comedies are just as popular as the ones at that other theater in the 'burbs on the opposite end of town. I'm not sure I would recommend spending two hours in the car to attend an 80-minute show (although I wouldn't dissuade you if you're so inclined), but if you find yourself in the southern metro, you should definitely check out what's happening at the Prague Theater in charming historic downtown New Prague. Which right now happens to be City Council Christmas, a hilariously quirky and fun comedy about a small town city council, which Daleko calls their "goofy, idiotic, fun, and totally ridiculous love letter to our audiences, and to the good people of New Prague and the surrounding area."

A Night at HUGE Improv Theater: "Family Dinner," KINGS, and the Bearded Company's "Chronicles"

Who couldn't use more laughter in their life? A great place to guarantee that is HUGE Improv Theater in Uptown, with shows every night except Tuesday. 'Tis the holiday* season, which brings my (and apparently may people's) favorite improv show - the utterly delightful Family Dinner. Every Friday and Saturday through the end of the year, a group of talented improvisers (nightly cast TBA from this lovely group) put on a very funny, very real (ish) production of a typical family dinner, including eating an actual dinner. It's super popular and almost always sells out, so make your reservations in advance. And while you're there, why not stay for another show or two, like I did? Friday nights include KINGS and The Bearded Company (keep reading for more on them), while Saturdays are The Mess (whom I've seen a couple of times before) and A Christmas Carol: Unscripted (I might need to go back to see this one). The full schedule (and reservations) can be found on HUGE's website.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2018: "Couple Fight: The Musical!"

Day: 10

Show: 32

Title: Couple Fight: The Musical!

Category: Comedy / Dance - Modern / Musical Theater

By: Weggel-Reed Productions

Created by: Anna Weggel-Reed and Tom Reed

Location: Rarig Center Thrust

Summary: The fourth installment in the ingenious series in which real life couples reenact their real life fight, only this time it's a musical!

Highlights: This concept is so brilliant it really should have life outside Fringe. I would love for them to bring it back for a 3-4 week run as a 90-minute show, or maybe a recurring cabaret series. This cast is so full of talent that listening to them fight is sheer joy, and adding music and dance only makes it better, especially when uber talented local composer Keith Hovis writes the songs. Whether the fight is about high expectations around a vacation (soon to be married couple Max Wojtanowicz and Allen Sommerfield), overflowing toilets (newly married couple Lizzie and Bobby Gardner), doing a risky dance lift (long married couple Divya Maiya and Madhu Bangalore - they do the lift!), which 1980s Jim Hensen movie is the best (long married couple Lacey and John Zeiler), a disagreement about a broken glass (roomies Michael Rogers and Alex Van Loh), what to watch on TV (best married couple ever Shanan Custer and Eric Webster), or whether or not someone is mad (girlfiends Allison Witham and Emily Dussault), these fights are so real and relatable but at the same time overly dramatic (as fights can sometimes get) and hilarious. As a bonus we also get three women friends (Colleen Sommerville Leeman, Mandi Verstegen, and Anna Weggel-Reed) vowing to support each other 'til death do them part. Each cast member brings their own unique talent, and the songs and sketches really bring out the best of each of them in a well constructed show that flies by. I love this series and this is my favorite installment yet, and just leaves me wanting more! More Couple Fight!!

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.

Fringe Festival 2015: "Couple Fight"

Day: 9

Show: 43

Title: Couple Fight

Category: Comedy

By: Weggel-Reed Productions

Created by: Anna Weggel-Reed and Tom Reed

Location: Theatre in the Round

Summary: Six funny real-life couples reenact a funny real-life fight.

Highlights: What happens when two funny people get married, and then they fight? Judging by Couple Fight, it's hilarious, at least it is to those of us watching, and probably also to the couple once they move beyond the moment. Such is the simple premise of this show that features five married couples and one pair of BFFs. John and Lacey Zeiler fight about him faking a stroke in Vegas to help him win at poker, and not telling her about it beforehand so she could play along. On one of their first dates, Maggie and Marissa Sotos argue about whether a book is a hamburger or a hot dog (first of all, it's a book, second of all, it's obviously a hot dog). Emily Schmidt and Maureen Tubbs' disagreement about the rules of Pictionary turn a fun girls' night into a dramatic scene (I'm with Maureen on this one, you gotta have rules). Laura Zabel and Levi Weinhagen fight about whether Laura's suggestion for a sketch is funny (for the record - it is!). Lizzie Gardner gets mad at Bobby when he farts in the middle of a deep conversation. And finally, Anna Weggel-Reed gets upset that husband Tom (played convincingly by Adam Hummel because Tom was too busy directing) doesn't properly celebrate her on her birthday. The rest of us non-comedians only wish we could fight this funny!