Minnesota Fringe Festival 2025: "A Sad Carousel 2: The Timely Death of Herschel Douscheburg"

Day: 8

Show: 25

Title: A Sad Carousel 2: The Timely Death of Herschel Douscheburg

Category: Comedy / Drama / Physical Theater

By: LandmanLand

Written by: Sam L. Landman

Location: Rarig Thrust

Summary: An insult comic wakes up after 15 years in a coma and finds that everything has changed.

Highlights: I did not see Sam Landman's 2010 Fringe show A Sad Carousel (my first year at Fringe was 2011), but that did not affect my enjoyment of this sequel at all. The premise of the story is very clear, and the 15-year time lapse sets up lots of jokes of things that are no longer (Joann Fabrics, HUGE Theater, The Iveys). To begin the show, Herschel Douscheburg (played by Sam) wakes up in the Tyler Michaels King Memorial Hospital, the first in a string of TMK jokes. In fact the self-referential #TCTheater jokes abound (including about theater bloggers!), with many pokes at Fringe itself (and even a recorded appearance by Fringe artist and employee Amber Bjork). Because Herschel decides to use Fringe as his comeback, with the help of his longtime agent (Peter Ooley) and despite the protest of the Gen Z "comedy kids" troupe (Mae Ryan, Riley Eckman, and Elle Hinds) that practices gentle and bland comedy. Eric Webster and Jane Froiland play many characters, the former in a bored lackadaisical manner and the latter in over-the-top old-timey voices, often referred to by Sam as Webster and Jane (she's equity!). There are tons of clever and funny props, some of which are only on stage for a minute (how do I get a subscription to Fringe Hunks Monthly?). Directed by Shanan Custer, the show is ridiculous and ridiculously funny, with a playful tone that allows for ad libbing, fourth-wall breaking, and playing with the audience. It's just a whole lot of fringey fun, that also reminds us of the importance of comedy in society, because people who can't laugh at themselves cannot be trusted. 

Final show today (Saturday) at 1!

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here. 

"A Christmas Carol" at the Guthrie Theater

The Guthrie Theater is celebrating 50 years of A Christmas Carol* this year, and as a 21-year season subscriber, I have seen 19 of those productions (including the virtual one in 2020). There simply is nothing like it. Charles Dickens' story is one of such hope, such joy, such belief in the idea that it's never too late to change and grow and become a better person, that gratitude, kindness, and generosity are the highest of virtues. After 50 years, the Guthrie's production is a well-oiled machine, guaranteed to deliver the finest entertainment and the best quality production. But in addition to feeling familiar and comfortable, it also feels fresh and new every year, with the addition of new faces or adaptations, and it's filled with so much sincerity and heart that it will melt the Scroogiest of hearts. This is their fourth year using this succinct and faithful adaptation by Lavina Jadhwani, and the absolutely stunning design, with director Addie Gorlin-Han returning from last year's production. So if you haven't seen the Guthrie's Christmas Carol since before the pandemic, you should definitely check out this new version before it closes on December 29. And even seeing it for the fourth time, it's still chock full of delights for the eyes, ears, heart, and soul.

"The Reunion" by Trademark Theater at Gremlin Theatre

The reunion of a high school friend group, complicated relationships both current and past, a role-playing murder mystery game, and not one but two actual murder mysteries add up to a whole lot of wicked fun in Trademark Theater's world premiere new play The Reunion. Trademark focuses on developing new work, so they only do a full production maybe once a year. And when they do - you'll want to go. And then stick with them to support the development work that they do, including readings of new works and fundraiser concert events. The Reunion is smartly written, well performed by the talented seven-person cast, and features design elements that ramp up the spooky factor. See it at Gremlin Theatre in St. Paul's Midway neighborhood now through October 12.

The History Plays: "Richard II," "Henry IV," and "Henry V" in rep at the Guthrie Theater

Once in a lifetime, if you're lucky, you'll have a chance to experience an epic theater event at your home town theater, which just happens to be one of the best respected and most highly acclaimed regional theaters in the land. That was April 13, 2024, a day I will never forget, a day in which I consumed more theater than I ever have in a single day. Some 8 1/2 hours of theater, more than seeing Tony Kushner's epic two-part Angels in America on Broadway, more than the longest day at the Minnesota Fringe Festival. Sometimes known as The Henriad, Shakespeare's Richard II, Henry IV (two plays here condensed into one), and Henry V tell the stories of three English kings in the late 14th and early 15th Centuries. But this was not some boring slog through ancient history and archaic language. It was a living, breathing, dynamic, compelling, thrilling, jaw-dropping, heart-stopping, laugh-inducing, thoroughly engaging binge-watch of some of the best plays in the English cannon, brought to life by some of our best theater artists from the Twin Cities and around the country. Each play has a somewhat different tone or look or feel, but all are cut from the same cloth so that when knit together, they form a whole much grander than the sum of its parts. If you have the financial means and physical stamina to do so, I highly recommend attending the one remaining marathon day on May 18. It's a rare shared community experience, with artists and patrons joining their energies together for some 14 hours in the same space. Or you can take in the trilogy in a more reasonable manner - see all three plays in a weekend, or more spread out over time. But if you're a #TCTheater fan (and if you're not, why are you reading this blog?), see it you must. This is something we'll be talking about for generations. Click here for details and tickets.

"The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" at Artistry

Artistry produced the 2005 two-time Tony winning musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee back in 2014, when they were still known as Bloomington Civic Theatre. But this hilarious, irreverent, and surprisingly sweet musical is worth revisiting. Directed by #TCTheater favorite Tyler Michaels King and featuring a fantastic cast, it's so playful and fun, and also gives you the warm fuzzies about this group of loveably oddball kids just trying their best to spell and be happy. There's only one weekend left to attend the Bee - don't miss it!

"Murder on the Orient Express" at the Guthrie Theater

One of Agatha Christie's most well-known mysteries, Murder on the Orient Express, was first adapted to the stage just six years ago. Playwright Ken Ludwig brings his usual fun, fast, high-energy style to the adaptation. Previously unfamiliar* with the material, I found the Guthrie's new production to be constantly surprising and delightful. The production design that depicts an elegant art deco European train is stunning, and the ten-person mostly local cast is truly an embarrassment of riches. This Orient Express is pure entertainment from start to finish - a smart adaptation of a classic mystery perfectly executed by the cast and creative team, and even with a bit of depth as the famous detective Hercule Poirot contemplates the nature of justice and his role in it. Hop on board the Orient Express now through July 2. 

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2022: "Swords & Sorcery: The Improvised Fantasy Campaign"

Day: 5

Show: 18

Title: Swords & Sorcery: The Improvised Fantasy Campaign

Category: COMEDY / IMPROV / AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION

By: The Bearded Company

Location: Theatre in the Round

Summary: A completely improvised fantasy tale using elements of Dungeons and Dragons (familiarity not required).

Highlights: I don't know anything about D&D, but I love what this crew does with it (I suspect that any real game wouldn't be as fun as this). I first saw this show back in the 2017 Fringe, and then again in 2018. In the last few years the Bearded Company has come out with a podcast with a similar concept, called Break the Dice, which is entertaining to listen to, but I forgot how much fun it is to watch them do their thing in person. The physicality of the improvised story adds a whole new element, as they twist their bodies to embody various creatures, and enact slow-mo fight scenes. The premise is fairly simple: guided by game master Allen Voigt, a rotating cast of improvisors (Maria Bartholdi, Laura Berger, MJ Marsh, Tyler Michaels King, Tyler Mills, Joe Rapp, Chris Rodriguez, and Lucas Vonasek) tell a story of druids, elves, dwarves, and other magical creatures. They explore and fight, occasionally asking Allen to roll the dice to determine the success of a move they want to make, whether it's persuade someone, or slash at them with a dagger. Musician Jack Barrett provides a score and soundscape so seamless and appropriate it's hard to believe it's improvised, while Ryan Klima provides sound and lighting effects to add to the story. After many years of experience, this team has become experts at this unique form of storytelling, seeming to read each other's minds as they create a story on the fly. The only bad thing about the show is that it's one continuing story, so we're left with a cliffhanger at the end of the show, which makes me want to go back and see it again!

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.

"Runestone! A Rock Musical" at History Theatre

Who else but the History Theatre can take a bizarre Minnesota legend and turn it into a super fun, entertaining, and even thought-provoking musical? Who else would even attempt such a thing? In the vein of their smash hit Glensheen (returning to St. Paul this summer after a tour through outstate Minnesota), History Theatre brings us the new original musical Runestone! A Rock Musical, a show many years in the making about the Kensington Runestone. I first saw a reading of it in 2019 and was so intrigued that I visited the original Runestone in its museum the next time I was in Alexandria. The musical's 2020 premiere was postponed along with so many things, but it's finally seeing the stage in a terrific production continuing through the end of the month.

"The Tempest" at the Guthrie Theater

The Guthrie's production of Shakespeare's The Tempest, which opened last month and continues through April 16, is "such stuff as dreams are made on." Former Artistic Director Joe Dowling returns to the Guthrie to direct this piece, the first time since he left in 2015. I became a subscriber and fell in love with the Guthrie (and through it, the local theater community) during the Joe Dowling era, so this production feels very familiar and comforting to me, like going home. That big blue beautiful building on the Mississippi (which Joe Dowling shepherded into existence) truly is one of my happy places. And this Tempest is a joyful celebration of the magic we call theater, one that's especially heart-warming after the very long intermission of the last two years. This is the first fully new production of the Guthrie's 2021-2022 pandemic-shortened season (they hosted the touring production of What the Constitution Means to Me last fall, and put a new spin on their 40+ year annual tradition The Christmas Carol), and they've just announced an exciting new 60th anniversary season (my 19th as a subscriber). It feels so good to come home to the Guthrie again.

"Stone Baby" by Trademark Theater and Kiss the Tiger at Icehouse

Trademark Theater's first live production after the extended intermission of the last year or two is, of course, something truly original. During the time off from live performance, they've been working on developing new work, including a collaboration with local band Kiss the Tiger, whose lead singer Meghan Kreidler has been seen on theater and music stages all over town. Stone Baby is a concert/theater/performance hybrid unlike anything I've seen before. The rock concert storytelling format in the vein of Hedwig and the Angry Inch combines original rock music and a wild story about a musician who choose her art no matter the consequences. It's completely mesmerizing, and a welcome step outside of my comfort zone of traditional theater. Stone Baby can be experienced every Wednesday night this month at Icehouse, a really cool music venue in South Minneapolis (click here for info and tickets, standing room and table seating available).

"An Evening of Show Tunes with Tyler Michaels King and Friends" at The Belvedere at Crooners Supper Club

Back at Crooners Supper Club's new outdoor venue The Belvedere for the 5th time this year, I saw a remarkable collection of showtunes performed by a remarkable group of #TCTheater artists, and it healed my soul a little after this long theater-less time. What really stood out to me, beyond the fact that each one of these performers is a superstar, is that musical theater can truly convey the full range of human emotion. And we went through all of it last night, from laughter to tears and everything in between. It's been quite a year for all of us, and An Evening of Show Tunes with Tyler Michaels King and Friends provided a cathartic release as well as a hope that we will come out of this stronger and better, and soon. Click here for a full list of shows at Crooners (including two indoor spaces as well), and if you missed Tyler and friends this week, you have another chance to see them again on August 26.

Ordway Cabaret: Live at the Loading Dock!

The Ordway's cabaret at the loading dock is back! Last year they discovered that behind the large elegant Center for the Performing Arts that houses two grand theaters in downtown St. Paul, there's a pretty great outdoor* performance space. There's a natural stage where the big shows load in their sets, with an overhead balcony stage as well, generous room for seating in the parking lot, a sort of amphitheater effect with the surrounding buildings, the blue sky for a ceiling, and soaring pigeons for ambience. On a lovely summer evening it's pretty perfect. This installment of Ordway Cabaret is a wonderful sampler of their recently announced season of touring shows (click here for details about Fiddler on the Roof, Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, An Officer and a Gentleman, and Waitress**), as well as as some hints of shows that are in the works for future seasons. And unlike last summer, there's a very good chance that we will be back inside the Ordway this season to watch full productions of these amazing shows. #getthevaccine

"Understood" by Trademark Theater, an Audio Play

Two years ago, Trademark Theater premiered the new play Understood, written by resident playwright Tyler Mills, about a divided couple and a divided nation. Now, when that division has only increased, and a global pandemic has made live performance dangerous, they've pivoted this piece into an audio play, updating it for 2020. It works remarkably well in this format. Removing the visuals and the staging allows the audience to really focus on the words, and what's in between the words. And this play is all about what's being said, or not being said, or how it's being said. Understood is available now through the election, and is such an advocate for the kind of communication, listening, and connection we'll need to survive the next few months.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2020: "Break the Dice: The Improvised Campaign"

Location: Nightly Fringe (July 30)

Length: 40 minutes

Title: Break the Dice: The Improvised Campaign

By:  The Bearded Company

Summary: An improvised D&D/fantasy show, with performers joining in from home.

Highlights: If you've seen the Bearded Company's hit Fringe show Swords and Sorcery the last few years, it's pretty much the same premise, except that instead of performing together in a theater, this talented group of improvisers (Joe Rapp, Maria Bartholdi, MJ Marsh, Tyler Michaels, and Tyler Mills) are performing each from a different location. They've adapted the show remarkably well to this format, still using physicality to move around in their little boxes, with great facial expressions, somehow making it all feel like one cohesive performance instead of separate ones. The online interface is cute and catchy, and I appreciate the "dice cam," keeping game master Allen Voigt honest. If you missed the live show, you can watch it here. And be sure also to check out the podcast version of Break the Dice, available wherever you get your podcasts, with new episodes arriving bimonthly.

Read all of my Nightly Fringe mini-reviews here.

Read all of my Digital Hub mini-reviews here.

"An Evening of Show Tunes with Tyler Michaels King" at Crooners MainStage Tent

Friends, it's been nearly 5 months since I've seen live entertainment. On February 23, I attended Colleen Somerville's "Songs for Feeling Better" at Bryant Lake Bowl (which has now moved online). On February 26 I left the country to spend two weeks in paradise, aka New Zealand, returning home on March 11 to a world that was, and continues to be, very different from the one we knew. I'm approaching my 10th anniversary of blogging about #TCTheater, and of all the unexpected things that have happened, going nearly 5 months without seeing live entertainment is one I could never have imagined. I'm sure that hasn't happened in my life in 20 years. But here we are, in this pandemic/quarantine/isolation that feels endless, but hopefully one day we'll look back on as something we made it through, stronger and better. And the good news is that live entertainment is slowly beginning to return, although it looks different than it used to, and will likely continue to look different for some time. Crooners Supper Club in Fridley has started doing outdoor drive-in concerts (as well as lakeside patio concerts), complete with car-side food service. I attended my first show this week (of four planned, maybe with more to be added) - titled "An Evening of Show Tunes with Tyler Michaels King." It felt so good to be in a (appropriately distanced) group of people, listening to music and stories, laughing and clapping, almost like normal life.

2019 #TCTheater Favorites

Happy New Year #TCTheater friends! This is the 10th year-end wrap up I have written on this blog; this summer I will mark 10 years of writing about theater in Minneapolis and St. Paul. That's a lot of theater, and a lot to love. This year I saw about 200 shows (not counting 29 Fringe shows), and I would like to share with you some of my favorite experiences of the year.

"Immortal" by Trademark Theater at Camp Bar

The latest creation from new #TCTheater company Trademark Theater is a solo show created and performed by its Artistic Director Tyler Michaels King. Immortal has been in development for a while, and for the last three weeks Tyler and his collaborators workshopped the project, culminating in a one-night only performance at Camp Bar last night. Hopefully this is not the last we see of the aging crooner F. Amos Lee, and he'll make his return in some form or another in the coming years.

"The Hollow" by Trademark Theater at the Tek Box

New #TCTheater company Trademark Theater's newest creation The Hollow defies categorization, defies description really. They call it "a concept album, performed live on stage, combined with movement," but that doesn't quite capture it. It's a dreamlike mesmerizing journey of music, dance, emotion. The 75 minutes fly by as you're swept up in this thoughtfully created piece. The music, the dance, the lighting, the costumes, the performances, all beautifully combine in this lovely, unique, and moving work of art.

A Cabaret Featuring the Cast of the Ordway's "42nd Street"

Friends, I had the most amazing night at the Dakota Jazz Club last night. The cast of the Ordway's "fan-freakin-tastic" 42nd Street presented a cabaret that lasted for over three hours and showcased the many varied talents of this ridiculously talented cast. As I overheard in the bathroom (a great place to gauge audience reaction), the cabaret was almost better than the show itself. I have decided that the cast of every musical needs to do a cabaret show (this is the 4th at the Dakota, after the casts of Theater Latte Da's Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Park Square's Marie and Rosetta, and the Jungle's Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill). It was a particularly genius idea for this cast that is overflowing with talent from every single member. They get to show off a lot of that talent in 42nd Street, which features tap dancing like I've never seen before, but there's so much more to them all. From poetry (Annie Jo Ermel) and spoken word (Phillip Attmore), to freestyle rap (Rush Benson), to country music (Jarrod Emick), to crooning standards (Tyler Michaels King, Tamara Tunie, Kimberly Immanual), to insane tap-dancing (several members of the cast), to the musical stylings of Music Director Raymond Berg and the band, to the most charming and genial hosting (T. Mychael Rambo, underused in 42nd Street), to whatever magic it is that Jamecia Bennett creates that blows the roof of of whatever room she's in and brings the crowd to their feet, last night was a display of talent unlike anything I've seen before. It truly will go down as one of the best and most memorable evenings of musical performance I've ever experienced.

"42nd Street" at the Ordway Center

Come and meet
Those dancing feet
On the avenue I'm taking you to
Washington Street

Washington Street in downtown St. Paul, the address of Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, is the new 42nd Street. The Ordway Original production of 42nd Street is an expertly updated classic that in three words is: Fan. Freakin. Tastic. I've seen the show several times, but never like this. The show opens with the above familiar refrain, the curtain lifting a few inches to reveal feet moving in classic tap-dancing style. Then producer Julian Marsh says something along the lines of - we've done that before, let's do something new. What follows is something entirely new, while still paying homage to the beloved 1933 movie (adapted to the stage in 1980). These dancers (comprised of local and national talent) are some of the best I've ever seen performing this whirlwind tapping, the lead and supporting actors are divine, and the music is familiar yet excitingly modern. If you're a fan of music-theater, get yourself to "naughty, bawdy, gaudy, sporty" Washington Street as soon as you are able! But hurry, the show closes on August 11 after a too-short three-week run (click here for all the deets).