Fringe Festival 2015: "The Sound of Footloose: The Not Musical"

Day: 8

Show: 37

Title: The Sound of Footloose: The Not Musical

Category: Comedy

By: Snickt! Bamf! Thwip!

Written by: Tim Wick

Location: U of M Rarig Center Thrust

Summary: A silly and fun mash-up of two classic movies - The Sound of Music and Footloose.

Highlights: This one is totally frivolous but kinda fun too, even if the premise is a bit confusing (how is it the '80s and yet still someone pre-WWII?). I can't resist a SoM reference, and this show has them aplenty, from lonely goatherds to packages with strings. Several of the songs are worked into the dialogue and the '80s song parodies played during the fun dance sequences (choreographed by Windy Bowlsby). The story finds novice Maria a rock-and-roll loving (in the '30s?) nun sent back to high school to keep on eye on the Mother Superior's rebellious son (she wasn't always a nun), and pleads with the Nazis to allow them to hold a dance that will save Austria... or something. It's pretty goofy and mindless, but the cast is totally committed to the camp of it all. But I'm not so sure about the "not musical" declaration; anything that includes a dream ballet is a musical in my book.

Fringe Festival 2015: "High Flight"

Day: 4

Show: 18

Title: High Flight

Category: Dance

By: Mike's Brass

Choreographed by: Windy Bowlsby

Location: Illusion Theater

Summary: A moving exploration of loss through music and dance.

Highlights: In 2012, Mike Bratlie flew his plane to Duluth and disappeared. This piece, produced by Mike's daughter Carin Bratlie Wethern, written by Ben Tallen, and choreographed by Windy Bowlsby, explores the different stages one goes through upon receiving such news - shock, confusion, accepting help, dealing with the media, wondering what might have happened, and acceptance. The brass quintet Mike's Brass plays music from Bach to the Beatles to "Into the West" from Lord of the Rings. Windy's choreography is so evocative of the varying feelings, beautifully realized by dancers Danielle Ricci, Joshua Engebretson, Rachael Schlee, Derek Meyer, and Noë Tallen, with the latter two also providing thoughts and observations between dances. A particularly moving piece is danced to no music, just the recitation of Mike's favorite poem - "High Flight" by John Gillespie Magee Jr. What this family went through, literally losing a loved one, is unimaginable. This piece is a beautiful expression of the experience which much be cathartic for the family, and is definitely moving, emotional, and poignant for the viewer.

Fringe Festival: "Dreamboys"

Day: 8

Show: 29

Title: Dreamboys

Category: Musical theater

By: Blue Umbrella Productions

Directed by: Suzy Winter

Location: Illusion Theater

Summary: Five actors in an audition room fantasize about what it would be like if they were able to sing musical theater songs traditionally sung by women.

Highlights: The idea of men singing women's songs isn't new (see also When a Man Loves a Diva), but it is a fun one. And these boys can sing! But the cool thing is that if these weren't beloved songs that we associate with women like Idina Menzel or Karen Olivo, you would never know they were "supposed" to be sung by women. There's really nothing about them that's gender-specific, they're songs of universal human emotion - funny, sad, or poignant. Highlights include Bart Shane Ruf's touching rendition of Jason Robert Brown's "I'm Not Afraid of Anything," David B. Young belting "Be a Lion" from The Wiz, Paul Whittemore's powerful "The Life I Never Led" from Sister Act, Kevin Werner Hohlstein's longing "It Won't Be Long Now" from In the Heights, and Zakary Thomas Morton's lovely "Goodnight My Someone" from The Music Man. Also fab is the cleverly arranged medley that includes just about all of my favorite musicals, and "You Could Drive a Person Crazy" from Company with charming choreography (again by Windy Bowlsby). Great musical theater songs sung by great singers, with fun choreography. What's not to love?

Fringe Festival: "Top Gun: The Musical"

Day: 8

Show: 26

Title: Top Gun: The Musical

Category: Musical theater

By: Rooftop Theatre Company

Created by: Wick, Newstrom, Bowlsby, Dutton

Location: Illusion Theater

Summary: A tongue-in-cheek musical adaptation of the hit '80s movie Top Gun.

Highlights: I hereby declare that all movie-to-musical adaptations should be intentionally cheesy Fringe musicals like this one, not overly sincere big budget Broadway musicals. The idea of turning any movie, Top Gun in particular, into a stage musical is so silly that you have to make fun of it. And they do. The eight-person cast gamely jumps right into Tim Wick's adaptation that hits all the high (and low) points in the movie, and particularly delights in playing up the latent homo-eroticism of the original. Windy Bowlsby's choreography is fun and has the guys flying around the stage holding hands, the costumes are spot-on, complete with aviator glasses and period mustaches, and there's some pretty awesome upside-down flying equipment. Songs include "Gotta Get Into Top Gun," "You Don't Impress Me," "Take Me to Bed or Lose Me Forever," "Ego Checks" (a running gag referring to the line "your ego is writing checks your body can't cash"), and a ridiculously over-the-top volleyball number (gold lame underwear!). Samuel Poppen is a charming goofball as Maverick, Jacob Effinger has a bit of Christian Borle zaniness as Goose, Maverick's doomed wingman, Chris Hoefer has the right look as Maverick's rival/love interest Iceman, and Chris Bowlsby has a surprisingly lovely voice as Goose's wife. This is a fun and silly show that doesn't take itself too seriously, and the audience has as much fun as the cast. And I do appreciate that the obligatory "please review our show" is sung.

Fringe Festival: "Jumpin' Jack Kerouac"

Day: 5

Show: 18

Title: Jumpin' Jack Kerouac

Category: Dance

By: Eclectic Otter Productions

Created by: Windy Bowlsby

Location: Rarig Center Proscenium

Summary: A choreographer teaches a bunch of writers to get out of their head and dance, but more importantly, she teaches them how to not care about what they may look like while dancing.

Highlights: Call this one "Dancing with the Writers." Windy Bowlsby turns nine writers, who are decidedly not dancers, into just that. And like that great pop culture icon that is Dancing with the Stars, even though some of the dancers might not be technically proficient, they perform with such joy and an open heart that you can't help but be moved by the dance. The brilliant thing that Windy has done is that she hasn't just forced dances upon these novices, she's talked to them and learned about who they are and what they want to accomplish or express in this experiment, and used that as an inspiration for the ten or so dances presented. And she shares some of those words with the audience to help us understand the inspiration. There's a first date dance, a Gene Kelly homage, a lovely duet, a touching tribute to a father, an expression of women's strength and power, and dances that represent phases in the writer's process. This is a Fringe show that will leave you smiling and happy, and perhaps give you the courage to dance your own dance. Maybe next year Windy will teach Fringe reviewers how to dance and not care.

Fringe Festival: "Are You There God? It's a New Musical Review!"

Day: 1

Show: 1

Title: Are You There God? It's a New Musical Review!

By: Blue Umbrella Productions*

Created by: Suzy Winter

Location: Illusion Theater

Summary: As they peruse a used book sale, five singer/actors (Windy Bowlsby, Kathleen Hardy, Bill Rolon, Paul Whittemore, and Suzy Winter) perform songs about growing up, mostly from musicals. There is no dialogue or plot, but they do read a few excerpts from Judy Blume books, including, of course, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.

Highlights: This is a charming and entertaining show, with well-chosen songs to describe the growing up experience. The creators really did their research, as many of the songs are from little-known (at least to me) musicals, such as Snoopy! The Musical, Freaky Friday, Little by Little, and Bare: A Pop Opera. More familiar selections include "Something's Coming" from West Side Story and the quintessential musical song about the pre-teen years, "Hello Twelve, Hello Thirteen, Hello Love" from A Chorus Line. Each cast member gets a solo or two, along with duets and ensemble numbers, nicely choreographed by Windy. They all sing well and with sincerity, with the tone ranging from sad and sweet to funny and tongue-in-cheek. I love that the cast is not made up of young kids; the fact that people who have been "grown up" for a few years are singing these songs somehow makes it more poignant, as if they're remembering what it was like to be a kid, and feeling things more strongly because of the time and distance.

Read more of my fringe fest reflections…

… including my top 5 shows

*It's no wonder I liked this show - these are the same people behind the tribute to TV theme songs that I loved so much two years ago!