Fringe Festival: "Pecan Brown and the Seven ...'s"

Day: 7

Show: 24

Title: Pecan Brown and the Seven ...'s

Category: Something different

By: Under the Skin Theater Company

Created by: Kloie Rush-Spratt and BriAnna McCurry

Location: Music Box Theatre

Summary: A screenwriter is given the opportunity to rewrite a film adaptation of Snow White, and decides to cast a woman of color as the lead, specifically the color of Pecan Brown, but is thwarted by racism in Hollywood.

Highlights: The under-representation of minorities in Hollywood is definitely an idea worth exploring and bringing attention to. Unfortunately the execution is a little lacking. The show brings up some great points (especially the scene where everyone explains why they're not racist), and the leads are appealing (particularly Ashe Jaafaru as the screenwriter and Chava Gabriella as her star), but the whole thing feels a bit clunky. And I'm not sure why Thor is there, but as played by Collin Knopp-Schwyn with great dedication to the camp of it, he's the most entertaining part of the show. And that's a problem. But the creators have some great ideas; I'd like to see them explored and polished a bit more.

Fringe Festival: "Buckets and Tap Shoes"

Day: 7

Show: 23

Title: Buckets and Tap Shoes

Category: Dance

By: 10 Foot 5 Productions

Created by: Rick Ausland and Andy Ausland

Location: Music Box Theatre

Summary: The title pretty much says it all. Two guys create a percussion explosion with their feet and drumsticks on various surfaces.

Highlights: This is a surefire crowd pleaser; there's really nothing not to like. There's something about the rhythm of tap dancing and drumming that gets into your very bones. Although Buckets and Tap Shoes is a regular at the Fringe, this is the first time I've seen it. Rick and Andy are not only great and inventive tap dancers and drummers, but they also have an easy chemistry with each other, are playful with the audience, and make use of the entire theater - who knew you could tap dance on carpet or drum on a coffee cup? There is some high tech stuff that is not as fun as the low tech stuff; the best moments are when it's just the guys and their tap shoes, or banging away on ten-gallon plastic pickle tubs and cake pans, or chasing the light of a flashlight like a cat chasing a laser. There's not a whole lot to say about this one - it's fun, energetic, and entertaining. And kids seem to love it.

Fringe Festival: "Hour Town"

Day: 7

Show: 22

Title: Hour Town

Category: Comedy

By: Dana's Boys

Created by: Dana's Boys

Location: Music Box Theatre

Summary: A condensed version of Thornton Wilder's Our Town, set in Minnesota with Garrison Keillor as the stage manager.

Highlights: This show is littered with Minnesota references, which I love. Everything from Joe Mauer's bilateral leg weakness to Jesse Ventura's recent court win, from Paul Bunyon to Little House on the Prairie, from pedal pubs to a list of Minnesota-made movies. But that's not the only thing that makes Hour Town unique. The creators have also added puppets, pop culture references, and music. While not everything works (as much as I love Grover, I don't understand what he was doing in the show, and the wedding dance break was fun but a bit weird, and "Super Trooper?"), enough of it works to make this show a delight. And while some of the poignancy of the original gets lost amidst the goofy humor, there's still a touch of it here, particularly in the repeated use of the song "Que Sera, Sera," which perfectly fits with Wilder's theme of appreciating life in the moment because you don't know what the future will be. The large cast does well with the many roles; Brad Erickson does a spot-on Garrison Keillor impression, and as the young lovers Drew Tennenbaum and Sulia Altenberg are fresh-faced and charming (and Sulia has a lovely voice and looks like a young Judy Garland, Minnesota reference not intended). It's a clever take on a classic and appeals to those of who unabashedly love (or at least love to complain about) our home state.

Fringe Festival: "Hidden in the Picture"

Day: 7

Show: 21

Title: Hidden in this Picture

Category: Comedy

By: Ductile Anchor

Written by: Aaron Sorkin

Location: Music Box Theatre

Summary: A movie director watches his final shot get ruined, which forces him to rethink his priorities and what he's really doing in the film industry.

Highlights: Aaron Sorkin is my favorite TV writer. Sports Night, West Wing, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, The Newsroom (which is sort of a combination of The West Wing and Sports Night), I love them all. This play precedes his TV work by ten years, but you can still hear some of his trademark fast, smart dialogue. I'd love to see this play in the hands of professionals, although these young amateur actors (fresh out of high school and directed by their high school director) give it a good effort and are kind of adorable in a "look Ma we're doing a show!" sort of way. Director Robert (Mathew Timmons) and his playwright-turned-screenwriter partner Jeff (Nick Haeg) were plucked from the theater world and offered lots of money to make a movie. A bad movie. Robert forgets that they're doing this just for the money, and begins to take it seriously. He freaks out when his shot is ruined, until Jeff suggests that it might be the perfect ending to the movie and their experience. The play has some interesting and funny things to say about theater, playwrights (you can hear some of the criticism that Sorkin receives when Robert tells Jeff what's wrong with his writing), and big budget movies. Sorkin of course eventually did turn to writing for movies and TV, and one wonders how his opinion might have changed in later years. Not the best production, but I enjoyed the Aaron Sorkin-ness of it all.

"Broadway Songbook: The First 100 Years of Broadway" at the Ordway Center

The Ordway is opening its fourth season of the Broadway Songbook series with a retrospective of the first 100 years of Broadway. If you're like me, your first question is - when did Broadway begin? It's debatable, but Professor James Rocco - who presides over what feels like a college seminar on musical theater history with live show-and-tell by the Twin Cities' best musical theater performers - tells us that the beginning of Broadway can be marked by The Black Crook in 1866. This is just one of the things you'll learn in this Broadway Songbook, but don't worry, it is anything but dry and pedantic. The stories are fascinating and entertaining (at least to a musical theater nerd like myself), James has chosen just the right collection of songs to illustrate his points, and music director Raymond Berg has beautifully arranged the songs, which are performed with much passion, emotion, and humor by the talented cast of actor/singer/dancers (yes they dance!). If you're a musical theater fan, the Ordway's Broadway Songbook series is a must see, and this is a perfect one to start with. And if you live out-state, you're in luck - this Songbook is going on tour¹!

James takes us through the evolution of the Broadway musical, from the aforementioned The Black Crook, through George M. Cohan's invention of the "musical comedy," to the epic Show Boat which was the first musical drama, to the day when Rodgers met Hammerstein and "changed the world" with their sweeping lyrics and melodies and insistence that everything serve the story, to the invention of the LP record that allowed musical theater songs to invade pop culture, to a hint at the beginning of the Rock Musical with Hair (more on that in the next Songbook in April) in 1967², closing out the first century of Broadway. And the best part of this history lesson is we get to hear the music in this march through time.

The Ordway's Broadway Songbook series features a rotating cast of the Twin Cities' best musical theater performers, which this time includes Songbook vets Dieter Bierbrauer, Gary Briggle, Jennifer Eckes, and Erin Schwab, and newcomers to the series Kendra McMillan, Aja Parham, and Randy Schmeling. The cast performs solos, duets, and trios, but the best moments are when the entire company joins in to bring full life to these musical theater songs and give you just a taste of what the whole show might be like. Fortunately, several of the musicals featured can be seen on stages around the Cities in the upcoming season (see footnotes, which seem appropriate for this which feels a bit like a term paper for my musical theater history seminar).

Musical highlights include:

• The "wide-eyed and devilish singing comedian" Gary Briggle entertains with the '20s song "If You Knew Susie" and "If I Were a Rich Man" from Fiddler on the Roof from the '60s.
• Aja Parham sings the standard "Lady is a Tramp" as well as a gorgeous rendition of "As Long as He Needs Me" from Oliver³.
• Erin Schwab again showcases her unique talents - she has a fantastic voice and is also a brilliant comedian, and when those two things are combined it's a thing of beauty. She brings the house down with "Let's Do It," and also plays it a little more serious with "Don't Rain on My Parade" from Funny Girl.
• Kendra McMillan channels Ethel Merman in a clever arrangement of "I Got Rhythm" and Sally Bowles in "Cabaret."
• Randy Schmeling gleefully sings "Almost Like Being in Love," and leads the company in the rousing "Sit Down You're Rockin' the Boat" from arguably the most successful musical Guys and Dolls⁴.
• Jennifer Eckes⁵ sounds absolutely lovely singing "Till There Was You" from The Music Man. She also makes a fine Eliza Doolittle opposite Gary as Henry Higgins and Randy as Colonel Pickering⁶.
• Any day that I can sit in a darkened theater and listen to Dieter Bierbrauer sing "Something's Coming" (West Side Story) and "The Impossible Dream" (Man of La Mancha) is a good day in my book. This was a very good day, as evidenced by the longest ovation of the night after the latter song.
• The medleys are the highlights of these shows, and this time included a medley from Show Boat, a Gerswhin medley, and a Rodgers and Hammerstein medley. They're very cleverly and playfully arranged, quickly switching from one song to the next, or lingering for a few lines, going from humorous to poignant in a flash. The Show Boat medley is particularly lovely, and again makes me wish for a local musical theater company to do a production of Show Boat on the Showboat. It's just too good of an opportunity to be missed!
• The show ended with Hair, which felt like a complete 180 from what we had been hearing all night. But that's the brilliant thing about Hair - it changed Broadway forever, just like so many shows before it had. And I was particularly tickled to hear this company sing "Let the Sun Shine In;" the first production of Hair that I saw was a Michael Brindisi-directed production at the Pantages ten years ago, starring Dieter as Claude and Randy as Woof. So much fun to revisit the production that began my Hair obsession.

I now come to the end of my term paper. I hope that I did the show justice and piqued your interest to experience it yourself. As always, this Broadway Songbook is an informative, entertaining, and fun evening of musical theater history brought to vibrant life by talented performers. Playing this weekend only on the Ordway stage in St. Paul, and possibly coming to a city near you this fall.

1. Tour locations include Austin on Oct. 9, Red Wing on Oct. 11, Dawson on Oct. 23, Detroit Lakes on Oct. 25, and St. Cloud on Nov. 2.
2. "Professor Rocco, Professor Rocco, isn't it true that while Hair first appeared Off-Broadway in 1967, it didn't open on Broadway until 1968?" said the annoying know-it-all student in the back row, eagerly waving her hand in the air.
3. Be sure to catch Theater Latte Da's production of Oliver in February, this season's installment of their "Broadway Re-Imagined" series with Hennepin Theatre Trust. Having never seen it, I didn't think I knew any songs from Oliver, but it turns out I do, yet another example of how much musical theater is ingrained in our popular culture.
4. Don't miss Bloomington Civic Theatre's production of Guys and Dolls, opening next week and already scheduled to perform at this year's Ivey Awards!
5. If you like Broadway Songbook, you might also like Jennifer's show with three of her friends, Pop-Up Musical, a more irreverent version of musical theater trivia mixed with great performances.
6. In case you've been living under a rock the past few months, I should tell you that My Fair Lady is currently playing at the Guthrie. And it's scrumptious.

Does anyone need to borrow my notes?

This article also appears on Broadway World Minneapolis.

Fringe Festival: "Now I See"

Day: 6

Show: 20

Title: Now I See

Category: Drama

By: Fox in a Box Productions

Created by: Meagan Kedrowski and Kristin Fox

Location: Rarig Center Arena

Summary: Based on a transcript of a 1930s radio broadcast, Now I See tells the story of a man who finally achieved his life's dream of becoming a manager of a boxing champion, but gave it all up as penance for someone who was hurt along the way.

Highlights: This is a beautiful, powerful, intense drama, well told by the ten-person cast. It's fun to imagine this as a radio broadcast, but it's even better to be able to see it embodied before you. Sam Ginsburg tells his tragic story, to the listeners/audience, along with a series of flashbacks. Lucas Vonasek gives an emotional, compelling performance as Sam, with a great Brooklyn accent. Dave Berkman is sympathetic and likeable as the art student turned boxer whom Sam discovers and makes into a champion. The rest of the cast portray all the other characters - reporters, boxers, the crowd - and provide sound effects from trains to bells. The boxing scenes are well choreographed, with freeze frames at the pivotal moments, and fun to watch even though I'm no boxing fan. This radio broadcast turned live performance is a clever idea, and well executed.

Fringe Festival: Mid-week Favorites

It's day 7 of the 11-day Minnesota Fringe Festival, and I've seen about half of my 30-some planned shows. As I take a much needed day off to catch up on my DVR and sleep, I share with you my favorite shows of the 19 I've seen so far. There are still 4 days (5 if you go tonight) left of the Fringe, so don't despair, you still have time to partake of Fringe fun and see some hilarious, moving, absurd, delightful, ridiculous, charming shows! If you've already seen these and need more suggestions check out my pre-festival must-see list. And remember that the final Fringe slot, Sunday night at 8:30, is reserved for the highest ticket-seller in each location. Check the Fringe website late Saturday or early Sunday for show announcements.

Without further ado, here are my favorite shows so far (in alphabetical order). I've tried to choose a diverse selection so there's a little something for everyone. Click on the show title to be taken to the show's webpage, and read more details on all 19 shows here.

Failure: A Love Story - a whimsical, delightful, heartbreaking, and truly lovely story
It's the late '20s and the Fail sisters are going to die. That much we know, but watching it all unfold is a series of delightful and heartbreaking surprises. Director Joshua James Campbell and this beautiful eight-person cast have created the perfect tone for the show, walking that delicate line between lighthearted quirky comedy and heartbreaking and heartwarming love story. This story of an oddball family consisting of three sisters, their adopted brother (who may or may not be in love with them), and the charming young man they all loved is told through talking animals, epic swims, anthropomorphized clocks, charming ukulele music, tragic untimely deaths, and unexpected love. This show is everything I want from a Fringe show, really everything I want from theater - funny, quirky, whimsical, musical, poignant, touching, surprising, moving, and utterly heartbreaking. I was reduced to a weepy mess at the end of this show because it touched me so deeply in so many ways with its true and beautiful depiction of love in its many forms. "Just because something ends doesn't mean it wasn't successful."

The Finkles' Theater Show!!! - a brilliantly and hilariously awkward spoof of theater

Theater novices Carl and Wanda Finkles (Ryan Lear and Rachel Petrie) enter a festival and put on a show about putting on a show. What they lack in theater know-how they make up for with boundless enthusiasm. The charmingly awkward Finkles walk us through their journey of finding out they made it into the festival, holding auditions, rehearsals (complete with instructions on what differentiates good theater from great theater - don't break that fourth wall!), a big dance number (which starts out silly and peppy and slowly disintegrates as the Finkles tire when the chorus of "Holding out for a Hero" keeps repeating and repeating), all the way through to show night, when everything comes full circle. It's all very meta. But while Carl and Wanda may be theater amateurs, Ryan and Rachel are professionals and a true delight to watch as they effortlessly pull off this trick of looking like rubes. This could be the most brilliantly awkward 60 minutes of theater you'll see this year.

Into the Unreal City - a musical walking tour through the West Bank neighborhood

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 what makes this a wonderfully unique 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).

Jumpin' Jack Kerouac - a bunch of non-dancers share the joy of dance

In a show that could be subtitled "Dancing with the Writers," choreographer 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. This is a Fringe show that will leave you smiling and happy, and perhaps give you the courage to dance your own dance.

One Arm - heartbreakingly beautiful and intense drama from Tennessee Williams
In this adaptation of a Tennessee Williams unproduced screenplay, a which a young boxer loses his arm and his identity, and turns to prostitution to survive. And like most Tennessee Williams plays, this one is a heart-breaker, full of tragic characters leading lives of despair. Ollie's (a compelling Bryan Porter) life is full of promise as a champion boxer until he loses an arm in an accident that kills two of his friends. Suffering from survivor's guilt and loss of identity, he falls into a life of hustling, traveling around the country to get by, not feeling anything. Until he ends up on death row, when the feelings come flooding back. The excellent supporting cast plays many well-defined characters in a series of perfect two-person scenes. One Arm is beautifully written, directed (by Joseph Stodola), and acted, with a well-designed and clever set, and feels like a full and complete story despite it's under 60-minute run time. This moving portrait of a beautifully tragic character and the equally tragic people he meets is completely absorbing, an extremely professional and well done Fringe show, and a must-see for anyone who likes good quality drama in their Fringe.

Shakespeare Apocalypse: A New Musical - a super-fun and Fringey musical
Similar to last year's Teenage Misery, writer Keith Hovis does not shy away from borrowing lines and themes from beloved musicals, from Little Shop of Horrors to Wicked. In the somewhat convoluted story, actor Peter goes on a rant about Shakespeare that goes viral, causing Shakespeare and friends to come back from the dead to terrorize the world, or something like that. The details don't matter, it's enough that the show is chock full of humor, great songs, and an energetic and talented young cast. Philip C. Matthews brings his usual passion and charisma to the role of Peter, Jill Iverson shows off her star power and gorgeous musical theater belt as Peter's friend, and Peyton McCandless is charming as a young blogger. Shakespeare Apocalypse is Fringe musical theater at its best.

Go check out these shows, or one of the others I loved: Kitty Kitty Kitty, Mainly Me Productions' Our American Assassin; Or You Can't Handle the Booth, Natural Novice, Sex and Sensibility, and A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant.

Happy continued Fringe-ing!


This article also appears on Broadway World Minneapolis.

Fringe Festival: "Shakespeare Apocalypse: A New Musical"

Day: 5

Show: 19

Title: Shakespeare Apocalypse: A New Musical

Category: Musical theater

By: Devious Mechanics

Written by: Keith Hovis

Location: Theatre in the Round

Summary: A young actor very publicly proclaims his dislike of Shakespeare, summoning the Bard back from the dead along with Jane Austen and Ernest Hemingway to bring about the end of the world.

Highlights: Devious Mechanics has come back with another perfectly Fringey musical, following last year's super-fun Teenage Misery. It's a similar formula, so if you loved Teenage Misery, you'll love Shakespeare Apocalypse. If not, well there's probably not much here for you. But for me, any musical that includes the line "Something has changed within me" and the number 525,600 is right up my ally! Once again, writer Keith Hovis does not shy away from borrowing lines and themes from beloved musicals; the opening number is straight out of Little Shop of Horrors, and characters are tasked with finding an odd list of items a la Into the Woods. Plenty of pop culture references, from Jurassic Park to Breaking Bad, also pepper the somewhat convoluted story. In the middle of a performance of Hamlet at the Guthrie, Peter goes on a rant about Shakespeare that goes viral, causing Shakespeare and friends to come back to terrorize the world, or something like that. The details don't matter, it's enough that the show is chock full of humor, great songs, and an energetic and talented young cast. Philip C. Matthews brings his usual passion and charisma to the role of Peter, Jill Iverson shows off her star power and gorgeous musical theater belt as Peter's friend, and Peyton McCandless is charming as a young blogger. Shakespeare Apocalypse is Fringe musical theater at its best.

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: "All Night Radio"

Day: 5

Show: 16

Title: All Night Radio

Category: Comedy

By: A Big Fun Show

Written by: Dave Walbridge

Location: Minneapolis Theatre Garage

Summary: Two DJs are trapped by a snowstorm with their satellite feed cut off, so they must fill the air time or lose their jobs.

Highlights: Dave Walbridge has written for A Prairie Home Companion and the MPR Morning Show, so he knows a thing or two about radio shows. I miss The Morning Show dearly (although the music part of it lives on in Radio Heartland), so this brought back fond memories. Dave has written a series of stories, commercials, and reader letters for performers Nick Rezmerski and James Roop as the DJs. They employ a wide variety of voices in the sketches that include a Guy Noir-ish story and a two-part space story about Captain Handsome and his sidekick Billy Boy. The sketches are fun to listen to, the in between banter less so, and I found myself wishing for a musical interlude to break up the sketches. Still, it's a fun and clever homage to radio variety shows.

Fringe Festival: "The Genealogy of Happenstance"

Day: 4

Show: 16

Title: The Genealogy of Happenstance

Category: Something different

By: The Peanut Butter Factory

Created by: Allegra Lingo

Location: Rarig Center Arena

Summary: Fringe fave Allegra Lingo shares her unconventional journey to motherhood.

Highlights: This is a moving and compelling story. While it's a bit academic (not surprising since it was adapted from Allegra's dissertation), I did get caught up in the story and hoped for a happy ending. Allegra and her wife Amy made the decision to start a family a few years ago, with Amy as "the optimum womb" because of Allegra's health history. She shares personal stories from various points along the journey, some funny, some touching, some sad. She also relates this journey to stories from her past, including her fear of flying and surgeries for scoliosis. The Genealogy of Happenstance is a moving, funny, relatable, personal story well-told by the person who lived, or rather is living, it.

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.