THIS SOUNDS COOL
Lovingly filed under the How The Hell Did I Not See This Sooner section of FringeFamous is a little something called Theatre Arlo. Their mission statement — “Theatre Arlo wants a pony” — is something any artist can easily get behind. But better than that, is their promise to mirror Guthrie Corporation’s season over at the Bryant Lake Bowl with warped, de-glamorized interpretations of each play. And they vow to produce every show on a budget of $50!
So head on over to the BLB on October 11th, 18th, or 25th to check out their “really, really, extremely gay” version of The Importance of Being Earnest. With an idea this fantastic, they deserve a good crowd.
GAYE’S FRINGE WISH LIST - 2009
OMG! The Minnesota Fringe Festival is almost upon us (one week from today). I can feel it in the air. I’ve already started choosing my outfits and say-something hats for the festivities that will descend upon Minneapolis…and St.Paul, kind of.
I’ve decided to take a break from my Fringe Festival calendar building to write up a short wish list of mine, for this year’s events:
- I don’t get too drunk at Fringe Central like I did last year. Though I did enjoy making out with boys from Four Humors. What a night!
- I’m able to throw a stick without hitting a Scrimshaw.
- Robin Gillette trades fashion tips with me.
- The shows in St. Paul will still have good audiences despite their crap-bag of a location. No offense to Gremlin, but why in God’s gay earth would the Fringe select a venue so out of the way?
- Jimmy John’s offers a Fringe discount. I’m going to devour several foot-longs during the Fringe.
- Sasha Andreev gets naked in Strong by The New Theatre Group.
- People are able to tear themselves away from the Rarig Fringe Dome long enough to see shows in other venues…like the Gremlin.
- Summit brews a beer just for the Fringe (Summit Extra Fringe Ale). Part or all of the proceeds go to the Fringe Festival while part or all of the beer goes to my stomach.
- I’m able to get at least one server at the Bryant Lake Bowl to smile.
- This is the most successful Fringe Festival ever.
There you have girlz and boyz. Feel free to let me know what some of your Fringe wishes are. Until we meet again…Keep it Gaye!!!
B4 YOU DIE - 4/2/09
Here we are again. You’re gonna die on Monday and I’m gonna tell you what to see before that happens. God, it’s like we’re an old married couple.
THURSDAY — KA-BAAM!!
Start out your live-performance-attending weekend with a bang…or a ka-baam (I’m fantastic). HUGE Improv Theater brings their high-energy improvised comic book to the Bryant Lake Bowl at 10pm. There’s an 87% chance that it will be fun.
FRIDAY —Tragedy of You
I hope you don’t hate the BLB, ‘cause this is two in a row. Joseph Scrimshaw is back with a half-scripted, half-improvised Shakespearean tragedy based on a different audience member each night. The show starts at 7pm, but I’d get there a bit early (doors open at 6pm) because this show has a 93% chance of selling out.
SATURDAY —Bent Broadway
Okay, okay…so this is technically a fundraiser. And yes, yes…it does technically cost $50. But the Minneapolis Musical Theatre is a good cause. Plus, you get awesome food by kick-ass local restaurants, a silent auction filled with all sorts of shit that you most certainly need (including a 4 day/3 night vaca to exotic…Arizona?) and a bunch of awesomely gay singing and dancing starting at 7pm. The night is also being hosted by John Hanson of KSTP’s Twin Cities Live. If that last part matters to you at all, there’s a 76% chance that you’re unemployed or a stay-at-home mom.
SUNDAY — The Life of Galileo
Theatre Pro Rata is back, bitches! And all these guys do is pump out quality theatre on the reg. Headed up by Carin Bratlie (dir.) and Noe Tallen (as Galileo), this one is bound to keep your Sunday from completely sucking a rancid b-hole. This show has a 97% chance of starting at 2:04pm.
Show To See If You’d Rather Just Kill Yourself: Quilters. Sorry, Theatre Unbound. It’s not you, it’s me.
HOLIDAY SHOWS ARE LIKE ASSHOLES
There are quite possibly 8,563 holiday shows in the Twin Cities this year. Enjoy A Christmas Carol? You have at least 8 versions to choose from. Maybe The Nutcracker gives you the biggest boner. You’ll have to make do with only 3. Yes, from Christmas Klingons to Hanukkah goblins, you’re sure to get your fill of holiday hack jobs this year.
But have no fear. FringeFamous is here to help you sift through the crappy shows and pull out the ones that won’t make you feel like you just got punched in the dick. So, here they are, ladies and gents…our Top 10 Not-Assy Holiday Shows of 2008!
10. The Santaland Diaries — Theatre Limina puts this on every year over at the Bryant Lake Bowl. I’ve never actually seen it, but I’ve heard good things. David Sedaris wrote it and he’s totally gay, just like Christmas.
9. All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914 — Okay, I admit it. I would rather shoot myself in the eye with a nail gun than sit through this Theater Latte Da production. So why is it on my list of not-assy holiday shows? Because it’s not assy. It’s actually very well done. And if you bring your grandma to this show, I guarantee she will put away that ugly Christmas sweater and just give you a huge sack of money this year.
8. Kevin Kling - Tales from the Charred Underbelly of the Yule Log — Kevin Kling rocks socks off. He just does. Keep in mind, it’s a one-day-only situation. And if you have family in town, you can show them around Guthrie Corporation, which has an amazingly long escalator and futuristic furniture!
7. The Holiday Pageant — If you haven’t been over to Open Eye Figure Theatre, you’re missing out…and will continue to do so, as this show is over at the Pantages. Michael Sommers is a pretty brilliant dude and this one-night-only performance will certainly not disappoint.
6. Martini & Olive’s “Silent Night Fever” – Grant Richey and Judy Heneghan have been doing this schtick for years and it really never gets old. They, however, are very old.
5. Black Nativity — It’s hard not to feel in the holiday spirit when you’ve got all kinds of jazz and gospel music filling the house. So yeah…this Penumbra production has all that.
4. Fat Man Crying — Joseph Scrimshaw is almost always a no-brainer. Tim Uren is good for the soul. And Katie Hartman is a Fringie award-winner! SHE WON A FREAKING FRINGIE!!
3. A Klingon Christmas Carol — How can you not go see this show? Even if it’s the suckiest piece of suck that ever sucked…how can you not go see it?
2. A Christmas Carole Petersen — Tod Petersen’s holiday show is a must. It loses a little something now that it’s over at the Ordway’s McKnight Theatre, but not enough to keep it off your holiday list.
1. All I Want for Christmas is 700 Billion Dollars: Our 50th Noel – The Brave New Workshop is the best theatre in town at making me like theatre. They can probably do the same for you. But you’ll never know unless you attend this show.
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5 HOLIDAY SHOWS I WISH I COULD MURDER
1. Guthrie Corporation’s A Christmas Carol – I can’t believe it’s possible to spend $70 to see A Christmas Carol.
2. Chan’s Another Night Before Christmas — If the show is as clever as the title, I could’ve made this #1.
3. History Theatre’s A Servants’ Christmas – The Most Boring Theatre in the Twin Cities has done it again!
4. Park Square’s Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol — How cheap do you have to be to produce a one-man holiday show?
5. Hennepin Stages’ A ‘Don’t Hug Me’ Christmas Carol — Just when you thought you were as sick of A Christmas Carol as one person could be…
B4 YOU DIE - 10/23/08
You know the drill. Monday will bring you a very unfortunate situation that looks something like this, and it kills you. That means you have only four more theatre-attending days left. Here are the four shows you need to see before you kick it.
THURSDAY — Creature Feature
Improv, you say? Yeah, ya jerk. Go see some fuckin’ improv already! HUGE Theatre presents this fully improvised, comedic monster movie. You know you’ve never seen that before. 8pm at the Brave New Workshop, bitches.
FRIDAY — Miscast
Wanna see a 7pm show at everyone’s favorite bowling alley/live theatre, the Bryant Lake Bowl? You’re in luck! La Vie Theatre is putting up this musical revue in which actors sing from roles they have always dreamed of performing, but would never be cast in. If you think that sounds too stupid for you, just remember…you saw Wonderland.
SATURDAY — Continuous City
Nothing to do with local fringe theatre, but a whole helluva lot to do with awesomely innovative theatre — The Builders Association makes its way to The Walker’s McGuire Theater. I’m not going to try to explain what this project is like…I’m just ordering you to check it out. 8pm and you won’t miss a thing.
SUNDAY — ARENA Dances
Sundays suck for theatre. Solve this problem by seeing some dance. 2pm or 7pm at The Southern, you can see a little Mathew Janczewski choreography while listening to a little live music by ETHEL. Sweeeeeeeeeeet.
Show To See If You’d Rather Just Kill Yourself: Vilification Tennis: Electile Dysfunction. The ick-factor is way high.
B4 YOU DIE - 10/16/08
Oh, shit. Turns out this is going to happen sooner than later…Monday, to be specific. And you’ll die, of course. What will you do between now and then? See these four shows, silly!
THURSDAY — 100
Though you wouldn’t know it from their website, Workhouse Theatre Company recently won a coveted Ivey award. So you owe it to them to check out this show. It starts at 7:30pm at The Warren…and they even have a nifty little video, over here.
FRIDAY — Tyrone & Ralph
Okay, okay…I know I hated on this show earlier in the year. But this just may be one of the only times in your life (since it’s ending on Monday) that you should attend a show at the most boring theatre in the Twin Cities. The awesome of Steve Hendrickson just barely outweighs the boring of the History Theatre in this 7:30pm show. You’re dying on Monday anyway, so what the hell.
SATURDAY — Stitch, Bitch, N’ Die
There might not be a cooler show to see this weekend, than Joseph Scrimshaw’s show about a knitting club that murders each other. They say it’s a BYOK: bring your own knitting. I think I may take up knitting just so I can say I took part in something that fantastic. Also, the cast includes Jen Scott, who just might be the most all-around talented human being in the Twin Cities. Show starts at 7pm and, although it’s not listed on their website (tsk! tsk!), they’re over at the Bryant Lake Bowl.
SUNDAY — Amazons and Their Men
This one’s a no-brainer. Walking Shadow has opened their next glob of awesome, and you MUST attend. Jordan Harrison writes, Amy Rummenie directs, and Zoe Benston probably yells at you (I’m still scarred from the Fringe). 3pm at the Pillsbury House Theatre…you can’t miss.
Show To See If You’d Rather Just Kill Yourself: The Producers over at Channy Pants. If the goal is to fuck up a show as funny as The Producers, I can’t think of anyone more suited to that goal than The Dicknose.
BORN IN THE U.S. GAYE
In a season full of fantastically boring and dust covered shows, (BCT is doing Crazy For You. YAWN. Park Square will be doing A Midsummer Night’s Dream. What in Gaye Hell are they thinking?) Matthew Everett has written an original play (produced by After Dark Theatre Company) that has perked up the Gaye-dar of this Fairy Bored-Mother. Fresh from the same man that brought one of my Fringe Favorites, “The Bronze Bitch Flies at Noon”, and “Dog Tag” comes, Leave.
Here’s a synopsis:
Seth is a young Marine serving during wartime. Nicholas is his civilian longtime companion who waits back home. In addition to the strain on their relationship caused by distance and absence, they must hide their love for one another behind code words and secret identities because of the don’t ask, don’t tell policy barring gays and lesbians from serving openly in the United States military. Seth’s mother Anne assists them by providing the cover of a woman’s handwriting for Nicholas’ daily letters, but Nicholas and Seth’s resolve is starting to weaken. Jonas, another young gay Marine in Seth’s unit just coming to terms with his identity, forms an intense bond with Seth overseas. Tyson, a former Army soldier who got fed up with “don’t ask, don’t tell” and didn’t reenlist, now works alongside Nicholas, providing temptation as well as a reality check. When Seth returns home for an unexpected leave, with Jonas at his side, and post-traumatic stress following him from the battlefield, old relationships are tested, and new ones bloom. In the end, the realities of war call on one man to make the ultimate sacrifice.
I can’t tell you how excited I am to see this show. But I’ll try. I’m about as excited as a gay hooker during the Republican National Convention! Not only is Matthew Everett a fantastic writer, but he is taking the gay genre to a respectable level. The characters he writes aren’t gay clowns. They are real people. And it’s about damn time. With this new show, it seems Everett is raising his own bar…and my bar as well. He’s taking on the military. This show has the promise of good looking men, emotional insight, and provocation written all over it. Three things that can also describe my bedroom on Tuesday night. I am definitely going to see this show and you should too!
Thank you Matthew Everett, once again, for being totally Gaye…in a good way!
September 5th and 6th at 7pm at the Black Box Theatre in Morris, MN
or…
September 11th and 25th at 7pm at the Bryant Lake Bowl
FRINGEFAMOUS FIVE: BRIAN KELLY
What are you doing next weekend? If the answer is “seeing the coolest show in town before it closes”, then you’ll be interested in reading this week’s FringeFamous Five, which features the author of said show. Brian Kelly was able to chat with us about The Temp, the current show at the Music Box Theater that closes this coming Sunday. Enjoy!
Give us some quick background on The Temp. Where did it come from?
BRIAN KELLY: Years ago, I worked as a temp. It’s not the most glamorous work. You’re something of a loner, strolling into an established work environment. No one gets too invested in you, because soon you’ll be gone. And when you go…there’s no card. There’s no cake.
One night I was watching the movie “Shane” on late night TV. I thought: Here’s a drifter who strolls into town, helps out those around him, touches their lives, and then rides off.
It occurred to me…a temp does much the same thing. Why not the temp as a hero?
Are there any differences between the 1998 production and the one currently running at the Music Box?
BK: This was the first show I’d ever written & directed and it was a very DIY affair. It was at the Bryant Lake Bowl, so there was not a lot of space for an 8-person cast to move, let alone dance. The technology of 10 years ago also presented limitations…I mean, you couldn’t even burn a CD then.
This time around, we had a set designer, lighting and sound design, we re-orhestrated all of the music, upped the ante on the choreography, I did a lot of re-writes on jokes that maybe didn’t land as well as they could have. In general it’s a richer, tighter, funnier production.
What was behind the decision to bring it back?
BK: It was two-fold. For one thing, I had been performing with Triple Espresso for 6 years, and the show was ending. I’d always thought The Temp would be a nice fit at the Music Box Theater, and suddenly it was available. Plus, this is the 10 year anniversary of the original production of “The Temp”, which seemed like a really appropriate time to bring it back.
Also, Michael Ritchie and Tom Winner from the original show were available. Tom is one of the funniest people I know, and Michael…well, I can’t imagine doing the show without Michael. Though I play the title character, he is the star of the show. He plays the part of the villain like he’s in a Hammer horror picture…only intentionally funny. It’s just a fantastic performance.
The show enjoyed great success in 1998. Were you worried at all that this run might not live up to the first one?
BK: To be honest, ten years is a long time and I didn’t expect that anyone would remember the original. So realistically, I didn’t feel like we could rely on any of the past success. I had to view it as starting from scratch. The only way that this version and the old version are really in ‘competition’ with each other is artistically. I’d like to think that ten years on I’d be able to make a better show.
That said, it’s been amazing how many people have come up to me and said “We saw the show 10 years ago” and the general attitude has been that it’s the show they remember only better. So I feel we’ve achieved our goal.
What’s next? Got any new shows in the works?
BK: This fall I will be performing in Triple Espresso in various cities. The next show I’d like to mount is a version of Jesus Christ Superstar as performed by the Muppets. There may be some legal issues surrounding that. I’ll have my legal team look into it and keep you posted.
Brian Kelly most recently did 1,300 shows with Triple Espresso, everywhere from Des Moines, Iowa to Dublin, Ireland. It’s hard for him to remember much of anything before that, but the IRS tells him that he’s performed with ComedySportz, Mystery Café, Tony & Tina’s Wedding, and We Gotta Bingo and written a couple of jokes for Miss Richfield, 1981. He’s also done a number of commercials, at least 4 of which feature him in bed asleep.
B4 YOU DIE - 7/10/08
Well, well, well…it seems you’ve been safe and sound for a couple of weeks. It’s time to change all that. This will happen to you on Monday. I’d see these shows before then if I were you.
THURSDAY — The Government Inspector
Guthrie Corp. has put together a top-notch cast (per usual) for this new adaptation by local fave, Jeffrey Hatcher. This being your last Thursday on planet Earth, you can prob’ly afford to spend $38 on a ticket to this 7:30pm show. You can spend the money you were saving for Little House (“the line is freakin’ out the door!”).
FRIDAY — Stare Down: A Tarantino Make ‘Em Up
7pm is the time, and BLB is the place for this crazy, improv extravaganza. Something called Close and Quartered presents this all-improvised Tarantino movie…on stage. They promise violence and vulgarity, so you can make up for your night at Guthrie Corp.
SATURDAY — MN Fringe Festival Kids Show Preview
You’ll be dead, so you won’t get to see any Fringe shows. This is sad…until you realize that you can see a 1pm Kids Show Preview at the Prior Lake Library. This kick-ass motherfucker starts at 1pm. If you don’t have a kid under 12 years of age, just swing by a playground and grab one on your way.
SUNDAY — and they said I wouldn’t make it
This 7pm one-man show, featuring Samuel G. Roberson, Jr., is part of Illusion Theater’s 2008 Fresh Ink series. It’s the true story of how Roberson survived childhood illness and went on to become a CTC actor. And they said it couldn’t be done…
Show To See If You’d Rather Just Kill Yourself: The Count of Monte Cristo at the Minnesota Centennial Showboat. What? It can’t be Chanhassen every time.
B4 YOU DIE - 6/19/08
Yeah, yeah. You know the drill. This happens to you. You die on Monday. You see 4 shows between now and then. Go.
THURSDAY — Uranus
This is your last chance to see Upright Egg’s latest production. 8pm at the Tilsner Artist’s Coop…and read the FringeFamous Five with Brian O’Neal for a little background before you go. Hehehe…Uranus.
FRIDAY — Theatre Limina’s Summer Shorts
I thought Theatre Limina was gone but I was oh, so very wrong. On Friday you’ll want to check out their Summer Shorts series at the Bryant Lake Bowl — 7pm. You can’t really go wrong with a night of 10-minute plays. Even if they suck, you can sip your beer and tell yourself “the longest it will suck is 10 minutes”…unless they all suck.
SATURDAY — Love’s Labor’s Lost
On Saturday, I’d suggest checking out this play by some guy named William Shakespeare. Hmmm, weird. Maybe it’s new. Anyway, the playwright’s not important. What is important is that Cromulent Shakespeare Company is performing this play at the Stone Arch Bridge Park at 7pm, which means that if you start to lose interest, you can just pull out the bocce ball or toss across.
SUNDAY — Church Basement Ladies 2: A Second Helping
It goes against everything I know to advise you to go see this 2pm show at the Plymouth Playhouse. But it also goes against everything I know to advise you not to see something that Greta Grosch wrote (she just plain has funny bones). I flipped a coin and Greta won.
Show To See If You’d Rather Just Kill Yourself: Married Alive!. Oh, Chan. What would we do without you?
