Assembling the Parts

Rain falls heavily as what the meteorologist on channel 9 called a gust-shelf blows through. This is my first day in about a year since I've had a break from actively being involved in a theatre production of some sort. The Mandrake closed Sunday night. The run was successful. It made me very happy. Now I have two weeks until I make my way to Madrid. So, in my ongoing effort to make sure that I'm without a single bit of personal free time, I am starting to actively work on my column for the Fringe Festival. It's only 6 weeks away! Isn't that exciting?!

The only problem is that when I finish a long string of stress-inducing productions my body collapses into illness, and so here I sit/lounge on my futon/couch and suffer from the stirrings of a throat/chest malady. Nevertheless I am able to get something accomplished.

I have just begun to figure out my charts for this year's 11-day rush through theatre, but that's not the main thing that I'm working on currently. No, what I am doing is taking a little more time to write non-random things prior to the Fringe. After all, once August 4th arrives my days are fated to follow the will of a 20-sided die. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, you can check in on tomorrow's column explaining how everything works, or read last year's explanation...Click Here).

So... in order to have a little control of my pre-festival destiny, I've decided to do a weekly feature on 5 different companies as they ready themselves for the 2005 Fringe Festival. That means each week day I'll be doing an article on one of the companies, and each week on that same day you can follow the chronicles of that same production as they get ready to rock the Fringe with their shows. Cool, eh?

Without further ado, here's the five shows that we will be watching together as the Fringe appoaches:

1. Tantrums, Testicles, and Trojans by Michael Shaeffer -- Empty S Productions -- After last year's discovery that not all Spoken Word productions are bad, I have decided to tackle my other theatrical pit-of-dispair...Slam-style Poetry! Shaeffer is a Fringe veteran who is for the first time putting forth his own show. It is a late-night offering with saucy, sassy, and snappy parts. More on that Every Monday until the Fringe!
2. Nibblers: A Musical with Sharks by Brook Berry and Michael Pearce Donley -- Front Porch Theatre -- One of two musicals in the Fringe that involve large aquatic predators, this one is based on a bed-time story crafted by the Donleys for their children. Director Joy Donley has been producing Fringe shows for years, and yet this year is presenting her with new challenges that we'll discover Every Tuesday until August 4th!
3. The Mockery by Christina M. Akers and Jonathan Edington -- CMA Productions --this play is in its second incarnation. It is another musical, and one that will not necessarily be appropriate for the same audience as Nibblers. This one involves the King of France, an illicit affair with a mime, and made its initial debut last year at the University of Minnesota's Xperimental Theatre. Now it is longer and has a new cast... I'm sure there are other changes as well, and that we'll learn about them Every Wednesday for the next few weeks!
4. So Kiss Me Already, Herschel Gertz! by Amy Salloway -- Amy Salloway -- Amy is one of the people who converted me to enjoying spoken word events last year. Her storytelling is very good. This is a one woman show that Amy is putting forth. She's been busy all year with preparing this show as well as participating in other Fringe Festivals. You can hear all about it all right here Every Thursday!
5. Talking With... -- In The Basement Productions -- This is a play about 11 different women. Personally, I am all in favor of more stage time for women...2 reasons... #1, most playwrights write more parts for men, so it's nice to see female heavy scripts. #2, I like looking at women, they need more stage time! Meg Jahns is directing this show for the group that just produced my The Mandrake. And we'll hear all about their next endeavor Every Friday right here until the first weekend in August!

Okay, so that's the plan, for what it's worth. Sound good? Cool. Now, I need to put together my standard list of random stuff for you, and then I'm off to take some cold medicine in hopes of inducing a mid-morning nap.

Here we go:

• I got an e-mail from a guy who runs a language club in Madrid. Essentially the club meets every Tuesday night and provides people who chat in different languages a chance to try out their second or third languages amidst a group of friendly people. I'm thinking that I'll try that out when I'm over there. My Spanish needs work.
• Capitalization pet peeve: whenever the word "president" is used for the President of the United States, it is supposed to be capitalized. Most other uses (other than starting a sentence, or as a title attached to a person's name) are not capitalized. I was reading an article published by the Associate Press this morning that never once capitalized the word President despite the fact that it was talking about Mr. Bush.
• What can I say... i'm hooked on facts! -- "Dragonflies can travel up to 60mph. " -- Now they just need to learn the rules of the road. They're never going to get anywhere if they can't keep themselves off my windshield.
• Today is my daughter's birthday. We'll open presents when she gets home from school.
• Happy Midsummers! Happy Solstice! Have a nice day!