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Something has occurred to me over the past few weeks. I now know why reviewers in this town, or any town for that matter, don't waste their time writing about some shows, while they do cover other ones.

If you ask a reviewer/reporter why they write about one thing rather than another, you'll often hear mention of needing something that makes a show special. The writer needs something to write about. Of all the companies I asked to send me as much info as they could about their shows, most sent me exactly what their listing in the Fringe Program says. Verbatim. Those companies I didn't even bother with.

A handful of companies were at the other end of the spectrum. Those were the shows that I've been covering throughout the summer. Why? They gave me all sorts of information, feedback, thoughts, anecdotes, etc. about their shows and the process that they went through to make it to the Fringe. They made it easy for me to write a STORY (or, in most cases, at least two stories) about them.

This column entry is dedicated to those groups that did something in the middle. They are the shows that sent me SOME information. By some, I mean that they sent me a blurb or a press release or something. They gave me more than what you can get in the program of the Fringe, but much less than what would be useful to do a feature article. However, I feel that they ought to get some press. That being said, they also need to learn that dates, times, blurb, and cast list aren't enough to catch the attention or imagination of a writer. Anyway, here's the shows and what I've got to say about them...

Glorious Noise & Serendipity or An Evening of Happy Accidents in Exactly Seventeen Scenes (more or less)-- Music director/pianist Jake Endres sent me info on the two shows he's doing, with a couple of side bits of info about them. Glorious Noise is being directed by Fringe Festival Executive Director Leah Cooper. And apparently the guy who's singing is great. Jake seems to think that this one will sell out. I tend to think that about the other one he's involved with. Serendipty (sorry, I'm not going to type that full name over and over again) has good buzz going around about it, was featured in the second podcast, and seems to be the type of fun show that flourishes in atmosphere of the Fringe. I like Jake a lot, so I'm hoping they both do well.

Trip Open -- Actress Mo Perry initially tipped me off to this production. So, the director of this play hopes to create a "new paradigm of theater" and calls himself a "Experiential Designer" rather than director because he is designing an experience for the audience. Now, without getting into the theories of art philosophy, or quoting Susan Sontag articles at length, let me just say that using corp-speak to describe your theatrical goals immediately makes me skeptical. Although, I'll give the benefit of the doubt. I'm interested to see what this "new paradigm" is. Will it be akin to the work being done at the Magic Theatre in Omaha by Meg Terry that pushes all boundaries of what theatre is, or will it compare to the stuff being cranked out at the U's X theatre? Or, will it truly meet the hype being put forth. I'm wishing this company luck.

Talking With... -- Getting info on this show has been like pulling teeth. Artistic Director Kristin Richardson graciously sent me the cast list right away, but it has been remarkably hard trying to find out about the rehearsal process. Granted this play is a bunch of monologues, so I'm not sure what type of stories there would be about rehearsals (although I imagine there has to be something about the live snake worth telling). The show is written by the ever-mysterious Jane Martin who everyone thinks is a guy, but has never made her/his actual persona public.

Meditations on Arion -- Nautilus Musical Theatre brought the Fringe one of the best shows last year and one of the best voices. They'll try to accomplish both feats this year in a selection put together by Jennifer Baldwin Peden and Ben Krywosz. Unless you've been under a rock over the past couple of years, you've noticed Jen's career soaring with meteoric success here in the Twin Cities. She is one of theatre's genuinely good people, and one of the most talented people I know. Without knowing much about this show, I could probably go on at length about her, but I don't feel that I really need to. Just know that if there were one show that I'd be tempted to "alter" my die roll to be able to attend, it would be this one.

Chicks in Space -- There are two theaters that hold particular soft spots in my heart because of my history with them. One is In The Basement Productions, and the other is the producer of this play, Theatre Unbound. I feel lucky to call the women who make up this company my friends, and I think they make good art whenever they put something on the stage. I'm sure I'd know more about this show if I'd not been in Spain all summer. Anne Bertram is a good playwright and so I'm expecting good things here.

Okay... That's it. I have a couple more companies to write about who did send me enough stuff to go on about at length, so I will. These ones are all worth seeing, so please do.