The Pre-Fringe Battle Plan

So, if you're just tuning in for the first time, or if you need a bit of a refresher, let me share this with you... I do not have any control over what I see in the Fringe Festival. I go to randomly determined shows as set by a bunch of charts and the roll of a 20-sided die. It's a lot of fun, and sometimes I get to see brilliant things that never would have crossed my radar otherwise. It's also a scheme that allows me to avoid the political pitfalls of having to choose one show over another (but, more on that in another column entry).

Well, as a writer, I often enjoy a little bit of control over what I write, so last year I devised a plan. A simple plan, but a plan nevertheless. I would feature 4 plays and follow their development pre-Fringe. All the way up to opening. Once the festival was open, I didn't cover them again, unless the roll of the dice let me. But, I got to know a lot about those four shows, and I got to share that with you all.

So... I've opted to do that same thing again. Only, this year, I've upped the number to 6 productions that I'll be covering. That means that every few days you'll get an update about a show and how it is making the journey to Fringedom. Here's the list of shows that I'll be featuring:

-- "The Cat Came Back" by Zealots & Mystics

-- "The Depths of the Ocean" by Perpetual Motion Thearte Company

-- "Screwed to the Sticking Place" by Commedia Beauregard

-- "Monsters in America" by Chameleon Theatre Circle

-- "Baggage" by PNT Theater Company

-- "Dancing Rats & Vampire Moms: Tales of Dangerous Love" by Hardcover Theatre

So... There's the list. These ones will get weekly coverage from me (let's be honest: I'm shooting for weekly, but my schedule will get pretty full, so it'll reallly be every-other-week in all likelihood). I'll also do some one-shot stories on plays that pique my interest prior to the festival. After that, I'm back to the good ol' random determination thing.

I'm starting the feature articles tomorrow, so look back then for a bit about The Cat Came Back.

Now for some short snippets from nowhere about nothing in particular:

I went to The Vagina Monologues this past weekend. It is normally done for the sake of fundraising on behalf of an organization that helps prevent violence against women. This year's beneficiaries are a group of folks called "Comfort Women." To learn more about them... go here

"If a child lives with tolerance, he learns to be patient." -- A line from a wall hanging in my room...from Children Learn What They Live By Dorothy Law Nolte, Ph.D.

Ready to learn and think about a bit of normally useless knowledge?! Let's hear it for Hooked on Facts = "Pierce Brosnan once worked with the circus as a fire eater!" -- One of the women in The Women (Opening this weekend at the 4th Street Theatre in St. Paul), has fire eating listed as a Special Skill on her resume. I've got to ask her more about that. I have no idea how one even gets started with such a thing. I recently started juggling, and all I had to do was pick up three balls and start tossing them around. Does a novice fire eater merely find a burning object and place it in their mouth?

It's time to do laundry!

My Spring term is coming to a close at UNO. A few people have asked me about the program that I'm in recently, so here's a link: UNO Low-Res MFA

"Unswallow" has got to be the most disgusting euphemism for vomitting I've ever heard. Yuck!

I'm Henry the 8th, I am!

Gearing up... The start is official

This past Saturday afternoon, I and about 50 of my Fringy compatriots gathered at the Bryant Lake Bowl to acquire our Fringe Producer Packets. These precious pieces of paper were put together by the fine folks in the Fringe office (namely Mark Franko, who has reportedly been living and breathing producer handbooks for some time now). Within the pages of my handbook and the related packet were the chunks of knowledge that are required to put on a Fringe show in what is now Fringe 2006.

So...I now know that the show I'm producing has 5 lovely slots at the Xperimental Theatre in the University of Minnesota's Rarig Center. I'm excited about the space. One of the best things about this upcoming year's Fringe is that there are 4 venues in one building. That means that people don't even have to leave the premisis to see more theatre. Concentrated locations mean concentrated audience masses...Yay! Multiple venue sites have always seemed better to me. MCTC has provided us with two stages right next to each other for the last few years, the old Phoenix Playhouse did so once upon a time, too. But we've never had 4 in one place before! That's sweet!

The other thing that happened within the last couple of days that relates to what is happening in my Fringe world, is that we held auditions for the Fringe Show. Now, it is important to point out that my company (Commedia Beauregard) used to solely be run by me. However, that is no longer the case. There are advantages and disadvantages to this new arrangement. I no longer rule with an iron fist like a despot kingpin from some small third-world nation. And yet, I no longer suffer all the stress of doing everything myself. In fact, this year, I'm giving over almost all control of my Fringe show to Sasha Walloch. She's directing it, and she's leading the creation of a new work based on Shakespeare's women. Should be really cool. Especially given the ladies who auditioned last night. We had a lot of very talented actresses show up. I'm quite pleased. I'm hoping Sasha is, too, since she'll be the one working with them. I'll be busy in Spain during the rehearsal process.

More on casting and such as we get closer to the whole Fringe thing.

Incidentally, I'll be doing the same thing this year that I did last year. I'm following the development of 6 Fringe shows from there humble beginnings (right around now) to their opening performance (according to them...Given the dice rolls, there's no guarantee that I'll get to see it). This is my way of exerting some control over the plays I write about. I'll be starting up with that routine in a couple of days, so tune back in then.

Until then, let's do something crazy...dare I say, something Random?

There is a National Emergency Number Association. After some thought, I now assume that this is an association of 911 operators or something like that. However, when I first heard the name of the group, I immediately thought, "Who needs this group?" I pictured some guy sitting at a table pulling his hair out over his taxes. He's sweating up a stress-filled storm when he leaps from his chair, grabs the phone, dials, and shouts something like "I need a FOUR goddammit! A FOUR! For the love of God, this is an emergency! Give me a number 4!"

I'm currently designing lights for "The Women" at In The Basement Productions. They've also just made me a member of their company. I so badly want to make a smart alec comment about how foolish that was of them, but really I can't bring myself to it, because it was sheer genius!

Hey Check this out:


Trivia time! Thanks to the folks at Hooked on Facts = "The average horse jockey earns only $9 per race!" -- This is good news for actors: There is someone out there getting paid worse than you!

My throat is really dry. I should probably get something to drink.

In honor of the Christian holiday that just passed, I would like to mention that as a child I held all airline workers under suspicion because, as I understood it, Pilots were responsible for the death of Jesus.

A nickel.

One more picture...For no good reason:

What a weekend! A few reviews and such

I've been putting off writing this for a while because it was a big, fat weekend of theater for me. I saw shows on Thursday and Friday night, watched 300+ auditions at the Twin Cities Unifieds, and had a tech rehearsal on Sunday night at Theatre in the Round.

So... in the interest of being brief (I hear that is the soul of wit, after all), I present my weekend in a nutshell:

THURSDAY NIGHT... I attended the opening performance of Do You Want to Know a Secret by Daniel Pinkerton, whichis being presented by Fortune's Fool at Intermedia Arts. The production features the talents of Stephen D'Ambrose, Barbara Kingsley, and their daughter Maggie D'Ambrose. Rouding out the cast were Greta Grosch and Harry Baxter. Leah Cooper, yes THAT Leah Cooper!, directed.

Okay...before I say more about this show, it is honest disclosure time: I am on the board of advisors to this production. Although, while this is true, I did not directly have anything to do with the artistic choices that went into it. I'm not sure if that makes this review one that suffers from conflict-of-interest or not. Anyway... There's that.

I enjoyed this work. It is a thinker of a play, and that's not bad at all. The performances were solid and the direction good as well. The play takes place in the Deutsche Demokratische Republik, or what we used to call East Germany in the good old days of the cold war.

When the wall fell, there was a lot of finger pointing and discovery about the way things were prior to that. This play personalizes that fact by telling the story of a family torn apart by a prison sentence during the cold war, and by personal betrayal afterward. It is a really good character study, and while through the lines it tells us that the theme is about cowardice in the face of adversity, I think there is a bigger message there about the perception of any situation through the eyes of differing people. No matter how close two people are, they can still misunderstand what would be considered a betrayal by their partner. That's the case in this play. It is deep, thoughtful, and well worth seeing. I won't give any more of the plot away, though... go see it!

FRIDAY NIGHT... My Alma Mater held an alumni function for its Twin Cities alums at the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre. We saw Midlife: The Crisis Musical. It was fun. it is fluffy fun that doesn't pretend to be anything else. I felt a little out of place as one of the only 30 year-olds amongst a bunch of 40s+ alums. I didn't exactly identify with the material of the show, as they did... but... it was still an enjoyable evening.

SATURDAY & SUNDAY...Congrats to everyone who auditioned at the Unifieds. That was a long couple of days. some good folks on stage, though. Thanks everyone for your efforts.

SUNDAY NIGHT... This was the most pleasant surprise of the weekend! I normally dread tech reheasals when I'm not the director or one of the designers. Basically as a light board operator, all I do is push a single button when someone else says "go," so I'm not terribly vested in the process, and therefore get easily bored during technical rehearsals.

Last night, however, I saw a show that was many days prior to opening that is already at the point of being better than anything else I've seen on the TRP stage. Kudos to GJ Clayburn (and big kudos to me if I spelled that right, not to mention apologies to GJ if I got it wrong). GJ's direction of this play has it sharp and exciting. I was riveted through the entire show. And it isn't only because of the acting of Andy Babinski in the role of Henry David Thoreau. Babinski is great, but so is every other person in the cast, down to the folks that only have one or two lines. I've not seen such a solid group across the board in a long time.

If you get a chance, go see The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail. It is really good. It's showing at TRP through April 9th.

NOTHING RANDOM TODAY...
I have to get to my tech rehearsal. Later...

Madly Special

This past Thursday night I went to the Theatre Garage to see the newest production by nimbus. This is a group that I've enjoyed since they were doing shows at the Rogue Bhudda Gallery. They have tended to do off-beat original works that combine an intellectual asthetic with an experimental presentation. Throw in off-beat humor and a sense of playfulness, and you get a nimbus show.

They have tackled non-original works before, most notably End Game by Samuel Beckett. And that was treated very well, so this venture into the work of Nobel winner Wole Soyinka was something I was looking forward to. After all, this was a company with the guts and the gall to do this play justice.

Let it be said that since viewing the play I read the review by Mr. Preston in the Strib. And I think he was unduly harsh. I do think that the play got off to a bad start, and if you are inclined to be turned off in the first five minutes of a production and are unwilling to let it redeem itself, then this is not a show you're going to enjoy or get anything out of. The ragtag group that starts the play off lacks chemistry and commitment to what they are doing. It makes the beginning, which is not nicely filled with exposition, as we are used to in more simple American theatrical experiences, hard to comprehen and hard to watch. However, as additional characters are added to the stage and story, the play hits stride and even those characters that were painfully rough at the beginning shape up into interesting viewing.

So, there are two players that I'd cite as catalysts for bringing the story into line and whipping the play into shape. First, is Clarence Wethern. From the time of his first entrance the play changes rhythm, and those who seemingly couldn't act before, suddenly got it together...even when he wasn't on stage. hence his catalytic effect.

Second was Heidi Berg, who initially isn't as strong in this show as I have seen her before, but once she has someone to play off, she shines. her determined character is one of the only ones who seems sane and moral. And it is carried off with conviction.

So, what is this play about? There's a good question! It is about far more than I can sum up in a tidy paragraph, but I'll get to the heart of the story, at any rate. The play is about a man who went to war as a doctor, but came back as a torturing, controlling part of the government. And he attained this rise to power by eating his fellow men, literally.

The plot revolves around his attempts to pull information from his unwilling father about how the senior member is able to manipulate the masses through religion. The older doctor is played by Ben Kreilkamp and once he finds his own rhythm, he is quite good, but not unlike his compatriots (made up of those folks from the beginning of the play), it takes him some time to hit stride.

This is a challenging work and teeters on the edge of realism and fantasy. And that realism that it does employ is based on a world that we in this country never really have to face. And so, it is a foreign experience to begin with.

If you are going to this show, and I suggest you do, you will have to first become accustomed to teh rhythm of what is happening on stage before you can really start to soak things in. After that, you'll want to take the time to think about what you saw and what it means. I'm pretty sure that it will mean different things to different people. I'm pretty sure that you will note know right away what to think of what you just saw. And yet, you will think about it a lot and will be affected by it a long time afterward. That's a rewarding theatre experience, and that's what this show gives.

A couple of other thigns of note...once on their roll, I did enjoy the performances of Ryan Grimes and Tera Kilbride. Derek Dirlam also had his really strong moments. I do really have to wonder what magic Mr. Wethern posesses that his presence so changed the chemistry of the play. These three turned it on and got going from Wethern's entrance onward.

Some random stuff:

It was apparently warm enough for the wasps to be out and about yesterday, but not warm enough for them to have energy to fly. There were about 5 of them crawling about on the cement landing outside my building when I went out for lunch. I decided to not step on them in a moment of buddhist influence on my view of wildlife. Although I did take a bit of perverse glee in the fact that at least one of them had been crushed by someone else by the time I'd returned later in the afternoon.

7,653

I'm thinking about signing up to help out as a server in Fringeville for a couple of shifts this year. The Fringe is currently looking for volunteers... you, too, can sign up...Click here

I don't normally post random links for no good reason, but why not? After all, that would be random, right? Except, not really because it is planned out in advance and thoroughly debated in this exact post, right? Ah hell... here it is: A blog I enjoy

Are you as Hooked On Facts as I am?: "In ancient England a person could not have sex unless you had consent of the King." -- I guess it paid to be on the good side of teh King. Could you imagine being King in that situation? I'm sorry, but I'm pretty sure that there are certain people who I would not want to know if they were having sex. I can think of at least 10 of my friends who I would never want to imagine as sexual animals. Yikes! Just go do it and don't tell me about it! I mean, asking my permission would force me to think about it. Yuck!

It would make me very happy of the Bull Moose Party were still part of American Politics.

Llama, llama, duck!

Why ask me to come?

Something that never makes sense to me is when someone asks me to come see a show of theirs, but then tags on, "Please, don't review it." I recently (let's say yesterday, because it was, indeed, yesterday) received an e-mail telling me that I should go to see one of my friend's shows, and that upon seeing it, I should try to get to word out about it. BUT, "please, don't review it." This is the same sort of behavior that led me to start this column to begin with a couple of years ago. At that time, I'd gotten fed up with friends making me feel obligated to see their Fringe shows, and then getting upset with me when I disliked it, even when they themselves thought the show was bad. In response, I devised a way to randomly determine the shows that I go to see in the Fringe, thereby avoiding going to see bad shows due to the obligation of friendship. Granted, I still occasionally see bad shows, and I sometimes see bad shows with friends in them, but I am not there because of the friend, it is coincidental, and I feel much less pressure about attending.

Here's a hint, folks: If you think your show isn't worthy of being reviewed, then it's probably not good to invite the reviewer. Another hint: Don't tell the reviewer, your friends, or anyone else, in the e-mail that you send inviting them, that you don't think it should be reviewed. That's a warning sign. A big red flag. It is an indication that you think the show is less than what it ought to be, and I'm not going to be inclined to shell out money to pay for it. Give your own shows positive press. And just remember that any publicity is good publicity in the event that someone does write about it in a medium that a bunch of people might read.

There is one group that I tend not to review, and that is educational theatre. I attended a performance last night of Frankenstein in Love at the Xperimental Theatre at the University of Minnesota. I knew someone in it, and I love seeing young actors learning the trade. That's all I have to say about it. I believe it is unfair to criticize or elevate those who are on the path to learning how to act, direct and design. BUT… once they are out in the real world, I see no reason to not review a play, even if it is in a setting for experimental works, or a workshop. As a reviewer you review the things that are appropriate. If it is a staged reading, I don't review the acting. That's not what is being put on display. I would likely comment on the strength of the script, however. Make sense?

I do have one friend who I told the other night that I was planning on coming to his show the next evening. He said, “I wouldn't.” That's fine with me. I didn't. He gave me a fair assessment of why to not see the show he was in. I, oddly enough, do not have a problem with someone knowing that their play is bad and telling me so in confidence. That is, so long as they are to telling me that and still begging me to come see it.

Okay… enough ranting for the moment.

On to random stuff:

I bought a banjo yesterday. Until now I have been able to play bass guitar, tuba, and bamboo flute (as well as having rudimentary skill on the slide trombone), but I felt a need to learn another instrument…actually, two. I also bought a ukulele. I started learning to play the banjo this morning via a DVD lesson. The Uke will wait for a little bit, I think.

While I have to performances of Reeling at the Children’s Theatre Company today, I also have two short plays to finish by midnight and a scene for my screenwriting class at UNO. Any idea what I’ll be doing backstage?

Three nights ago there was an unusual event: the constellation Orion was clearly visible from my front porch in St. Paul. Normally the lights from the rest of the city obscure the stars, but it was so beautiful that I ran in the house and got everyone to come outside and see the stars. It came to pass that I had to explain the constellation to everyone else. The belt, the sword, and the tunic where clear as day (well, night, really). It was exciting to me. I’ve probably bored you to tears with that bit of info. If so, I'm sorry.

I’m thinking of getting a pair of these for my car before the 2006 fringe: Check these out!

Are you as Hooked On Facts as I am?: "The country of Brazil is named after the brazil nut." -- Good thing we didn't name our country after the kind of nuts here, or we'd live in the coutry of Pecan.

I have started culling the list of companies that made it into this upcoming Fringe Festival, and I am really excited about it.

Once upon a time, there was a big, scary toad. This wasn't just any ordinary toad. No, it was a toad that stood twenty or thirty feet high. It had greenish brown skin and gave off a mist of swampy aroma from its moldy hide. Why was its hide moldy? I do not know. Why the swampy aroma? No one has ever given a reasonable answer. But this toad was just like that. Yes, it was. Yes, it was.

I’m going to go see a show tonight. I’m looking forward to it. I think I’ll go to Jeune Lune. That ought to inspire a little out-of-the-box thinking on the scripts that I need to tackle over the next few days.

My daughter is spending a week with her Grandparents (my mom & dad). That is such a sweet thing. I slept in today for the first time in I don’t know how long.

What the heck is up with that toad story? I don't get it.

Shakespeare by Mann

Well I'm just recovering from this past weekend. I mean that in myriad ways. My health wasn't terrific, as I caught some sort of thing that my flu shot didn't protect me from. AND I tried to fit a whole bunch of activities into the weekend, too. I saw 1.5 plays, photographed another one, wrote a play, editted a different one, and fit in a bit of time to fight with the webserver that my parents host their site on. Fun, eh?

So... What to tell you about?...hmm... how about a show I saw at TRP. I went to Twelfth Night, which had been directed by David Mann.

Mr. Mann placed this production in the 1960s in Cape Cod. Now, updating a Shakespeare setting is done all the time, often unsuccessfully. Mann's director's notes gave a plausible reason for setting the play as he did, and that set me with hope. The incorporation of music with a 60s feel helped carry things along in this theme. I especially approved of the accoustic renderings of songs by the Ventures. Dan Sarka did a nice job with that. And another musical interlude that included two of the actors joining in on percussion captured a beautifully whimsical attitude. This is a whimsical play, so that's probably a good thing.

I really enjoyed two performances above all... those of Mo Perry (seen in 2005 Fringe on stage with a snake in "Talking With..." by In The Basement Productions), and Leigha Horton (Voice of the Fringe!!!). Perry's Olivia was believable and solid. She was by far the best developed character on the stage. Her changes in mood and thought were well motivated, and entirely convincing. She worked with the language to make it seem completely natural, not recited. Beautiful.

Horton set the tone of the play by playing a cross-dressed jester that seemed somewhat akin to some John Lovitz character from once upon a time. She was the singing minstral of this show, and it was nice to hear her intone the new songs by Donald Sweet.

Other parts that I thought were good: Craig Johnson as Malvolio was effective; not unlike most interpretations, but effective and funny. Two of the smaller parts were very effectively played by Grant Henderson and Brian O'Neal. They were their parts (Orsino's officers) every time they took the stage.

Now...my other thoughts... If one sets Shakespeare in a new, updated setting, then the justifications have to run through the show entirely. A clapboard wall and a few dated costumes do not a concept make. There was little indication through the action that we were in 1960s New England. Not one Yankee accent was to be heard. Nothing specifically was on stage to make it seem like New England at all. The music and some of the costumes were the tie-in. That's it.

Was Stephen Frethem's Orsino supposed to be a Kennedy-esque personage? Don't know. It would've been a bolder choice had that been the way it went. Malvolio was handled as he normally is in a traditional production of this show...what made it worth updating? One attempt to update that nearly worked was that of turning Maria into a Marilyn Monroe type character. It could've gone further, but it was clear what was going on with her, at any rate.

The characters that are often the comedic relief (Sir Toby Belch, Sir Andrew Aguecheek, and Fabian) were played adequately. On reflection, most of the show was just that...adequate.

I know there are limitations with the space, and that physicality isn't always as easy in the round, but this seemed to be a very static production, even when the characters were in motion. Most of the movement seemed to happen because the director said so... Perry, Johnson, and Horton are exempted from this statement.

Now...in case you've never seen Twelfth Night, I'll let you in on a little secret: The play hinges on having two characters that look somewhat similar. Now, that being said, I have seen productions in which the two look nothing alike and it is played as a joke throughout, and that can work. This production, however, cast a woman 6-8 inches shorter than her maile counterpart who played the part in a very high voice, as opposed to his much lower one. They walked in two completely different ways, and their one physically similar feature is short blond(e) hair. I was dissapointed that more wasn't done to make them similar, or make them different. It was a shot straight down the middle. The situation did cause me to laugh out loud at one point when it was mentioned that the two could not be more alike. I feelt bad about laughing, but it had to be done.

If you want to see a stellar Olivia, Feste, and Curio & Valentine, go to this production. I will remember these folks in those roles for a long time. For now, I still think of Karen Wiess-Thompson as Toby Belch (from Pigs Eye's production a few years back) and John Smoot (American Players Theatre) as Malvolio. I'm still searching for the quintessential experience of most of the other characters...for now.

Okay...time for the random stuff:

I also took pictures at the photo call for In The Basement Productions' Scapin...there are only two shows left of this show...go see it.

Frogs are my friends!

If you spell my full name backward, it looks like this: Reddik Revilo Rehpotsirhc

Trivia time thanks to Hooked on Facts: "TIME Magazines Man of the Year in 1938 was Adolf Hitler.." -- Whoops!

"Don't pay the ferryman. Don't even fix a price. Don't pay the ferryman, 'til he gets you to the other side." -- Chris DeBurg

The Lottery from afar

This year's Fringe Lottery is now past. I wish I could say that I was able to attend, but I wasn't. Originally I had planned on being there and videotaping the entire process so as to provide clips for your viewing pleasure. However, those plans fell through as I developed a short-notice conflict.

Back in 2002 I started my affiliation with the Pillsbury House Theatre by working on their show Mr.
Bundy. By being involved with that
show, I met Brian Goranson, who invited me to write for something called the Chicago Avenue Project. Monday night and last night that program celebrated its 10th year, and we playwrights, directors, and actors who've been involved over the
years were invited to take part in the celebration. I also suddenly found myself running the lights for the event. So, by being at the Pillsbury House, I wasn't at the Fringe Lottery.

That being said, I did have some notice passed my way that my production was better fated this year than it was last year. Mr. Everett, my friend and fellow blogger,
informed me that my lot came up (Commedia Beauregard), as did Ferrari McSpeedy
(another company that was excluded last year). It will be sweet to produce in the Fringe again. I do have some challenges ahead of me. Producing from Spain this summer will be somewhat
difficult. But, my promise to you is
that what I put up will be entertaining and worth the extra effort.

The official list of shows that made it into the Fringe has now been released. Now I’m able to let you know which productions I'm looking forward to, who I hope will claw their way in off of the waiting list, and all that sort of stuff.

I’ll do that in my three following posts…

Now for a bit of organized chaos:

• Buster
  Keaton once broke his neck whilst filming a movie in which thousands of
  gallons of water were dumped on his head.
  You can see a play based on his work currently at the Children’s
  Theatre Company, and if you come during the matinees, then you’ll see me
  in it, too!


• In
  case you didn’t know, the Vulcans won and Spring will be returning to w:st="on">St. Paul once again
  this year. Anyone ever hope that
  the Vulcans lose some year, just to see what happens?



• Today’s
  trivia from www.hookedonfacts.com:
  “ It costs about 3 cents to make a $1 bill in the United States.” – Now, that's what I call a return on your investment!


• I have
  very little to say otherwise, today… So, on to the next entry.

Two days ago & four days from now...

So... I did it. That's right! I submitted my application to the 2006 Minnesota Fringe Festival to produce a show. Now I wait for the lottery on Monday the 6th. I am not alone while I wait. Two hundred eighty-three other folks submitted applications this year. That's about 40 shows more than last year's lottery according to the e-mail I just got from Mark Franko at the Fringe office. I didn't get in last year. I'd just like to point that out. Forty more shows in the drawing...that's got to affect the odds. One hundred and fifty shows are going to get into the Fringe this year. So my odds are just a smidgen better that 50-50 of getting in. The whole thing is a crap-shoot. And that's the way that it is supposed to be!

One of the best things about the Minnesota Fringe Festival is that the selection of shows and companies is entirely non-juried. The folks down at teh home office keep things fair through the lottery. Last year was the first time they tried the lottery, and we were treated to a bunch of companies that had never been involved before, while some old favorites didn't get a slot at all. I didn't last year. This year, my luck might change. It is reassuring that I have the same chance of getting into this thing as Ari Hoptman (also excluded from producing last year) or Joe Scrimshaw (made it in again last year).

I was initially planning on video-taping the festivities of teh Fringe Lottery, but I've now made a commitment to be elsewhere, and will be unable to attend. But, you can bet your bippy that I'll be eagerly looking at that list as it comes out on the 8th via e-mail. And I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, cross your fingers for ping-pong ball #223.

Well, time for something random, I guess:
I have seen a couple of shows recently that I should mention: Aladdin Jr at the Children's Theatre Company was terrific. I especially want to send "props" to Stephen Young, who ran the puppet of Iago. My daughter really enjoyed the puppet during the play, and loved when Mr. Young popped out for curtain call. The other show I need to mention is "We Gotta Bingo." It's playing in the Lowry building in Downtown St. Paul. Go see it. It is very funny, very fun, and it has good people in it. It was soooooo good to see Robin Hart, Brandon Williams, and Ellen Karsten doing their thing. The others were good, too.
I got a Mad-Libs daily calendar for X-mas this past December. It's a lot of fun thus far. For tomorrow I have to come up with an adjective, a verb ending in -ing, two singular nouns and one plural noun.
There is a certain story-teller in town who needs to give me a call. I still owe her an evening of Scotch-tasting at the Town Hall.
A fact from http://www.hookedonfacts.com">Hooked on Facts: "Grapes explode when you put them in the microwave." -- Unless, of course, you neglect to turn the thing on.
School is back in session for the University of New Orleans!
I can't say I've never won anything when entering drawings. I once won a small handheld electronic game (back in 1981-ish) and in 1999 I won a gas-grill BBQ. I truly fear that my luck has run out for such things.
It was a lot of fun being part of the last seires of "Thirst Theatre." Now that the next seires is up and going, I'm feeling lonely on Monday nights. I'm thinking I have to coordinate a group outing to Thirst in a week or two.

A bit of excitement

Well, the last few days have been an enjoyable romp through oddity for me. You may remember from a few posts ago that my play, "Cursed" is being done as part of this fall's offering at Thirst Theater. It is starring Charlie Bethel and Nathan Christopher (only two more performances: Dec 5 & Dec 12). If you missed the November 28th performance, you missed out on a unique night of entertainment. Why? Well, Charlie had a schedule conflict, and rather than reschedule our performance, we opted to have me fill in for him. Now, I may have written the show, but that doesn't mean that I have it memorized... or, rather, that I did prior to Monday night. I have it memorized now, as the combined efforts of three people and six times through the script managed the cement it into my mind just in time to hit the stage (umm... table?) at Joe's Garage. The performance went well.

In fact, the whole evening went well. I enjoyed all of the shows I saw (the three after my own). I am told that the first of the evening (the one I missed because I was memorizing) was particularly good. It is a piece by Alan Berks, and starring Chris Carlson. I believe I'll be able to catch it at the next performance on the 5th.

I think my fave of the evening was the show by Tom Poole. It is called "Life Coach," and it is a lot of fun.

Other than that little adventure, I have spent much of my recent time catching up on homework. It is amazing how difficult it can be to get motivated to read stuff for my "Literature in Cyberspace" class. I know I write in the online medium, and that I read stuff on here all the time, but it seems more like a place for summer reading -- you know, the light, for entertainment value style of reading-- rather than for academic, dry, research style reading. I find that my eyes get tired faster than ever before reading academic stuff on a computer screen. Thank goodness most of the stuff online is porn, eh?

Guess what? This weekend I will be putting together the long-awaited stats on my die rolling for the last two Fringe Festivals. Isn't that exciting? Look for that...coming soon!

It's my birthday, too, yeah!

So, this year was one of those years when my birthday fell on Thanksgiving day. It happens every so often. I think the last time it happened was on my 21st birthday. Yep... my big 21 was celebrated with my parents and borther over turkey... My mom & dad bought me a 4-pack of individual wine bottles. it was a nice effort on their part. It wasn't drinking back at school with my friends, but it was something.

Anyway, last night was #32, and it was basically unremarkable. My daughter gave me a wonderful gift of vocabulary cards and a set of Muppet playing cards. It was sweet.

Both she and I were really sick yesterday, so we staggered through Thanksgiving. We had Cornish Game Hens rather than Turkey. Turkey was going to be too much effort. All the rest of the trimmings were pretty standard, though.

Anyway, Kate Hoff pointed out that her birthday was this past Monday. I didn't know ours were so close together. Perhaps we'll have to hold a joint party next year.

Nothing, too random today... My daughter is revelling in the fact that it is snowing, so we're going to go out and play now.

Toodles,
Chris

Time to sign up!

So, it is here. The day is here. Today is the day when the 2006 Fringe Festival becomes more than just a figment of our collective imaginations. Or, really, it just now is able to gain form within our imaginations. Or, something like that!

Anyway, here's the thing. I've downloaded my newly available application, and I am excited to see a number of categories under which I would like to produce a show. Problem is, I'm not entirely sure I can decide which thing I'd like to do. Do I produce a show I've written? Do I produced a friend's show? I've done both of those before. I've directed a show before, but unless I put one together while I'm overseas this summer, I can't actually do the directing. Hmm... If I did that, would it make it an international show? Or, at least an out-of-town show, since most of the folks involved that way would be from New Orleans? I've got to give that some thought. Probably have to make a phone call or two on that one.

My favorite idea at the moment is to coordinate a mini-festival within the festival. I seriously missed the Fast Fringe last year. I thought it was a great addition to the festival two years ago, and I would like to see it happen again. I think I'll try to make that happen.

Anyway, the applications are available through a link on the main page, so why are you sitting here? Go check it out!

4, 3, 2, 1 ... 2006!

Well, golly! I don't know what to say, other than I'm already looking forward to the 2006 Fringe Festival. How much you ask? Well... let's just say that I'm counting down the days until the applications come out next tuesday. That's 4 days away.

I have no idea if I'll have the money to put up a show this next year, or if I'll be able to coordinate a production from overseas (I'll be in Spain for all of July again), but I'm gonna try! Why not? This is the time of year for dreams. Not only tryptiphan induced dreams after Thanksgiving dinner, or dreams of sugar plums whilst awaiting Santa. It is also the time for dreaming up crazy things that could happen in next year's Fringe Festival. I'm really looking forward to what other people come up with, and seeing that, but I'm also really looking forward to seeing what I might be able to put forth.

Now, I did try to get into this last Fringe, and my little ball didn't pop out in a timely fashion during the lottery. Hopefully this year my luck will be better. Cross your fingers for me. (If you find yourself crossing your fingers at this time, you might want to delay your action until a later date...the drawing doesn't happen until February).

Now, just a couple of random things...

I've been doing a lot of around-the-house cleaning recently. Aparently I prefer cleaning prior to heading into the winter, rather than doing Spring Cleaning like so many others. I've no idea if this makes me weird. I have a feeling that my cleaning habits aren't the source of my weirdness.

1984 was a major work of dystopian fiction by George Orwell.

Mmmm...Ginger snaps!

Trivia returns to my column: "During the Gold Rush in 1849, some people paid as much as $100 for a glass of water!" -- Some things never change!


Top three songs that run through my head...
1. If I Had a Hammer
2. If I had A Million Dollars
3. Mmm-Bop

Since the Fringe...

Howdy Y'all! And, Hola!

I'd like to start off by apologizing for taking so long to type anything since the end of the Fringe Festival. As you know, that was back in Mid-August, and here we are at the top of November. Thing is, I've had an odd Fall that has featured a lot of unexpected developments. Because of that, I've not been your faithful colunist... but I do have a bunch of stuff to catch you up on. So in brief... Here we go:

1. Fringe Remounts-- During the Fringe I was a little disappointed that I had to miss so many of the really great shows that I was hearing about from others. That is an occupational hazard when you roll dice to choose what shows you go to. The nice thing is how many of the shows get remounted in the following months. I was lucky enough to catch two remounts this year. The first was Inspector Rex, by Four Humours Theatre. It was remounted at the Old Arizona Studio. What a show! I would love to direct that some time at another theater. It was a solid script. Very funny, and very fun, generally.


The second show that I was able to catch belatedly, was the remount/Katrina-Fundraiser version of Glorious Noise by Rik Reppe. IT was a terrific show. And I would belatedly call it the best show of my Fringing this year...I have more to say on it, but that'll have to wait a minute, because it falls under my next category...

2. Hurricane Woes -- As you may or may not remember, I attend the University of New Orleans for my grad school. Although I go via the internet most of the time (and spend my summers in Madrid), many of my classmates and all of my professors actually live in New Orleans. We had already been in school for a week and a half when Katrina hit. We were expecting a nice week-long vacation due to the storm in the same way that Hugo gave us a few days off last year. You all know what really happened. So... My education went on hiatus. All of my friends and teachers got out alive. There was a frenzy of trying to locate people at the beginning of it all, but things have gotten better since then. Everyone is safe, the university relocated temporarily into a wing of LSU in Baton Rouge, and classes started up again on October 10th via the internet for everyone who chose to stay enrolled for the Fall term.

Rik Reppe and company put together a lovely fundraiser that was held at the Great American History Theater. It raised money to support the musicians who have been displaced by the storm's wrath. My only gripe about that evening was that not enough people came. I was really disappointed by the turn out. C'mon Fringers! I know I personally sent out over 550 e-mails about the event. Others must have too. I think I counted about 75 people there. While it was good that that many made it, many more ought to have. I'm including a link here so those of you who feel guilty about missing it can make a contribution to the group that funds went through.

3. Thirst -- I have a show that I wrote in this series of Thirst shows. It features Charlie Bethel and Nathan Christopher. Those are two darned fine actors, and I feel lucky to have them bringing my play to life. If you get a chance, there are two more performances of my script. They are on Monday, November 28 and Monday, December 5, 2005, at Joe's Garage. Start time is 7:30 p.m.

4. The Y-Show -- It's always nice to receive a bit of recognition for being who you are. I don't know so much as the recognition was warranted, but I was sent a VIP invitation to see The Y-Show when it openned last week. So I went. I took in an evening that claimed that it was going to redefine theater for the future. That's a pretty bold statement. Not too far from one that was made by a theatre company during the Fringe Festival (something about a new paradigm of theatre, as I recall). Anyway, here's my synopsis in a nutshell...

The interactive parts of the show were an entertaining bit that involved the use of handheld digital devices that were programmed to send words up onto the screen from time to time. They were also supposed to allow you to select answers that the main character would occaisionally interact with as well. BUT, from teh very first answer, it was clear that her responses would be the same no matter what we'd answered. When audience-provided text hit the screen it was only taken semi-seriously, and pulled away from the show. Although, I'm not sure that's unfortunate. Why? Well, the lead actress (this is basically a one-woman show) was not good. The video clips that she interacted with weren't good either, but that's probably because she was the main character in those, too. The show was a sermon about liberal values, and the preachiness of it managed to turn me off, and I agree with almost everything that they're trying to sell.

It's sad that the whole thing couldn't have had a plot, had compelling characters, or something like that so that people in the audience would've identified with the liberal message rather than ramming it down our throats. OH! Did I mention that part of it was in 3-D? At least they made us wear the glasses. Can I say something here There is a spinning red lozenge that appears to almost be 3-d. Beyond that, nothing benefitted from wearing the glasses. In good 3-d (read: Disney's Philharmagica) it hurts the head to take the glasses off. This isn't good 3-d... take the glasses off. Side thing... I was seated in the $80 seats. All in all, I'd save the $80 toward a trip to Disney World and go see some really good 3-D. Skip this show altogether. If this is the new definition of theatre, then I'm changing careers right now.

-----Okay, no randomness today, it was just enough for me to get something written at all! Tune-in in a few days. After all, it is only 9 days until the applications for the 2006 Fringe Festival are put out there! Yay!