Spooky and Gay Cabaret is writer performer Bruce Ryan Costella’s little bit of everything show. This visiting artist from Orlando Florida tells spooky stories, sings songs and performs stand up comedy bits. Two things really stood out were the lighting and his stand up bits that counted down things like the gayest songs and the worst Halloween candies. The lighting was especially effective and impressive considering he controlled it all himself while performing, it was simple but very effective. It’s a fun show and Costella plays a charming MC to his own set of mini acts. It’s the sort of low budget DIY show that is perfect for the little Horror Festival that could, and I think it says a lot about this Festival, that it does attract artists from other states. Of course he’s gay and from Florida, why wouldn’t he wanna leave there and come here? And for the record, I stand with Costella on the Tootsie Roll but I like Dots!
Remaining Show Times Sunday, October 23rd 7:30pm Monday, October 24th 6pm Wednesday, October 26th 9pm Saturday, October 29th 10:30
Frankly, part of me feels a little robbed as I was promised Sam Landman. I assume that was his voice, but they never tell us and no one even mentions his name. But oh heck Writer’s Room, I can’t stay mad at you, you are much too clever for that. Like the opening nights Stabby Stab Stab this contains three very good performances, and a voice which may or may not be Sam Landman. The story is Written & Performed by Emily Dussault, Keith Hovis, Sam Landman & Leslie Vincent. Three characters, one a composer, one an influencer, and the third a hacker are all summoned to a room where they believe they will be interviewing for a very high paying position. It turns out they are competing for the job with other teams by coming up with solutions to PR problems that celebrities might have. As the play progress we begin to wonder what happens if you don’t get the job? It’s a well told story with lots of twists and surprises, it isn’t too scary really, but it is exciting and it has a nice amount of humor as well. This was the closest thing I’ve seen at the festival so far this year that resembles what we would think of as a traditional play, but…….nah, you’ll have to see it for yourself.
Remaining Show Times Sunday October 23rd 10:30pm Wednesday October 26th 6pm Friday October 28th 9pm Saturday October 29th 3pm
Nissa Nordland Morgan and Kayla Dvorak Feld Photo by Ryan Lear
Stabby Stab Stab is a collaboration between two local favorite theater companies that attendees of The MN Fringe Festival and Twin Cities Horror Festival (TCHF) will know well, Special When Lit and the Winding Sheet Outfit. A dramatization of the 2014 true crime popularly known as “the Slender Man Stabbing” that focuses solely on the two 12 year old girls, Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weir who committed the heinous crime. The show is a reminder that people are more than the one worst thing they’ve done in their lives. It doesn’t try to excuse their actions but it does help put things in perspective and bring to the forefront that these were 12 year old children. We gain some understanding of the loneliness and the intense need to connect that the two girls whose inner world seems as real to them as the one outside their heads. It reminded me of the wonderful true crime based film by Peter Jackson Heavenly Creatures.
The girls are brought to vivid life by the shows Playwright Nissa Nordland Morgan as Morgan and Kayla Dvorak Feld as Anissa. Nordland Morgan brings her uncanny ability to play childlike without crossing over into cloying childishness. Her character is the one who stabs and her performance makes clear that the girl is young, naive and suffering from mental illness that has caused a relaxation of her grip on reality. Her script, the result of exhaustive research includes texts between the girls and even a short story written by Morgan. All of this is giving us a picture of the girls tween world view and it brings some modicum of understanding to such an unfathomable act. Dvorak Feld shows her range this month inhabiting a character so completely different from her performance earlier this month in Daleko Arts’ The Thin Place. I couldn’t be sure that it was the same actress until I got home and checked my program from the earlier show such is her transformation.
Stabby Stab Stab is backed with eerily appropriate live musical accompaniment by Derek Lee Miller and Sam Landman. The effective Lighting by Andre Johnson Jr. combined with the projections and Production Design by Director Amber Bjork make this the show to beat at season XI of the TCHF. The opening night performance was sold out and I saw a post on facebook this morning that there were only 8 seats left for Fridays performance. Given the talent and the popularity of the collaborative theatre companies as well as word of mouth I wouldn’t be at all surprised if this shows entire run, which is for this first weekend only, sells out.
Remaining Show Times: Friday, October 21st 9pm Saturday, October 22nd 4:30pm Sunday, October 23rd 6pm Monday, October 24th 10:30pm
Hannah Wydeven, Lizzie Gardner, Taj Ruler are The shrieking Harpies
The Shrieking Harpies is an improvisational musical performed by Lizzie Gardner, Taj Ruler, Hannah Wydeven, accompanied by Justin Nellis on keyboard. At the start of the show they have an audience member draw from a pumpkin horror theme and then ask for a name to be shouted out. Given these two prompts they improvise a comedic horror musical attempting to create a complete story with a beginning, middle, and end. I’ve said it before but musical improv terrifies me on behalf of the performers, but obviously these three thrive on that danger. They have the comedic and vocal gifts to pull it off. Because it is improve each performance will be unique. The performance I saw used the key word “Devil” and the name “Madeline” from there they use their talents and imaginations to create magic. As with all improve they rely on some established characters types that they can riff on. One of Wydeven’s characters is the horny teacher who’s late for a Tinder date, Ruler is an among others an adolescent with a voice that escaped from a Simpson’s episode, and Gardner is a single parent and overwhelmed by it as well as the inner voice of the Devil. Some of the best moments come when they crack each other up or in our show when Gardner actually scares Wydeven with that inner Devil voice. these shows are always filled with laughs but I’m also equally impressed each time with the quality of their vocals.
Remaining Show Times Saturday, October 22nd at 1:30pm Tuesday, October 25th at 6pm Friday, October 28th 7:30pm Sunday, October 30th 4:30pm
Reverend Matt’s Monster Science: Gillman Genesis (Milicent Patrick Variant)
Reverend Matt’s Monster Science is the banner under whichMatthew Kessen performs comedic but factual lectures about Monsters. A staple of the festival, I first saw his lecture entitled Feminine Inhuman when I was covering the TCHF my first year of reviewing. This year the lecture is entitled Gillman Genesis but there is an interesting twist this year he has two different lectures that perform on different nights. The Milicent Patrick variant which I saw centers around the woman whose credit for creating The Creature From the Black Lagoon has only recently been restored after decades of being wrongly attributed to a her ego bruised white male boss. The second variant which I don’t have scheduled but will try and catch focuses on contemporary horror master Guillermo del Toro who created his own Gillman for his masterful film The Shape of Water. I won’t give away any of the details I’ll just say that I find these lectures to be highly enjoyable. As a fan of monsters who poured over books about monsters, particularly the old Universal Studio Monsters as a kid I feel a kindred spirit with Rev. Matt. His love of his subject matter and his wit drive these fun filled lectures.
Remaining Show Times Saturday, October 22nd 3pm – World Full of Monsters (Guillermo del Toro) Monday, October 24th 7:30pm – Mother of Monsters (Milicent Patrick) Saturday, October 29th 4:30pm – World Full of Monsters (Guillermo del Toro) Sunday, October 30th 1:30pm – Mother of Monsters (Milicent Patrick)
For more information about the TCHF in general, each of these shows, and to purchase tickets go to https://www.tchorrorfestival.com/
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