Month: August 2025

Minnesota Fringe Day 2: This, Death! A Musical, Clown Funeral, Hamluke (The Stages of MN Fringe of the Day Award winner)

Day two was another Fringetacular evening of entertainment! I’m 8 shows in now and haven’t seen a show yet that I wouldn’t recommend. Here are my quick reviews of Day two.

This is Tim Uren’s autobiographical solo show that touches on his tendency to believe almost anything, he believes in Bigfoot and that aliens built the Pyramids. Who knew we had so much in common? Tim is a member of The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society (MORLS) and it’s pretty much a guarantee that I’m going to see anything anyone associated with the MORLS is in. I seem to vibe with all of their sensibilities, and This only deepens that belief. Uren covers a lot of ground, maybe too much. I only say that because for the first time ever I witnessed a show get cut off because their time was up. I spoke with Uren later and I missed about 3 minutes. I can’t miss another show to see it again for the last three minutes but I may try and corner him at some point and see if I can get him to finish the performance. Maybe it’s because I’m interested in how people come together and their journey’s but I loved getting a lot of Uren’s background filled in for me, and I thought his writing and performance was filled with humor and reality. To purchase tickets go to the shows page at The Minnesota Fringe Site here https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2025/this

Death! A Musical is sort of amazing, it’s a large scale production featuring a full orchestra some very legit equipment, and it’s all written and Directed by a seventh grader named Gabriel Shen. Is it perfect? No. There are issues not with the songs but at times with hearing the lyrics. Some performers were either mic’d better or projected better, but some of the songs were pretty darn good and the lead Vivienne Steele who plays Alana is really quite good. I generally make it a point nowadays not review the performances of young Actors unless they are in a professional production, and then really only if they are very good, but Steele, is really quite good. What makes this show worth your time, and it is worth your time, is to see what this 7th grader has accomplished. It’s really impressive, everything from the songs themselves, the script which has lots of strong moments and a few genuine laughs, which is pretty good for a show about death. Even the program contained ads and I don’t think I’ve ever seen that at a Fringe show before. Shen must be a very creative, focused, and motivated teenager, and this is an accomplishment to be very proud of. To purchase tickets go to the shows page at The Minnesota Fringe Site here https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2025/death-a-musical

Clown Funeral. The title kind of says it all. We the audience are mourners at the funeral for Bongo J. Sprinkles. As we file in to the theater we are encouraged to sign the guest book and next to it on the floor is a box filled with red clown noses, with a note saying take a nose, leave a nose. We are handed a program with the order of the service including congregation replies at certain points. It all seems very straightforward and then the clowns in charge enter the space and it’s the funniest funeral since Mary Richards attended the funeral of Chuckles the clown on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. The cast of clowns is played by Mark Benzel, Chris Rodriguez, Jen Scott, and Levi Weinhagen, with a special appearance by Reverand Matt Kessen as a banana version of his Monster Science Lecturer. Thank God for that as it wouldn’t feel like Fringe to me without a little Monster Science. This show is very silly, there’s lots of laughs and ingenious gags. If you enjoy laughing and/or funerals, this is the show for you! To purchase tickets go to the shows page at The Minnesota Fringe Site here https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2025/clown-funeral-

Hamluke reminded me a lot of what is still probably the best Fringe show I’ve ever seen since Clevername’s Who’s Afraid of Winnie the Pooh? in the way it mashes up two completely different sources, that don’t seem to belong together and surprise us by how completely compatible they are. I know Hamlet probably better than any other play and I was the perfect age when Star Wars came out in 1977 and thus know most of the original trilogy by heart. Combining them, works really well. The script is ingenious in finding where and when to supplant Shakespeares prose with Star Wars jargon, Famous lines fit into the basic story of Hamlet perfectly. I loved the script, the costumes, the music, the sound effects, the performances. I realize I could write a full review on this show, but it’s 2:36 AM so I think I say it all when I say that Hamluke is the winner of todays The Stages of MN Fringe of the Day Award, and it wasn’t even a close race, in a day that was filled with great shows. This is the one to beat for best of the fringe festival for me. It hits all my sweet spots and It’s the kind of show that tempts me to give up a precious show slot to see it again. To purchase tickets go to the shows page at The Minnesota Fringe Site here https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2025/hamluke

That’s it for day two of the Minnesota Fringe Festival you can click on the Fringe website here to get details on all of the shows https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2025. Don’t forget to tune into The Stages of MN YouTube channel for mini episodes all week long from The MN Fringe Festival https://www.youtube.com/@TheStagesofMN

Subscribe to the channel so you’ll always know when a new episode has dropped. Think I may have steered you wrong on a show? Well, I’m also a member of the Twin Cities Theater Bloggers (TCTB), where you can read review roundups of shows by m’colleagues and I when you follow us on facebook @TwinCitiesTheaterBloggers.

Don’t depend on a Facebook or Instagram algorithm to ensure you hear about a great show. You can subscribe and have every post from The Stages of MN sent directly to your email box. It’s the best way to ensure you don’t miss out on any of the theater action. To subscribe on your computer: from the home page on the right, enter your email address and click subscribe. On your mobile device scroll to the bottom of the page and do the same. You can also follow me on Facebook, @thestagesofmn click follow and on Instagram thestagesofmn.

Minnesota Fringe Day 1: A Sad Carousel 2: The Timely Death of Herschel Douscheburg, Fangs and Bangs (and Sangs), The Kendra Plant Variety Hour, In the Garden of American Heroes (The Stages of MN Fringe of the Day Award winner)

The Minnesota Fringe Festival began with a bang this year. That may be partially my fault, I deliberately stacked the first night so that Micky would get to see these four shows. The unforeseen problem was that any of these four shows could easily have garnered the highly unknown and mostly uncoveted (which spellcheck assures me is not a word, but you know what I mean and therefore I’m laying claim to inventing it!) The Stages of MN Fringe of the Day Award. Only one show made me get a little teary eyed and that was The Kendra Plant Variety Hour, but if I pick that will you all say I’m giving it to that show because she’s a fellow Theater Blogger? What about Sam Landman and Nissa Nordland’s shows? They are both very funny “currently” a couple, what if awarding one of them the Award over the other drives a wedge of jealousy between them and causes their status to change to “formerly”? That’s a lot of imaginary power for one Theater Blogger. And so I decided to go with Andrew Erskine Wheeler’s In the Garden of American Heroes, because I was too afraid to pick any of the others. No that’s not true, but it was a tough call on this first night of the 2025 Minnesota Fringe Festival. Here are my quick reviews of the first four shows I saw.

A Sad Carousel 2: The Timely Death of Herschel Douscheburg is apparently a sequel to a show Sam Landman did 15 years ago. That was well before my time on the Fringe beat, so I never saw the original. I can tell you with all confidence that this is one sequel, unlike the latest marvel movies, that you can enjoy without ever having seen the previous show. The humor comes from Landman’s character, an insult comic who is considered toxic by todays comedians, dealing with a world that has moved on since he went into a coma. It takes shots at the toothless comedy of the younger generation. I’m old enough to find a lot of it funny and to recognize Douscheburg as an exaggeration of my generation’s sometimes eye rolling at how far the pendulum has swung in terms of what can be joked about. I’m not saying Douscheburg speaks for me, but I understand where he’s coming from. Featuring a totally committed performance from Landman, including a hair and costume that perfectly complete the picture. We are treated to a fun supporting cast which includes Director Shanan Custer’s husband Eric Custer (for those who were at the show, you’ll know that now they are even), Eric Webster does a great job changing hats and in doing so changing from Eric Webster wearing one hat, to Eric Webster wearing a different hat. An Actor of his calibre is only limited by the number of hats available to him. I’m not criticizing Webster, it’s a play on a joke in the show. Webster is a favorite and a lot of fun here. To learn more about the show which performs in the Rarig Thrust stage and to purchase tickets go to the shows page at The Minnesota Fringe Site here https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2025/a-sad-carousel-2-the-timely-death-of-herschel-douscheburg

Fangs and Bangs (and Sangs) is equal parts funny and endearing. Nordland has been a Stages of MN favorite along with her “current” Plus one since I saw them both in Nordland’s Twin Cities Horror Festival show, Incarnate. This is one of those shows that will be different every night and makes me wish there were only 40 shows in the festival so I could see them all and this one for all five performances. The format is that Nordland shares her journal entries and poems she wrote in Junior High and High School. A lot of us did those things, but how many would have the guts to share them now with an audience of strangers. She also wrote vampire romantic fiction which she has a rotating crew of guest actors perform from cold readings. Peppered throughout are songs that mattered to her during those years, but they are not played via the sound system they are performed as well by a rotating group of guest musicians, of which Nordland is one and also sings some of the songs. I had the honor of being present at Executive Director of the Minnesota Fringe Festival made her Fringe performance debut on Violin! This is really an especially sweet and funny show that is led by that little pixie with the twinkle in her eye who shares her teenage soul with the audience, understanding that we love her and are laughing with her, not at her. I’ve looked at the page and guarantee that the rotating artists pool doesn’t have a weak link, so it’s going to be great whenever your slot it into your schedule. For more info and to get tickets go to this shows page here https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2025/fangs-and-bangs-and-sangs-

The Kendra Plant Variety Hour: Good Things Edition! -with special guests- full disclosure this is a show put on my my friend and fellow Twin Cities Theater Blogger Kendra Plant. I think it’s great! It’s the one show that got my eyes watering a little bit. Kendra is pushing herself to try something new and that’s a general theme throughout her show. There are three guests the first is the TAM Edo Bayashi Ensemble which performs traditional Japanese arts, and in this case accompanied by flute and drums a performer in a giant lion puppet performs an enchanting traditional Lion Dance. The Puppet alone is worth the price of admission as it’s quite exquisite. The second Act is Emily Boyajian a composer who absolutely thrilled me last year with her Opera Transition. It is I believe the only Fringe show I’ve ever seen twice. Last year the Opera about two Transgender people transitioning together was basically a staged performance of the piece, with two fabulous singers and an 11 piece orchestra backing them. Here we get Boyajian playing a keyboard and singing the songs herself. And while we don’t get the full Opera or the full effect of an orchestra what we do get is something that feels even more personal. Boyajian is such a talented human and I hope I get to see Transition performed again in full someday. The final act is Jolie Meshbesher who performs dance routines to two songs. the second of which ends with a nearly nude Meshbesher on stage. Which makes it the second most graphic display of nudity I saw on day one of the Fringe Festival. For more about the show and to purchase tickets go to https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2025/the-kendra-plant-variety-hour-good-things-edition-with-special-guests#tickets

In The Garden Of American Heroes Andrew Erskine Wheeler gives what I believe is referred to as a brave performance. Translation: this is the most graphic display of nudity I saw on day one of the festival. But it’s more than brave, it’s a reminder of what a captivating Actor Wheeler is. My first exposure (I’m sorry I couldn’t help it) to Wheeler was his Fringe show Whoosh! which I later saw a remount of at Mill Stone Museum the next summer and will be getting a run this coming winter in early 2026 at History Theater in St. Paul. That was a favorite show of that festival and Wheeler again dives into history and comes up with the story of General Custer who we exam in all his glory (honestly you try and do this without saying things like that). What makes this show the winner of The Stages of MN Fringe of the Day Award is Wheeler’s penis, I mean performance. No seriously, it’s the way he digs into a character and gives such a focused and intense penis, Goddammit! performance! Man this is hard (now stop it!) It’s a great performance, a fascinating look at history and the perfect show to bring your Grandmother to. For more information and purchase tickets here’s the link to the show page https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2025/in-the-garden-of-american-heroes

That’s it for day one of the Minnesota Fringe Festival you can click on the Fringe website here to get details on all of the shows https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2025. That’s it for day one of the Minnesota Fringe Festival you can click on the Fringe website here to get details on all of the shows https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2025 don’t forget to tune into The Stages of MN YouTube channel for mini episodes all week long from The MN Fringe Festival https://www.youtube.com/@TheStagesofMN

Subscribe to the channel so you’ll always know when a new episode has dropped. Think I may have steered you wrong on a show? Well, I’m also a member of the Twin Cities Theater Bloggers (TCTB), where you can read review roundups of shows by m’colleagues and I when you follow us on facebook @TwinCitiesTheaterBloggers.

Don’t depend on a Facebook or Instagram algorithm to ensure you hear about a great show. You can subscribe and have every post from The Stages of MN sent directly to your email box. It’s the best way to ensure you don’t miss out on any of the theater action. To subscribe on your computer: from the home page on the right, enter your email address and click subscribe. On your mobile device scroll to the bottom of the page and do the same. You can also follow me on Facebook, @thestagesofmn click follow and on Instagram thestagesofmn.