Much was made by me over Theatre in the Round Players perfect season last year, and well it should. In one season they went from a generally reliable if uneven community theatre, to one of the best bets in the Twin Cities Theater scene. Theater lovers should take note that they are also one of the most affordable. A perfect season is a hard act to follow, but with their first show of the 2023 – 24 season, Arsenic & Old Lace, is off to a strong start. Many will have seen productions of this show previously, it’s a staple of community theaters, colleges, and high schools. In what feels like a trend lately, I had never seen a stage production before, though I’ve seen the 1944 Frank Capra film at least a dozen times. It was a favorite of mine growing up and a love for it that I passed onto my son George who attended the opening night performance with me. We noted a few of the minor changes that were made when the play was adapted to film but were pleased with how similar the two are. At its heart this is a dark comedy that is so entertaining and funny that one completely loses sight that it’s essentially a play about serial killers.

Written in 1939 by Joseph Kesselring, Arsenic and Old Lace ran on Broadway in January 1941 and ran until June 1944. It’s the story of the Brewster Family, the elderly Aunts Abby and Martha whose kind heartedness and desire to do good deeds extends to relieving elder familyless men of their lonesome existences. They advertise rooms for rent and then establishing through the interview that the men who apply are old and alone and in their mind have nothing to live for, they dispatch them with a glass of homemade elderberry wine laced with Arsenic, Strychnine, and just a pinch of Cyanide. Their nephew Teddy, who believes himself to be Teddy Roosevelt, is told they are victims of yellow fever and he is charged with burying them in the locks he has dug in the basement for the Panama Canal. Mortimer Brewster their other nephew stops by with his new Fiance, Elaine, to tell the aunts the good news and stumbles upon what he at first assumes is the result of his brother Teddy graduating from harmless to homicidal. Mortimer decides the best course of action is to get Teddy committed ASAP in order to keep his aunts out of trouble. While he is out trying to make all the arrangements, a third brother Jonathan a ruthless and cruel killer and his accomplice Dr. Einstein strong arms his way into his childhood home and he has a body of his own to dispose of. Dr. Einstein is a plastic surgeon and has given Jonathan new faces once the police are onto him. His recent surgery made him look like Boris Karloff, this was an inside joke during the original Broadway run where the role of Jonathan was played by Boris Karloff. When Mortimer returns he tries to throw Jonathan out, but with every revelation of bodies and murderers the upper hand keeps shifting between the brothers. Things get complicated when the police get involved due to Teddy blowing his buggle in order to call for a cabinet meeting.

Cary Grant who starred in the film as Mortimer is a hard act to follow and it took Ron Ravensborg all of five minutes to make the role his own. He wisely doesn’t try and emulate Grants performance, but plays the character as written and finds his own voice for the role. The standouts performance wise are all of the actors portraying the Brewsters. Kristen C. Mathisen and Naomi Karstad play the sweet misguided aunts Abby and Martha. They have the sweetness down so perfectly that the audience really does, at least momentarily, forgive them for killing 12 men. Jared Reise plays Teddy perfectly with one caveat, I would have liked to see him really go for it everytime Teddy ascends the staircase, which to him is San Juan Hill. Lastly, in terms of Brewsters is Luke Langfeldt as Jonathan, whoever did his makeup did a fantastic job, you can see the resemblance to Karloff is achieved. I also want to mention Lucas Gerstner who plays Dr. Einstein, he actually elicits a sympathetic response from the audience as we root for him to wiggle his way out of the clutches of the police and Jonathan.

Director George M. Roesler doesn’t attempt to reenvision this classic play, he knows his audience and embraces the farcical nature of the play and succeeds with its main objective which is to entertain. Set Designer Lee Christian has once again gone above what we used to expect from Theatre in the Round Players. Creating multiple levels on the main floor and using one of the sections towards the top of the audience seating for the upper floor of the house. There is also a wonderful window seat perfect for stashing bodies in or to sit on and look out into the cemetery that lays outside the window. This design gives Roesler the opportunity to stage the action without compromising some of the classic moments, like Teddy’s charges up the stairs and Jonathan telling the Aunts who are up at the top of the stairs to go back to bed. Rebecca Karstad does a nice job with the costumes, they have a period feel and it was a nice touch dressing Langfeldt in a subtle homage to Karloff’s costume from the first two Frankenstein films.

I had a great time with Arsenic & Old Lace, I was prepared to do some debate with myself to squash any criticisms that came up from comparing it to the film, which would not have been fair. But the production didn’t need me to argue for it, it presents itself as a funny, engaging and very entertaining night at the theater. If you are a fan of the film, I think you’ll enjoy this take on it. If you are not familiar with it, I envy you a chance to see this play without any preconceived ideas. I can never see it without knowing what’s coming, but if you have someone like that in your life that wouldn’t know anything going in that’s the person to take to this wonderful production. The show runs through Oct 1st. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.theatreintheround.org/home/season-placeholder/72nd-season/arsenic/

Don’t want to miss a single review from The Stages of MN? You can subscribe and have every post sent directly to your email. 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. You can also read some of my reviews syndicated on the MN Playlist website https://minnesotaplaylist.com/

I am also a member of the Twin Cities Theater Bloggers (TCTB), where you can read roundups of shows by my colleagues and I when you follow us on facebook @TwinCitiesTheaterBloggers. We also produce the podcast Twin Cities Theater Chat!! which you can access through this link or wherever you enjoy podcasts https://twincitiestheaterchat.buzzsprout.com/ . We post biweekly longer form episodes that will focus on interviews and discussions around theater topics. There is also shorter episodes in which we Bloggers tell you what we think you should get out and see as well as what we have on our schedules that we are most looking forward too.

As faithful readers know I’m a big fan of the theater group known as the MORLS or The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society for long. Their live performances of classic as well as original radio scripts are a blast from the past. Watching the team of Shanan Custer, Joshua English Scrimshaw, Tim Uren, and Eric Webster give voice to multiple characters each while also creating all of the sound effects and music is an experience everyone should give themselves at least once in the lifetime if not twice a month, which I always try and do if I can. These are great shows for families from the school aged kids up to Grandma and Grandpa, who may actually remember hearing some of these shows on their original broadcasts. here’s what and where they are performing this month.

First up is The Mysterious Old Radio Workshop at Bryant Lake Bowl Theater on September 10th. The Doors open at 6:00 PM with the show starting at 7:00 PM. This is a great venue for these shows with the added benefit that you can order your dinner and enjoy your favorite adult of non-adult beverages while watching the show. Billed as a genre-crossing night of adventure, murder, and time-travel the program includes three stories.

“Get to the Castle, Part 1” from Grey Ghost and the Agents of Floor 10 (premiere): Eric Webster, creator of Shade’s Brigade, brings you an all-new adventure serial, Grey Ghost and the Agents of Floor 10! The first mission of the newly-formed team of agents takes them to a castle in Austria with a notorious and terrifying secret!

“The 13th Sound” from Suspense (1947): A widow is haunted by the murder of her husband. An experiment in psychology and sound from radio’s theater of thrills.

“Nikola Tesla and the Pigeon of Destiny” from Strange History (live premiere): Joshua English Scrimshaw brings you the untold and mostly untrue story of Nikola Tesla’s final confrontation with his time-traveling arch-foe, Thomas Edison!

for tickets to this performance and for more information go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-mysterious-old-radio-workshop-tickets-702012376917

The second show of the month is Agatha Christie Night this time at Crooners Supper Club on September 23rd. It’s an Agatha Christie double-feature! The Society presents two audio plays by the grand dame of mystery. The first of which I saw them perform last April and it’s a winner!

“Philomel Cottage” from Suspense: When newlywed Alix finds a mysterious entry in her husband’s diary, their idyllic marriage turns suddenly sinister. A vintage tale of suspense based on one of Agatha Christie’s earliest stories.

“The Veiled Lady” from A Toast to Murder: Lady Millicent Vaughn is being blackmailed and only one man can save her – Hercule Poirot! A classic Christie tale adapted for audio by Joshua English Scrimshaw and starring Tim Uren as the great Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot.

For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-mysterious-old-radio-listening-society-presents-agatha-christie-night-tickets-696218707897

You can follow the MORLS and listen to their podcast which I also highly recommend at https://www.ghoulishdelights.com/ There you can become a Patreon Subscriber like The Stages of MN. One of the many honors and benefits is that if you cannot attend one of their live shows as a supporter you can watch a video recording of the performance.

Don’t want to miss a single review from The Stages of MN? You can subscribe and have every post sent directly to your email. 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. You can also read some of my reviews syndicated on the MN Playlist website https://minnesotaplaylist.com/

I am also a member of the Twin Cities Theater Bloggers (TCTB), where you can read roundups of shows by my colleagues and I when you follow us on facebook @TwinCitiesTheaterBloggers. We also produce the podcast Twin Cities Theater Chat!! which you can access through this link or wherever you enjoy podcasts https://twincitiestheaterchat.buzzsprout.com/ . We post biweekly longer form episodes that will focus on interviews and discussions around theater topics. There is also shorter episodes in which we Bloggers tell you what we think you should get out and see as well as what we have on our schedules that we are most looking forward too.

Dark & Stormy Productions is a theater company that launched in 2012 and has, I’m assured, been producing strong productions for over a decade now. So how is it that The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is the first time I’ve ever seen one of their productions? Don’t even try and answer that, it’s an unanswerable question. Well now that we have connected, I can assure you this will not be the last. The play The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is an adaptation of the 1961 Muriel Spark novel. Written in 1966 by Jay Presson Allen it is a play that is as relevant now as it ever was. It focuses on the undue influence a charismatic figure of authority has on a group of you and impressionable girls. In an age of grooming and charismatic would be dictators, the themes explored in the play have eerie contemporary connections. Dark & Stormy’s production finds ways of highlighting those similarities without losing sight of the story it’s telling. It remains as much about the characters as it does the ideas which makes it, as a whole all the more effective.

Structured as a memory play, what we see is in the mind of Sister Helena, a Nun who is being interviewed by a journalist about a book she has written. She tells him about Miss Jean Brodie, a teacher, whom to hear her tell it is in her prime. She askews teaching in the traditional sense instead regaling her class with tales of her holiday in Italy and the great love of her life who died in the first World War. She selects four girls from her class and showers them with attention singling them out. She exclaims over and over how she is giving them all of herself at her prime, when clearly it’s all about them giving her all of themselves. The size of her ego is matched only by her ability to manipulate the naive girls in her charge with clever phrases and unique worldview. To those unaccustomed to thinking for themselves, she easily convinces them to buy into her values and follow her instructions under the guise that she is teaching them to think for themselves. At first, we can see the cracks in the in the foundation, but we can also see how attractive the attention of this “cool” teacher is to these young girls whom she makes feel special. By the time she is praising dictators and suggesting that inappropriate sexual actions are fine, it’s clear that if Donald Trump has ever read Spark’s book or seen the play or film adaptations, he may have taken some notes.

Sara Marsh who is also the Artistic Director of Dark & Stormy Productions plays the titular character with all the command and charisma the character requires. In lesser hands the sway she holds over her students, the men in her life, and the headmistress of the school might not work. You need to be able to feel the power she has as this force of nature and Marsh nails it. Her students are all played by relative newcomers all either recent graduates or students at the University of Minnesota. They are Shayla Courteau, Jennifer Donovan, Alice Wenzlow, and Cece Roth and they are all very good. Courteau has the biggest role as Sandy, the student on whom Miss Brodie feels she can always rely on. Courteau is going to be one to watch, she gets to to play different sides of Sandy as she grows the the obvious leader of the young girls, perhaps a little bit of a mean girl, to the one who sees through Brodie and begins to understand her for what she is. She’s particularly good when she reacts to the offhand slights Brodie throws around, she’s subtle while also making sure we in the audience register the hurt it causes. Katie Willer is very good as Miss MacKay, the Headmistress, her best scenes are her attempts to reason with and then eventually try and expel Brodie. Peter Christian Hansen and Alex Galick play the two love interests. Hansen uses is classical good looks and charms to full effect as the womanizing painter whose morals are atrocious but who nonetheless is able, when the time comes, to believably take the moral high ground over Brodie. Galick, the music teacher whom is completely under Brodie’s control, has a couple of nice moments of physical humor, that help to illustrate his characters subservience.

Director Allison Vincent seems to be everywhere lately and thank goodness for that. Here Vincent uses the Gremlin Theatre’s black box aesthetic as an asset in helping to create the feeling of a memory. Having the focus shift from the storyteller Sister Helena as she looks upstage into the past with the assistance of Lighting Designer Mary Shabatura. Rick Polenek’s scenic and prop designs are simple items that can be moved on and off quickly to suggest the new setting again reinforcing the notion that this is a memory and we are seeing just what is important in that memory, we don’t need to see the other dozens of school girls just the four that were the focus, just as we don’t need to see the Headmistresses entire office, her desk and two chairs and a flower on the desk are all that matters. Finally, the Sound Design by Aaron Newman also contributes to the memory idea, have voices come flooding in as the Nun begins to remember and a nice audio distortion that happens towards the end with the word assassin, which conveys the idea that that word was seared onto sister Helena’s memory.

Now maybe it sounds like it’s all a bit heavy but as I said before Vincent does a great job of making the themes and ideas present while still telling an interesting and entertaining story, there’s a lot of humor and some rather clever writing. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie runs through September 17th at The Gremlin Theatre in St. Paul for more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.darkstormy.org/current-production-1

Don’t want to miss a single review from The Stages of MN? You can subscribe and have every post sent directly to your email. 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. You can also read some of my reviews syndicated on the MN Playlist website https://minnesotaplaylist.com/

I am also a member of the Twin Cities Theater Bloggers (TCTB), where you can read roundups of shows by my colleagues and I on facebook @TwinCitiesTheaterBloggers. Follow that group, It’s a great way to see reviews for shows I don’t get to or to get another blogger’s take on one I did. We also produce the podcast Twin Cities Theater Chat!! which you can access through this link or wherever you enjoy podcasts https://twincitiestheaterchat.buzzsprout.com/ . We post biweekly longer form episodes that will focus on interviews and discussions around theater topics. There is also weekly shorter episodes in which we Bloggers tell you what we think you should get out and see as well as what we have on our schedules that we are most looking forward too.

Generally when we talk about great acting we think of dramatic roles, something that requires a lot of emotions and an intensity that’s palpable in the back row of the theater. Well, Village Wooing is the exact opposite of that and it contains two of the best performances I’ve seen all year, maybe ever. When the play ended I turned to M’ Colleagues and said, “that’s real acting”. Staged in the space equivalent to a large living room where at any given moment I could have reached out and touched one of the two actors. It’s a light, witty, and charming romantic two person show that asks little more than a pleasant hour and change with its audience. These two actors, Anna Leverett and Ben Shaw, never for a moment break character or acknowledge our existence. There is never a sense of the actor, only the character, only the reality they are inhabiting. That kind of focus is is aided by intense emotions or dramatic interactions, to do it while maintaining the proper tone of levity and humor, is deceptively difficult.

Written by George Bernard Shaw in 1933, Village Wooing is a short 3 act play, the first act takes place on the deck of a cruise ship and is staged out of doors on a picturesque little patio on the grounds of the Germanic-American Institute on Summit Avenue in St. Paul. After a brief intermission, in which the audience is treated to complimentary summer beverages and treats, as they transition from the patio to the basement of the institute. Acts 2 and 3 take place in a village shop, the show itself runs about 65 minutes, not including the intermission. By all accounts, Shaw didn’t think much of this play when he wrote it, and it isn’t one of his that I’d ever heard of. I can only imagine Shaw’s opinion was due to not having seen it brought to life by Leverett and Shaw, and it’s lesser known status due to its short length. The length issue is solved beautifully by The Orchard Theater Collective, with the aforementioned refreshments and change of location. Ordinarily when a show running 65 minutes pulls an intermission it will result in a very vocal remonsteration, but in this case when the Brie and fancy salted caramel chocolates came out, all was forgiven.

Aside from the brilliant cast, a really engaging and witty script, and wonderful nibbles, there is a lot of other aspects to recommend this production. The preshow and interscene music is filled with timeless classics as if DJ’d by Dooley Wilson. The set for Act 1 is simply a couple of deck lounge chairs, but the basement is cleverly decorated as a village shop by Terri Ristow. The costumes in all three acts are by Jorie Kosel and capture the period nicely. The play is directed by Damian Leverett who keeps it simple and true creating something really wonderful between the two characters by not cluttering the staging up, but letting it be about the two characters. The performances as I have said are skillfully executed, living and breathing as much in the characters reactions as it is in their dialogue. This was the perfect show to close out the end of the theater season – light, witty, staged in a fun venue with delicious snacks. I highly recommend this as a tonic to the end of summer blues.

Village Wooing runs for two weekends only thru September 2nd. for more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.orchardtheatercollective.org/villagewooing

Don’t want to miss a single review from The Stages of MN? You can subscribe and have every post sent directly to your email. 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. You can also read some of my reviews syndicated on the MN Playlist website https://minnesotaplaylist.com/

I am also a member of the Twin Cities Theater Bloggers (TCTB), where you can read roundups of shows by my colleagues and I on facebook @TwinCitiesTheaterBloggers. Follow that group, It’s a great way to see reviews for shows I don’t get to or to get another blogger’s take on one I did. We also produce the podcast Twin Cities Theater Chat!! which you can access through this link or wherever you enjoy podcasts https://twincitiestheaterchat.buzzsprout.com/ . We post biweekly longer form episodes that will focus on interviews and discussions around theater topics. There is also weekly shorter episodes in which we Bloggers tell you what we think you should get out and see as well as what we have on our schedules that we are most looking forward too.

I’m really excited for the chance to see this again and wanted to make sure you faithful readers knew about it. Andrew Erskine Wheeler’s tour de force historical show is one of the best shows I saw at last years Minnesota Fringe Festival and when I ran into Andrew at the first day of this years Fringe he let me know that there was a slightly expanded remount being done later this month at Mill City Museum.

Here is the text from my review of the show from the 2022 Minnesota Fringe Festival:

Whoosh!… is… well first off, it’s The Stages of MN Fringe of the Day Award Winner. Secondly, wow! What a performance by Andrew Erskine Wheeler. Portraying multiple characters throughout, each is a brilliant characterization, distinct and fully realized. It’s a story that incorporates so many different elements. The Civil War, post war, Artist Douglas Volk, it’s part ghost story, part comedic tale of an Irish immigrant and his survival going over the St. Anthony Falls. It’s so many different things yet it tells a cohesive and well structured tale. Allison Vincent does an amazing job directing the show. The timing and staging of how and when to move, pull props out, refer to visual aids, subtle changes in costume, all done brilliantly. Which brings us again to Wheeler’s performance, It is absolutely the best piece of acting I’ve see at Fringe, a true tour de force and a master class in stage acting. Saturday he has performances back to back, if you haven’t gotten to it, make sure you do. Frankly, I’m staggered by the thought of him performing twice with but 40 minutes between them, it is such a physical and intense performance it hardly seems possible.

Whoosh! Runs for August 17 – 19th For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.mnhs.org/events/772

This is the final day of the 30th anniversary season of the Minnesota Fringe Festival and I spent the day at the Strike Theater seeing six shows in the festivals Independently Produced group of shows. Aside from Stabby Stab Stab these were the only shows I was able to attend from the Independently Produced segment of the festival.

CHRIS DAVIS DOES STUFF is a solo show by Chris Davis who is an out of town artist and comedian that actually has two shows he’s doing in rotation. The show I caught was entitled “Seriously, I’m Not Gay” which stems from the fact that his whole life he has been hit on by gay men. He’s very good about illustrating that the title is not a defensive proclamation, but he uses it as an umbrella under which to bring up many different lines of commentary. From discussions of his relationships with gay men, platonic, and his early relationships with women, too often platonic. He also delves into topics of stereotypes, dance clubs, and college life. His humor is inclusive and positive and there are certainly a lot of laughs had throughout the performance. What is essentially a stand up routine does suffer from a lack of connective tissue, the transitions between jokes are frequently rough or even nonexist. A better flow, a more storytelling approach is what is needed to take this set to the next level.

https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2023/chris-davis-does-stuff

Truth or Truth Created by Michael DallaValle & Danna Sheridan is a combination of improv and storytelling. Each performance features a special guest, I chose this day, which also dictated that this be my day to spend at the Strike Theater, in order to see the incomparable Sam Landman. The format is that questions are submitted by the audience before the show. and then drawn at random during the performance. Based on the prompt, someone in the cast or the guest star will then tell a true story, after which the lies begin as the cast of improvisors act out comedic scenes that are inspired in some way by the story just told. Landman rose to the occasion as he always does with a story about a sinkhole in his neighborhood as a kid. He even answered one of the questions I submitted about introducing a new friend to your favorite movie, his answer is not what I expected.

https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2023/truth-or-truth

Joy; A Sketch Show is, as the title suggests, a show made up of sketches. This one was a bit uneven as sketch shows can be, the good thing about a sketch show, like anthology shows, is that if one scene doesn’t work for you it will be over soon and another one that might work will begin. Unfortunately more of these sketches didn’t work than did. I enjoyed the cast though and they were all giving it their all, it just felt that the written material never made it past the first draft/promising idea stage.

https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2023/joy-a-sketch-show

What If We Hugged? Is a solo show by Levi Weinhagen whom I’m used to seeing perform with his Comedy Suitcase partner Joshua English Scrimshaw. Their homage to silent physical comedy Bob & Reggie Go to Bed won the first ever The Stages of MN Fringe of the Day Award at last years Minnesota Fringe. I almost skipped this performance and so glad I didn’t. It’s basically Weinhagen telling two stories, one about the birth of his daughter and the second about a heart scare he had a couple of years ago. Sprinkled throughout as commercial breaks are tips on how to be a good man, all of it sincerely meant and good advice. The show is funny while also being emotionally honest and relatable and I’ve gained an appreciation of Weinhagen as a storyteller as well as physical comedian.

https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2023/what-if-we-hugged

THE STAGES OF MN FRINGE OF THE DAY AWARD winner!!!!

The Windblown Cheeks Of Lovers is a hilarious show created by Strike Theater’s co founder and Twin Cities improv legend Mike Fotis along with Rita Boersma and Tim Hellendrung. It’s done as if we are watching a news program on TV doing a full episode on the making of an imaginary hit 1980’s miniseries The Windblown Cheeks Of Lovers. Fotis, Boersma, and Hellendrung play all the characters, from the family watching the show at home, the broadcast anchors, the actors in the miniseries and the crew that made the miniseries. They are all superb, Hellendrung in particular does a great Irish accent, portraying one half of an on again off again acting couple who are surely based of Elisabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. The production uses a really interesting technique of having a camera record the performers so that we can either watch the actors perform live or look over at the TV in the center of the set and see what the fake broadcast looks like. These are three of the best comedic performers in the Twin Cities and I regret this is the last performance as it means I can’t point people to it.

https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2023/the-windblown-cheeks-of-lovers

Everything Bagel is a slam poetry show by Michael Shaeffer. He’s a great performer and all of his poems are really funny. Again it’s a shame this was not only the shows final performance but also the final performance of the Fringe Festival, I would have loved to point people to Shaeffer’s show. One of the great things about this show is that it’s not simply Shaeffer reciting a group of his poems but it’s clearly curated as there are callbacks within poems back to poems recited earlier in the show. So this is more than a poetry recital of individual poems but a unified and cohesive whole.

https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2023/everything-bagel

Don’t want to miss a single review from The Stages of MN? You can subscribe and have every post sent directly to your email. 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. You can also read some of my reviews syndicated on the MN Playlist website https://minnesotaplaylist.com/

I am also a member of the Twin Cities Theater Bloggers (TCTB), where you can read roundups of shows by my colleagues and I on facebook @TwinCitiesTheaterBloggers. Follow that group, It’s a great way to see reviews for shows I don’t get to or to get another blogger’s take on one I did. We also produce the podcast Twin Cities Theater Chat!! which you can access through this link or wherever you enjoy podcasts https://twincitiestheaterchat.buzzsprout.com/ . We post biweekly longer form episodes that will focus on interviews and discussions around theater topics. There is also weekly shorter episodes in which we Bloggers tell you what we think you should get out and see as well as what we have on our schedules that we are most looking forward too.

DOLLY WHO? This wasn’t on my schedule, then I started hearing from fellow Twin Cities Theater Bloggers (TCTB) and audience members that it was a show to see if at all possible. Unfortunately the slot I had where I could make a change was another show that TCTB’s were encouraging me to see. Then while in the midst of taking over the Minnesota Fringe Instagram account on Monday, I got a chance to meet and talk briefly with Dolly and that small interaction convinced me that was the show I was going to see and I’m so glad I did. Dolly is a writer, artist, animator, and performer whose quirky personality and dry humor makes her show about a show that doesn’t exist a truly original work.

https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2023/dolly-who-

The Very Model of a Modern Monster Scientist is a unique twist on the usual Reverend Matt show. First off I have really enjoyed Matthew Kessen’s Reverend Matt’s Monster Science lectures since I saw my first one at the 2019 Twin Cities Horror Festival (TCHF) What’s different about this version is that while it features moments like his usual lecture formats, this one morphes into a play that introduces a new Character to the Monster Science Universe (MSU, I made this phrase and acronym up we’ll see if it sticks!) in the person of Elora Riley who applies for the position of Monster Science Assistant, she is coincidentally played by Elora Riley. If you like Monsters and deadpan humor about monsters and society you’ll love this and all of Reverend Matt’s shows. I’m excited with the possibility that we will, as Rev. Matt says at the end of the show, being seeing more of Elora Riley in the MSU.

https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2023/the-very-model-of-a-modern-monster-scientist

Pillow Talk Is a spooky little show that runs just over 30 minutes. There’s absolutely room to expand this show to a 45 to 60 minute length and it would be a great fit for a future TCHF. At the Performance I saw one of the original cast members had fallen ill the day before and Riley Parham whom I saw yesterday in Romeo & Juliet are Dead stepped in with script in hand to play the role so the show could go on. He was great in his own show yesterday and was really good again today even with script in hand. The entire cast is quite good in this LGBTQ+ horror show that spans multiple time periods. The clear delineation of which would be something to solidify if the show is expanded.

https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2023/pillow-talk#cast

Monster Science’s Greatest Hits: “The Ecology of the Muppets” If you know what these shows are you know how fun these lectures on various monsters can be. In these Greatest hits performances, each one of the time slots features one of his most popular lectures. This one was on Jim Henson and his Muppet creations. Though many of them are Monsters, Muppets are not what we generally think of as monster. So this one was kind of a different take on the Monster Science Lectures, but a really entertaining one. It also reminded me of two movies I’ve somehow never seen. In fact every time these films are mentioned, I say to myself I can’t believe I’ve never seen that. they are The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth. This is a theme that strangely will continue through the rest of Day 10.

https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2023/monster-science-s-greatest-hits#info

John Wick by Tim Wick (no relation)– Is a thorough and encyclopedic knowledge of all four films in the John Wick Film series necessary to enjoy Tim Wick’s new show that presents a comically abridged reenactment of all the films in the franchise? No. How do I know that? I’ve never seen a single John Wick movie. Might I have gotten even more out of the show if I had, perhaps. It may be that some of the references and jokes would have added meaning, but I still had a great time. Tim narrates what his five actors are acting out and his running commentary on the action and the series itself is very entertaining. Warning: There is an awful lot of nerf violence in this show, but no dogs were harmed.

https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2023/john-wick-by-tim-wick-no-relation-

THE STAGES OF MN FRINGE OF THE DAY AWARD winner!!!!

Wells Is Third On The Waitlist is one of the funniest one person shows I’ve seen at Fringe this year. Wells Farnham, describes the benefits of being on the Fringe waitlist. He was on it five times previously never lower than 80th. He felt he was doing something important as the sheer number of people who apply for the lottery and the available slots when compared, the discrepancy in those numbers, the larger it is the bigger a deal it is for those who get in. This year he was third, and before long he was in, something he never thought would happen and probably didn’t even want to happen. He liked being one of the numbers that made those who get in look good. His show details his search for a suitable topic for a Fringe show. It ends up being a rundown of the plots of the Fast and Furious Franchise. Which, as you may have guessed, I have never seen a single one of those films. Farnham’s performance his hilarious, and he does what all good storytellers do, draws everything that came before back together at the end. The next time Farnham gets into Fringe, He should embrace it full on as he definitely has what it takes.

https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2023/wells-is-third-on-the-waitlist