Minnesota Fringe Day 9: Ranger Jim, Withering Lows: A Love Story Better Off Dead, 50: A Totally Rad Comedy About the Gnarly Reckoning of a Gen Xer! (The Stages of MN Fringe of the Day Award winner), Trust ̶E̶x̶e̶r̶c̶i̶s̶e̶s̶ Exorcises.

Day 9 of the Minnesota Fringe Festival was a sad day and a great day. Sad because the JackDonkey Productions show 503 written by and Starring Jeffrey Nolan had to cancel it’s third performance in a row due to illness. My thoughts are with Mr. Nolan and I hope that he’ll be feeling back to full health and able to perform his last show on Sunday. Let this be a lesson to all of us, when someone you suspect might be a genius has a Fringe show, make sure you are their for opening night. I don’t know what the hell I was thinking. But, as I said it was also a great day as well, because every show I saw was a contender for The Stages of MN Fringe of the Day Award. Sometimes two or three (on a weekend) might be battling it out in my brain, but tonight they were all duking it out. That’s a nice problem to have, especially this late in the festival.

Ranger Jim is a show I didn’t have on my schedule originally but several people said it was their favorite show. So, when I looked at my schedule and it had me going from strike to Rarig, then back to Strike, and then ending back at Rarig I decided to sacrifice MicroMedics which I hadn’t heard anything, good or bad, about and add Ranger Jim. Mostly because I didn’t want to make the trek from Strike to Rarig twice in one evening and avoiding the more rush hour slot made the most sense. When Jim Stowell began his show in which he tells stories of his 16 seasons working as a Park Ranger in National Parks I thought I might have made a mistake. He didn’t seem like that charismatic a performer and I realized, I hate nature. OK hates a strong word, and I certainly appreciate it much more now that I’m older. But still nature has never been my go to for entertainment. Boy by the end of his show those opinions had been completely reversed. Stowell is a fantastic storyteller, and his presentation is perfect. The stories are about people that he has met on the job and they are great stories that beautifully wrap up with either a fantastic bit of humor or a wonderful point of view of life. To purchase tickets go to the shows page at The Minnesota Fringe Site here https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2025/ranger-jim. I went in to Ranger Jim with hopeful but not super high expectations and left thinking I may just have seen The Fringe of the Day Award winner. Then Heathcliff said hold my beer.

Withering Lows: A Love Story Better Off Dead is a sequel of sorts to Wuthering Heights a book I adored in High School. This is another show that was not on my schedule originally, this slot was one of those dinner breaks I promised myself. It’s ok though, I had my fingers crossed, so the promise didn’t count. Frankly it was on my first pass list, which contained more shows than I could see and then went off my list after the first Fringe preview, which is why when you hear from people that they loved a show, you should take a second look. I’m not even sure how to describe this show, it’s a comedy that also feels like a faithful continuation. The performers are all excellent, the script really nails these characters and points out the things that I think most readers who like the book grudgingly admit are issues with these characters and what people who hate the book point out as the main reasons for reviling it. It’s a ghost story, but it doesn’t try and scare us. It doesn’t need to, the pleasures of the show come from other quarters. Which includes a killer musical number which alone is worth seeing the show for. One caveat is that if you don’t know Wuthering Heights from either the book, one of the many movies, an illustrated comic book adaptation, or an ill conceived musical version, you might not really get this show. But you’ll still love the musical number! To purchase tickets go to the shows page at The Minnesota Fringe Site here https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2025/withering-lows-a-love-story-better-off-dead- I left this show thinking now that just edges out Ranger Jim because of the musical number and I bet that’s going to be my Fringe of the Day Award winner. Then Jason Schommer said hold my Daiquiri.

50: A Totally Rad Comedy About the Gnarly Reckoning of a Gen Xer! is my third Jason Schommer Fringe show and his best yet. Why did this beat out Withering Lows? Does it have a kick ass musical number too? Well, actually it has live music interludes throughout and some of them even turn into sing-alongs. And they are the soundtrack of my life. the music is played and sung by JC Lippold he is a fantastic compliment to Schommer’s brilliant script. This felt so much like my life in terms of cultural touchstones and specific life events that no other show had a chance tonight. Plus this was the most I’ve laughed at a Fringe show this year, and I’ve seen some really funny funny shows this year. But here’s why this hit me so right. And These are not in any order in which they appear in the show but just as they come to me.

Featured prominently in the show is the song “Closer to Fine” by the Indigo Girls. I have a playlist on my phone titled “Sing”, this is a list of songs I have as potential songs I would attempt at an evening of Karaoke, if I drank, which I don’t. So, it’s mostly used if I’m driving and tired and need something that I can sing along to in order to stay awake. It’s a favorite.
Cheers is mentioned along with Newhart as shows Jason would watch late at night with his Mom as a teenager, For me it was my Dad but those were our shows. We loved Norm, and my Dad always kind of reminded me of Norm, he was about the same shape, had a similar level of ambition career wise, and he spent most evenings at the Ground Round with his buddies, which we all called Cheers. Plus, my wife and I just finished a rewatch of Cheers so we were primed for that sing along!
His Mother died about 20 years ago, for me it was my Dad, 20 years ago.
He also is upset by the single space after a period rule. I don’t know when this changed, but when I learned about it, several years ago now I was incredulous. Why the change I exclaimed! To which some replied, it’s always been that way. OH NO IT WASN’T!!! Anyone who reads me regularly will know that I do not have nearly as firm a grasp of the rules of punctuation as I should. So I promise you there is zero chance I made up my own rule to follow. I was taught and for once it stuck. Two spaces after a period! I accept that it has changed. But don’t attempt to retcon it, I ain’t buyin it!
I also loved TV as a kid, I equated the arrival of the Fall TV preview edition of the TV guide to the opening of your stocking on Christmas morning. It started with the Saturday morning cartoons and as I grew older moved to prime time. As a kid I always chose TV over nature.
Loved Magnum P.I. but also Remington Steele!
I loved my Castle Grayskull too, it was a great toy!
I’ve been on that hike in Hawaii!
Jason was laid off recently, me too!! I don’t know why I’m so excited by that one.
I was a huge fan of Days of Our Lives, and I specifically remember the fight between Tony and Andre that ended with Andre dying in a pit of quicksand, that was also the island that Roman was killed by Stefano DiMera, not that on Days of Our Lives anyone is ever actually truly dead. But I didn’t realize that at the time. Roman falling off that cliff was reenacted many many times with my action figures.

As was the Tony and Andre DiMera fight by the quicksand with my Dagobah playset. Which had a little hole covered with foam that you could push your figures through, it was perfect for quicksand.

This IS The Stages of MN Fringe of the Day Award winner. If you are a Gen Xer, you’ll love this show! To purchase tickets go to the shows page at The Minnesota Fringe Site here https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2025/50-a-totally-rad-comedy-about-the-gnarly-reckoning-of-a-gen-xer- Sorry Phil

Trust ̶E̶x̶e̶r̶c̶i̶s̶e̶s̶ Exorcises by Phil Gonzales was on my schedule later in the festival but I ended up taking it in tonight after 503 was cancelled. Which may have caused it to lose The Fringe of the Day Award, who knows? But Phil, seriously, would it have killed you to sing a little? This was a great show about the shockingly abusive High School theater teacher that Phil was exposed to as a teenager. Gonzales uses the same story wheel he did last year for his show on The Berenstain Bears. Wherein he spins the wheel and whatever space it lands on he tells the story that goes along with it. So while every show deals with the same topic, it’s unique every performance. The stories really are great and while Phil might not have won The Fringe of the day Award, I did leave with a little crush on him, so hopefully that’s some consolation. To purchase tickets go to the shows page at The Minnesota Fringe Site here https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2025/trust-e-x-e-r-c-i-s-e-s-exorcises

That’s it for day nine 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 algorithms 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 8: Grief, It’s what’s For Dinner (The Stages of MN Fringe of the Day Award Winner), Big Honor Student Energy, The Writers Room: A Failed Documentary, The Year of Sluttery.

So after a day off at a very frustrating Minnesota United game it was great to be back in the theater for Shows 31 to 34. But my Theater day actually began with a matinee performance of The fantastic Singing in the Rain at Artistry in Bloomington. If I can I’ll have a review of that up this weekend but it may have to wait until Monday. Here are my Reviews for day Eight of the Fringe Festival!

Grief, It’s What’s For Dinner is The Stages of MN Fringe of the Day Award winner. It’s a play that turns out to be a powerfully affecting way to talk about a difficult subject matter, early onset Alzheimer’s disease. Creator and star, Kayla Hambek is telling the story of her experience as a caregiver for her Mother, who passed away in April of this year, after living nearly 12 years with the disease. Sounds like a rough show right? Well it is told with a ton of humor and puppets. Why? Well two reasons, for one when we talk about difficult things sometimes it helps to remove ourselves a little and puppets have always been a surrogate conduit for our difficult emotions. Also it’s Fringe, of course there are puppets. In true Fringe fashion, at their opening performance the dog in the photo above, who is not known to anyone in the show, wandered on stage. Gotta love Fringe. The entire cast for this show is just great, but extra shout out to The Stages of MN Superfan, and the first audience member I ever had come up to me and ask for a picture (making her in a way the spark for the at a show with… montages on the YouTube Show), Sher U-F, who plays multiple roles, but really transforms when playing Kayla’s mother. To purchase tickets go to the shows page at The Minnesota Fringe Site here https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2025/grief-it-s-what-s-for-dinner

Big Honor Student Energy is Chicago traveling artist Alisa Rosenthal’s solo show about being an over achiever. By this she means going all in on anything she attempts. Probably her biggest hurdle is that what she attempts doesn’t meet most people’s criteria of a worthy goal. Like being a musical children’s party performer or going to clown school. But what she has learned and what she teaches us by the end of her show is that everyone’s path is different and what matters is what fulfills you. Most people measure success by how much money they have or where they are with their careers, the cars they drive and the size of their house. But what Rosenthal has learned and I concur is that these things are not always a measure of success, unless those are the things you value. I just accepted a new job after being unemployed for over a year. I’ll be making a little less than 45% of what I made before. But you know what? I’m excited about it. Because instead of working for corporate America in a job I wasn’t passionate about, I’ll be supporting special education students in a local high school. I’m also working nonstop taking The Stages of MN to the next level. I feel very successful right now, not because I have a lot of money, I don’t, but because maybe for the first time in my life I feel like I’m doing something that matters with my life. All of it geared towards doing what I can to make the future brighter for theater and hopefully for high schoolers who need a little extra support and their teachers. Thats how I’m measuring success, not by how much I added to some corporations bottom line. To purchase tickets go to the shows page at The Minnesota Fringe Site here https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2025/big-honor-student-energy

The Writer’s Room: A Failed Documentary is a sketch comedy show and like all sketch comedy some of it works and some of it doesn’t. The measure of success lies in what the ratio of success to falls flat is. This show falls very far in the success column. Even the bits that don’t entirely work still have laughs and a clever idea behind them. My favorite bits include the bridging sequences of the performers discussing ideas for their Fringe show, parts of which felt very ad libbed, in the best possible way. I also really liked “Hot Sauce Therapy” and “A Wes Anderson Sex Scene“. When you feel like you’ve seen one Improv show too many, switch gears to this highly entertaining Sketch show it’s full of laughs and the appealing cast make it a very enjoyable show. To purchase tickets go to the shows page at The Minnesota Fringe Site here https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2025/the-writers-room-a-failed-documentary

The Year of Sluttery is a solo show performed by a writer under the pseudonym Scarlet. A former High School teacher and Sunday School teacher she performs excerpts from her book. It’s primarily about the year in which after getting out of the second long term relationship of her life, and in her 50’s, she went looking for some sexual fulfillment. It’s about the losers she hooked up with and the lessons she learned from each. For the most part the stories are fun and as Scarlet points out in the beginning she is not an actor she’s a writer. The strengths of the show are the stories, the weakness is her delivery, it’s not bad, it’s just as she promised, she isn’t a performer. There is an over reliance on repetition at times that might work better were it presented by someone with more performance experiences and she relies on the phrase bitches a bit too much. All in all it’s a fun time and there is a positive message about female sexual empowerment. Scarlet also has really cool swag on sale at her shows including her book, t-shirts, and cum rags. To purchase tickets go to the shows page at The Minnesota Fringe Site here https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2025/the-year-of-sluttery

That’s it for day eight 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

Minnesota Fringe Day 6 : Songs Without Words (The Stages of MN Fringe of the Day Award winner), Our Zombie Town, Academonic, The Lasso Way: A Musical.

So it took 28 shows until I found one that I couldn’t wholeheartedly recommend. But you know what? Tonight was the kind of night that reminded me of what the Minnesota Fringe Festival is all about. It’s about trying new things and that doesn’t just mean the audience, that means the people on stage too. Look at my friend Kendra Plant, first time Fringe producer of The Kendra Plant Variety Hour. Her whole show is about trying something new and working through it even if you have some anxiousness. Fringe is a place for Artists to come and try new things. It’s also a place for artists to present their tried and true productions. You can be as polished as Melancholics Anonymous or as bare bones as one person standing on a blank stage reading from a script. As an audience member you rarely know really what you’ll be getting, sometimes the most excellent sounding premises fall flat and other times the show you see becuase you couldn’t get into the one you wanted to see blows you away. Tonight was really all over the place, but even the worst show of the evening had something good about it. And I want to champion everyone’s efforts. But, I’m also not honoring my promise to you if I don’t tell you what shows I’d skip. If I don’t try and help you decide where your time is better spent, than what use am I? I’m just a publicity machine, and that’s not why I started doing this. There are 99 shows to choose from and I owe it to you to help you make that choice if I can. So as promised these are my Minnesota Honest Reviews Truthful, but hopefully not hurtful.

Songs Without Words (or, The Mendelssohn Play) Is a show I did not have on my schedule originally, but word of mouth convinced me to make a change (sorry Ping Prov). I’m glad I did as I have given it my The Stages of MN Fringe of the Day Award. This is a show from an out of town Artist and I always feel like I should try and make sure I see more of those, but again 99 shows. You start making a list based on who’s work you’ve enjoyed in the past whether it’s a theater company or a performer, and then which shows the description sounds interesting, and then the all important factor, where you look at your schedule and say, you know if I see that show I can just stay at Open Eye all night and not have to drive back and forth. why am I spending so much time describing schedule making? Because I don’t have a lot to say about the content of this show. It’s very polished and elegant, it’s the story of sibling composers Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn. Is filled with beautiful music, a reminder of the injustices woman have suffered in the past not being allowed to have the same options, or sometimes any options as men. It’s a theme that pops up in several of the Fringe shows I’ve seen so far this year, because apparently half of the country need to be reminded of how things were and have it pointed out that, that was bad. Songs Without Words is not just a message play it is a fascinating exploration of two people that I knew nothing about, other than having heard some of their music. Jennifer Vosters who created and performs the shows is mesmerizing in both roles. To purchase tickets go to the shows page at The Minnesota Fringe Site here https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2025/songs-without-words-or-the-mendelssohn-play-

Now it starts to get interesting Our Zombie Town is a modern mash up of the Thornton Wilder play Our Town and the zombie world of George A. Romero. It’s a great idea and I feel like the script by Richard Chin is actually fairly solid, maybe even really good. The problem is that it feels like we are watching a run through of the performance two weeks into the planned four week rehearsal. Everyone is “mostly” off book but maybe haven’t entirely made all of their choices yet on how they plan to play a scene. There are a few good performances but too many of the cast seem content with having remembered their lines and spoken them. It may be a Fringe show, but the best Fringe shows regardless of budget or silliness of the subject matter, have actors that still try and create a character. Maybe it’s the amount of rehearsal time the cast had, maybe it’s weak direction, or an over reliance on the high concept to win the day. I’m not sure. But the one thing I don’t think that is at fault is the script. And there’s one set piece that almost makes this worth checking out. But with 98 other shows to choose from, I can’t recommend Our Zombie Town to everyone. Die hard zombie fans or people who have acted in a production of Our Town are probably the most likely to enjoy this. But, and I can’t stress this enough, this is my opinion, Faithful readers will know where our tastes diverge. A glance at the Minnesota Fringe Kitty meter or whatever they call that Kitty rating system has this at 4 1/2 Kitties. Does anyone else find that disturbing? I’m not a cat lover but even I don’t like the image of half a kitten. To purchase tickets go to the shows page at The Minnesota Fringe Site here https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2025/our-zombie-town

So apparently when I was making my schedule I thought what I needed was a Twin Cities Horror Fest wannabe night. Academonic has sort of the opposite issue of Our Zombie Town. This one I thought the performances were all fairly solid but the script needed another draft or two. This may be the result of someone’s ping pong ball being pulled without them having any idea what they wanted to do. In which case getting a play written at all is fairly impressive let alone casting and rehearsing and performing it. It’s not that you can’t follow the script or glean from what is happening the motivations and relationships. But a solid script doesn’t make you have to glean things or make assumptions. Pretty much everyone in the cast is good but especially Tamira Rashid as the protagonist Ellen Karass, which we assume is a play on the priest in The Exorcist, and Kiran Arquin who plays a demonic carpet. The only time the performances falter is when they are given too little to say or do and you feel like even they are gleaning what their characters motivations are supposed to be. If you gotta see one of these two horror themed plays this Fringe I’d bet on this one, but be warned the script is murky and directionless at times. It feels like they had thirty minutes of material, a story possibly able to support a longer running time, but ran out of time to flesh it out. And so, they wrote time filling dialogue that would challenge any actor to deliver convincingly. To purchase tickets go to the shows page at The Minnesota Fringe Site here https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2025/academonic-

The Lasso Way: A Musical is fun without rising to the level of other musicals I’ve seen this Fringe. Full disclosure, I’m a big Ted Lasso fan. When this show opens with Ted’s son in court because he’s spray painted the word “Wanker” all over New York City because he hates his Dad, who’s dead, the show had an up hill battle on it’s hands. Sentenced to community service directing a musical about his father or faced with years in person Henry must learn to be a Director and deal with his daddy issues. This is a little rough around the edges but overall if you are a Lasso fan, you’ll want to see this. Co-creator Travis Carpenter is well cast as Coach Beard and Noah Johnson as the actor Brent who is playing Roy Kent in the musical, does an uncanny vocal impersonation during his first line readings as the character. His song about saying the F word, is easily the best musical number in the show. There are a lot of nice touches throughout including a hallucination conversation Henry has with his dead father. By the end it’s quite winning and remains faithful to the message of Ted Lasso. this is a recommend but if you don’t know the show Ted Lasso, that might hamper your enjoyment. To purchase tickets go to the shows page at The Minnesota Fringe Site here https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2025/the-lasso-way-a-musical

That’s it for day six 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

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 5: I Have Griefances, The Gentlemen’s Pratfall Club (The Stages of MN Fringe of the Day Award winner), OPERA PUNKS, Shrieking Harpies Presents: Period Piece.

I’m just back from Day 5 of the Minnesota Fringe I’ve got my reviews below. I also want to let folks know there is a new Minnesota Fringe edition of the YouTube show up today, so check it out it’s full of Artists telling about their shows and Audience members giving recommendations of the best shows they’ve seen so far. click here to view it https://bit.ly/TSOMNFringe2025miniEpisode2

I Have Griefances is closer to the show Wells Farnham wanted to do in 2023 when he first came off the Fringe waitlist. But he couldn’t because it was all about making fun of his family, and they had all just gotten cancer. So instead he did a very funny show in which he talked through the Fast and the Furious film series and the children’s show Paw Patrol. That show was funnier, but what this one loses in humor it makes up for in heart. This isn’t a lesser show it’s just a different blend of humor and pathos and both are equally effective. My favorite bit is the explanation of the lamp shade story that has plagued him for years. To purchase tickets go to the shows page at The Minnesota Fringe Site here https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2025/i-have-griefances

The Gentlemen’s Pratfall Club By Comedy Suitcase is the latest show from Joshua English Scrimshaw and Levi Weinhagen their 2022 show Bob and Reggie Go To Bed was the third Fringe show I ever saw and the First to win the then completely unknown, though just as highly regarded as it is now, The Stages of MN Fringe of the Day Award. Where that show relied entirely on physical comedy, the new one which, in case you haven’t read the headline, has also won The Stages of MN Fringe of the Day Award, strikes an unexpected balance between physical and verbal humor. I’m not going to say I was disappointed by the addition of dialogue, it’s too well written and funny for that. But there was something special about seeing what amounted to a live silent comedy performed on stage. Faithful readers will have gleaned from past reviews that I have a love of silent cinema, but I also love the comedies of the 1930’s and 40’s which relied much more on verbal comedic acrobatics, and so I’m game to go along with the boys as they transition to the talkies, I just hope they don’t sign a contract with MGM and lose all creative control. Besides the reality is probably that these guys are aging, I’m not calling anyone old, but our bodies can only take so much abuse and cutting back on the poundings their bodies have to take is probably a good idea and will prolong their ability to do these shows in the long run. To purchase tickets go to the shows page at The Minnesota Fringe Site here https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2025/the-gentlemen-s-pratfall-club

OPERA PUNKS is the first of two Musical improv shows I saw on Day 5. It’s really hard to say much about an improv show as by its very nature it will be different every night. This is improv in which the performers take suggestions shouted out by the audience and then create songs around them acting out these comedic scenes as if they were operas. The cast is great and features among others Brave New Workshop member Isabella Dunsieth and Michael Rogers who, listening to his singing here, one wonders why we haven’t been seeing him starring in musicals around town? This was a great show, very funny and the cast is so strong that if the performance you see isn’t good, it’s probably that your audience threw out dumb suggestions. To purchase tickets go to the shows page at The Minnesota Fringe Site here https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2025/opera-punks

Shrieking Harpies Presents: Period Piece is another musical improv show but the difference is that the Shrieking Harpies shows are long form improv. So instead of creating short comedic scenes with singing, the create a musical with a beginning, middle, and an end. The “period piece in the title refers to the fact that this years show the stories will be sent in a particular time period. Apparently the time period for each performance is voted for online before the show. I missed that memo and so we ended up with the 1990’s, which frankly, I lived through, and didn’t find all that interesting while I was doing so. I would have loved to have seen them do something from long ago, or if it had to be in the 20th century the 1950’s or 1960’s. That said it was still very entertaining, very funny and confirmed for me that any time I can see the Shrieking Harpies, which are made up of Lizzie Gardner, Taj Ruler, Hannah Wydeven and Justin Nellis on the Keys, I will. To purchase tickets go to the shows page at The Minnesota Fringe Site here https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2025/shrieking-harpies-presents-period-piece

That’s it for day five 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

Minnesota Fringe Day 3: Invasive Species or: In Space No-One Can Hear Your Steam, The Abortion Chronicles, Breach, Joan of Arc For Miss Teen Queen USA (The Stages of MN Fringe of the Day Award winner), Rec League, Jewelry Power Elite, That Which is Green.

Another great day at The Minnesota Fringe Festival. I’ve yet to see a show that I wouldn’t enthusiastically recommend. Maybe it’s that I’m not very adventurous with my picks, but I guess the trade off of playing it safe, being I never see a bad show, is worth it. Read my quick reviews of the seven shows I saw on day three below, including today’s The Stages of MN Fringe of the Day Award winner.

Invasive Species or: In Space No-One Can Hear Your Steam features of a fantastic script by Tim Wick which reimagines alien as a nautical mystery set in a steampunk London of the late 1800s. But the humor isn’t limited to that era, it pulls from all time periods but mostly we see it through the lens of the 20th century. A running gag featuring a variation on the classic Abbott and Costello “Who’s On First” routine is a highlight as is the explanation of steampunk technology. The cast is amazing especially Dawn Krosnowski as Ripley and Kjer Whiting as Inspector Dunkleputty (no relation). The creature effects are at once both low-tech and spectacularly effective. Re-creating all of the fabulous moment you expect from the film, but in a way that gets a laugh. We get the chestburster scene, the Face hugger Alien as well as a stand off that mirrors the final battle between Ripley and the Alien Queen in Aliens. The fabulous Creature effects are by Seán McCardle and the Props are by Liz Cummings. There’s one brilliant bit of stage business that subverts our expectations beautifully. The character of Ash is seen drinking from milk cartons several times, leading me to expect a recreation of, what for me was one of the biggest gross out scenes in the film, when Ash is killed and we learn he was an android and he’s spitting up a milky substance. I always hated that scene and I felt sure they were building up to it with the milk cartons, and then they don’t go there. They get to build up the anticipation of the scene without actually making us watch it, or them having to deal with the cleanup, which was an effective way to play that sequence. for more information and to purchase tickets go to the shows page on the Minnesota Fringe website https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2025/invasive-species-or-in-space-no-one-can-hear-your-steam

The Abortion Chronicles is an anthology of woman’s stories revolving around abortion, all of them true, all of them deeply affecting. This is a remount of previous productions, which I did not see, but with mostly new stories. It was always an important show to produce, but it is becoming more and more vital everyday. These stories need to be told, heard, and understood. As a man I found it to be a privilege to be allowed to sit and listen to these stories. Allowing me a greater understanding of something I can never fully understand being in the body I am. The stories alternate with comments from two characters played by Christy Johnson who plays a nurse at an abortion clinic and Patti Gage who plays a patient escort at the clinic. They tell little anecdotes of their experiences between the main stories which are told by the the performers, some of whom are reenacting their own stories others as surrogates for other women. The women’s stories cover a range of circumstances that help to illuminate how complicated the issue really is. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit the shows page on the Minnesota Fringe Website https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2025/the-abortion-chronicles#tickets

Breach features a powerful cast! I had it on my schedule because of Em Adam Rosenberg and Stephanie Kahle, who are The Stages of MN favorites. They play siblings, who own a crab fishing boat left them by their Father. Kahle is the Captain while Rosenberg plays the First Mate, and they are as always fantastic. But every single member of the cast is incredible. This is a harrowing story of a crab fishing ship and its crew. This trip hasn’t been very successful and so when they receive word of a storm, the Captain heads into a storm despite the risks rather than turn back without enough Crab to make the trip financially worthwhile. But there are secrets being concealed and as the storm looms ahead loyalties will be tested. The show actually gets a little spooky at times. It’s directed with precision by Alex Church who also cowrote the play with Mariabella Sorini. The lighting and sound design are highly effective and build genuine tension. To purchase tickets go to the shows page at The Minnesota Fringe Site here https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2025/breach

Joan of Arc For Miss Teen Queen USA is this year’s Melancholics Anonymous show, and for most that’s probably all I need to write. If you are a Minnesota Fringe regular you know who Melancholics Anonymous are. If this is your first time, you’ll want to try and reserve tickets for this show. It’s in one of the largest venues, which would be hard to sell out, but if anyone can it’s them. A Fringe show can be anything, that’s the joy of the Fringe. But when I think of Fringe as a Style, Melancholics Anonymous is what I think of. In this years show Timothy Kelly, who cowrote the show and whose bright blonde hair and 100 watt smile will always be the face of Melancholics Anonymous to me, plays the MC of the South Dakotan Miss Teen Queen USA Pageant. Things get disrupted when Joan of Arc suddenly appears as a new contestant 588 years after her execution. Like the Blues Brothers before her, she is on a mission from God! Outrageousness ensues, pants are nearly wet from laughter, and we all learn a little something about the importance of women supporting each other. It’s fantastically designed and orchestrated and probably the best thing yet from this company that always hits it out of the park. And, it is The Stages of MN Fringe of the Day Award winner. To purchase tickets go to the shows page at The Minnesota Fringe Site here https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2025/joan-of-arc-for-miss-teen-queen-usa

Rec League is one of the Festivals independently produced shows running at Strike Theater in North Minneapolis. It is one of the most successful improv shows I’ve seen at a Fringe Festival. I’m always a fan of Mike Fotis’ shows but this one surpassed all of the others. There wasn’t a single story thread that got dropped or taken in a dead end direction. And, they kept the fictional softball game actually going which was really impressive. But as they say in the show notes you don’t have to know anything about softball to enjoy the show. It’s about friends and their relationships and the different places we are all at when we get to our 40’s. And speaking of different, this is improv so every show will be different but it’s full of local favorites like Fotis, Allison Vincent, and Rita Boersma who are always funny, so it’s a pretty safe bet when you need some laughs in your schedule. To purchase tickets go to the shows page at The Minnesota Fringe Site here https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2025/rec-league

Jewelry Power Elite is surprisingly, Brave New Workshop company member and local legend, Lauren Anderson’s first solo show. I added it to my schedule because, well, Lauren Anderson. Ask any of my wives, current or past and they will tell you I do not notice jewelry, hair, or shoes, and as far as clothes go, I only notice if you aren’t wearing any, but I think that’s true of anyone, the noticing if someone is naked. Jewelry couldn’t break into the top 1,000 on my list of interests even if you eleminated my top 500 interests. I left this show with a new appreciation of jewelry, but mostly feeling like I’d been let into Anderson’s inner circle, if only for 45 minutes. Directed by Duck Washington, Jewelry Power Elite feels similar to his 2023 The Stages of MN Fringe of the day Award winning solo show My Only hope For a Hero. It takes something she is passionate about and through the lens of that passion shares stories that inform us of who she is and how she became the person we see before us. It’s funny, personal, and you get a free jelly bracelet! For those who love jewelry, this will be heaven, for the rest of us it’s the next best thing (that’s right, it’s a soft serve vanilla ice cream Crunch cone from Dairy Queen). Highly recommend this show, no love of jewelry required. To purchase tickets go to the shows page at The Minnesota Fringe Site here https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2025/jewelry-power-elite

That Which is Green is possibly the final Minnesota Fringe show from Michael Rogers who is moving away from the Twin Cities this fall. It’s a loss to the community, but one hopes that his connections and friends here in Minnesota will bring him back at least for more Fringe fun in the future. Fun isn’t the first word that comes to mind with his new show which he wrote, directed, and performs in along with Alex Van Loh. Though it does have laughs it’s concerned more with exploring the ideas of religion, Friendship, and the paths our lives take us down. A journey to an old and holy tree by two old friends brings up memories of the past. Set in what appears by their costumes to be another reality in which the tree is somehow related to that world’s version of Christianity. It’s another powerful performance from Rogers who is clearly connecting with this work. It may have been the 10:00 PM time slot on day three of the Fringe Festival in which I’ve seen a show in every possible time slot and spent additional energy putting myself forward to capture interviews with Artists and Audience members. But I found the show putting me almost in a trance like state. like I was in the forest with the characters communing with nature. Don’t miss this chance to see Michael Rogers, there may not be many chances left. To purchase tickets go to the shows page at The Minnesota Fringe Site here https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2025/that-which-is-green

That’s it for day three 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. We’ll hopefully have the second one up on Monday!

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

Kimberly Akimbo a Musical With the Sense of Humor of an Adult Animated Series

Carolee Carmello, Miguel Gil and Jim Hogan National Tour of KIMBERLY AKIMBO, photo by Joan Marcus

The tone of Kimberly Akimbo reminded me instantly of an adult animated series like Bob’s Burgers or F is for Family. Things that happen are so egregious as if this could either have gone the tragic route or the comedic. The show wisely chooses comedic, which allows it to also have some moments of meaning and sweetness. This is the story of Kimberly Levaco who is about to turn sixteen years old and has a disease that makes her age prematurely, at about four to five times the normal rate. People with her disease on average do not live past sixteen. As if that wasn’t hard enough, as the show opens she clearly has trouble making any friends with the kids her age and her father arrives drunk to pick her up from the skating rink three and a half hours later. It’s winter and she has had to wait outside for him. His excuse is that some guy in the bar bet he couldn’t fit an entire Mango in his mouth, which he can so he won a gameboy off the guy. In his eyes, this justifies his tardiness. It’s like Kimberlys entire family was imported from Matilda, though to be fair given slightly more scruples. But you can see how this could be a dour show. Which it isn’t, it’s funny, but not in a super dark way, in that Family Guy kinda way.

The songs are fun, mostly skewing to the humorous end of the spectrum but with slivers of sweetness and emotions here and there. It’s also a brilliant way to provide a great starring role in a show sure to be popular with young people for an older actor. Carolee Carmello who is playing Kimberly in the tour does a great job of playing a young girl at heart trapped in a body that is aging on her. I’m glad they cast the role as they did, there are enough roles for the young up and coming talents. It’s nice to see one designed for someone who has experience and talent and might otherwise be overlooked for leads. The supporting characters are well concieved, it’s a very small cast, and everyone feels vital. My favorite of them is Miguel Gil who plays Seth, a boy who befriends and sort of boyfriends Kimberly. He has a voice that feels perfect for the young awkward teenage boy and one of my favorite songs in the show, “Good Kid” is an excellent fit for Gil’s talents. The other favorite is Kimberly’s Aunt Debra played by Emily Koch who ropes Kimberly and her friends into a scheme to wash the checks from envelopes she pulls from a Federal mailbox she has stolen.

It’s a testament to the creators David Lindsay-Abaire and Jeanine Tesori that the show works, which it does like gangbusters. It doesn’t seem like a show about a sixteen year old girl who has been treated so unfairly by life and is basically prepared to die at any moment, could be this enjoyable. But it is. Perhaps it’s that underlying sense of dread that makes us laugh all the harder when something so wrong like Debra roping in kids for her check washing crime so they can afford to buy new costumes for their show choir competition. Director Jessica Stone gets the tricky tone just right. It’s small for a Broadway musical, but that really works for it. We have exactly the characters we need to tell the story. The set is really rather complex in the way it transforms to multiple location fully and convincingly, best of all with speed and efficiency. If it sounds too dark for you, I think you’ll be surprised and how funny and entertaining it is.

Kimberly Akimbo runs through Sunday July 13th at Hennepin Arts Orpheum Theatre in Downtown Minneapolis. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://hennepinarts.org/events/kimberly-akimbo-2025

Necessity requires that going forward in order to produce a weekly YouTube show and podcast that reviews will become shorter. There are only so many hours in a day, but I have no intention of abandoning the blog version. Faithful readers, you have year after year grown The Stages of MN audience. While I hope you will become viewers or listeners as well, there will always be things here that cannot be found there. This will be the place for longer reviews, though slightly shorter than before, as well as Reviews of more shows than can be covered on the YouTube and Podcast versions. Essentially there will be some overlap, but each format will have unique content.

I’ve officially launched The Stages of MN YouTube Channel which you can view by clicking on this link. https://www.youtube.com/@TheStagesofMN. Check out the intro videos and the weekly episodes. 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.