Marie Jeanne Valet Who Defeated La Bete Du Gevaudan at the 2014 Minnesota Fringe Festival

Marie Jeanne Valet Who Defeated La Bete Du Gevaudan, by Sandbox Theatre is playing at the Southern Theatre. I highly recommend it; there are three performances left including one tonight (Tuesday) at 5:30. Billed as "something different" this drama uses music, movement, puppetry, and storytelling to tell the tale of a town terrified of a mysterious monster devouring its citizens. Eerie and lush, Marie Jeanne is powerfully moving.

The Bother at the 2014 Minnesota Fringe Festival

The Bother, written, directed and performed by Rita Boersma, James Rone, and Jake Scott, is a complete and satisfying drama about a writer who thinks she's "losing her mind when she encounters the imaginary monster that terrified her as a child on a trip home as an adult." The writer, Bri, played by Rita Boersma, has made her career as a Young Adult writer. Her stories are based on that imaginary monster. But she is stuck, both personally and professionally. Is the monster real after all?

Something I really like about The Bother is that while two of the main characters are struggling with past trauma and questioning their sanity, the actor/creators never resort to stereotypes about mental illness. Instead, they take the time to develop authentic characters.

The suspense builds slowly, and the spookiness is balanced with some humor. (Someone should really start a Bread tribute band called Toast).

The Bother is playing at the Rarig Thrust.

Our American Assassin, or You Can't Handle the Booth! at the 2014 Minnesota Fringe Festival

Our American Assassin, or You Can't Handle the Booth!, presented by Mainly Me Productions story by Josh Carson and Andy Kraft is playing at the Theatre in the Round. Just a note-while many of Mainly Me productions are all ages shows, this one is not. There is a lot of profanity.  But the show is clearly marked ages 16 and up on the artists page.

The show is an irreverent, slapstick comedy that focuses on the assassination of Lincoln from the perspective of the most self-absorbed and inept trio of actors, played by Shanan Custer, Andy Kraft, and Josh Carson. The rapid-fire jokes and manic energy make for a very original and satisfying comedy.  Because it wouldn't be a Mainly Me production with out at least one 80's pop culture reference, pay attention to the old-timey Ken Burns style underscoring. The song choices are brilliant.

Top Gun: the Musical at the 2014 Minnesota Fringe Festival

What would the Fringe be without a silly, over-the-top movie musical spoof?  Top Gun: the Musical, which played to a sold-out audience at the Illusion, has barely any plot, a cheesy love story, and lots of eighties music. If you stop and analyze , you'll hate yourself for loving it. But isn't that the point of the movie too?

The show has a totally tubular eighties-influenced original score by Chad Dutton, and the book and lyrics are by Tim Wick. The energetic opening number "Gotta Get Into Top Gun" opens the show in a big way. The flirty banter between Maverick and Charlie and their corresponding meet-cute song cleverly  reference many songs from the eighties. The lyrics in the volleyball scene (bump, set, and then you spike) really, umm, hammer home the homoerotic subtext. Having three numbers in a row that focus on this one joke could take the audience deep into the danger zone (sorry, had to go there). But instead it flies into "Mel Brooks does Top Gun" territory.

The large cast of fighter jets and the men who fly them, piloted by Samuel Poppen as Maverick, sing, dance, and prance through all of the iconic scenes from the movie. Poppen captures Tom Cruise's ego and swagger. Dawn Krosnowski is equally charismatic as Charlie, Maverick's implausible love interest. Krosnowski's soft soprano is sometimes overpowered by the keyboard and lost in the Illusion's deep stage. Bringing her downstage to sing or giving her a body mike could help. This is the second show I've seen at the Illusion, and acoustics were a challenge in both shows.

The props and costumes are fantastic, and any descriptions would be too spoiler-y. And Windy Bowlsby's choreography is an indispensable part of the show. It captures and maintains the thrilling action of the movie.

One more note-if you really want to see this show reserve your ticket. I didn't guess it would sell-out. Fortunately I had reserved our tickets just in case because we were cutting it close by taking the train from the West bank to downtown to see this show.

Four Humors does Every Show at the Fringe at the 2014 Minnesota Fringe Festival

Four Humors Does Every Show at the Fringe, by Fringe perennials The Four Humors, snagged a last minute spot in the Festival after lingering on the wait list. Using the Fringe lottery ping-pong ball machine, they drew a number and proceeded to perform an improvised version of the the corresponding show. The "winner" at the show we saw was #35-Cursed, by Mark Rosenwinkel. Cursed, based on the play To Damascus, Part I by August Strindberg, describes itself as "a self-destructive artist runs off with a doctor's wife, embarking on a surreal and mysterious journey that tests the enduring power of love."

The Humors ran with the concept. Embracing the "surreal", they crafted a ridiculous story that had the audience roaring with laughter. Guest performer Jill Bernard as the director (each show will have a different performer in this role) dryly improvised running commentary and insights that the Humors incorporated into the story. He off-hand comment about originally wanting to use dogs in her show evolved into Brant Miller's portrayal of the lover/artist as a Dog-man. It was silly, and yet it retained an aura of "Strindberginess"-which made it even funnier. I'm looking forward to seeing the real "Cursed" later this week.

By the way, Four Humors, along with many other Fringe-involved artists, will be a part of the Southern's new Art Share program. It's a great way to see theater year-round and support local artists. Check it out!

The Adventures of Tapman at the 2014 Minnesota Fringe Festival

The Adventures of Tapman, by Chicago-based Tap Man Productions LLC, is a show for all ages, including younger children and their families. Tap Man (Tristan Bruns) fights an evil invisible guy and tries to impress the spunky Modern Marvel (Kate O'Hanlon) through dance. At first it was a lot of work to follow the details of the dialogue-heavy story. There are three characters in the show, but one of them is invisible. This makes it hard to follow the plot. The acoustics of the Illusion made it almost impossible to understand Tapman when he was speaking and tapping at the same time. Hopefully, the cast will make some adjustments for the remainder of the run.

All of these issues aside, the show is still fun. It hits its stride in the second half, when the focus shifts from a lot of talking to a lot of dancing. And the dancing is fantastic. Energetic, creative, and original, Bruns and O'Hanlon  are a joy to watch. Plus they are very welcoming to the children in attendance. They invited children on stage to take selfies and they had a little audience participation where they taught a young volunteer named Kira a dance. Tapman is a family-friendly addition to this year's festival.

"Amateur Hour" at the 2014 Minnesota Fringe Festival

The title Amateur Hour is a misnomer for the variety show playing at the Illusion Theater. There is nothing amateur about it.  Featuring a cast of  Fringe veterans, it has little bit of everything. Comic monologues, dance, improv, mime, poetry, whoopie cushions, go-go boots, haiku, Erik Satie, boxing for Jesus, and Michael Jackson's white glove. On paper, it sounds like one of Stefon's hottest nightclubs from Saturday Night Live. But at its core the show is a nostalgic look back on the beginnings of the cast.  It's funny, but it's poignant too.

Choreographer Adrienne English, with help from dancers Alarica Hassett, Julia Deetz, and Brittany Shrimpton, revisits her groovy 4 year-old self and shares the Laugh-In inspired dance of her childhood dreams. Ferrari McSpeedy (the team of Joe Bozic and Mike Fotis) do one of their old-school improv games with the audience. Mime Kirsten Stephens explains how as a girl she began performing at her church in Oklahoma. And then she acts out a vivid and intense interpretation of a Christian rock song called "The Champion". I had a somewhat similar religious upbringing, and the song itself creeps me out. But this was super cool.

The heart of the show comes in two separate monologues by Joshua Scrimshaw and Levi Weinhagen. Both are very funny, and very honest.  Long live the fart joke.