Fringe 2013 - Day 3 (Saturday)
Aug. 4th, 2013 01:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dreamshark4 good to excellent shows and only one tragic misfire. Also a good day of biking, an enjoyable meal by Loring Park at the new Maude's satellite, and an eventually successful rendezvous with an old friend (Barb). It was a lovely day to be outdoors, and I had forgotten how much fun downtown can be, even on a Saturday. Biking down Nicollet Mall was a delight - bustling outdoor cafes alternating with inexplicable little groups of people in Amish garb singing sacred music (???).
1:00 New Century Theater A Brief History of Irish Music (The Dregs) * * * 1/2
... who inexplicably billed themselves as "Snikt! Bamf! Thwip!" (Can I just say that I am really getting sick of this thing of familiar performers calling themselves by cute new names each year. Why not use the name that people know you by? Don't you want your fans to find you?)
Anyway, the Dregs are an impossibly talented Irish band that plays at Renfest, where they alternate excellent music with goofball humor. They are good at both things, but I would have liked this show ever so much better if there had been more music and less goofing around. The schtick with the book didn't work for me - too much repetition of one stale joke. Richard liked the show better than I did, and I certainly didn't hate it. And yes, the Dregs' fans clearly DID find them, so maybe I'm the only one confused by this stupid Fringe name game.
2:00 Illusion Theater CIRCE: A Musical Odyssey (Burnt Nightingale) * * * * *
Best show of the day. An energetic musical with good music and dancing and an intriguing premise. It's The Odyssey told from the point of view of the women in the story, primarily Circe and her BFF Hecate. I thought it worked really well on all fronts: writing, acting, dancing, singing. Richard was slightly annoyed that Hecate's powers as a goddess were downplayed, but I thought her character worked very well in the context of the story (and I don't remember her role in The Odyssey at all).
4:00 Red Eye Jesus Christ Ex Machina (Josh Larson, performing under some stupid "company" name) * *
The title is the best thing about this show by a wide margin. Mr. Larson is not untalented. He has a good singing voice, tons of energy, and the engaging grin and a rubbery face that could make for a very good solo performer. Unfortunately, he didn't seem to know what to do with his talents except caper around, and at one point strum on his mandolin for what seemed like 20 minutes. Split-second character changes on an essentially empty stage is a challenging format, and this performer is not up to it. It was hard to tell when he switched characters, and even harder to understand why. In short, promising performer, incoherent show.
5:30 Music Box The Diamond Lens (Hardcover Theater) * * * * *
A brilliant, inventive staging of a deservedly forgotten bit of Victorian sci-fi. Really, the story is just kind of dumb - reminiscent of Edgar Allen Poe on an off day. But these guys really wrung every bit of drama and pathos out of it, turning into something more like a ballet with dialogue than a story. Everything about the production is impeccable - the acting, the costumes, the lighting, the choreography (really the only word for the way the actors leap and slither around the stage). I originally gave it 4-1/2 stars but upped it to 5 when I realized that the morning after a 5-show Fringe day, this is the one I can't get out of my brain.
INTERLUDE: Lunch at Maude's new place on Loring Park, outdoor table. We ordered a variety of smaller dishes to share, but the very best thing turned out to be the Maude Burger. OMG that was good! And the roast asparagus is still the best side.
8:30 HUGE Died in a Trailer Park/Woke Up a Mermaid (Ariel Leaf, billed as "Mermaid Productions") * * * *
An accomplished story-teller, although her first few stories (presumably autobiographical) are pretty bleak. I must say that if all those stories of her misspent youth ARE true, it's good to see that she's doing as well as she is, as she seems like a very likable woman.
I gave up and biked home at this point, but Richard and Barb finished up with that one about the kids playing Mario, which they went to because they thought Thorin was going to be at (but then he wasn't), but both of them said it turned out to be a million times better than they expected from the lame description and now I wish I'd gone. Oh well, that's the Fringe.
1:00 New Century Theater A Brief History of Irish Music (The Dregs) * * * 1/2
... who inexplicably billed themselves as "Snikt! Bamf! Thwip!" (Can I just say that I am really getting sick of this thing of familiar performers calling themselves by cute new names each year. Why not use the name that people know you by? Don't you want your fans to find you?)
Anyway, the Dregs are an impossibly talented Irish band that plays at Renfest, where they alternate excellent music with goofball humor. They are good at both things, but I would have liked this show ever so much better if there had been more music and less goofing around. The schtick with the book didn't work for me - too much repetition of one stale joke. Richard liked the show better than I did, and I certainly didn't hate it. And yes, the Dregs' fans clearly DID find them, so maybe I'm the only one confused by this stupid Fringe name game.
2:00 Illusion Theater CIRCE: A Musical Odyssey (Burnt Nightingale) * * * * *
Best show of the day. An energetic musical with good music and dancing and an intriguing premise. It's The Odyssey told from the point of view of the women in the story, primarily Circe and her BFF Hecate. I thought it worked really well on all fronts: writing, acting, dancing, singing. Richard was slightly annoyed that Hecate's powers as a goddess were downplayed, but I thought her character worked very well in the context of the story (and I don't remember her role in The Odyssey at all).
4:00 Red Eye Jesus Christ Ex Machina (Josh Larson, performing under some stupid "company" name) * *
The title is the best thing about this show by a wide margin. Mr. Larson is not untalented. He has a good singing voice, tons of energy, and the engaging grin and a rubbery face that could make for a very good solo performer. Unfortunately, he didn't seem to know what to do with his talents except caper around, and at one point strum on his mandolin for what seemed like 20 minutes. Split-second character changes on an essentially empty stage is a challenging format, and this performer is not up to it. It was hard to tell when he switched characters, and even harder to understand why. In short, promising performer, incoherent show.
5:30 Music Box The Diamond Lens (Hardcover Theater) * * * * *
A brilliant, inventive staging of a deservedly forgotten bit of Victorian sci-fi. Really, the story is just kind of dumb - reminiscent of Edgar Allen Poe on an off day. But these guys really wrung every bit of drama and pathos out of it, turning into something more like a ballet with dialogue than a story. Everything about the production is impeccable - the acting, the costumes, the lighting, the choreography (really the only word for the way the actors leap and slither around the stage). I originally gave it 4-1/2 stars but upped it to 5 when I realized that the morning after a 5-show Fringe day, this is the one I can't get out of my brain.
INTERLUDE: Lunch at Maude's new place on Loring Park, outdoor table. We ordered a variety of smaller dishes to share, but the very best thing turned out to be the Maude Burger. OMG that was good! And the roast asparagus is still the best side.
8:30 HUGE Died in a Trailer Park/Woke Up a Mermaid (Ariel Leaf, billed as "Mermaid Productions") * * * *
An accomplished story-teller, although her first few stories (presumably autobiographical) are pretty bleak. I must say that if all those stories of her misspent youth ARE true, it's good to see that she's doing as well as she is, as she seems like a very likable woman.
I gave up and biked home at this point, but Richard and Barb finished up with that one about the kids playing Mario, which they went to because they thought Thorin was going to be at (but then he wasn't), but both of them said it turned out to be a million times better than they expected from the lame description and now I wish I'd gone. Oh well, that's the Fringe.
