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dreamsharkA fun evening, but nothing spectacular. R spent the morning at the Powderhorn Art Show, arriving home barely in time for us to bike downtown for one more spin around the Hennepin Avenue venues. Usually by this point in the Fringe we have spent an entire day on the West Bank, but this year we haven't been there once. Getting over there seems like too much trouble without at least 3 shows to see, and so far that hasn't happened. I wouldn't mind seeing the Joseph Scrimshaw show, but that one is inappropriately booked into the tiny Experimental Theater, which means it is selling out days in advance (and we aren't planning that far ahead).
So for the 2nd day in a row we biked up Aldrich to Franklin, up Lyndale to Loring Park, up Nicollet Mall and over to Hennepin. A pretty easy trip heading north, but with a total Bike Trail Fail on the way back. There is now a nice 2-lane asphalt bike path running along the east side of Lyndale from Loring Park almost to Franklin Avenue ("almost" being the key term here). About 2 blocks north of Franklin the bike path ends abruptly, dumping the bikers onto a narrow sidewalk with features like a large light pole right in the middle of the pavement. Then the sidewalk degenerates into a goat trail as it passes Rudolph's Barbeque, which has taken over half the sidewalk for outdoor tables. If you're headed north you can ride in the street on Lyndale at this point, but heading south you have no choice but to stay on the diminishing sidewalk. That's right where Lyndale and Hennepin merge and there is no way to get across to the west side of the street. I've slowly glided through that goat trail numerous times before, but on my way home last night I cut a little too far to the left to avoid the dropped handlebars of a bike chained to a pole (as if the space weren't restricted enough!!) and brushed against the iron railing separating the cafe tables from the tiny scrap of sidewalk. Unfortunately, it's not REALLY an iron railing at all - it's a free-standing divider that just kind of falls over if you lean on it. Which it did, carrying me and my bike down with it practically into the laps of the horrified diners. I wasn't hurt, just a little embarrassed, especially as I was trapped in the mess of bike and iron railing and somebody had to lift the bike off so I could get up. The rest of the trip was uneventful.
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5:30 Illusion Theater Four Humors' Lolita: A Three Man Show ?????
(Four Humors, unaccountably billed as FatBottom Jones Productions)
I just don't know how to rate this one. Everybody else who has seen it apparently rates it 5 stars, and I suppose it probably is. But I found it just a little too meta. I'm still not sure what the point was of casting Lolita and her mother as large, hairy men. Perhaps to make a statement about the male gaze? To remove any possibility of actual eroticism from the story? Surely it couldn't have been just for cheap laughs? It is possible that my relationship to "Lolita" is too complicated to allow me to appreciate it as a comedy (I read the book while in high school and was simultaneously horrified at the subject matter and utterly seduced by the style). I have never seen the movie. I suspect that if I had I would have found the play much funnier, since there were clearly visual jokes based on images from the movie and a big deal made over a minor character that I don't think even appears in the book. Not entirely grokked, but recommended.
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7:00 New Century Theatre Schrödinger's Apocalypse * * *
Rooftop Theatre Company
This is exactly the kind of play that makes me miss the old anthology format that used to be so popular at Fringe. It's a clever bit of fluff that would have been just dandy as a 15 or 20 minute skit, preferably paired with a couple of other short pieces with a little more heft. As a more or less hour-long show it just draggggggs. Not recommended unless you have time to kill and an Ultrapass.
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INTERLUDE: Dinner at Rosa Mexicano, a handsome bar/restaurant at 6th & Hennepin with the most comfortable outdoor seating short of Stella's rooftop. I see from their website that they are a national chain, which I wouldn't have guessed. Well, it's a very nice chain. The raised, covered deck was much more pleasant than tables right next to the street, and the food was good. And boy, was it handy!
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10:00 Illusion Theatre GLITCH! * * * 1/2
More people should see this show. It's a very original, inventive, slightly amateurish 2-person show of the type that used to be thought of as quintessentially "Fringe-y" until the quintessential Fringe show became a musical Shakespeare mashup. It nicely complements the Robert Sawyer book I'm currently listening to about the Internet developing self-awareness. Some of the multi-media dance scenes went on a little too long (esp since only one of the two players can actually dance) but the light toys were always fun to watch. The story was simple but the writing had 10 times the heart of the much more polished show we saw before dinner. Recommended.
So for the 2nd day in a row we biked up Aldrich to Franklin, up Lyndale to Loring Park, up Nicollet Mall and over to Hennepin. A pretty easy trip heading north, but with a total Bike Trail Fail on the way back. There is now a nice 2-lane asphalt bike path running along the east side of Lyndale from Loring Park almost to Franklin Avenue ("almost" being the key term here). About 2 blocks north of Franklin the bike path ends abruptly, dumping the bikers onto a narrow sidewalk with features like a large light pole right in the middle of the pavement. Then the sidewalk degenerates into a goat trail as it passes Rudolph's Barbeque, which has taken over half the sidewalk for outdoor tables. If you're headed north you can ride in the street on Lyndale at this point, but heading south you have no choice but to stay on the diminishing sidewalk. That's right where Lyndale and Hennepin merge and there is no way to get across to the west side of the street. I've slowly glided through that goat trail numerous times before, but on my way home last night I cut a little too far to the left to avoid the dropped handlebars of a bike chained to a pole (as if the space weren't restricted enough!!) and brushed against the iron railing separating the cafe tables from the tiny scrap of sidewalk. Unfortunately, it's not REALLY an iron railing at all - it's a free-standing divider that just kind of falls over if you lean on it. Which it did, carrying me and my bike down with it practically into the laps of the horrified diners. I wasn't hurt, just a little embarrassed, especially as I was trapped in the mess of bike and iron railing and somebody had to lift the bike off so I could get up. The rest of the trip was uneventful.
_______________________________________
5:30 Illusion Theater Four Humors' Lolita: A Three Man Show ?????
(Four Humors, unaccountably billed as FatBottom Jones Productions)
I just don't know how to rate this one. Everybody else who has seen it apparently rates it 5 stars, and I suppose it probably is. But I found it just a little too meta. I'm still not sure what the point was of casting Lolita and her mother as large, hairy men. Perhaps to make a statement about the male gaze? To remove any possibility of actual eroticism from the story? Surely it couldn't have been just for cheap laughs? It is possible that my relationship to "Lolita" is too complicated to allow me to appreciate it as a comedy (I read the book while in high school and was simultaneously horrified at the subject matter and utterly seduced by the style). I have never seen the movie. I suspect that if I had I would have found the play much funnier, since there were clearly visual jokes based on images from the movie and a big deal made over a minor character that I don't think even appears in the book. Not entirely grokked, but recommended.
_______________________________________
7:00 New Century Theatre Schrödinger's Apocalypse * * *
Rooftop Theatre Company
This is exactly the kind of play that makes me miss the old anthology format that used to be so popular at Fringe. It's a clever bit of fluff that would have been just dandy as a 15 or 20 minute skit, preferably paired with a couple of other short pieces with a little more heft. As a more or less hour-long show it just draggggggs. Not recommended unless you have time to kill and an Ultrapass.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
INTERLUDE: Dinner at Rosa Mexicano, a handsome bar/restaurant at 6th & Hennepin with the most comfortable outdoor seating short of Stella's rooftop. I see from their website that they are a national chain, which I wouldn't have guessed. Well, it's a very nice chain. The raised, covered deck was much more pleasant than tables right next to the street, and the food was good. And boy, was it handy!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
____________________________________________
10:00 Illusion Theatre GLITCH! * * * 1/2
More people should see this show. It's a very original, inventive, slightly amateurish 2-person show of the type that used to be thought of as quintessentially "Fringe-y" until the quintessential Fringe show became a musical Shakespeare mashup. It nicely complements the Robert Sawyer book I'm currently listening to about the Internet developing self-awareness. Some of the multi-media dance scenes went on a little too long (esp since only one of the two players can actually dance) but the light toys were always fun to watch. The story was simple but the writing had 10 times the heart of the much more polished show we saw before dinner. Recommended.
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no subject
Date: 2013-08-06 01:26 am (UTC)Glad to hear that you were not seriously injured. Rudolph's customers needed to be startled, so thanks for that. :)
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Date: 2013-08-06 04:12 pm (UTC)They should have signage indicating the turn, but it's pretty invisible unless you know to look for it.