Fringe 2017 Must See
Fringe is only a couple days away and I personally can not wait to dive into theater; seeing all variety of shows over 10 days along with a whole city of theater lovers.
There is so much to look forward to, beyond the individual shows (which I will get into later), the wide variety of shows present gives a theater viewer such a great opportunity to experiment with the kind of work that they see. I for one am looking forward to going to some dance shows, which is something that I don't go to very often because there is only so much time in the world and I haven't built a love of dance like I have a love of theater, therefore dance is not something that I am invested in but I am still very curious about it and I'm looking forward to exploring a different art form.
I won't be seeing a show during every time slot at Fringe, but I do plan on seeing around 40 shows, the ones that I am most looking forward to are:
I have heard really amazing things about Black Out Improv, and was thrilled when I heard that they would be performing at MN Fringe. Sometimes all you need is really good word of mouth, along with a brilliant performers (seriously there are so many of them look at the show description on the link above). There is a reason that I am seeing this on the first day of Fringe, I just couldn't wait any longer.
Bollywood style shows have been taking Fringe by storm the past couple of years, and yet I have never seen one yet. Combined in my desire to explore dance shows during this year's Fringe festival it seemed simple to me that this was not a show to miss.
Carmen is one of my favorite Operas so when I saw that there was going to be a dance version curiosity kicked in right away. I have never seen the Minnesota Dance Ensemble before but I look forward to seeing what they bring to this story.
The past 2 Couple Fight shows have been some of my favorite Fringe shows of the past two years. When seeing a large amount of shows it is good to have a balance of comedy and drama, and the Couple Fight series have proved to been strong comedies and leave me laughing until by abs hurt.
The description of this show on the Fringe website had be interested from the moment I read it, "After a New Year's breakdown in a bathtub, Lyssa started 2016 by coming out as bisexual, non-monogamous, and by diving into kink. Now she and the queers she met along the way bravely share their true stories." And after seeing a three minute preview I was absolutely sold on the show and am looking forward to seeing it.
I didn't need to know much more about this show than the cast to be interested. Joshua English Scrimshaw and Levi Weinhagen take the stage in this show. I haven't seen either of them before but have been an avid listener of Levi Weinhagen's podcast Pratfalls Podcast for the past couple of years and am looking forward to seeing the show.
When I saw a preview of this show my combination 90s child/ theater nerd heart almost couldn't take it. King Lear combined with the Powerpuff Girls is everything I never knew I wanted. I can't wait to see the full production.
Their three minute preview on one of the Monday preview nights intrigued me. The show's description reads, "A bare stage. Actors alone explore stories of violent youth who have been branded monsters among us. Why did they do it? How could they do it? How can we stop it? Perhaps if we can see them, we can save them." In a world that seems to get more and more violent day I am interested in exploring the source of some of the violence and how we can stop it, it seems the theater makes of Manifesto are too.
The team who have you Oregon Trail the musical (one of my favorite Fringe shows of the past 2) and Gilligan a Tropical Musical are back. And if the preview showed me anything I think this show will be filled with glorious puns, catchy tunes and will not dissappoint.
Starting Thursday I will be posting at the end of each day (or possibly early the next morning) about the Fringe shows I saw that day. I will be out of town the first Friday and Saturday of Fringe but other than that check back for an update daily. Also let me know what shows you are looking forward to.
See you at Fringe!