Howdy, theatre-lovers!

Now that you’ve all had time to collect yourselves after the crazy Angelina Jolie/Jennifer Aniston Oscar showdown, it’s time for a little FringeFamous Five!  This week, we’re going to try our first ever live FringeFamous Five.  We’ll be connecting with Brave New Workshop cast members Mike Fotis and Bobby Gardner and asking them a few questions (five, to be exact) about their upcoming show.  Because it’s live, please feel free to get your own questions ready and join in the fun.  Ask away starting at noon on Wednesday…see you then!

Please allow me to give you the SparkNotes version of Minnesota Playlist’s recent 34-minute interview with Dominique Serrand (being that 90% of it basically amounts to artistic gibberish).

• First, he talked about how important Jeune Lune’s space was to the organization, saying that “space was fundamental”. He explained how excavating the building made sense and helped the work that was being produced. He also added that moving to a space that was not a theatre helped to define what theatre meant…”instead of those grand proscenium spaces”. I guess Jeune Lune’s new space was modest? I’m sure Yellow Tree would totally agree.
• Then we get to the question of “Why couldn’t Jeune Lune survive?” Surprisingly enough, it turns out that Jeune Lune could’ve made it after all. The problem: they would’ve had to compromise their work. And Serrand explains to us that, “it’s not about rooms and buildings and stone, it’s about the work.” Wait. I thought “space was fundamental”? I guess once you get the gigantic building, THEN it’s about the work.
• Serrand then blows our minds by informing us of a major problem in the theatre today: that theatre artists aren’t salaried. I know…take a minute to wrap your head around that. He thinks we’d all be better off if we got paid more. THAT’S CRAZY TALK! He then says “it’s not that costly” to put artists on salary, which is funny since the vast majority of Jeune Lune’s theatre artists were jobbed in just like everywhere else. Brilliant.

That’s just the tip of a gigantic dumb-ass iceberg, so check it out. Basically, if Serrand ran his theatre even close to the way he aimlessly meandered around in this interview, it’s very easy to see why Jeune Lune no longer exists.

One show that we left off of our holiday list this year, is Bedlam’s The Turducken. And we don’t really know why. The show sounds like a ton of fun. To make up for our little flub, we were lucky enough to grab some time with the author of the play, Josef Evans, for this week’s FringeFamous Five. Enjoy!

What is turducken, what is The Turducken, and does any of this have to do with John Madden?

JOSEF EVANS: Turducken (the food) is a duck inside a chicken inside a turkey. The Turducken (the play) is a musical sendup of holiday shows, dinner theater, and Chekhov’s The Seagull. Each is revolting in its own special way. Just like John Madden.

The premise of the show is a fictional dinner theater (known as “American Suppertime”) putting on their version of The Seagull as the annual holiday musical. Instead of putting on a play (as in the opening of The Seagull), these characters are putting on a Christmas-themed renaissance festival, which goes horribly awry and forces them to disband and get real jobs. After that, there are christmas wizards, Samuel Clemens impersonators, Santa standup, bad performance art, and a lot of ridiculous musical numbers. With actual dinner theater and a choice of three delicious entrees.

This play seems to be on its own little island in a sea of Twin Cities Christmas Carols and Nutcrackers. What made you stray from the traditional, no-brainer, slam-dunk holiday themes?

JE: Well, nobody needs another Christmas Carol or Nutcracker in any form. For that matter, nobody needs another Christmas show of any sort. So the challenge with this was always to create something apart from the usual. And, if nothing else, I am certain we have achieved that.

A couple of years ago (co-artistic director) John Bueche asked me if I would come up with some sort of holiday spoof that might work for Bedlam. I am always interested in characters who are experiencing failure in some way, and started working on a show about artists having to perform in all the usual Christmas junk, mostly as a vehicle to satirize everything else that’s out there. Then I saw a production of The Seagull, which I hadn’t thought about in years, and it seemed a perfect framework for the characters I was already working with. As the script evolved, it became a way to do a show that is more than just simple parody. There are genuine moments of humanity amongst all the ridiculous humor, and that is what ultimately makes The Turducken work and sets it apart from other shows at this time of year.

The Turducken sounds weird/quirky/awesome. Love in a Time of Rinderpest (Fringe 2005) was weird/quirky/awesome. Is this a result of the way Bedlam works, or are you just weird/quirky/awesome?

JE: I think it is a symbiotic situation. I get a lot of blank stares with this kind of material in traditional play reading groups. At Bedlam, I get laughs. They understand how to make the illogical logical — and funny. One of the best reviews I’ve ever come across for our work together described “laughing uncontrollably — not because the moment was funny (though it certainly was), but because they finally broke my brain.”

I actually first started writing plays after seeing a Bedlam production (Freewheeling in the Attic of Whim) back in 1999. It was crazy in all these ways I’d never seen before, and a redefinition for me of what theater could be. Since then, I’ve written a number of plays as commissions that (by necessity or request) follow standard rules of dramatic structure, with very straightforward dialogue and action. Writing for Bedlam is a perfect release from that, and a place where I can develop an artistic voice that’s closer to my own.

What do you find to be the advantages/disadvantages of directing your own play as opposed to not?

JE: I don’t like directing my own plays, so I only do it as an option of last resort. I think as a playwright, one is by nature focused on the text, to the detriment of everything else that’s necessary to offer good direction. When I write a show, I care above all about how it sounds, and not enough about how it looks. That said, it’s often a challenge to find a director who can work with the kind of stuff I write, just because it is so weird. Sam Johns (director of The Turducken) and Maren Ward are two of the best.

If you could change one thing about the current Twin Cities theatre scene, what would you change?

JE: Less holiday shows. More new plays.

Josef Evans is a Twin Cities-based playwright, musician, and theater artist. His work has been produced in Seattle, Denver, Detroit, San Diego, St Louis, and Newark, among others. Notable recent plays include Love in a Time of Rinderpest, a Minnesota Fringe Encore selection in 2006, and The Only Americans Welcome, a commission for the Sargent Shriver Peace Institute (Washington DC). He is an associate artist with Bedlam Theatre and resident playwright with the Zamya Theater Project, an annual collaboration between homeless and housed artists. He holds a B.A. in English and Theater from the University of Notre Dame, and is a graduate of the University of Washington (Seattle) playwriting program. Josef is a member of the Playwrights’ Center and the Dramatists’ Guild of America, Inc., and performs regularly around town as part of the Dreamland Faces band.

Walking Shadow Theatre Company opened their new show Amazons and Their Men this past weekend. So we caught up with director and company member Amy Rummenie for this week’s FringeFamous Five. Enjoy!

Here is yet another area premiere from Walking Shadow. Are all these premieres on purpose, or just coincidence?

AMY RUMMENIE: It’s intentional, but not a necessity. As a rule we’re inclined to look at newer titles. We’re all voracious play readers with an ever-growing list of titles under consideration (see question #5). We never choose to do a play just because it’s a premiere, though we occasionally choose not to do certain plays if we feel they’ve already had enough exposure in the cities. Any play we choose has to be intelligent and compelling and, above all, fun to do.

On a side note: Both Amazons and Their Men and Robots vs. Fake Robots had recent readings at the Playwrights’ Center — though curiously, we didn’t see either one — Amazons… was discovered through New York’s Clubbed Thumb and Robots… came highly recommended by director Steve Moulds. John [Heimbuch] and I discovered the David Greig translation of Caligula in a French bookstore on our honeymoon. While this is not our usual means of obtaining plays, we highly recommend it.

What made you want to produce/direct Amazons and Their Men?

AR: We love stories that are fraught with moral ambiguity and difficult questions. Add in timely material, opportunities for dramaturgical research, a wonderfully unique structure and a good dose of humor.

Despite being a comedy set on the eve of WWII, at its core Amazons… is not about Nazis. It’s not even about Leni Riefenstahl. It’s about the kind of person who has the hubris to write/direct/and star in her own movie — about the value of both art and humanity. Above all, this play is incredibly fun. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard in rehearsals.

What are a few things that really make people stand out when auditioning for you — things you’re looking for when casting your next show?

AR: I appreciate the ability to can handle complex language with clarity and skill. I’m a sucker for great enunciation and clear speech, probably because I’m a rambly speedtalker myself.

I also look for precision and clear choices. I look at what’s going on in-between the lines, and how people switch from one idea to the next. Since Walking Shadow gravitates towards plays that balance on that strange tense line between humor and danger, the ability to find the internal justification for those mood shifts is key to us.

What can I say? Walking Shadow has a soft spot for anyone who can portray a charming sociopath.

Walking Shadow has been one of the more successful small theatre companies in recent years. At this point in Walking Shadow’s development, what’s the biggest challenge you guys face?

AR: We have longevity on our minds and we’re working to build not only our artistic reputation, but the company structures to sustain us through the next phase of our development.

Wow, that sounded like business-speak. Let me try again:

We’re working on what it means to move from being a small company to establishing ourselves as a mid-size company. Like everybody else, we’re working on growing our audience while we find the next most fascinating project and the best way to sustain ourselves.

And it’s always exciting just to keep pace with the challenges we set ourselves: we produce frequently, and try to set new challenges to ourselves with each show we do, whether they be thematically, stylistically or technically demanding. Because of this, we’re perfectly happy moving from an Elizabethan zombie drama at the Fringe to an intricate four person drama in war torn Germany.

What’s upcoming for Walking Shadow? Can you give us a sneak peak into what next year’s season/Fringe might include?

AR: All men dancing the cha-cha in penguin suits, all the time.

No, really. I can’t say — we don’t like to tip our hand until we have both venues and rights secured. My apologies to anyone who skipped ahead from question #1, I was shamelessly leading you on.

Amy Rummenie has directed numerous productions for Walking Shadow, including The American Pilot, Fat Pig, The Lives of the Most Notorious Highwaymen, 10-Speed Revolution, and the collaboratively created 1926 Pleasant. She also directed Edward Gorey’s Helpless Doorknobs with Dramatis Personae. Amy has worked for the Children’s Theatre Company, Theatre de la Jeune Lune, The Playwrights’ Center, Shakespeare in the Park, and Open Eye Figure Theatre. She received her education from Minnesota State University Mankato, is an alumnus of the Lincoln Center Theatre Director’s Lab, and recently completed a 6-month internship in the Guthrie Theater’s literary department. Her theatrical work aims to accentuate the intricacies and possibilities of language and image by using intense dramaturgical analysis and seamlessly brisk staging that extends beyond the boundaries of standard proscenium framing.

It’s been a while since we’ve been able to throw a FringeFamous Five together. So we were pumped times ten that Theatre Pro Rata Artistic Director, Carin Bratlie, agreed to play our little five-question game. Bratlie directed Pro Rata’s current production of Killer Joe by Tracy Letts, which closes October 19th.

Ever since August: Osage County, Tracy Letts has been just about the hottest playwright out there. Was the decision to produce Killer Joe a quick reaction to that popularity, or does Theatre Pro Rata just have an amazing amount of foresight?

CARIN BRATLIE: Funnily enough, it was just coincidental. In fact, I’m pretty sure we picked it before he won the Tony and/or the Pulitzer. When we set Metamorphoses for spring of 2008, I was looking ahead for something that would contrast it, something contemporary and darkly comedic…another Slag Heap or Trainspotting. Our Producing Artistic Associate Natalie handed me a stack of plays she thought would fit the bill, knowing full well that I have a masochistic streak that loves tackling shows seemly impossible for a small company to produce.

When I got to the last page of Killer Joe, my jaw dropped. I closed the script and said, “We HAVE to do this play.”

Describe the process Pro Rata goes through when choosing its next production.

CB: In a nutshell, it’s a “This play is awesome; let’s do it!” sort of vibe.

I’m passionate about supporting the playwright’s original intention, versus imposing some wacky new take on it. Being a text-based company, it’s essential that we love the scripts on the short list. If you don’t like the play as is, don’t do it, right?

There are about 20 plays and/or playwrights on The List. Company members suggest plays they love, are excited about, or think would be a good fit for Pro Rata.

Then we look at the shows in the bigger picture. Has enough time passed since this play was last produced in town? How does it pair with the other show in our season? What about the potential season after? Is it disparate from or similar to our past works? Is it realistically within our means to bring the show to life successfully?

I have the next three seasons roughly sketched out. At least one in the mix is a show that we have refrained from producing until we KNEW we were ready to take on its challenges. A good example of this is the potential 2011/2012 season that has Sondheim’s Assassins in the fall and Howard Barker’s Scenes from an Execution in the spring. Oh, crap. Did I just announce that?

We recently threw up a link to this short article. I’m curious if there are any ideas on that list that you, as a local AD of a “fringe” company, love or hate.

CB: A lot of it seems to be intended to agitate, but there are some good points in spite of that.

Regarding producing Shakespeare, there is WAY too much bad Shakespeare out there. Shakespeare done well is breathtaking; Shakespeare done badly is torture. I don’t agree there should be a moratorium on it, but I do agree that if you don’t have the chops, you should step away from the Bard.

Producing “fast, dirty and often” is the exact opposite of what we’re doing with Pro Rata. We only do two mainstage shows a year because I’d rather do less work and do it of higher quality than churn out a bunch of crap and hope that something sticks to the wall.

Okay, back to the current show…So far, the press has had very nice things to say about Killer Joe. If you had nothing to do with theatre, what could someone tell you about this production that would make you want to buy a ticket?

CB: It’s like the bastard child of No Country for Old Men and Natural Born Killers.

Obviously, things are economically tough right now. And it looks like it may possibly get worse before it gets better. In your estimation, what’s number one on Theatre Pro Rata’s list of things that need to be done to not only survive in the future, but grow?

CB: We need more visibility in the general public.

The ‘07/’08 season was a make-or-break year for us, and after some restructuring and a reinvigoration of new blood, we’re coming out the other side on top. Our audience loves watching our work and is generous with its support, and the artists we know love working with us.

We need to get ourselves on everyone’s radar.

Carin Bratlie is a freelance director and acting instructor in Minneapolis, MN. She is the Artistic Director of Theatre Pro Rata and has also directed for Theatre L’ Homme Dieu, The Great American History Theater, Theatre Unbound, the Grand Marais Playhouse, Theatre of the Invisible Guests, Heritage Theater Company, St. Croix Valley Summer Theater, Chameleon Theater Circle and others. She has assistant directed for the Guthrie Theater (Third, As You Like It, Top Girls), Outward Spiral, and The Great American History Theater. She has designed costumes and/or set for a number of Pro Rata productions. She teaches theater classes at the Guthrie and Youth Performance Company. As a technician she has worked with Teatre de la Jeune Lune, 3 legged race, and was production stage manager for Eye of the Storm Theatre’s 2000 and 2001 seasons. She was a participant director at the Wesley Balk Opera/Musical Theater Institute in 2007 and received a BA from Concordia College, Moorhead, MN in 1998.

FringeFamous Five. Executive Director of the MN Fringe, Robin C. Gillette.  And…go.

For those who might not know, can you give us a bit of background on yourself? How did you end up at the Fringe?

ROBIN C. GILLETTE: Raised in the glamorous Hoosier heartland, I fled as quickly as possible and went to Carleton College, where I picked up a degree in psychology and a weird fetish for stage management. Post college, I worked in Minneapolis for a while, then made the obligatory trek to New York, where I ended up working for the Lincoln Center Festival. That triggered an even weirder fetish for festivals. My patience for life in NYC expired in late 2001, and I came back to Minneapolis. As for the Fringe, the delightful Leah Cooper decided to vacate her position just exactly when I needed a change, and voila.

What does the Leader of the Free Fringe do during the 50 weeks leading up to the festival? Can you take us through the cycle from Fringe closing to Fringe opening?

RG: Okay — here’s the lifecycle of our Fringe:

Last two weeks of August — It’s all about the numbers – attendance figures for the press, budget vs. actuals for my board, and, most importantly, box office payouts for the artists. I had the distinct pleasure this year of signing nearly $200,000 of payout checks – it’s really exciting to pump that much money directly into the hands of artists. We pay a bunch of other bills, too, and try to restore the Fringe office to some semblance of order. Then we sleep the sleep of the just.

Sept-Oct — This is when the framework of next year’s festival is set, because the applications are available to artists in mid-November. If there are new policies, I need to know most of them by now. We conduct a series of post mortems and surveys, using staff, artists, volunteers and audience members to figure out what worked, what was a train wreck, and what could be cooler and better next time. We also go to the annual convening of U.S. Fringe Festivals - this year it’s in D.C. It’s a fabulous way to talk to the other folks who do the same wacko thing we do. It’s all about comparing notes and trading our brilliant new innovations back and forth.

Nov-Dec-Jan — A hodge-podge of stuff happens in this span. Lots o’ fundraising – grants, sponsorship proposals, individual solicitations, and fundraising events. The application goes live somewhere around Nov. 15, so that triggers a raft of questions from folks. I also start laying out what venues we’ll use. It’s a complicated process of finding the right number of venues (14, at this point) that are geographically well-located, available and affordable for a 17-day rental period, technically well-equipped (ideally with storage space abounding), handicapped-accessible, and well balanced in terms of seating capacity and stage configuration.

Feb-Mar — The lottery happens in early February, and we spend the rest of Feb. and early March waiting to see what the quasi-final show line-up will be, once the drop-out deadline on March 15 comes and goes. Also, final venue confirmation happens here, and most likely, a bunch more fundraising, and a lot of work on establishing the “look” of the upcoming festival and getting the new website underway.

April-May — Venue and performance time assignments happen in April, once we have a firmed-up show line-up. We also start gathering info for the press, since deadlines for the national and monthly magazines are so much earlier than you’d expect. We collect info from the artists, hire seasonal staff, run producer workshops, sell program ads and acquire festival sponsors.

June — This is the heart of the press push, as well as the preparation of the print program. Also, finding free housing for out-of-towners, establishing the technical needs of the companies, arranging equipment rental, setting up the online ticketing system, recruiting the legions of volunteers, and finishing up the website.

July — Madness descends – The website launches, and we do final program proofing, front-of-house prep, assorted showcases, and field questions upon questions from Fringe artists. We train volunteers and keep telling the press how awesome we are.

Late July – mid-August — Tech rehearsals, then shows, shows, and shows, with drinking scattered liberally (or conservatively – we’re non-partisan, of course) in between.

Explain Fringe expansion for us. How many entries does the Fringe have to get before you start thinking “we need to expand next year…MORE VENUES”?

RG: Honestly, the decision to expand isn’t based on the number of applicants. It’s based on our best gauge of two things: how many companies can my staff handle, and how many shows will the audience support. One of our most important functions is providing top-notch support – we offer personalized guidance in marketing, press relations, technical production, online promotion, etc., and we handle a raft of administrative details for each company. There’s a limit to how far we can stretch without compromising the quality in any of those areas. Secondly, I think it would be irresponsible to add a bunch more shows (approx 11 per each additional venue) without full confidence that I could increase the audience size to support those shows. Our attendance has stayed pretty level over the last couple of years (aside from last year’s oddness), and I think that more shows would spread that audience thinner, rather than pulling in new audiences.

Quick hypothetical: let’s say it’s your first year as Fringe Pope. On the day the Fringe opens, something really crazy happens…let’s pretend all the honey bees just up and vanish…I dunno, maybe something bigger. What goes through your head, and how do you possibly deal with that kind of bad Fringe luck?

RG: Wow – it’s hard to imagine what that would be like, but I’ll do my best…

Well, first, I’d have a cocktail. Or three. Then, it’s a matter of putting aside the feeling of raw panic and assessing the situation. Canceling the Fringe seemed unthinkable, and postponing seemed worse, given the complicated logistics involved. So we decided go forward as gracefully as we could, acknowledging that something really bad had happened, and that just maybe coming together as a community of artists and audiences might serve some sort of healing purpose. Schmaltzy, I know, but there you have it. Then, you cross your fingers, pour yourself another Jameson, and have faith that The Magic Of Theater Will Save The Day.

How do you measure success at the Fringe?

RG: Since we’re so delightfully non-judgmental, we tend to rely on numbers a lot – number of artists who get their first opportunity to produce their work, or number of artists who find further work as a result of their exposure here. Similarly, we measure success by the audience members who try something new and discover that awesome feeling of exploration. Also, people should have fun at the Fringe – that’s the silent “E” in our mission statement.

Note to self: Add “Leader of the Free Fringe” to my business card – sounds much cooler than “Executive Director,” and lacks even the subtle religious overtones of “Pope.”

Robin C. Gillette has served as Executive Director since September 2006. Previously, she was Marketing and Community Relations Manager at Mixed Blood Theatre, Managing Director for Outward Spiral Theatre Company and Producer for Teatro del Pueblo in the Twin Cities. She developed a taste for festivals in New York, where she was Associate Producer for Contemporary Programming at Lincoln Center, as well as spending three years as Production Coordinator for the Lincoln Center Festival. She has also served as production stage manager and general manager for various off-Broadway theaters. She lives in Minneapolis with three impossible cats, yet is not a crazy cat lady. Just crazy – ask her ex-husband.

What are you doing next weekend?  If the answer is “seeing the coolest show in town before it closes”, then you’ll be interested in reading this week’s FringeFamous Five, which features the author of said show.  Brian Kelly was able to chat with us about The Temp, the current show at the Music Box Theater that closes this coming Sunday.  Enjoy!

Give us some quick background on The Temp. Where did it come from?

BRIAN KELLY:  Years ago, I worked as a temp. It’s not the most glamorous work. You’re something of a loner, strolling into an established work environment. No one gets too invested in you, because soon you’ll be gone. And when you go…there’s no card. There’s no cake.

One night I was watching the movie “Shane” on late night TV. I thought: Here’s a drifter who strolls into town, helps out those around him, touches their lives, and then rides off.

It occurred to me…a temp does much the same thing. Why not the temp as a hero?

Are there any differences between the 1998 production and the one currently running at the Music Box?

BK:  This was the first show I’d ever written & directed and it was a very DIY affair. It was at the Bryant Lake Bowl, so there was not a lot of space for an 8-person cast to move, let alone dance. The technology of 10 years ago also presented limitations…I mean, you couldn’t even burn a CD then.

This time around, we had a set designer, lighting and sound design, we re-orhestrated all of the music, upped the ante on the choreography, I did a lot of re-writes on jokes that maybe didn’t land as well as they could have. In general it’s a richer, tighter, funnier production.

What was behind the decision to bring it back?

BK:  It was two-fold. For one thing, I had been performing with Triple Espresso for 6 years, and the show was ending. I’d always thought The Temp would be a nice fit at the Music Box Theater, and suddenly it was available. Plus, this is the 10 year anniversary of the original production of “The Temp”, which seemed like a really appropriate time to bring it back.

Also, Michael Ritchie and Tom Winner from the original show were available. Tom is one of the funniest people I know, and Michael…well, I can’t imagine doing the show without Michael. Though I play the title character, he is the star of the show. He plays the part of the villain like he’s in a Hammer horror picture…only intentionally funny. It’s just a fantastic performance.

The show enjoyed great success in 1998. Were you worried at all that this run might not live up to the first one?

BK:  To be honest, ten years is a long time and I didn’t expect that anyone would remember the original. So realistically, I didn’t feel like we could rely on any of the past success. I had to view it as starting from scratch. The only way that this version and the old version are really in ‘competition’ with each other is artistically. I’d like to think that ten years on I’d be able to make a better show.

That said, it’s been amazing how many people have come up to me and said “We saw the show 10 years ago” and the general attitude has been that it’s the show they remember only better. So I feel we’ve achieved our goal.

What’s next? Got any new shows in the works?

BK: This fall I will be performing in Triple Espresso in various cities. The next show I’d like to mount is a version of Jesus Christ Superstar as performed by the Muppets. There may be some legal issues surrounding that. I’ll have my legal team look into it and keep you posted.

Brian Kelly most recently did 1,300 shows with Triple Espresso, everywhere from Des Moines, Iowa to Dublin, Ireland. It’s hard for him to remember much of anything before that, but the IRS tells him that he’s performed with ComedySportz, Mystery Café, Tony & Tina’s Wedding, and We Gotta Bingo and written a couple of jokes for Miss Richfield, 1981. He’s also done a number of commercials, at least 4 of which feature him in bed asleep.

Now that all that Fringe nonsense is behind us, we can get back to the real world. It’s time for another FringeFamous Five. This time we snagged a Lauren Anderson and Bobby Gardner — two cast members of the current Brave New Workshop review The Lion, the Witch, and the War Hero or Is McCain Able?. Enjoy!

What’s the most difficult part of putting together a new review?

Lauren Anderson: The most difficult part of putting up a new show is taking sketches and editing them as we go. Sometimes in an effort to make things even funnier, we will block the first act, and then end up having to re-block the entire thing 2 hours before we have to perform it for an audience to work in an excellent new bit we discovered. It’s envigorating, but it is a challenge.

Bobby, although this is your second mainstage show, you’re the newest member of this cast. What’s the most challenging thing about being the BNW new kid?

Bobby Gardner: The schedule definitely takes some getting used to. It’s not like a normal production where you get the script at the first read through, and then rehearse the same text for a month or so before you open. The script is changing a lot before we get to opening night. We have a weekend of previews to see what works with an audience. In that week, sketches get cut, the show order gets moved around, and there are many internal edits made. So that “being ready for anything” aspect of live theatre is really personified in this proccess. I guess I would say that’s the biggest adjustment I had to make. Also, this is a very tight knit group, so it took a little time to find my niche. There was a period of time where I thought “man, I’m not as funny as I thought I was.” But it just took a little time to sort out what my “funny” in the group was. I’m still trying to find it.

How do you classify improvisers? Are they actors, performers, just improvisers, a kind of hybrid of everything? What?

BG: There’s not really a good classification for improvisers. It’s kind of a melting pot of different kinds of people. Some are actors looking to improve their craft. Some are comedians who are trying to spark something that can go into their act. A lot of people who go through the Brave New Institute are just everyday 9-5 Joes and Janes who are just looking for something fun and social to do on a week night. The main stage cast is made up mostly of actor/comedians who have had training in improv from BNW, Improv Olympics, Second City or a combination of a few of those schools. I feel like a base in acting or performing can definitely give you a head start in improv. But honestly, I’ve seen people who have no background in performing get up on that stage and just blow it out of the box in an improv set.

Lauren, your educational background is in theatre. Then you morphed into an improv super hero. Artistically speaking, what’s the biggest difference between fresh-out-of-college Lauren Anderson and current-day Lauren Anderson?

LA: The biggest difference is confidence…and experience. Taking improv classes taught me to trust myself on stage, so I no longer am afraid if I go up on a line or we find ourselves straying from the script. In fact, sometimes that’s the fun part. It’s incredibly liberating to feel confident on stage. When we are doing shows it just feels like fun. That is the biggest difference. I used to have to “work” a lot harder on stage, which made for terrible acting. Now I trust my insticts and the director, and have a blast. It helps to work with brilliant people too

Which do you find more fun — performing in a BNW main stage review, or performing in the post-show improv set that follows?

BG: They are each fun in their own way. At the beginning of a run of a new show, even the scripted parts feel improvised because I have just memorized them. Previews are a treat because there are times when it feels like “The Actor’s Nightmare.” You know, the whole “I’m on stage in front of an audience but I have no idea what comes next.” It’s really exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. Once the show has been running for a while I do tend to look forward to the improv set following. It’s a chance for us to let loose and play. Not that we don’t play in the show — we most certainly do. But after two or three months of the same general script, it sometimes takes some improv to reconnect the group and force some energy back into our systems.

Bobby Gardner and Lauren Anderson probably have awesome bios…but in all the Fringe Festival fury, I neglected to get them. However, you can see both Bobby’s and Lauren’s bio by going to their show and reading the program! The Lion, the Witch, and the War Hero is playing NOW!…probably as you’re reading this! GO!!

With all the Fringe craziness going on, I was very pleasantly surprised when we were able to catch director Brian Balcom and playwright Trista Baldwin for this week’s FringeFamous Five. Brian and Trista collaborated on the current Fringe show American Sexy.

Give us a feel for American Sexy. Word on the street is that it’s pretty sexually charged.

BRIAN BALCOM: It is. The show is about how technology and culture are changing the way we value ourselves. Things like MySpace and YouTube are changing the game and it feels like we’ve got to go further and be more shocking. It’s about how common it’s become to degrade and exploit ourselves to get the attention we want.

Because of this, it does, at times, have a raw, sexual energy that is sometimes good, sometimes uncomfortable, very real, and also absurd. Our hope is that we’ve created a memorable, visceral experience — even if you feel disgusted by what you see (and at times, you should).

TRISTA BALDWIN: Yes, and what does it mean to be sexually charged? What’s real sexual energy and what is a put on? That’s one of the questions I’m asking.

Was the show put together with the Fringe in mind, or was it ready to go before hand?

TB: I had a version of the play in mind before I wrote it specifically at Brian’s command.

BB: I do enjoy commanding playwrights to do things. It helps that I carry a big stick. Really, the playwrights always have an idea or an outline or a feeling. When Alan Berks and I began working on How to Cheat, all he said was “I want to write a play about happiness”. And Steve Moulds wanted Killer Smile to be about a surprise birthday party. That’s where we began for those shows. Once we got our cast together we started talking, sharing, listening, and building. Only after that did they start writing the script.

Who/What is The New Theatre Group?

BB: The New Theatre Group is just me — there is no core artistic ‘group’. I opened a small business checking account before I thought of the name so I was suddenly pressured into making one up, but I think it’s pretty appropriate. Everything we do is created for the particular group of artists — we cast our shows before the playwright begins and the play is then tailored to/inspired by the actors involved. It creates a unique situation where the actors can really feel like they own the play and their character.

TB: The New Theatre Group goes way beyond Brian, really. It’s a movement.

Have there been any talks of producing American Sexy post-Fringe?

TB: Maybe. Maybe…

BB: I know that Trista’s plan for American Sexy goes beyond the Fringe. I hope she feels that this is a phase of development on its way to becoming a richer, deeper, full-length piece. There’s so much more in it than our 60 minutes allows and we’ve already had to cut it down to its present form. With or without me (or us), I do hope that it goes on.

How did The New Theatre Group and Trista Baldwin connect for this project?

BB: I had been after Trista for a while to do a Fringe show and the schedule never worked out. It was actually luck and good fortune that American Sexy even exists this year — one of her plays got picked up off-Broadway which rearranged her schedule and allowed this to happen. But we had met years ago through mutual friends and that’s the most important ingredient to this particular process. Creating and developing a play is such an intimate process and requires a strong relationship between playwright and director.

TB: I was finally able to succumb to his demands. And I’m glad I did. Even though I’m so Big Time… Seriously, I like writing for specific purposes, and writing/revising in rehearsal. I’m not the kind of playwright that likes to write in my shed and push the script out through a hole in the door. For me, seeing things physically move is great. I’ve gotten a lot of ideas on how to further develop the play in just this last week of rehearsal, and I know more ideas will come as I see it in front of an audience.

Brian Balcom grew up in Minneapolis and has assisted on several shows at The Guthrie, The Jungle, and The Old Globe theaters, and has directed with Pillsbury House’s Chicago Avenue Project, Illusion Theater’s Lighthouse Group, Actors Theatre of Louisville, and Walking Shadow Company.

Trista Baldwin is the recipient of two Jerome Fellowships and a McKnight Advancement Grant. Her work has been developed and produced Off-Broadway and throughout the U.S., and in Japan and Australia. Plays include Forgetting, Sand, Doe, and Patty Red Pants. Trista is an Associated Artist of New Georges, a Core Writer of The Playwrights’ Center, and a founding member of Workhaus Collective.

For those of you who can remember back to July 8th, you’ll recall this post in which we got a touch dickish with the Bloomington Civic Theatre. Lucky for us, BCT’s Executive Director, Terry Lynn Carlson, was listening and promised to “dump piles” of BCT info on us. Said info is below in the form of this week’s FringeFamous Five. Enjoy!

For those that don’t know, how did you arrive at Bloomington Civic Theatre.

TERRY LYNN CARLSON: About 10 - 11 months ago, I was approached by the BCT and asked if I would ever be interested in doing this job. They were beginning the search for a new Executive Director and my name was presented by a board member. After some consideration, I agreed to discuss the possibility. They brought me out for a production and we began a series of meetings/interviews. The position was offered to me at the end of November and I came on board in the middle of January. We initially agreed to a six-month interim contract, but I was extended a permanent offer this May.

Tell us a bit about BCT’s upcoming season.

TLC: The upcoming season is such a crowd pleaser. Crazy For You, Fiorello, Man of La Mancha, and The Music Man. Big frothy musicals that everyone is excited to see. Our gamble for the season is the one I am most excited about. Fiorello is one of only 3 Broadway musicals to ever win the Pulitzer Prize. It is the amazing true story of New York mayor & congressman, Fiorello LaGuardia. It has a lush score and a fantastic script. Two love stories, good versus evil, and clearly defined characters.

BCT’s productions are normally cast using a very large percentage of local professional actors. BCT pays these actors. Why is BCT considered a community theatre and not a professional theatre?

TLC: Great question!! The best answer for this is in how a specific theatre defines itself. There is also the name (civic, community) that helps to define this. Bloomington Civic has always been a community based theatre. They began paying a stipend a number of years ago partly because they had the means to do so, but also to help insure that high quality talent would continue working here. While BCT pays their actors as much or (in some cases) more than some “professional” theatres, they are still by definition and name a “civic” theatre.

In this email release, you claim that BCT will expand its season by up to 3 additional productions. You also state that BCT will expand its educational programming as well as its staff. In a recent FringeFamous comment, you said that you “know intimately the difficulties involved in piecing together a career in the arts”. So why doesn’t BCT consider increasing its non-union actor stipend?

TLC: Okay…this is like…three questions in one so, here we go. When I got here, one of the first things I did was to assess what BCT does very well, what they need to work on, and what they don’t do that they should be doing! The theatre has been doing the same thing for a long time and it has been very successful. We need to honor that history, but we also need to develop new audiences and find new ways to reach into the community around us. There are two theatres in this facility, one of which BCT has never used for any major production. We have the facilities and the support to expand and mix up our offering to include straight plays and smaller edgier musicals. We also have the capabilities of offering more to the community through education and outreach, and we need to add staff to maintain the programs we develop…I think there is some kind of assumption that since we are in this beautiful facility and that we are proposing this expansion, that we have this wad of money laying around that will allow us to do this. That just isn’t the case. One of my biggest challenges over the next few seasons is to find the money to make all of these things happen. We are in the midst of forming partnerships and sponsorships. We are developing new strategies for fundraising…Will these things succeed?

I absolutely think that they will. As to whether or not we will increase actor stipends, we will continue to look at how we can improve our overall package. I have been thrilled and amazed at the level of talent that BCT attracts and I hope that it continues. But, I am also struck by the fact that actors come to work here of their own free will in full knowledge of what we pay. In the years that I made a living as an actor, I did not audition for any theatre that didn’t pay a living wage. That was my choice. It says nothing about the level of talent that any institution may attract, it is simply a personal choice. The actors that I talk to here, tell me that they come because we do great work. We may be paying (barely) gas money, but we have top of the line production values and full houses for virtually every performance. We are the closest thing to “professional” theatre that you can get without actually calling it that. As we grow, it is a question that I think we will continue to ask. We are in the midst of truly defining what BCT wants to be 10 years down the road. Maybe…???

So if you were trying to make it as a professional actor today, are you saying that you would not audition for BCT?

TLC: If I was a young actor starting out in this business, I would definitely audition at BCT. I would also audition at a handful of other local community theatres such as TRP that draw some high level directors but don’t pay their performers anything. There is great value, at some stage, in working for institutions that are heavily attended and reviewed, and that also have the respect of area patrons and professionals. But at some point, if you are going to make performance your livelihood, some choices need to be made.

In the early part of my acting career, I occasionally had a paying contract, but I also did community theatre, street theatre, passed the hat, toured in a van named “Bjorn” that went through a quart of oil every 50 miles, I…was a mime! I auditioned for everything I could, whether it suited me or not. But by the time I was nearing thirty, I had children, a mortgage, health insurance…responsibilities that required me to make the choice of only working for theatres that paid a living wage. I made a personal commitment to the business and to myself, and I didn’t settle for anything less.

If I were to return to acting today, I would love to work at BCT. The facility and staff are fantastic. But they would have to offer me a guest artist contract. I have been a member of one or more of the performance unions since 1982 and can’t imagine a reason to give that up today.

Terry Lynn Carlson is the current Executive Director of Bloomington Civic Theatre. He has worked in the entertainment industry for more than 30 years as an actor, director, producer, designer, technical director, stage manager, consultant and arts administrator. Local associations include; The Old Log Theater, History Theatre, The Ordway, Chanhassen Theatres, Nautilus Music Theatre, Minneapolis Children’s Theatre, Jon Hassler Theatre, Park Square Theatre, Minnesota Opera, Plymouth Playhouse, Minnesota Fringe Festival, Troupe America, Theatre in the Round, Commedia Theatre, New Tradition Theatre, Harmon Place Players, Alexandria Arts Association, Centennial High School and The Minnesota Alliance for Arts in Education. He has appeared in National Tours of The Sunshine Boys with Dick Van Patten and Frank Gorshin, Last of the Red Hot Lovers with Gary Burghoff and Moon Over Buffalo with Gavin MacLeod. Terry Lynn was Artistic Director of The Minnesota Festival Theatre and currently holds that position with ARTisphere Theatre Company. He studied Music, Theatre and Dance at The University of Minnesota and the Bernstein School in Los Angeles.