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!

So, clearly this isn’t how you want your “talent profile” to show up in the upper right-hand corner of Minnesota Playlist’s main page.  If there’s one thing I know about theatre (and there just might be only one), it’s that you’re never going to make it big unless you complete your Minnesota Playlist talent profile.  Dowling is more than likely rifling through it right now, hoping against all hope that he’ll find his next…hey, let’s just say “Rosalind”.

Sorry, theatre peeps.

We sort of dropped the ball on Monday night. Our live blogging left much to be desired. We wanted to bring you a live list of companies as they were drawn from the bin…and we missed a butt load. They really whizz through that shit, don’t they?  Well, let’s just chalk it up to us being live-blog virgins.  We’ll last longer the next time.  Here’s the complete list, by the by.

If you’re one of those Fringers who loves your festival chock full of veterans, the 2009 Fringe line up is your theatrical wet dream. Here are just a few of the “big guns” in this year’s fest:

• Tim Uren
• Sandbox Theatre
• Ministry of Cultural Warfare
• Joseph Scrimshaw (I’d be interested in knowing how many times he hasn’t gotten a slot)
• Joshua Scrimshaw (Joe’s wife Sara got in, too, by the way)
• Mike Fotis
• Ferrari McSpeedy
• Noah Bremer
• Ari Hoptman
• Pillsbury House (someone explain in the comments why they’re in the Fringe)
• Jonas Goslow
• Four Humors Theater
• Nautilus Music Theater
• Walking Shadow Theatre Co.
• Allegra Lingo
• Ben San Del
• Shanan Wexler & Carolyn Pool
• David Mann
• Lili’s Burlesque Review
• New Theatre Group

Seriously. That’s a lot of high-powered Fringing.

Now, I know it’s super early, but here are a few out-of-towners to keep your eyes open for:

• Peter Neofotis
• The Adventures of Les Kurkendaal and Dan Bernitt
• Same Planet Different World Dance Theatre
• casebolt and smith
• Jimmy Hogg

Here are a few companies that I was really looking forward to…but didn’t quite make the cut:

• Urban Samurai
• Nonsense Company (suuuuuuuper bummed about this miss)
• Infinity Live Productions (although, Walking Shadow is bringing us Cody Rivers in March)
• Schave & Reilly
• 3 Sticks
• The Cloud Sandwich Factory
• No Refunds Theatre Co.
• Horse Trade (mmmmm, Pumpkin Pie Show)

And on a selfish note, there was one company that I had HUGE butterflies for, but unfortunately landed on the Wait List. This company could’ve — nay, would’ve — made my entire Fringe. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the biggest miss of the 2009 Fringe Lottery…WILLIE’S WENCHES!

I know they say to “never say never”, but it’s never too early to start promoting your Fringe show.

Don’t forget to swing by the blog tonight at 7pm and check out our live blog of the 2009 Fringe Lottery.  It’s gonna be cool like the other side of the pillow.

One of our fantastic FringeFamous readers just forwarded me an email from Carol Schweickhardt over at Theatre Space Project.  TSP runs the little Lowry Lab Theater in downtown St. Paul.  According to Schweickhardt:

“Thanks to a generous grant from Travelers Foundation, we have a fund to use for the purpose of improving the diversity in our space.  We have 5 weeks of rent subsidy available.  Each group may apply for 1-2 weeks of free rent.  We do collect a per ticket charge to help make this program more sustainable.”

So there you have it.  If you’re a small group with a small-ish show and a smaller-ish budget, you might want to apply for this freebie.  The space has undergone some recent renovations and looks pretty nice.  The only downside is that, despite some new signage, it’s still a tough place to find (and St. Paul still sucks a fat dick).  But you can’t beat the price of zero dollars.

Go to the site!  Contact Carol!  HURRY!!

I tried to think of something funny to say, but I got nothin’.  So instead, I’ll leave you with this Laura Osnes/blind people story.

“Penumbra Theatre announced a series of cost-cutting steps Wednesday, including the postponement of an August Wilson play from this spring to next fall and the slashing of its $3.8 million operating budget by 24 percent.

The company plans to cut its operating budget more, to $2.5 million, in 2010, and produce plays with smaller casts.

But the company will proceed with a $520,000 refurbishment, which is to start in March and will add offices and patron restrooms.”

Why choose building renovations over programming?  Maybe if Penumbra would save that $520,000, they wouldn’t have to produce plays with smaller casts.  I mean, are you in existance to create the art that you want to create, or to have nice offices?  Priority check, Penumbra!

Does your heart race when you walk by the Rarig Center?  Do you get enraged when Kowalski’s refuses to give you a button discount?  Does Matthew Foster give you a big one?  If the answer is “yes”, then you’re probably a lot like us: head-over-heels in love with the Minnesota Fringe Festival.  And if that’s the case, then you’re probably counting down the days to the 2009 Fringe Lottery (this Monday, Feb. 16).

Wait — what’s that you say?  You can’t make it over to Bedlam Theatre to see it live?  Well have no fear, my little Fringe-lovers.  This year, to see the results live, you require only a computer and a connection to the Internets.  That’s right…we’ll be live-blogging the entire motherf@#ker RIGHT HERE!  Want to see if your ping pong ball was lucky, but also want to search for porn while sitting naked on your couch?  Then stop on by at 7pm, Monday the 16th.  We’ll be scrolling the results live in the box below.  See you then!

If you get bored on your final day of the work week, check out this fun little discussion happening all over the theatrosphere regarding education and theatre.  It’s not quite as interesting as the uber-homosexual video in our last post, but it should still kill 15 minutes or so of your day.

Enjoy!

“Dream”boys

Hey boyz and girlz! I hope everyone had a gaytastic New Year. I’ve missed you all. And speaking of missing things, here is a show that I plan to miss: DreamBoys by Blue Umbrella Productions. [ed. note — check out their promotional video above, which was apparently produced by Harvey Fierstein and directed by Richard Simmons.]

The sequel to the sold-out hit show Unexpected Songs, DreamBoys features five talented men singing Broadway songs made famous by the bawdy women of the boards. Popular Twin Cities stage personalities Doug Anderson, Tim Kuehl, Bart Ruf, Ryan Shipley, and Paul Whittemore bring a little something extra to timeless classics, diva favorites, and rare gems of the theater.

The show is set in a theater lobby moments before an audition, where each man steadies his nerves and wonders…what if I could audition for Eliza instead of Henry Higgins?

Featuring songs from such hit shows as Wicked, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Little Shop of Horrors, A Chorus Line, and contemporary classics The Wild Party, The Last Five Years, and Light in the Piazza. Expect powerful belting, thoughtful ballads, and a generous dose of gender-bending fun.

In all fairyness, the talent in this show could quite possibly be good. I’m not totally familiar with all of these “popular Twin Cities stage personalities.” I am a fan of Doug Anderson, and I did think that Ryan Shipley was very funny in Summer of ’42, but I wouldn’t classify them as “stage personalities.”

You may be thinking, “But Gaye, this is a show full of boys singing Broadway songs!” This is true. It should be right up my big queer alley. Here’s the thing though…I like my diva songs to be sung by women. They are songs for women for a reason, and should be sung as such. Let’s face it, it’s hard enough to get really good roles for women on stage — that aren’t slutty or stupid, etc. Why rip that away from them? Yes, it’s all in good fun, but it doesn’t seem relevant or necessary; more like vocal masturbation.

In other Gaye news, I do plan on seeing Walking Shadow’s Caligula.

A young and heartbroken Roman Emperor holds dominion over the known world. Using vicious logic and deliberate cruelty, he tests the limits of absolute power. Has he really found the impossible: the meaning of life? This play by renowned French philosopher and Nobel winner Albert Camus is given a lush new translation by British playwright David Greig.

You may be thinking, “Gaye you seem to have a hard-on for Walking Shadow.” It’s true. I’ve got a big Gaye crush on Walking Shadow. And for good reason. They do amazing, relevant, thoughtful work, which often has gay themes. And their casting is flawless. (Davey Gangler might just be the cutest thing out there).

Good job, once again Walking Shadow for being really gay…in a good way. And good luck to you Blue Umbrella Productions. You’re definitely really gay.

• 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.

Take a look at some of the riveting news that LeeH recently broke:

“It was announced earlier this week that a South Dakota company (Daktronics) will be replacing the LED towers that sit atop our roof.

What happened to the old ones? I suppose there are many theories, but frankly I’m not actually sure what happened. Only one of the three has been operational as of late, so everyone here is thrilled that they will all soon be back to their text scrolling selves again.

…and the best part of the whole deal: the new ones are green. Not literally, but figuratively. Since they are LEDs they use less power than a traditional light (or so the engineer told me).”

Well, I think I can speak for everyone here at FringeFamous when I say “holy fucking shit”.  I had to take a 20-minute nap after LeeH dropped that knowledge bomb on me.  Insight like that is exactly why I frequent the Big Blue Blog.

I’m also super pumped about Guthrie Corporation’s decision to cut down on their energy usage.  Kudos to you, Guthrie Corp.!  Now, if we could only get the other theatres in town to use LEDs on their 40, 60, and 80-foot tall scrolling towers of light…

Find more videos like this on BroadwaySpace

Find more videos like this on BroadwaySpace

You know, there’s going to be dozens of new productions opening in the Twin Cities in the next few weeks.

But fuck that.  I need to know:  What in God’s name is Mike Hammer up to?

Tell me now!

Oh.  He’s playing Nixon?  In a play?  You mean the thing that other more famous guy already did?

Well, thank God for Graydon Royce, or I would have missed that tidbit.

Congrats to Torch for getting the opportunity to throw up this fantastic show again, but…

WHAT THE FUCK?!

Who’s behind the wheel over at the History Theatre?  Because I refuse to believe that Artistic Director Ron Peluso is really this much of a tool box.

The Miracle Worker?  Another company’s production of The Miracle Worker??  How does this satisfy their mission of “provoking audiences through the creation of new plays that explore Minnesota’s past”?  Where exactly does this production fit into the History Theatre’s vision of being a “recognized leader in Minnesota, the Midwest, and the nation”?  Yeah…you read that correctly; “and the nation”.

Nice try, History Theatre.  But the only thing you might be leading Minnesota in, is apprehensive and uninspired artistic direction.

I wonder what would happen if Guthrie Corp. took just half of A.D. Joe Dowling’s retardo salary from 2007 and used it for good instead of evil.  Let’s see…

Half of $682,229 is $341,114.50.  Interesting so far.

Average actor at Guthrie Corp. makes, what, $2000/week?  I’m pretty sure that’s significantly higher than the G minimum, but let’s go with it.

Average independent TC theatre company has an annual budget of, what, $30,000/year?  It’s probably less than that, but let’s go with it.

Average totally rad couch in Cue at the Guthrie is leathery and expensive.

So…for only half of what Guthrie Corp. spent on Joe Dowling in 2007, they could (according to my made-up numbers):

• employ that average Guthrie Corp. actor for 170 straight weeks, or
• employ a resident company of 5 actors and pay them a yearly salary of almost $70,000, or
• double that average Guthrie Corp. actor’s salary and employ her for 85 straight weeks, or
• completely fund about a dozen independent TC theatre companies for one year, or
• buy some more totally rad furniture for Cue.

But for that to happen, Dowling would have to get by on $341,114 a year.  And c’mon, people.  Times are tough.

We were recently included in an online blog directory called Alltop.  Check them out if you haven’t already.  It’s an easy way to find some really great blogs on theatre and pretty much everything else.  I can only assume someone will lose their job over our inclusion.