Fringe Binge
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Fringe Binge is Morgan Halaska’s Daily Planet blog about the Minnesota Fringe Festival.
Minnesota Fringe Festival 2012: “Waste Not” at the Rarig Arena
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Show one of the Fringe 2012 was a decision made based on logistics. I work close to the West Bank and had a softball game on the fields there at 9 p.m. With limited resources (my bike is temporarily out of commission), so were my options. And, going with the theme of the show I chose (Waste Not), I didn’t have a minute of time to waste. Written by Sarah Steadland, Waste Not revolves around a dumpster-diving idealist who doesn’t believe in, well, wasteful consumerism (but doesn’t mind mooching off his roommate for room and board … and food). The story idea isn’t entirely original; I’ve seen “True Life: I’m Living off the Grid,” read The Last American Man, and saw and read Into the Wild. The show essentially highlighted what I already knew: everything in moderation. Continue Reading
WEDNESDAY PICK | Milo Greene headline at 7th Street Entry
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When The Civil Wars came to the State Theatre last fall, they brought along Milo Greene to open. After their opening set, my friends and I pooled together $5 to purchase the group’s four-song EP. I wasn’t alone, as a barrage of TCW fans also pushed their way to the merch table to get their hands one of the limited copies. I think it’s safe to say that Milo Greene cultivated their fan base on that tour. And I expect a lot of those fans to be back at 7th Entry to see them this time as headliners (with Family of the Year opening) on Wednesday, August 8. The ragtag group that makes up the enigmatic Milo Greene will be promoting their 36-minute, self-titled debut album. I’m hoping they’ll do their cover of Sufjan Stevens’ “Chicago” again as a filler.
THEATER REVIEW | “The Sunshine Boys” at the Guthrie Theater is and isn’t what it seems
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Looking around the Wurtele Thrust Stage before the curtain “raised” on opening night of The Sunshine Boys at the Guthrie on Friday, July 13, I noticed I was well below the age demographic that filled the seats. “This,” I thought, “is not going to be for me.” What I realized by the end of intermission was, like judging a book by its cover, you should never judge a play based on its audience.
MUSIC REVIEW | Basilica Block Party 2012: Worth every push and shove
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Having known nothing else but Milwaukee radio that’s so bad a website like this exists, it was nice to not only adopt Cities 97 and The Current upon moving here, but also their accompanying annual concerts. The Basilica Block Party and Rock the Garden carry allegiances just as their radio stations do and lie at opposite ends of the spectrum. At Rock the Garden, people meander about freely or stake a spot on the hill with their blanket to relax. At Basilica, it’s an elbow-throwing, expensive-cheap-beer-drinking, USA-chanting pile. This year’s BBP on Friday and Saturday, July 6 and 7 was no exception to my sweeping generalization, but also completely exceptional musically.
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LIFESTYLE | Twin Cities Pride Festival and Parade is something to be proud of
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Now in its 40th year, the Twin Cities Pride Festival and Ashley Rukes GLBT Pride Parade, the largest in the Midwest, more than anything, represents the coming together of community; the rainbow lighting of the 35W bridge symbolizes that much. People and organizations supporting the GLBT community in the Twin Cities stood side by side, both literally and figuratively, Saturday and Sunday June 23 and 24 in Loring Park.
FRIDAY PICK | Behind the scenes of “Noises Off!” at Jungle Theater
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In theater, there’s what’s known as the fourth wall—the imaginary barrier that separates the actors from the audience. In Michael Frayn’s 1982 farce Noises Off!, the fourth wall is flipped inside out. In Noises Off! there’s another play taking place (Nothing On) in which the actors are actors and the plot is what’s happening behind the curtain instead of on stage. The synopsis here is as meta as the play gets—it contains all the antics and shenanigans a farce is meant to have. From Frayn’s point of view, what he saw backstage as an actor was often times more entertaining than what the audience was seeing. This non-play show runs through July 29 at Jungle Theater.
NEIGHBORHOOD NOTES | Pedal Pub Race: Fast(ish) and fiercely fun
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If you don’t imagine a Pedal Pub as a fast mode of transportation, well, you’re absolutely correct.
SATURDAY PICK | Serious fun at the Washburn A Mill Tour
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Chances are you dig these cities we live in; and there’s a lot to like too. The Mill City complex, situated in the scenic part of downtown, is definitely one reason, and is as historic as it is beautiful … and also highly photographed. It’s no coincidence that the old mill is situated on the Mississippi RIver—that river being the energy source that brought work and people up north to Minnesota. The Washburn A Mill Tour takes you on a guided walkabout of the building—the only opportunity of its kind, actually. I know it sounds like a glorified grade school field trip, but it’s more than just a history lesson. I took my sister to “visit the most explosive museum in the world” last spring and we both still talk about how much random weird fun we had. When else are you going to get to take a picture with a giant box of Bisquick?
WEDNESDAY PICK | “House of Ghosts”: Christopher Mihm’s latest B movie
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House of Ghosts is Chrisopher Mihm’s seventh movie but first supernatural thriller (a “retro sci-fi horror film”). The Minneapolis filmmaker has got a significant following though—that much is apparent in the fact that the premiere at the Heights Theatre on Wednesday, May 23 has already sold out (a second showing is scheduled on June 7 at New Hope Cinema Grill). The movie trailer claims “It will literally frighten you to death!” I can pretty much tell you that’s 100 percent not true. But the gimmicky nature of the trailer and Kickstarter fund in which this B movie is founded is very much the tribute to William Castle Mihm claims it to be.