Sun getting lower...

[lsanderson]

On what has to have been one of the bestest summer days here in Minneapolis. It was downright cool last night and early this morning. The current temperature is 73.7 degrees fondly Fahrenheit, humidity 44% and the dew point is 51 degrees.

Today Wilson and I went out for Dim Sum at the Mandarin Kitchen. Then Amy came by, scooped Wilson up, and I drove down to see a Fringe show at the Jeune Lune. Then Wilson and I went the Lab to see another show. After the show, we headed for the Ritz Theater for Little Yellow Diary. Rather than wait in line at the Ritz, we ducked into a bar, where we ran into Yolanda having hot sausages and a bloody Mary. We got our tickets and headed in where I saw Michael from the Illusion, so we went up and sat in back of him. After the show, Yolanda and Wilson headed off to the Soap Factory, and I headed home after using all of my punches.

My ten:

The Cody Rivers Show Presents: Stick to Glue

Combining dance, music, physical theatre, and high-concept comedy, The Cody Rivers Show creates a surreal interface of themes, characters and universes where mysterious rules are always in effect.

Oens

From the age of discovery to today's globalization, Oens portrays an ordinary, disquieting man and his journey to self-realization. Through music, mime and dance, Oens enacts the eternal wish for a better world.

The Attack of the Big Angry Booty

Have you ever been on a diet ? If you have then you know that dieting isn't easy. Whether it's 5 pounds or 50 pounds the weight loss journey can be a challenging one. Come experience diet rollercoaster.

Phi Alpha Gamma

Two years ago, a gaybashing plagued the fraternity's image. Weighing loyalty and justice, how will the brothers react when a member of their group comes out?

After the success of 2006's Fringe Encore-winning Thanks for the Scabies, Jerkface!, Dan Bernitt returns to Minnesota Fringe with a world-premiere solo show - but this time it's a departure from his autobiographical monologues. Structured like a Greek tragedy, Bernitt weaves together the voices of four fraternity brothers as they grapple with the shattered fragments of a gaybashing and their own homophobia. In this haunting portrait of panic, Phi Alpha Gamma focuses a compassionate eye on the complicated threads of brotherhood embedded in Americana.
Secrets of the Little Yellow Diary
Small-town Ohio, 1977. In her bright yellow bedroom, preteen Patty dreams about an Indian dancing boy scout, a green velvet dress (like Scarlett O'Hara's) and a fabulous future in musical theater. Her diary tells all!

Spring Awakening

SPRING AWAKENING is the story of six young teenagers growing up in turn-of-the-century Germany; it chronicles each of their individual and collective struggles, failures and journeys from adolescence to adulthood. With parents who could care less, teachers who only want results and unexplained feelings that take control, each of the children must make decisions that ultimately change their lives dramatically.

First written in 1891, Frank Wedekind's play SPRING AWAKENING was banned from the public because of the radical ideas it presented. Wedekind, himself in his early 20's and just out of adolesence, exposed the society of Germany's provincial towns as cold and uncaring. The play wasn't performed again until the early 20th century and has since become a popular piece, both as a theater piece and a classic work of literature. It also became a Tony award-winning musical of the same name in 2007, winning Best Musical, as well as many other awards.

This production of SPRING AWAKENING is a new reworking of Wedekind's piece. Created, directed and performed exclusively by teenagers, it offers a fresh take on the piece. Driven by the play's themes of adolescent confusion, angst and compassion, the company focuses on presenting this play as a message to both teenagers and adults.

The original production of SPRING AWAKENING was part of the Wayzata High School Student-Directed One Acts of 2008, directed by Grant Sorenson. The original production was hailed by both students and adults as "evocative," "professional," "beautifully designed and staged," and "full of important messages for people, young and old." As result of a collaboration between director Grant Sorenson and Wayzata-based theater company Blue Water Theatre, SPRING AWAKENING is bringing this tale of growing up to the Minnesota Fringe. The Fringe production has both new and returning cast members, a combination which both changes and strengthens the show. With new staging, added characters and extended scenes, the new SPRING AWAKENING is even more of a testament to the struggles of adolescence and the importance of communication.

PLEASE NOTE THAT DUE TO CONTENT, THIS SHOW IS RECOMMENDED FOR AGES 13+

The Survival Pages

Ecological Crisis! Global Warming! Peak Oil!
Are you worried yet? Smell the dirt as Malia Burkhart unearths her relationship troubles with the planet through stories, original music, video, and Butoh Dance.

This performance was originally created for the 2007 Naked Stages Program at Intermedia Arts. To read more about the development of this piece, visit Malia's blog at http://thesurvivalpages.blogspot.com.

Malia also has a new website! Check it out at www.artsbymalia.com

small aïda

A dancing two-person re-telling of opera's famous story. From Verdi to Johnny Cash, high-octane movement is born from a low rumble. Tumble into sound, fury, graceful disquiet and limbic pomp.

Department of Angels

The Dept. summons all angels to work. Please punch in, sign out armor, put on halos, and report to your cloud. Lateness, practical jokes and raucous laughter are not tolerated and may lead to dismissal.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/schaveandreilly/

Deviants

Meet four individuals you'd rather not know but can't ignore. Follow them into an old Soap Factory. See what they do.

Live Action Set in collaboration with Theater de la Jeune Lune co-founder, Robert Rosen presents DEVIANTS, a reincarnation of the sell-out show, DESIDERARE: DESIRE THE UNDESIRABLE, initially presented by the Red Eye Theater in their 2007 New Works 4 Weeks Festival. DEVIANTS will showcase the Set's trademark idiosyncratic, highly physical, morphing of dance and theater while exploring one of the more basic but agonizing of human emotions: desire. Performed by Live Action Set co-founders Vanessa Voskuil, Megan Odell, Galen Treuer, and Noah Bremer, DEVIANTS tells the story of four individuals who become seduced by their transgressive desires and engage behaviors that conventional society does not want to see but can't ignore. Originally inspired by the Amish schoolhouse shootings in 2006, DEVIANTS looks inside the human psyche and investigates, with humor and poignancy, the intersections between revelation, repression and expression.

Matt Peiken takes us to the Soap Factory for a peek into the dark, surrealist world of Deviants