Show reviews by Nate Melcher
Can Michael Come Out and Play?
A Wonderful Blend of Emotion and Comedy
by Nate Melcher
Rating: 5 kitties
Mahmoud Hakima presents a personal tale about losing one's identity in the midst of assumptions, expectations, and person after person making the easy choice to avoid anything different than their own experience. If you're looking for a performance that explores father-son relationships, race relations, and self-discovery without taking a single step into trite, didactic territory, you've found your show.
"Can Michael Come Out and Play?" features a series of monologues, light-hearted poems, and scenes all seeking to answer the same question: "Who am I?" Hakima explores how his life has been a series of missed opportunities to educate others and himself about his origins. He doesn't know why he's named Mahmoud. He doesn't correct the other kids when they call him Michael. And he doesn't stand up to the man who just can't understand why his parents would have named him after a terrorist like "Mohammad." His inward look at the how the outside world perceives him is like a stroll down a dimly-lit memory lane without the rose-tinted glasses to hide the shame, guilt, and anger.
Hakima attempts to relate to those who try to relate with him, including co-workers, customers, teachers, bullies, and finally, his father. He's unafraid to use specifics to place the audience in his world, either, casually mentioning playing Madden '96 on Super Nintendo as easily as recounting his days working at Office Max. His mention of the events of September 11, 2001 are anything but cliché as he tells of the unique situation of being an agnostic with a Muslim name waiting in an airport on that day, surrounded by people filled with fear. Nine years on, his thoughts regarding that day are fresh and genuine.
In the interest of full disclosure, I had the pleasure of reading Hakima's script and watching his rehearsals as he developed this show over the past six months. It was a gift to watch Hakima mold his ideas into something grand, all the while knowing the advanced buzz on this show - all of the expectations heaped upon it after the excellence of his hit last year, "Two Bowls of Cereal and Some Bacon" - would pay off in powerful ways for his audiences this year.
Finally, I will give one piece of insight that goes beyond reviews, kitties, or box office receipts. At the performance my wife and I attended, the ending brought tears to several persons in the house. One woman in the front row outright sobbed as Hakima uttered the closing line. That, to me, proves that emotional resonance is key to this show and the measure of its true success.
The Big Four Oh: 40 Jokes, Poems and Stories by Brian Beatty
A Slow Burn of Subtle Storytelling
by Nate Melcher
Rating: 5 kitties
My highly-complimentary analogy for this show is this: some comedy is like a roaring bonfire, hot and huge and bursting with energy. Brian Beatty's comedy is more like smoldering embers, slowly burning with occasional pops.
I don't know about you, but while bonfires are great, there's something wonderful about sitting with friends around the warm, orange glow of a well-spent campfire, where the real stories, conversations, and connections are made. This is where Brian Beatty's show comes in. It's personal, conversational, and most importantly, funny. Sprinkled with "meta" moments that acknowledge how the show is going, Beatty presents a sometimes self-deprecating performance that's patient with itself and challenges its audience to follow suit.
The writing is tight. As Beatty weaves a story within a story within a story, one can feel the connecting threads pull on one another and tighten with suspense both within the tales themselves and for the audience as we learn how everything fits together. Stories bookend the performance - the opening about old religions versus Beatty's "new" religion and the finale about how often a man can have a gun aimed in his face - with poetry highlighting the middle of the show.
Beatty's poetry is accessible, too. Rich in subtle humor, each poem delivers the sort of comedy that saw two levels of laughter: guffaws from the "I got it right away" Alpha laughers and an even bigger reaction from the "I had to think about it just a second but now that I get it, I love it" crowd.
Plus, if you usually find the word "poetry" off-putting, Beatty's poems could just as easily be called jokes, one-liners, and short stories. Leave your English 101 worries of identifying meter and thematical use of enjambment at the door (and I say this as a former college English instructor).
As for the delivery, his vocal intonation matches both his themes and his physical presence. Beatty's performance is like a live version of Droopy Dog only not as optimistic. And that's a wonderful thing.
Show Goons
YOU are truly the target audience.
by Nate Melcher
Rating: 5 kitties
A quick note to folks considering skipping this one because they donât think theyâre nerdy enough: please reconsider. Hereâs whyâ¦
I remember being on one of our high school marching band trips, this one to New York City, and the promise weâd see a great show on Broadway. The teens all wanted to see Rent â it was new and fresh and had youth appeal â but somehow 150 teens were outvoted by 20 adults who decided weâd see Showboat, instead. In terms of target audience, Rent would have been much more poignant and engaging. While Showboat wasnât meant for us, we learned something important that day: aimed at us or not, it was an amazing musical and a great show is still a great show. If youâre not into musicals or comic books or jokes about being a geek or any of the other pieces that make up Show Goons â please donât make the assumption itâs not for you. Itâs a great show and great shows are always for you. And Show Goons is a great show.
Show Goons has a lot of heart and a lot of talent coursing through its 55 minutes and the Friday 10:00pm crowd ate it up. From the musical numbers filled with solos, choruses, and a gifted live musical ensemble to the character subplots injected throughout the main story, the show barely stops to catch its breath. It chooses breakneck speed over poignant silence and does so with apology. Not that any is needed; a show steeped in comic book lore, sound effects, and plot devices deserves the chance to start with high energy stakes and end even higher.
Much has been written about the stand-out elements that make the show fun: the âstage ninjaâ whipping out sound and visual effects a la comic book style word balloons and cartoonish flats, the outrageous costumes ranging from sexy to nerdy, and the snappy dialogue filled with more pop culture and cult classic references than your average Friday night Magic: The Gathering tournament. However, itâs the acting I would highlight. Yes, the characters are played broadly and each character serves a particular archetype with predictable, stereotypical personality traits. And yet, Iâm hard-pressed to think of an established musical that doesnât do this at least to some extent, anyway. Really, the actors are having fun up there on the stage and are clearly interested in only one thing: spreading their fun to the audience.
Volume issues do plague this show, between tongue-twisting lyrics, demanding choreography, and a talented yet often-loud music ensemble. But this is forgivable for two big reasons: 1. whenever we couldnât understand a line, there was always a fresh one immediately afterward ready to make us laugh and 2. Iâll wager many of us can think of at least a few favorite songs in which we still havenât deciphered all the words. Still, I recommend sitting in the front of the house, if possible, and paying close attention.
As for the script, again itâs broad and plays to the clichés of the genre. But thatâs precisely what the show needs as both a musical and a nuanced nerdy one at that. Let me put it this way: Show Goons is the kind of show that makes me jealous I didnât write and produce first.
Finally, kudos to Andy Brynildson for having the courage to play himself.
The Crock Pot
A Stew of Minnesota Melodrama
by Nate Melcher
Rating: 4 kitties
The Crock Pot takes ingredients like snappy one liners ("Jail's not so bad!"), funny specifics ("I may or may not have helped my sister drown dogs... on BLAINE."), and great costumes to spice up a satiric script cooked up ny Emily Schmidt that takes a melodramatic look at what happens when good Lutherans go deliciously bad.
"Melodrama" is the right word to describe the broad-sweeping, morally-clashing personality traits of the characters which draw a clear-cut line between who to root for and who to despise. Dave Kappelhoff gets the richest emotional character to explore and he offers up comedy in tragedy with every line and stage crossing.
I won't go on about ("aboot" may be more appropriate for this" Up Nord" Minnesota accent-laden show) the story; many other reviews offer this well. Instead, I'll take a moment to say the costumes are a phenominal detail that help sell the satire. A faded Minnesota Twins World Series sweatshirt, a high-hitched pair of "mom jeans," and Kappelhoff's legs somehow stuffed into his character's wheelchair are wonderful additions to the show.
There are volume issues,which is odd for an intimate venue like the BLB, as well as occasional murkiness in the story (I still don't understand the revelation of the puppet scene). I was also interested to see a woman sitting front row, stage right - precisely where I sat and had trouble seeing all of QUAKE earlier this week - have to lean forward and pull back the stage curtain so he could see a scene right in front of her. It was unfortunate but perhaps testimony to her interest in the story.
To those hesitant to put this show on their slate because they worry it will poke fun at religion too much for their Midwestern taste, please allow me to offer as one who works at a church and is in seminary: relax. Frankly, Schmidt could go much further in the religious satire department and I hope she does in the (what I pray is "inevitable") sequel, prequel, or lightly-tweaked remount.
Cosmo the Musical or How to Ruin Your Life by Having Unrealistic Expectations
"All the Desperately Single Ladies..."
by Nate Melcher
Rating: 4 kitties
Cosmo is about love, relationships, sex, and the expectations associates with all three - according to Cosmo magazine, that is. Songs are fun, the cast talented, and the plot fast-paced for this satirical musical with tongue-in-cheek raciness.
There's plenty to laugh at including characters' inability to communicate with each other, odd song topics and lyrics, and a stage full of characters who are so awkward around other people it's truly an ensemble toss-up as to who stole the show (for the Friday audience, it was likely the too-sad-to-be-merely-socially-awkward office boss Mitchell). Each actor is perfectly cast, too, the only possible improvement being the casting of Jared Leto as Jordan Catalano from "My So-Called Life" as the office hunk. The actor who does play him, however, is wonderful.
Special shout-out to Jen Scott for breaking the fourth wall in the most adorable way and to Josh Carson for showing off all that skin. He doesn't reveal enough to garner a nudity warning for the show, though what comes out of his and the rest of the cast's mouth earns the adult language warning twice over. But it's language use which fuels each character's personality and makes them three-dimensional. Don't mistake it for vulgarity; this is bold world building and fully within the intended mood of this excellent show.
Princess Jessica and the Kingdom of Boogers
An Unlikely Hero of a Show
by Nate Melcher
Rating: 4 kitties
Sometimes one sees the show he or she intended to see. Sometimes the parking ramp at Rarig Center is too backed up with traffic to get out in time to see that show. That's when God says repark in the ramp, go back into Rarig Center, make a guess on what might be a good show, and take a chance.
And that's how I saw the wonderful Princess Jessica and the Kingdom of Boogers instead of dismissing it as a mere kids' show. If an all-ages show is usually on your "shows to dismiss" list, it's time to reconsider and enjoy this tale of part hero's quest, part Wizard of Oz, and all heart.
Like the Legend of Zelda is about the adventure of Link to save Zelda, PJatKoB is about a young, plain boy named Squats and his quest to rescue the titular character. Though many of the characters are children, the actors are adults. They play the children as characters, not characatures, and with respect; if I was a kid in the audience, I wouldn't have felt lampooned but instead celebrated. This is also reflected in the tone of the show and its theme of practicing kindness. The lessons learned are presented on such a sensible, sweet, and self-aware manner that any notion of didactic heavy-handedness is easily squelched.
I picked up on a Wizard of Oz vibe as Squats is constantly sidetracked from his quest to help out a few misfits. These scenes were not a distraction but instead furthered the development of Squat's confidence in himself and his relationship with his sidekick, er, co-hero, Dorfus. Tight writing like this is welcomed and yet another sign this kids' show is a smart one and worth experiencing no matter one's age.
The only thing more fun than watching the show is watching the little kids in the audience eat it up, throwing their heads back with delighted laughter in that brash, lively way only a child can laugh. At one point, when Squats lost his hat he asks the other characters in the scene, "Has anybody seen my hat?!" The four-year-old sweetie sitting in front of me exclaimed, "It's right there!"
Now how's that for audience engagement?
10.10 Post 9.11: Laughter in the Aftermath
A fun show with biting satire.
by Nate Melcher
Rating: 4 kitties
This is a fun show with biting commentary on the fear-based state of post-9/11 America. Even if some of the points of view feel familiar (W. is stupid, Israel and Palestine hate each other, etc.) they're presented in fresh ways that add their own commentary on the issues. Adam Sharp has written a piece worth watching and the cast is clearly having a good time onstage. Cast standout is Andy Kraft as a young man in love with the wrong woman.
Honest Nitpicks: Jennifer Oman seems underused and some dialogue is too rushed to understand. This last point is unfortunate because I know I'm missing jokes because of it. Thankfully, there are plenty of jokes to go around.
The Quest
Unique, Improvised Storytelling
by Nate Melcher
Rating: 4 kitties
After trying to get into Saturday's sold-out performance with a few friends, my wife and I were able to get into the Sunday night show. The show being improvised, Saturday night's show is gone forever but I'm left excited to write about Sunday's show and hope it entices you to check out your own unique evening with The Quest.
With the main performance area in the middle of the room, like a sort of theater in the round, the actors took to the four corners of the room in-between seating areas (think of the totality of the five performance areas like the five dots on a dice, with the middle dot being the biggest and the audience filling the white space between the outside dots). The narrator took a series of suggestions (objects and locations) and gifted each corner with them. After a group monologue that filled the pot with ideas on how the suggestions all related to each other, the quest began with Damian Johnson playing the reluctant hero. I've seen Johnson play smarmy heroes with a callous attitude before and he does so with confidence and consistency.
The actors work well with each other as they move along through each performance area, creating new chapters of the story. For the most part, the story progressed forward with high stakes and little confusion. The crowd at Sunday night's performance responded positively to the show with plenty of laughter throughout.
There were small issues with the show which I'm sure will improv over its run, including some gifts lost (show me an improvised show where this doesn't happen at least once) and the under-utilization of the narrator character. However, the uniqueness of the format makes this an improvised show that is interesting to watch and isn't afraid to charge forward; these two strengths make missed opportunities forgivable.
Co-producers Damian Johnson and Matt Kelly have assembled a group of improvisers that includes, to this improviser, a mixture of familiar and new faces. It's refreshing to see a successful improv show presented by a new ensemble whose ranks don't necessarily consist exclusively of the "usual suspects" (I say this as a good thing for both new faces and the usual suspects). The Twin Cities improv community has been broadened in both personnel who should be recognized for their achievements and in terms of new show formats.
The only unfortunate thing about so many persons in the cast being new faces to me, as well as the show being improvised so there's no who-plays-who cast list, is I have no way of singling out the actor who played the "British Wanker." He deserves a slew of kudos; that wanker absolutely stole the show.
Waiting for Biffy
Throw Away Your Mime Stereotypes!
by Nate Melcher
Rating: 4 kitties
I found the video preview for Waiting For Biffy to be long, boring, and predictable. The show is just the opposite: it feels too short, itâs fascinating, and itâs anything but predictable. Iâm glad I attended this close-to-the-last-venue, happens-to-fit-my-schedule pleasant surprise. My hope is you take a more active approach to putting this show on your schedule than I did.
Featuring a slate of seven scenes of silent silliness, Waiting For Biffy uses mime in a way which dispels, for this reviewer, the usual pejorative assumptions that come with mimes. Think far beyond a thin man in white face and a black-and-white striped shirt. These are fully realized visions of people in love (trying desperately not to fall out of love), a ragtag group of folks at the fair, two nerds dueling it out in a battle royale of video game / trading card / virtual reality goodness, and a chase across the globe for a roll of toilet paper. Listed like this, the plots sound disparate and thatâs not necessarily a bad thing; the themes are varied, the mood shifts, and each scene is entertaining in its own right.
âIn the Beginning,â a solo scene performed by Renee Howard, was the highlight of the show for me. With so many great comic scenes, this meek little tale of a bird hatching and attempting its first flight was simply so fun to experience as the bird discovered itself. Other highlights include Kirsten Stephens playing half a dozen different characters at the State Fair, and while âTGIFâ ended up too didactic for my taste, Dean Hattonâs pop-and-lock movement was mesmerizing. Each cast member brought their own unique persona to the stage. Hatton felt like that adult who knows exactly what it means to still be a kid, while Stephens had the determined look of a baseball player at bat which clearly fed her focus. Meanwhile, Howard invoked the adorable Giulietta Masina as Gelsomina in Felliniâs classic film, La Strada.
The show is kid-friendly and adult-entertaining. The kids sitting behind us were between 8-10 years old and loved every minute of it. The adults laughed and applauded loudly, too. As for me, well, mime has been quite elevated in my book. Put this show on your slate and let that happen for you, too.
QUAKE: A Closet Love Story
An Unfortunate Need for Emotion Remains.
by Nate Melcher
Rating: 2 kitties
It appears I may be a lone voice of dissent here, so take my review with that in mind.
The set-up for QUAKE: A Closet Love Story is intriguing â an estranged couple on the verge of separation is caught in a closet after an earthquake locks them in. Presumably, the audience will watch as the couple is forced to deal with their issues of love, communication, and commitment. Instead, at the Thursday, Aug. 12 8:30pm show, we were treated to an amazing set, a few well-done songs, and a passive pair of characters whose relationship doesnât travel very far.
Tyler Olsen and Zuzka Sabata are at their best when singing, sometimes in solo but mostly in concert. Their a cappella technique and boldness are entertaining and, to this audience member, skilled. They are clearly having fun performing this show and are believable as a couple unsure how to feel about one another at this point in their broken relationship. I found their wardrobe and makeup choices realistic, too; it truly felt like they were caught unawares by the titular earthquake on a mid-Saturday morning while in the midst of the hard work of moving out. Dialogue and volume was clear and the claustrophobic set encouraged them to get close and touch. In a show all about wanting to find distance from each other, Olsen and Sabata competently presented characters who were forced to engage one another.
The script has all the pieces needed for a great show yet the writing is loose and it was rare for those pieces to tighten up together. Fascinating facts about earthquakes are interspersed through the show in ways that relate to the showâs main story in too loose a manner to be called cohesive. Likewise, Olsen and Sabataâs characters break into a cappella songs throughout the show, seemingly to give the audience insight into the charactersâ mental state. However, the lyrics only relate to the characters partially, their emotions remaining obscured and bogged down by the lyrics; singing a pop song to the audience doesnât make character emotions and motivations clearer than having the characters simply tell each other how they feel.
Thatâs the most glaring issue with the script: no one says what they feel and why. Itâs clear the characters are upset with each other and are in the process of separating (one picks up on this in the first three minutes through exposition). Whatâs not clear is what brought them to this point. Or why they still have such disdain for each other even in a moment of crisis. And itâs especially not clear why they might choose or not choose to reconcile. To me, emotional territory wasnât explored all that deeply. Even near the end, when characters explain how they feel, it appears the desperation of the situation fuels their words more than their hearts do.
Seemingly bold choices donât necessarily do the show favors. For example, when Olsenâs character suffers a concussion during the earthquake, he falls into a pattern of mixing up his words. To me, instead of interesting it was distracting, taking away from the serious weight of the characterâs concussion, not lending anything new to the relationship, and forcing the audience to decipher what he said. Near the end of the show, when a bold scene appears and an emotional crux is reached, the next scene appears to have pulled back from the choice, as if Olsen and Sabata couldnât make up their minds as to the fate of their characters. I donât care to speculate on what the show âcould have beenâ and instead, choosing to comment on what did happen, it was unfortunately jarring.
The script is also short. Nearly half the show is dedicated to listing facts about earthquakes and singing a cappella pop songs. If any of the songs are original, itâs unclear; when songs by Britney Spears, Daft Punk, and The Beatles are present, my assumption is all the songs are covers. The earthquake facts and stories are interesting and presented quite well and both Olsen and Sabata make the songs fun with their singing chops and unique a cappella presentation. On the other hand, thereâs something off about spending nearly half the show listing facts and singing covers, no matter how fascinating or well-done they may be.
That point is worth examining, as the earthquake facts received the most audible reactions of âOohs and Aahsâ from the audience and the songs were met with applause. Meanwhile, the rest of the show was met with silence until comedy was sporadically injected. To me, the audienceâs laughter was scattered and desperate, as if half of us decided we would find a way to laugh no matter what and the other half just couldnât find a way. That may seem a cruel verdict, but it is not so cruel as the persons sitting in our section who kept checking their programs, their watches, and glancing around at the stage rigging instead of watching the show.
As far as the technical aspects of the show, itâs excellent. Thereâs a tremendous amount of detail. The show uses not the entire stage but the closet set seen in the photo above. The claustrophobia it provides lends a lot to the theme of the show and the characters find interesting, near-MacGyver ways of utilizing the hodgepodge of items strewn throughout the closet for funny or poignant moments. The earthquake sounds are deep and loud as they should be and the lighting is effective and uses a full range: dim blue washes, spotlights, a single light bulb, and even hand-held lighters. Regarding the props, they were well-used and realistic though some of their uses could be seen coming from a mile away (I wonât mention them here; when you see the show, think about how object use turned out and ask yourself if you didnât see that coming). Iâm not spoiling anything that doesnât happen in the first ten minutes of the show by saying the mason jar turned urine receptacle was a clever prop, though Iâd add it was a tad off-putting to see some jars contain something that looked quite a bit like yellow urine while others had yellow contents of a much thicker viscosity, like the oil on top of natural peanut butter. Maybe thatâs nitpicky, but side by side, it took a clever gag and made it gross.
A final note: my wife and I were in the 7th and 8th people in the rush line and while we got seats, we were nearly the last people in the theater and could only find two seats together in the front row, stage right. At that vantage point, we had a highly-obscured view of the show (if you look at the show photo above, I was able to see anything in front of Sabata and that was it). Thankfully, Olsen and Sabata often played to the front of their closet set. Hereâs where my obscured view really became an issue: after the show, as my wife and I spoke about the ending, I said I was impressed they made such a bold choice. However, her view was less obstructed as mine and she told me I didn't see something very important during the final five seconds of the show. I was not only disheartened by the way my vantage point didnât allow me to see this but also by the overt Deus Ex Machina involved.
If I had been a paying customer instead of a rush ticket holder, I would have been quite upset about this seating issue. But as a rush ticket holder, I chalked it up to being a case of âthatâs the way it goes.â So if youâre a paying customer, get there as early as possible to ensure you get a seat which allows you to see the entire show.
