| 2004 MN FRINGE FESTIVAL My Life as a Telephone Psychic The new play by Erin Muir -- August 7-14 Based on a true story, My Life as a Telephone Psychic is the story of Arianna, a struggling young actress who is in the midst of indecision and chaos. In order to make it to Los Angeles for the "big audition," she take a job working as a phone psychic, utilizing her extensive training in acting and improvisation rather than what she perceives to be any real psychic ability. As her clients begin to call seeking the answers, Arianna slowly realizes that her abilities are beyond what she thought they had been, and that she, too, is seeking the truth. When a mysterious caller knows too much, she begins to make choices that will change her life -- and his -- forever. Beautiful losers, lost dreamers, and smarmy schemers get lost in that space between mysticism and reality in this tragicomedy about choices and fate, and what it means to make your dreams come true. The 2004 MN Fringe Festival marks the premiere of this new play by Erin Muir, star of local cable TV sitcom "Josh and Sandi," and singer at Minneapolis' premiere burlesque cabaret, "Le Cirque Rouge de Gus." Directed by Robb Ross (director of "The Minnesota Striptease,") the play stars Muir, as well as an exciting cast of Twin Cities-area actors. The play also features original music by Muir and local musicians Sean Cosgrove and Michael Quinn from Michael Quinn and the Virgin Suicides. My Life as a Telephone Psychic can be seen at MCTC Whitney Studio, 1424 Yale Place, Minneapolis at the following times: 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 7; 8:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 8, and Tuesday, Aug. 10; 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 11; and 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 14. The Minnesota Fringe Festival, the largest Fringe Festival in the nation, celebrates its 11th year August 6-15. With more than 850 performances of 175 different shows and a projected attendance of 45,000, people the Fringe continues as one of the top summer events in the Twin Cities. Theater companies and individual performers from across Minnesota, the U.S., Canada and Europe will perform in 19 different venues throughout the Downtown, Loring Park, Powderhorn, Uptown and Lyn-Lake areas. New this year are Fringe Central -- a tent for Fringe audiences and performers -- located near Loring Park featuring food, drink, ticket sales, sneak previews and more; Fast Fringe, a collection of original short plays; Stand-Up Fringe, a stand-up comedy showcase and Digital Fringe, online videos featured on the Fringe website. Kids' Fringe returns for the fourth year, spotlighting shows by, for and about kids; Spoken Word Fringe celebrates all things spoken including storytelling, poetry, rants and slam, and Visible Fringe brings visual arts to Fringe audiences, displaying artwork for sale through the duration of the Fringe. Colorful chalk art created by volunteer artists returns to the sidewalks of selected venues for the fifth straight year. Tickets to each show are $12 for adults, $10 for students and seniors and $5 for kids. Each adult, student or senior ticket is $2 off when wearing the commemorative Fringe button, which is available for $3. The UltraPass (unlimited Fringe pass to all shows) is available for $125 and a Punch Card (five shows for less than the price of four) is $45. The Fringe button is free with a purchase of an UltraPass or Punch Card. Advance tickets can be purchased through Uptown Tix at (612) 604-4466 or www.uptowntix.com For more information, visit the 2004 Fringe online at www.fringefestival.org FRINJ ON THE FRINJ FESTIVAL This Black Soil: A Story of Struggle And Change (Documentary, 2001, 58 minutes) This inspiring and provocative film chronicles the successful struggle of Bayview, Va., a small and severely impoverished rural African-American community, to pursue a new vision of prosperity. Catalyzed by defeating the state's plans to build a prison in their backyard, and with leadership by women in the community, the residents created the Bayview Citizens for Social Justice (BCSJ) non-profit organization, secured $7 million, purchased the prison site land and are building a new community from the ground up. Against formidable odds -- which at times included state and county governments, the funding process, and themselves -- the community developed and now manages a complex and innovative development project. This is the story of people who help themselves and destroy the myth that being poor means ignorance, apathy or surrender. This Black Soil, produced by Teresa Konechne and her students at Virginia Commonwealth University, can be viewed at 9 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 4, at Center for Independent Artists, 4137 Bloomington Ave. S., Minneapolis. Tickets are $10. Bayview's story has been featured in national and international media, including 60 Minutes, the New York Times, Washington Post, People magazine, and the BBC. Konechne, now living in the Twin Cities, began this project in 1999 with her video art students at Virginia Commonwealth University. The film was made as a social change tool for communities, activists and professionals by illustrating Bayview's successes in fighting the prison, and becoming a multi-million dollar, non-profit, affordable housing community organization. This Black Soil is distributed by Bullfrog Films. For more information on the screening, contact the Center for Independent Artists at (612) 724-8392 or visit www.c4ia.org ART EXHIBIT Paintings by Mark Edwin Carlson, through September 12 MINNEAPOLIS -- Oil painter Mark Edwin Carlson faces himself on all levels through his figurative self-portraits at the Lutheran-affiliated Augsburg College, following a decade-long chapter of sexual assault recovery. It is out of self-love, not self-pity, that he embarked on this challenging series, "Christian Body," working to overcome fears of sexuality and its spiritual implications. Carlson was plagued by this experience at 13, convinced for several years that he could have done something to stop it even though his perpetrator was three times his age. A Lutheran himself, Carlson's guilt and shame multiplied until depression set in his junior year of high school. "At the time, I felt it was a black mark on my spiritual record that somehow would never be erased," he said. The paintings, on display as part of the Augsburg College Summer Emerging Artist Series, offer a new perspective figuratively -- and figuratively again -- by rejecting the self-portraiture convention of using mirrors. Every piece is oriented from the artist's head, shifting the viewer's paradigm from observer to subject, and subsequently encouraging the viewer to attempt empathy, in this instance and throughout all of life. In this first collection of an ongoing series, the artist stresses, "My developing body, as a whole, served as a constant reminder of that terrible experience and how I was a participant. I began to loathe my body and was ashamed and afraid of my sexuality. This series is my last leg of healing both mentally and spiritually." Carlson said his recovery has been unquestionably God-driven, but he understands that some Christians will be challenged. Carlson considers himself a social and spiritual artist-activist; he also designed the theme art for the Lutherans Concerned North America 30th Anniversary Conference, commencing at Augsburg one week after the exhibition opens. To view the works and find out the conclusion to the artist's story, visit the Gage Family Art Gallery, located on the second floor of the Lindell Library on the Augsburg College campus, 22nd and Riverside avenues, Minneapolis. Gallery hours are Monday-Friday, 10-4 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 1-5 p.m. The Gallery will be closed August 14-22 and September 4-6. Admission is free. Call (612) 330-1524. |
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