Minnesota Fringe Festival

The Buzz:
Review excerpts:

- "If you love a good musical, then this is a MUST see for this year's fringe"

- "Merge high quality singing and a charming cast, 21 songs from musical theater"

- "My tween/teen kids loved it too. "

The cast

Erin Duffy
Role: Katherine
Erin is excited to be doing her first Fringe show and working with New Breath Productions again. Erin has also performed with Nautilus Music-Theatre in St. Paul, the Minnesota Orchestra, The Children's Theatre Company of Minneapolis, Minnesota Opera, Lyric Arts, Heritage Theater, Bloomington Civic Theatre, Theatre in the Round, and the Phipps Center for Performing Arts. Erin also performs cabaret and jazz. Her cabaret act has been seen around the Twin Cities, Atlantic City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, France and the Italian Riviera. She is a fellow of the 2003 and 2007 Cabaret Conference at Yale University and a founding member of the Twin Cities Cabaret Artists Network.

Joan Fitch
Role: Barbara
This is Joan's fourth production with New Breath. It is her first time as an actor with New Breath. Joan is a freelance pianist/music director in the Twin Cities. She has worked with Ashland Productions, Heritage, Lakeshore and Playhouse 15. Joan also music directs/accompanies for musicals at several high school and middle schools across the metro, as well as serving as staff accompanist for the Mahtomedi middle and high school choirs. Thanks to this talented cast and company. Much love to my husband, Gary, for all your support and putting up with the wacky schedule of a musician!

Abby Fields
Role: Penny
Abby is 14 years old, and will be attending Minneapolis South High School in the Fall. Her start in theater came when her children's chorus performed with the traveling Broadway tour of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat." She has been in two New Breath productions - "Oliver!" and "I Remember Mama" in which she played Johanna. Last year she played the part of Huldra in the Fringe Festival musical "Snip, Snap, Snute!" Abby has sung with the Metropolitan Choralaires and the Twin Cities Girls' Chorus. She also sang with the Moscow Ballet in the Winter of 2008, as they performed the "Great Russian Nutcracker." She is thrilled to be part of the Fringe Festival again, and has had a great time with this cast. She's learned so much from every one of them. Thank you!

Timm Holmly
Role: Morris
Timm is delighted to be returning for his 4th production with New Breath. He played Uncle Chris in last season's I Remember Mama, Mr. Bumble/Bill Sykes in Oliver, and the high spirited Toad in Wind In The Willows. Timm also performs regularly with the Season's Players at the Season's Dinner Theater at Bunker Hills. Timm has been performing professionally for 30 years, having played Daddy Warbucks in Annie, Joe Hardy & Mr. Applegate in Damn Yankees, The Pharaoh in Joseph, Charlie Brown in both Charlie Brown & Snoopy, Tinman in Wizard of Oz, Teen Angel in Grease, to name a few of his favorite roles. An accomplished vocalist, Timm has recorded two CDs, numerous commercial jingles, performed one-man cabaret shows, sung on the Minnesota Zephyr, and currently sings jazz with pianist David Hamilton around the Twin Cities. Timm wants to thank Laurie and Chris Kemp, for the wonderful opportunity to continually be involved in New Breath Productions, and to be able to work & LEARN with extremely talented young actors, and watch them expand their horizons. And of course, thanks to Steven for the love and support of making the dreams come true . . .

Stephen Sporer
Role: Larry
Stephen is a transplant to the Twin Cities, recent local experience includes Phipps Center for the Arts' The Sound of Music (Max Detwieller), Theatre in the Round's Sabrina Fair, and New Breath Production's Oliver. Favorite past roles/shows include: "Roger" (A New Brain). "Orin/Dentist" (Little Shop of Horrors), Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris. Numersous performances/readings of new works in Manhattan venues including The Zipper Theater and The Manahattan Supper Club. Television: NBC 'Ed.' Film: 'WTC View.' Theater study: Sarah Lawrence College, New York. Previous lives include on-air film critic (KTFM's 102.7, San Antonio), the commencement singer for the first graduating class from NYC's Harvey Milk High School, and serenading Barbara Walters.

Alex Sundvall
Role: Richard
Alex is twelve years old and is excited to be attending Junior High this fall in St. Louis Park. This is Alex's third year with New Breath Productions and is very excited about this show and its cast! Alex's previous work also includes Falsettoland with Kenny Kiser Studios, Oliver! and I Remember Mama both with New Breath Productions and The Grapes of Wrath with the Minnesota Opera. He recently performed a Beatles tribute at Minneapolis' Art-A-Whirl. Along with singing, Alex also enjoys playing piano, ornithology, Greek mythology and volunteering as a Junior Naturalist at Westwood Hills Nature Center. Alex has thoroughly enjoyed working on this production with all of the talented and inspiring performers and wishes to thank them for this great opportunity. He hopes there are many more to come!

Victoria Valencour
Role: Holly
Victoria is delighted to announce that Where Egos Dare marks her Fringe Festival debut! She is Thrilled to be part of such an amazing cast and crew. As a graduate of the University of Minnesota School of Music, Victoria has performed in such opera productions as the Tales of Hoffman, Don Giovanni, La Boheme and the Turning of the Screw. Most recent roles include Mama in New Breath's production of I Remember Mama and Aunt Melanie in Casting Christmas at The Season's Players Dinner Theatre. She hopes to continue to pursue her career in music within the Twin Cities and beyond . . .

Laurie Kemp
Role: Producer-Writer-Director
Laurie has been working with New Breath since 2001 when she had the great good fortune to meet her teacher Kenny Kiser. She has performed in many New Breath shows including last year's production of "I Remember Mama" as Dame Sybil. She has worked with many other area theaters, favorite roles include The Nurse in "Romeo and Juliet," Mother Abbess in "The Sound of Music." Golde in "Fiddler On The Roof," Mrs. Medlock in "The Secret Garden" and as a goddess for the Spirit in the House Festival. Thank you to this wonderful and talented cast. This project has been a joy. Most of all, thank you Christopher for all that you do and are! Who knew that driving back and forth to Iowa was a way to write a play!

Chris Kemp
Role: Producer-Writer-Director
Chris is excited to be involved in his seventh New Breath production and writing and directing his first. In addition, Chris has performed with Minnesota PerformDance (okay I wasn't dancing), Rosetown Playhouse, Moundsview and Heritage Community Theaters and the Minnesota Opera. This has been an outstanding cast to work with. Their input in helping to develop and polish the show has been invaluable. Special thanks to Joan for her great support as music director and for sharing her acting talents as well. My biggest thank you goes to my co=writer, co-director and number one supporter, Laurie. Thank for all your work on the project and for sharing your life with me. You still make me laugh.

New Breath Productions

Where Egos Dare: The Musical!

Thu., Jul. 30 @ 10:00 p.m.
Tue., Aug. 4 @ 8:30 p.m.
Fri., Aug. 7 @ 8:30 p.m.
Sat., Aug. 8 @ 4:00 p.m.
Sun., Aug. 9 @ 1:00 p.m.
Sun., Aug. 9 @ 8:30 p.m.

Venue Minneapolis Theatre Garage
For ages 8+
Created by Chris & Laurie Kemp & the Cast
Web site www.newbreath.org
genres Musical theater, Comedy
subjects Relationships
features World premiere, Original script/choreography, First-time Minnesota Fringe Festival producer

Overall rating

User reviews

Fun!
by Heather Smith Follow this reviewer
Rating 4 kitties
As I'm a sucker for Broadway musical revues, I chose this as my encore show...and I'm glad I did. It was a fun, lighthearted way to end my Fringe experience. I thought the story was a clever way to weave together the songs, and the variety of music kept me smiling. Way to go.

Encore?
by Rebecca Paine Follow this reviewer
Rating 1 kitty
THIS was an encore? I thought an encore show was a guarantee... how strange it seemed to see a poorly scripted show using Broadway tunes to try to loop together a story. It was sadly predictable and boring. I can't believe I used the encore for this! What happened??? (Okay so some of the singers were good, yes. For that I hand a kitty over on a silver platter.)

Shakespeare Rehearsal: The Musical
by Dave Romm Follow this reviewer
Rating 4 kitties
Alumni and campers join together and strut their stuff. Everyone wants to be the star, and everyone goes off-script to show how talented they are. Breaking into inappropriate songs at appropriate moments is hard to get right, and this show does very well, though the songs are often just a line or two. The actors draw their characters well. The singing is fabulous. Lots of ego trips, though there isn't enough time to really develop all six storylines. Still, I don't think I'll ever watch the death scene from Romeo and Juliet in quite the same way ever again. A Shockwave Radio Theater Review.

Longer reviews with pictures at Baron Dave's LiveJournal and snarky comments on Facebook.

Clever and delightful
by Jim Lundy Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
Five kitties and kudos to the Kemps for bringing this clever production to the Fringe. I enjoyed the fresh settings for familiar tunes, and the "can you top this" thrice-played Shakespearean death scenes at the end were hilarious. Great voices, high production value.

An enjoyable hour
by Eric Meininger Follow this reviewer
Rating 4 kitties
Set at a reunion of the alumni of musical theater, this show doesn't have a lot of plot, but it fills in with some good old show tunes. The singers aren't great, but you'll fin yourself humming the tunes afterwards. The two kids in the show do a nice job of holding their own against the 'alumnae'.

Very entertaining and fun!
by Justin Magnuson Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
As a first-timer to the fringe, I thoroughly enjoyed the show and would recommend to anyone…plenty of laughs, great singing and very entertaining! Congratulations to the cast on a terrific job!

Wasn't for me...
by Nancy Meissner Follow this reviewer
Rating 3 kitties
This is a cute show featuring some wonderful singers. But that's about it. If you're looking for the kind of thing you might see on the Disney Channel, this is the show for you.

Lively & Great Singing by All
by Kristina Gronquist Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
Everyone shone in this lively and fun show. It was a pleasure seeing this with my teen daughter. We both enjoyed it very much. The two young people who acted in it were especially endearing, with sweet voices.

very enjoyable
by samuel bisciglia Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
the dialogue was witty and the timing of the music was great! I don't know musicals that well, but enjoyed the show from start to finish

What a hoot!
by Theresa Bisciglia Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
This show was a delight. The actors did a wonderful job showing the battle of the egos. Narcissism has never been so laughable! The songs were cleverly woven into the script and were recognizable to all - nicely matched to the story line of the moment. You'll most certainly leave with a smile on your face!

Great Fun!
by Susan Larsen Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
This musical was great fun. We laughed through out the entire play. The cast is AWESOME, they have great chemistry. This production pacts a great deal of entertainment in an hour.

Great concept, great cast, great songs
by Pat Lindgren Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
4 adults and 2 teens rehearse a production of Romeo and Juliet but break into a total of 21 Broadway show songs from all eras over the course of 50 minutes. The songs are ones we all know the words to and were sung well. The script was tight and fun. And the actor/singers were all fantastic, but my particular favorites were Timm and Abby

Great fun, but not exactly high risk
by Sharon Kahn Follow this reviewer
Rating 4 kitties
I gave this one 4 kitties instead of 5 because crowd-pleaser musicals like this are getting to be a dime a dozen at the Fringe. But damn, it's a lot of fun. If you enjoy show tunes, don't miss it. Excellent all ages show, especially for kids with an interest in the theater. You'll walk out of the theater humming, guaranteed.

More Ego!
by Joshua Humphrey Follow this reviewer
Rating 4 kitties
There's some great musical talent onstage here which makes this show easily worthwhile.

The show is oddly a musical revue/personality clash, hence the title. I wanted a little more of the personality/ego clashing. It was incredibly entertaining and I think it could have been injected a little more into the script.

Loved It!
by Debbie Scheriff Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
I laughed out loud, long and hard! Great show! You want to be sure to see this one!

Where Egos Dare
by TODD SLACK Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
Having never seen a Fringe show before this was a great way to start! The entire show was very entertaining and if your a musical theatre lover it is a definate must see! Great Job Everyone.

Loved the Music!
by Molly Wanstall Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
This was a great show and a dream for any broadway musical fan! The show is just plain fun and the cast has an incredible energy.

Continuous Laughter
by Henry Bushnell Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
An awesome show filled with comedy, showtunes, and an amazing cast! Great energy onstage that draws you in and doesn't let you go until the show ends.

Drama Camp Gone Wild!
by Christy Botts Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
Good fun! For those who grew up in thespian programs or with a love for Shakespeare and musicals...this is the show for you. The cast is great -- especially the 2 youngest!!! Excellent budding talent! Wonderfully written!

Get Ready to Laugh!
by Glen Arvin Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
An unabashed look at the true motivation of narcissistic actors with tongue firmly planted in cheek. Each actor shines individually in this ensemble with a few musical surprises that will make you smile to creating full on laughter. A treat for all!

Lots of laughs
by Jan Shaw-Flamm Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
Fun for any audience, but there's a self-awareness providing something extra for those who know a little musical theater or Shakespeare. Stephen Sporer cracked up the opening night audience with his comically vain Larry (think Brad Pitt in Burn After Reading.)

Great music and cast
by Maggie Passmore Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
Great music, a cast that works very well together, and funny as well. I laughed throughout and was very impressed with all of the actors.

Non-stop laughs!!
by Steven Filler Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
I went to opening night and I have to say this show is HA-LARIOUS!! The cast is amazing and they play well off each other. The vocals are strong and you'll recognize many of the songs, even the ones where the words have been changed to fit the context of the show. You can tell the cast is having a great time with this show and the audience picks up on that immediately. It's laughter all the way to the finish. If you can only see one Fringe show this year, this is the ONE. It's the show all of your friends will be talking about, so don't miss it. In fact, this show is so good you'll want to see it more than once.

21 songs, 50 minutes, funny, funny, funn
by Kate Barr Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
Merge high quality singing and a charming cast, 21 songs from musical theater, and a plot line that brings it together makes for a relaxing, funny hour of Fringe.

Great show - talented cast
by Len Pattky Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
Saw the show on opening night. It started slow, but had me laughing within minutes. The show moves quickly, includes music you know and love and will keep you laughing throughout.

Well Acted, Well Sung and Very Funny
by Andy Flamm Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
This show is more than a musical review. There is a plot, and the musical numbers, liberties taken with the lyrics in many cases, are woven into the fabric of the story.

There was a whole lot of laughing going on as the characters and their egos jostled for attention, and the singers did a fine job, in some cases exceptionally fine. A particularly enjoyable gimmick was the inclusion of the accompanist in the plot.

If you have any interest in musical theater and like to laugh and hear wonderful singers, go see this show!

These people can sing!
by Anne Bushnell Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
Loved the show tunes (old & new, popular & obscure) and laughed all the way through. My tween/teen kids loved it too. I can usually only hit a few Fringe shows, so really appreciate knowing which ones are sure things. This one packs so much into the 50 minutes - really, really good.

Where Egos Dare:The Musical
by Joey Sundvall Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
Hilarious! Awesome talent! Great show!

Very Entertaining
by Jerry Storck Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
A fast-paced show with strong vocals. Good blend of comedy and music.

Loved the cast!
by Bradley Johnson Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
This show is really well cast. If you love a good musical, then this is a MUST see for this year's fringe.

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