Filling in the gaps 08/08/2013 - 12:36am

As you can probably tell based on my entries thus far, I’m a binge Fringer. Time is usually hard for me to come by, and spending hours on the bus does not always fit well into my schedule. So it was purely an accident I attended Teenage Misery: A Horror Musical at Theater in the Round. I was actually booking it to the Southern, heard and saw some fellow Fringers sprinting across the street into TRP, literally said “Fuck it,” and followed them inside. Sweaty and nervous, as feared. Panted into a buzzing theater, as anticipated. Scanning the round, surveying this crowd, counting people of color again (5)--and I make eye contact with a good friend. Dropped jaws, shrugs across the theater, and the show begins. Here is another confession: I do not particularly like horror, or musicals, or horror musicals. I do not particularly enjoy pieces about ‘young people these days’ or that try to be really bloody or dark or violent. Usually they prove self-indulgent and meaningless. Cop-outs, like most of time travel in sci-fi. But you know what? I kind of liked this one. These jokes were funny. Self-referential, self-aware, place-specific, satirical humor works here. Keith Hovis writes a tight script that equally celebrates and questions millenials--and he is very good at it. Talented performers too--huge props to the vocal chops of Kelly Houlehan. Smart and specific staging too, good use of the round indeed. There was plenty to make me nervous: Knives. Blood. Bondage. High-pitched gay guy. Chirpy blond Minnesotan singing about ‘Daddy’s money.’ Earnest Minnesotan hipster offering tofu dogs. (I’m a vegetarian living outside Berkeley, CA and you can bet I’ve heard my share of tofu jokes.) But not only were the characters and jokes relatable and largely well-timed through the work of director Callie Meiners, these pieces I wanted to dislike all worked. An adoring crowd, a hilarious critique of male pop icons, and my seat next to several people with friends in the production who whispered excitedly and laughed boomingly throughout much of the transitions-- ‘That’s my sledgehammer!’--it was all great. What a fun, weird, dark show with some catchy music and smart lyrics. There were a few weak performances, sure, but overall I was quite pleased. I did wonder, however: Why? What triggers the curiosity in a brain like Keith Hovis’ to write a musical like this? (I would be too freaked.) What truly bizarre nightmares does this man have? (Mine are usually all my teeth falling out, me losing my mind, or getting chased around a Chinese hospital to get injected. No music though.) Who is his Shane West? (Mine is Macklemore. Okay, Jimmy Carter.) Why is he so nice? (Met him after the show. He was sad I did not understand his Highlander references.) But good shows do that to you, right? Hand you more questions than answers, make you laugh and think, and fan the flames to see some more live theater. I chatted with my friend a bit after the production in the lobby, and then headed out to check directions to the Rarig (I’m from Boston, folks). Standing by the doors, I saw to my delight the world was gray and wet. Flipping through my texts, I glance up and see Shane West himself (Jordan Oxborough) walk towards me. I freeze, panic, and leave. I got nervous, okay? He shook his butt at me and did a lot of charming winking. On to the next.