He Thinks He Knows You

Three weeks ago marked the premiere of A Don't Hug Me County Fair and I have to say we've been playing to some pretty good houses.

("Pretty good" -- That's the Minnesotan in me leaking out.)

It's been fun to experience that weird, watch-winding process of staging a play. You rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. You think it's never going to come together. Then it gells, and you open, and from there the show evolves and starts to dance to its own rhythm.

Now the show is up, and the reviews have begun to come in. Here's a round-up, with links to the full articles.

"Tom Lommel is... appropriately annoying"
Grigware Talks Theatre "Aarvid Gisselsen (Brad McDonald) and camping-supplies tycoon Kanute Gunderson (Tom Limmel) vie for the hand of Bernice..."
LA Weekly "Tom Lommel as Kanute and Brad MacDonald as Aarvid are hysterically dorky"
The Tolucan Times And my favorite: "Mr. Lommel... brings a sort of nebbishy sexiness to the role."
LA Theatre Review I've read all the reviews and I can't say any of the critics are wildly off the mark. (I am nothing if not nebbish AND sexy.) The show is broad, campy fun. But I can't wait to pull some of those quotes for the front page. Here's more of a synopsis that a review: Stage Happenings - "A Don't Hug Me County Affair" I'm not sure how she got the title, but it certainly makes the show sizzle, doesn't it. And here's an article about native Minnesotan and glorious Burbank resident Tom Gibis and his role in the show (along with some pix from rehearsal): Burbank Leader Finally, here's a little promo video the director cut together. If you watch closely, you get to see me do the infamous move known only as... "The Little Dutch Boy." We're running through the end of March, although there are rumblings the play may be extended. If you're in the Los Angeles area, come check it out. I promise I will try to be more nebbishly sexy than appropriately annoying. ...Maybe that's not an incentive. -Tom Limmel