Cast Handbook

Hello, dear Collaborator! My name is Toby Cryns, and I’m co-producing Happy Endings Church for the 2022 MN Fringe Festival along with my good friend and amazing human being, Ryan Arnholt. One of my favorite people, Mahmoud Hakima, is directing the show. Below you’ll find information about this project as well as why I feel performance art is so very important.

About the Material:

Happy Endings Church is a satirical comedy about Gayle Haggard, whose husband, Ted Haggard, was one of the leading anti-gay Evangelical Christian activists of the early 2000’s in the USA. If you Google Ted’s name, you’ll find:

clips of him on Oprah,
a documentary about him by Nancy Pelosi’s daughter,
clips of him from the breakthrough documentary Jesus Camp,
an episode of This American Life that features him,
best-selling books,
some clips of him riding a Harley motorcycle inside his church,
and lots and lots of news articles where he bashes the GLBTQ+ community while promoting his growing megachurch.

Ted’s wife, Gayle, cheered him throughout it all, then….Ted got busted having sex with a male prostitute. He shamefully fell from the limelight, was booted from the church he founded, was expelled from the state of Colorado by his church board, and Gayle took over the Haggard ministry from there, starting a new church, writing best-selling novels, and, basically, becoming Ted! I am endlessly-fascinated by Gayle’s ascent to power, and that’s what this musical is largely about.

“Ted served as president of the 30 million member National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) from 2003-2006. During these years, he often represented evangelicalism in the media and with world leaders. He also built The World Prayer Center and worldprayerteam.org. which was the largest network of praying believers in the world coordinated at the World Prayer Center.”
Source: https://saintjameschurch.com/aboutthepastors/

About Me:

I’m passionate about building stronger communities and contributing to thought-provoking & respectful dialogue in our community.

What to Expect:

Ryan, Mahmoud, and I will collaborate with you to build a safe space to express yourself through my favorite art form – the musical!

Expect to be supported as a unique human.
Expect direct conversations about the art.
Expect jokes about Evangelical culture in America (that’s the topic of this musical).

Rehearsal Schedule:

You’ll be expected to attend scheduled rehearsals and be available for all performances. This includes:

Mandatory Rehearsals at Phoenix Theater (2605 Hennepin Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55408)
Monday, July 25th (Preview Night at Rarig Thrust Theater 5:30-9:30pm)
Tuesday, July 26th
- 6:45pm-Fight Call (Chandler, Lance, Nicole)
- 7pm-10pm – ALL
Wednesday, July 27th
- 6:45pm-Fight Call (Chandler, Lance, Nicole)
- 7pm-10pm – ALL

Monday, August 1st – FINAL DRESS REHEARSAL

6:45pm-Fight Call (Chandler, Lance, Nicole)
7pm-10pm – ALL

Wednesday, August 3rd – TECH REHEARSAL @ AUGSBURG STUDIO (2211 Riverside Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55454)
- 5pm-9pm – ALL

Public performances at Augsburg Studio Theater

Sat. August 6 at 1:00 PM (Arrive at 12:00pm)
Sun. August 7 at 7:00 PM (Arrive at 6:00pm)
Wed. August 10 at 10:00 PM (Arrive at 9:00pm)
Sat. August 13 at 5:30 PM (Arrive at 4:30pm)
Sun. August 14 at 4:00 PM (Arrive at 3:00pm)

IMPORTANT: See the Fringe Festival’s COVID vaccine requirements below.

Stipend/Payment:

I know you aren’t doing this strictly for the money, but we want to pay you. All cast members will earn a $125 stipend. You’ll be paid after we are paid by MN Fringe Festival (likely in Sept/Oct).

MN Fringe Festival’s Covid Vaccination Policy for Artists:

“All producers and artists performing in the 2022 Minnesota Fringe Festival and the events leading up to the Festival must provide proof of complete COVID-19 vaccination (which is either one or two doses depending on the vaccine) by July 1st, 2022, otherwise they will not be allowed to perform in the Festival.”
– Source: https://www.fringefestival.org/covid

You will be required to show proof of vaccine by July 1.

Resources:

Libretto/Script/Lyrics: [View/Print/Download on Google Docs]
Guitar chord/lyric sheets in case you want to strum along at home (coming soon)

Listen to the Music:

The music below is a pre-production demo, and there are some small differences between these songs and what you’ll read in the Lyrics & Book above – where a discrepancy exists, the Google Doc linked above has the correct stuff. In May, I’ll update these audio tracks to match the Lyrics/Script/Book linked above.

With Vocals:

Listen Without Vocals ->

Lead Sheets:

More Info:

Learn more about MN Fringe Festival.

About the Venue:

All 5 of our August Fringe Festival performances will be at Augsburg Studio at 625 22nd Ave S Minneapolis, MN 55454 (not to be confused with the main stage in the same building). Once you are in the building, get to the Studio space here:

Go here to enter the Augsburg Studio space.

Important notes for friends who hold tickets:

EVERYONE (including audience members) will need to prove vaccination status at the venue before the show.
No late seating. Make sure audience members know they need to arrive prepared to show their vaccination status.
Audience members need a Fringe Button to enter the show. If they lose their button, they’ll need to buy a new one.
Once their ticket & vaccination status is confirmed, audience members will get a token. They’ll give the token to the seating person.
No readmission. Once audience members leave, they’re out for good.
There are ~65 seats.
Christopher & Jess will be the House Managers, onsite and helpful during the day of the show.
There is very little storage space for anything.
The changing area for the cast is a public space, though there is a public bathroom nearby that we can use if needed.
There will be tiered seating using risers to combat the scourge of tall hats that is plaguing the nation.

Cast Agreement Form

If you haven’t already, fill out the Cast & Crew Agreement Form.

Bio & Liability Form

If you haven’t already, fill out the Bio & Liability Form .

Vocal Warmup (from Melody)

Lyrics & Audio
Sarasponda, sarasponda, sarasponda ret set set.
Sarasponda, sarasponda, sarasponda ret set set.
Ah door ray oh, ah door ray boom day oh.
Ah door ray boom ret set set,
Ah say pa say oh.

Contact

Contact me if you have any questions or ideas – [email protected], 612-293-8629.

-Toby