Pilsen Fringe Festival showcases all genres

This past weekend the 2010 Chicago Fringe Festival in Pilsen featured 46 performance groups that were selected by lottery to perform their 45-60 minute uncensored shows included comedies, dramas, dance pieces, musicals, performance art, and some that combined all of the above.

Chad Wise, a graduate of Illinois State University, is the director for The Texas Chainsaw Musical, a production at the festival by his New Millennium Theater Company, which he co-founded in 1998.

Since then the New Millennium Theater Company has been producing pop culture infused late night rock and roll productions

"My friends and I, and everyone in my theater company, we're all pop culture fanatics," said Wise. "A lot of us are children of the 1980's and just have that kind of affinity for all kinds of pop culture. We're just very aware of it."

While Wise said he does have an appreciation for traditional theater, he admits that he doesn't have the patience for it.

"I have a short attention span so I definitely gravitate towards movies with explosions and things like that," Wise said. "And that tends to be reflected somewhat in my theater…We're not out there to change your life or give you message; we just want to give you some laughs."

Wise said that since his influences are so varied, his theater company has crossed all kinds of genres.  "We did a musical version of The Karate Kid and Office Space," Wise said. "And we kicked off the new millennium with a musical version of The Evil Dead in 2002."

Wise's most recently performed production is based on the 1974 horror film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

"It's a parody, ultimately, and there are five original songs written by my Musical Director Meagan Piccochi, who writes most of the music for our musicals," said Wise.

The musical follows the basic plot of the original slasher film, where a group of kids taking a road trip to see their father's ancestral home in Texas are traveling along the back roads. The kids are picked off one by one and eaten by the cannibalistic family until one girl remains and eventual escapes.

However this is where the The Texas Chainsaw Musical departs from the original script. "Our twist is on Leatherface…as opposed to being this raging ball of evil and a monster, he's actually a misunderstood romantic who's just trying to make friends with these kids. But he's so socially inept and awkward that he accidentally kills them," said Wise.

After watching the musical it becomes apparent that Wise didn't pull any punches on the visceral violence that Leatherface is capable of.

"It's quite beautiful and touching, and there's a lot of killing and chainsaws." Chad Wise and the New Millennium Theater Company's next production is The David Bowie Christmas Special 1977, scheduled for November of 2010.