‘Put on some protest jewelry’ – Fringe Fest teaser is a very 2026 take on a 2025 show

The Minnesota Fringe Festival is just around the corner, opening August 6. Ahead of it, comic actor and Fringe veteran Lauren Anderson is reviving her hit one-woman show, “Jewelry Power Elite,” for a two-weekend run at Minneapolis’ Dudley Riggs Theatre.

At last year’s Fringe, the show marked Anderson’s first full-length solo performance after more than 20 years performing with the Brave New Workshop sketch and improv troupe. Centered around her collection of statement jewelry, this year’s production expands on the Fringe version with new material, including reflections on her recent political activism.

“I live a block away from where Renee Good was murdered, and so for me, and for most of my Minneapolis neighbors, it was hell,” Anderson said. “One of the things that helped me live to fight another day was to brace myself and put on some protest jewelry.”

The show uses Anderson’s love of bling as a jumping-off point for stories about her life.

Related: Fringe from the inside: A Q&A with Minnesota Fringe veteran Ariel Leaf

“The show is really kind of a manifesto for finding the thing that makes you feel intentional and gives you courage,” Anderson said. “Jewelry is an easy way to do it, because it’s an unnecessary thing. It’s deeply personal, and so by intentionally choosing deeply personal items to carry around on your body every day, you’re announcing yourself and your place in the world.”

Born and raised in St. Louis Park, Anderson’s first comic heroes included Steve Martin, Robin Williams and Chris Farley. She also loved “The Kids in the Hall” and Carol Burnett. “I thought she had the coolest job in the world,” Anderson said.

Out of college, Anderson performed for young audiences with Climb Theatre. Through Climb, she signed up for classes at the Brave New Workshop, where she later received a scholarship to complete her training. She landed her first gig with the company in 2004 and became full-time in 2006. By 2007, she was asked to perform a monologue at the Ivy Awards, a now-defunct ceremony celebrating Minnesota theater.

“I pretended to be a drunk woman singing Frosty the Snowman at a work event,” she recalled. 

Brash and hilarious, Anderson brought the charisma of a comedian to that performance and has continued it ever since. “It’s just years and years and years of comedy through sketch and improv every weekend,” she said. “I’ve been on stage for most of my adult life, to the point where when I have an odd Friday off, I’m like, what do people do?”

She’s had only a couple of extended breaks, including 2020, when Brave New Workshop’s entire cast was laid off. Since then, the company has been absorbed by Hennepin Arts. Anderson works with the now-nonprofit theater on a show-by-show basis.

Minneapolis-based director and performer Derek “Duck” Washington runs Rogues Gallery Arts, produces the Twin Cities Horror Festival and is an understudy and improv performer with the Brave New Workshop. He has long admired Anderson’s work.

“She just has this charm that sucks people in,” he said. 

Washington remembers watching Anderson perform a solo cabaret sketch soon after the troupe regrouped following the COVID-19 shutdown. The sketch riffed on pandemic trends like sourdough bread-making, with Anderson’s character talking about online dating while repeatedly declaring, “It got weird.”

“While watching it, I was like, this could be a whole show for me,” Washington said. “I want to see Lauren do a whole one-person show.” 

Later, while out with Anderson and a group of friends, he proposed the idea.

“It really had never even occurred to me before,” Anderson recalled. But after that conversation, she started thinking about her love of jewelry and how it could become the fulcrum.

“I was like, what if I told stories about my life through the lens of the jewelry I wore when it happened?” she said. 

One of Anderson’s favorite jewelry designers is Heidi Daus, who created a dove of peace brooch Anderson wore at a winter No Kings protest. “I actually started collecting her because I read about her in a book by Madeleine Albright, who I do talk about in the show,” Anderson said. “[Albright] wore brooches every single day, and she famously said the brooches are part of my personal diplomatic arsenal.” 

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For fans expecting pure comedy, “Jewelry Power Elite” may surprise them with some more serious turns.

“I’m always trying to make people laugh,” Anderson said. “It’s my favorite way to connect to people, but in this instance it was nice to let those dramatic moments roll.

“I’m a seasoned enough performer that I could be vulnerable onstage and not have that be a terrifying experience,” Anderson said. “But it was new enough that it was still kind of exhilarating. You know you’re going in the right direction if it scares you as much as it excites you.” 

“Jewelry Power Elite” runs Friday, July 24, Saturday, July 25, Friday, July 31 and Saturday, August 1, at 8 p.m. at Dudley Riggs Theatre, 824 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis ($20). More information here.

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