Mike Meyers, Cameron Diaz and Eddie Murphy are hard acts to follow, but that hasn't stopped any number of contenders from taking on the roles of the grumpy green ogre Shrek, the demanding Princess Fiona and a nonstop-talking Donkey  in Shrek the Musical.

In the production that launched last night at Middlebury's Town Hall Theater, they are Leigh Guptill, Kim Anderson and Justin Bouvier, respectively (pictured right).

THT's newest resident company, called, um, the Company, is tackling the stage-musical version of the Oscar-winning 2001 DreamWorks movie. The Hollywood actors named above lent their voices only to the animated characters. Onstage the actors are, of course, human. With silly costumes. I can't tell you who plays the Gingerbread Man or the Mirror or the evil Lord Farquaad. You'll have to go and see for yourself.

What I can tell you is that Shrek the Musical has proven popular nationwide, revealing the country's belief in magic, love and happily-ever-after despite all indicators to the contrary.

Shrek the Musical, staged by the Company, Thursday to Sunday through November 17, Town Hall Theater, Middlebury. $23/18. 

Andy Gordon called it a "big mix of whatever" last year. But that minimalist description from one of the actors in Potato Sack Pants Theater certainly didn't augur the three-night variety show that was Burlington's Fringe Festival in August 2012. Tonight at the Off Center for the Dramatic Arts, the Fringe returns at last.

As it happens, Potato Sack isn't performing this year, but 18 other acts are. And did I mention variety? The performers include stand-up comedians, dancers, musicians and theater artists of serious and silly sorts. Or, as John Alexander puts it, from "drama to madcap craziness."

Each of the three nights will have a different MC, explains Alexander, the Off Center cofounder. Mastering the ceremonies tonight is actor/playwright Seth Jarvis; Phinneus Sonin will be in charge on Friday, and Kim Jordan on Saturday. 

While the performers are not exactly juried, there is some quality control, Alexander suggests. But, he adds, "We want to give new people the chance to get out there. That's why Off Center was created."

Each act will have just 10 to 20 minutes onstage. And, judging by last year's shows, this one promises to be just as deliriously entertaining.

The shows start at 8 p.m. $15 at the door, or order online via the Off Center's website.

Joel Najman has been the host and producer of the weekly rock-and-roll-history program "My Place" on Vermont Public Radio for 30 years. That's a remarkable accomplishment, one for which he was recently honored by the Vermont Legislature with a resolution congratulating him on his three decades spinning the classic (and not so classic) songs that compose the rich tapestry of our collective musical past — and more importantly, unearthing the stories behind them.

Najman's show is as much a celebration of early rock and roll as it is a history lesson, and it is entertaining and educational in equal measures.

The anniversary love for Najman continues this Saturday, September 28, as his esteemed employers are throwing a celebratory sock hop called VPR A Go-Go, a 1960s-themed dance party at the Town Hall Theater in Middlebury.

The party will feature prizes for the best '60s hairdo, a Twister competition and go-go dancers. It will also, of course, feature the host with the most himself, Joel Najman, spinning the platters that matter. Oh, and Najman's beard. His totally awesome beard.

In anticipation of that party — and because we profiled Najman for his 25th anniversary — we recently got in touch with Najman's incredible Rip van Winkle and asked for its thoughts on 30 years behind the mic. Here's what Najman's typically silent partner had to say.   

SEVEN DAYS: 30 years. Wow. What are your thoughts about three decades in the biz?

JOEL NAJMAN'S BEARD: Well, it's certainly been a hairy ride. But I like to think there's been a lot of growth, too.

In honor of our inaugural comedy issue, we asked the funny folks at the Spark Improv Troupe to make fun of … well, us. So they did! Here's what happens when the improv comedians play a game using only the words Seven Days as a prompt.

Spotted this weekend on the Church Street Marketplace: Meredith and Andy Gordon, in from Underhill and having a romantic dinner of sandwiches outside the Red Onion.

The Gordons are the married twosome of the sextet that make up Burlington's sketch-comedy troupe Potato Sack Pants Theater. Since last September, Meredith and Andy have also been parental units — to Henry Allen Gordon. And now that the little tyke is almost 8 months, his mom and dad and their zany friends are exploiting him, er, staging a performance in his name: HAG Fest 2013.

Billed as an "artist market and sketch comedy," HAG Fest will be held at — where else? — the Off Center for the Dramatic Arts next week for two nights, May 17 and 18.

The Gordons were sans child for their outing on Saturday for said romantic dinner; apparently they'd left him safely at home in a dresser drawer. Totally kidding!

But I've seen numerous photos of young Henry on Facebook, and he sure is cute. Given his genetic profile, he is probably also hilarious. I sure hope so, because otherwise his parents are going to be highly embarrassing in about 13 years.

When Meredith mentioned the upcoming show, I suggested it might be nice to announce it so that, you know, someone would show up to see them. Hence I received the poster at right.

HAG fest is not part of Burlington's five-day  Green Mountain Comedy Festival, which doesn't start until May 22. But there's no such thing as too many laughs, right? Right?

If you've never seen Potato Sack Pants Theater — which also includes Stetson Ward, Erin St. Cyr, Chad Hayden and Kelsi Goodall — you could read my 2011 story about them here. Tix here.  

No grass growing on Harry Bliss. The Burlington-based cartoonist and illustrator has a brand-new, teacher-approved kids' book, Diary of a Worm.

Says Bliss on his Facebook page:

"All my life I wanted to have an 'I Can Read' book...and now I do. It's ironic, because I suck at reading..."

Written by Doreen Cronin, Bliss' partner on other children's books, Worm has a companion — or is it a sequel? — Diary of a Spider.

For someone who claims to just look at the pictures, Bliss does all right with writing, too. He's penned the children's books Bailey, about a charming and surprisingly talented dog, and Luke on the Loose, as well as the adult cartoon collection, Death by Laughter.

And then there are Bliss' very grown-up cartoons, which appear weekly in Seven Days and occasionally in the New Yorker. The magazine has also published more than 15 Bliss cover illustrations.

Can't get enough Bliss? Check the website for his cartoon of the day.

Well, I didn't exactly hang out with Richard Sher, host of the public-radio show "Says You!" But he and his cast of panelists were guests at a reception put on by Vermont Public Radio in Stowe last Saturday, and so was I. And though I'd had no idea what Sher looked like prior to this night, I recognized his voice immediately.

An interesting connection of dots happens when you meet someone you've known only through one modality, whether voice or written word (email, newspapers, books, etc). It's like little cognitive pieces fall into place, correcting misperceptions you didn't even know you had.

I'm not sure I'd given much thought to what Sher looked like, to be honest, but I've listened to him and his panelists many times — I'm often in my kitchen cooking dinner when VPR broadcasts his show on Sundays at 6. Sher has a slightly mournful, soulful face, with big, expressive eyes. (That's him in the photo here, with VPR president and CEO Robin Turnau). In person he's warm, down-to-earth, unpretentious and witty. As we were about to witness, he — and his panelists — are even funnier in action. Or what passes for action on the radio.

Sher and crew were in Stowe for a live taping of their show at the Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center. My friend and I arrived a tad late, having started the evening at an art opening down the road at the West Branch Gallery. After making our way from the bone-chillingly windy parking lot through the maze that is Spruce Peak, we got to the reception with enough time to down a glass of wine and a couple hors d'oeuvres, rub shoulders with some VPR peeps and meet Sher. Then it was time to retrace our steps back to the resort's beautiful theater (and if you haven't been there yet, check out the performing arts and film season here).

"Says You!" is a show about words — or, as its tag line helpfully specifies, "a game of words and whimsy, bluff and bluster" — played/performed before a live audience. From what I could glean on the "Says You!" website, it's taped about half the time at home in Boston and the other half at venues around the country. The nationally broadcast show has a lot of fans, including in Vermont: Saturday's event (which recorded two shows) at Stowe was sold out, as was the one in Bellows Falls on Sunday (ditto). My friend and I were lucky enough to get front-row seats, right next to VPR's Turnau.

You're watching a scene from the highly acclaimed film Dance of the Walrus Hunters. A grizzled hunter and a questing novice stand in the frozen wastes of Antarctica, scoping out the walrus population.

"How are we going to kill it?" the novice asks. "A gun? A spear?"

"No," the hunter intones. "To kill the walrus, you have to make love to it."

A voice offstage announces, "This is your Oscar-winning moment!"

An über-schmaltzy soundtrack kicks in as the hunter steps forward to deliver a stirring monologue about the first time he killed something by, er, expressing his affection toward it: "She was 12 years old," he begins, his voice quavering Oscar-clip style. "She was orange. She was my favorite cat."

It just got weirder from there.

Of all the not-quite-translatable words in the German langauge, schadenfreude is one of the best known to English speakers. It's also one of the most delectable. 

It refers to the joy one takes in someone else's misfortune.

So it's a fitting moniker for a Barre-based sideshow act full of beds of nails, power drills up the nose and crotch-bound sledgehammers.

There are only two performers in the Schadenfreude Circus: Lady Riggy and Lazlo, both 31. They took the stage at Burlington's Club Metronome last week as part of Paco Fish's Burlesque Vangaurd Tour. 

Between Fish's uncanny Michael Jackson impersonations (plus stripping) and more stripping by Green Mountain Cabaret founder Alexa Luthor, Lazlo hammered nails into his nose and rolled a frying pan into a tube with his bare hands. Lady Riggy sliced a cucumber on her staircase of knives before climbing the stairs in her bare feet. She jumped up and down on broken glass, and then, to the horror of many in the audience, did the same on a pile of LEGOs.

Seven Days caught up with the duo after the show. 

Seven Days: Do you have day jobs?

The Schadenfreude Circus: Lazlo works for a Vermont insurance company. If you've got an insurance problem, yo, he solves it. Lady Riggy is a hausfrau with occasional breaks for hula hooping.

SD: When did you start performing as the Schadenfreude Circus?

SC: Last year. Before that, Lady Riggy was with other shows, cabaret groups, and street performing. But she was lonely and bored. Much to her surprise, hundreds of miles away, Lazlo wished upon a star (which was later proved to be Mars) that he might someday soon find someone like him ... a sideshow June to his Johnny. They soon learned that fate had been planning the birth of the Schadenfreude Circus for centuries. Nostradamus said something about it ... it is believed to be between the predictions about the French Revolution and Y2K.

SD: How did you discover sideshow?

SC: Many people joke about running away with the circus or the carnival. Lady Riggy actually did. Much like his role-model Gonzo the Great, Lazlo has been entertaining people with his wonderfully horrible stunts for most of his life. To quote Hunter S. Thompson, "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro."

Every Friday we'll be scouring the internets for tidbits of randomness, local and otherwise, to help you tick minutes off the clock until quittin' time. Here's this week's installment.

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On the home front …

Ad Hoc's Michael Sugarman has a favorable review of the new collaboration between Burlington's Greg Davis and Ben Vida, Working Models.

Former Seven Days music freelancer Will Ryan has caught on as a critic at Beats Per Minute. He's a fan of the dark new record from the Haxan Cloak, Evacuation.

The website for this year's Waking Windows festival is live.

Betcha didn't know the most depressing (and hilarious) job interview ever happened recently in Burlington. 

Ever lament, er, wonder how many Kickstarter campaigns there have been in Vermont? (And which ones were or weren't successful?) Wonder no more. 

And in nonlocal happenings…

Would you be more or less likely to see Fast 6 if it were filmed using remote-controlled cars?

Hey hey, my my. Rock and roll will never die … at least if Maroon 5's Adam Levine and his alleged harem of groupies and drugs have anything to say about it. 

Or David Lee Roth, for that matter.

Do you like Huey Lewis and the News?

And finally, this: