2012 Fringe Wrap up
Well, I counted them up and I saw 28 shows at the Fringe this year (I watched one of them twice). The vast majority of them were very good shows. Some of them weren’t.
As a producer, I find myself much more forgiving of a failed work because let’s be fair – none of us are trying to produce bad work. Before we put it in front of an audience, we believe that what we have is something that will speak to them, make them laugh, make them think and, yes, make them like us.
What we discover by putting a show in front of an audience is whether or not we actually succeeded in reaching the audience in the way we envisioned. There is a sense of relief when things work out as we planned and, if we’re smart, a desire to learn what we will do differently if the show fails.
So I have a hard time talking about “bad” shows because I’ve done “bad” shows and it sucks. Plenty of talented people have produced failures. The really talented ones figure out how to turn those failures into future success.
All that is a lead up to my personal Fringe awards. I won’t dwell too much on the failures because I believe it is best to celebrate those who succeed and encourage those who fail.
So here we go:
Fringe Reviews – Day 9
Even with two shows yesterday, I managed to watch a couple of shows to close out the fringe. Reviews are not particularly helpful at this juncture but I shall write them just the same.
Fringe Reviews – Day 8
Big day of Fringing yesterday. I actually skipped a time slot so I could have a leisurely dinner and I went and watched my favorite fringe show again.
Here’s my thoughts on what I saw:
Fringe Reviews – Day 7
So last night, I think it is fair to say that “Ash Land” won at Fringe. They sold out the Rarig Thurst, a 460 seat theatre. By “sold out,” I mean that not a single person from the Artists’ rush line got into the theatre. Every seat in the theatre was a paying viewer. That has never happened before. It could happen again, though, because they have one more show today. Good for them.
And good for me because I’d already seen the show!
So here’s what I saw yesterday:
Fringe Reviews – Day 6
Three more shows last night plus one of my own. While the Rarig Experimental is a small theatre, I was super happy that Stop Talking managed to sell out our 7:00 show.
But who cares about my show? How about the other ones I saw?
Fringe Reviews – Day 5
I’m still basking in the glory of team Rock-it Man winning the Fringe trivia contest last night thanks, in almost no part, to me. I did know the exact number of seats available in the Rarig Experimental so I feel like I earned the share of the $75 gift certificate that paid for my dinner.
I had performances of both of my shows last night so I was only able to catch two others. One I loved. The other…
Well of Course we all Take it Personally
One of the best parts of the Minnesota Fringe experience is Fringe Central. After a full day of fringing, you can spend time with the other artists producing shows and talk about your shared experience.
I mean, we’re all putting something out there and hoping like crazy that the audience likes what we are doing. When we do it any other time of the year, we don’t have the benefit of spending the evening drinking with a bunch of other people who are doing the same thing at the same time.
While we spend a lot of time talking about how much we liked each others shows, we talk about other stuff as well. We talk about why we decided to do the show we did. We talk about how we approached our work this year. We talk about reviews.
Ah the reviews.
Fringe Reviews – Days 3 & 4
I managed to watch several of my friends’ shows this weekend, which means I can spend the remainder of the Fringe finding new producers’ work to enjoy. While there is definitely personal bias because many of these folks are friends of mine, I really enjoyed most of the shows I saw this weekend because, in large part, I am fortunate to have very talented friends.
I had three of my own shows this weekend so I only saw five shows on Saturday and one on Sunday. Here’s what I managed to squeeze in.
Fringe Reviews – Day 2
Last night, I watched four more shows. My Fringing will slow down a bit this weekend as my two shows open. Here’s the write up of what I saw yesterday. I apologize for the brevity but I’ve got to get ready for my shows at some point!
For the record, The Complete Works of William Shatner (abridged) opens at 1:00 today (Saturday the 4th) in the Rarig Thrust and we also have a performance at 5:30 tomorrow (Sunday the 5th). Stop Talking: A Game of Talking opens at 2:30 tomorrow.
Fringe Festival 2012 – Narrowing Down the Choices
Well, here comes the Fringe! In addition to the two shows I’m Producing, there are a lot of other shows I’m looking forward to seeing at the Festival this year. I don’t imagine I’ll see everything on this list and I’m sure I’m missing some really good shows but right now, my list consists mostly of productions that feature at least one friend/acquaintance of mine.
I like comedy a lot so almost everything I’m going to see is a comedy. I’m sure there will be some great dramas at the Fringe but I’m not a serious guy and that is reflected in my choices.
Grail Diary 