One of the core ideas behind most fringe theater festivals is that anyone can sign up to perform. If you get your application
in early enough--and pay the nominal sign-up fee--your show is part of the event.
As demonstrated by the last few Indy Fringe festivals, that allows for a wide range of offerings, from the solidly professonal to the embarrassingly amateur and, semi-conversely, from the over-polished to the thrillingly fresh.
You can see for yourself when Indy Fringe runs here from Aug. 22-31 (For a full schedule, click here).
With the fringe open-door policy, it was only a matter of time before someone sullied things. At the granddaddy of such events, Scotland's Edinburgh Fringe Festival, a food manufacturer has created its own show to push a product. "Pot Noodle: the Musical" is part of this year's lineup.
A story here raises some interesting questions including: What if it's really good?
So are we only a few fringes away from "Long Day's Journey to Gander Mountain," "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Value City Suit" and "The Important of Being Ernest and Julio Gallo"?
And don't forget to check out this week's A&E previews at www.ibj.com/arts.
As demonstrated by the last few Indy Fringe festivals, that allows for a wide range of offerings, from the solidly professonal to the embarrassingly amateur and, semi-conversely, from the over-polished to the thrillingly fresh.
You can see for yourself when Indy Fringe runs here from Aug. 22-31 (For a full schedule, click here).
With the fringe open-door policy, it was only a matter of time before someone sullied things. At the granddaddy of such events, Scotland's Edinburgh Fringe Festival, a food manufacturer has created its own show to push a product. "Pot Noodle: the Musical" is part of this year's lineup.
A story here raises some interesting questions including: What if it's really good?
So are we only a few fringes away from "Long Day's Journey to Gander Mountain," "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Value City Suit" and "The Important of Being Ernest and Julio Gallo"?
And don't forget to check out this week's A&E previews at www.ibj.com/arts.
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IndyFringe exists to serve independent artists and to return l00% of the box office to them.
Applications are accepted on a first come, first serve basis until the festival runs out of theatres.
Shows are limited to one hour with a change-over time of 30 minutes between shows. Therefore, performers have to be clever about how they use that time and it really does dictate size of sets, number of cast members etc. Performers who tour the Canadian and US Fringe festival circuits have to travel light so they are usually one-man shows or up to three members otherwise it is just not economical for them. Spare a thought for international performers who travel thousands of miles to be in Indy. As we head into the fourth year, I think we will see a much more mature and balanced festival. Dance and drama vs cabaret and comedy, the box office will declare the winner!
Pauline Moffat
Executive Director
Indy Fringe
Whether we're talking about a show with advertising or we're debating
professional vs. amateur(ish), my experience has been that Indy Fringe is the
ultimate example of marketplace economics.
Because the festival takes place over a ten-day period, word-of-mouth is huge
for generating additional toward-the-end ticket sales. If a show is very ad-heavy
and lame, then, even if audiences don't sniff that out ahead of time, the word-of-
mouth will kick it to the curb before its second or third performance. If, however,
the show is compelling, innovative, hilarious, scandalous or otherwise remarkable,
even if it's an hour-long ode to General Motors, audiences will respond.
Viva la Fringe! And, more important, viva la Word of Mouth!
PS -- The Importance of Being Ernest and Julio Gallo? Heh.
As an IndyFringe volunteer who works for Gander Mountain (in the Distribution Center. Going on 8 years. Eight.Long.Years) you may have inspired me.
I look forward to seeing what you come up with...
Lou