Ads infiltrate fringe fest

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.