Thank You Fringe Lovers!

Last week we ran our annual fundraising campaign, Spring for the Fringe, and we want to send out a hearty thank you to everyone who renewed or upgraded their gifts, or became a new donor—especially to those monthly donors who help keep the funds flowing throughout the year! The 2013 Fringe Festival simply could not be so great without such commitment.

We hope you connected with the stories about the Fringe’s beginnings, how theatre can connect people to each other and their sense of self, and our desire to spread that experience. We received some lovely messages from you and some random drop-ins to our office—all of which made us feel honoured to be part of your Fringe family.

You’ve come together to build the Festival you love into something extraordinary for 2013! We’re still counting, but Friday’s total of $5,000 brings the Festival closer to covering the basic costs of the 350+ Mainstage performances coming to the 2013 Festival. You’ve made a big difference!

Best of all, even though the official campaign is now done, there’s still time for those who haven’t donated, renewed, or increased your support to contribute to the 2013 Festival and join (or re-join) the ranks of the Fringe Lovers, heroes to the world!

Thanks again! And see you at the Festival!

Calling All Wannabe Fringe Board Members!

Do you love the Fringe?—really love the Fringe? There may be a special place for you at a special table. That’s right, the Fringe boardroom table (ok, it’s actually just a folding table in a multi-purpose room, but it’s still an important table!).

The Fringe is recruiting several new board members: ambassadors, advocates, and askers who will take leadership roles in shaping the future of the Fringe. You’ll need to have 5-10 hours per month and the drive to take the Fringe to new heights and possess the following:

• Deep commitment to the Fringe and our values
• Experience serving on boards
• Experience in business development, marketing, or theatre

Think this might be you? If you are interested, the first step is helping us get to know you a bit more by filling out this form and sending it to us by May 31. Then we’ll be in touch to find out if you’re the right match for the Fringe.

Vote Vote Vote!

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll know that British Columbia is in the midst of an election. If you haven’t voted in the advance polls, don’t forget to head to your voting place on May 14. Not sure where that is? Elections BC can help you find your Electoral District and show you where to vote.

If you can’t live without the arts, you’re not alone. Luckily, Arts Coalition BC built a website with election information, including party statements about arts and culture in BC from the Green Party, the BC Conservatives, the BC Liberals, and the BC NDP. Read these over and see which party is best aligned with your views on how the government should support BC’s arts and culture.

The Vancouver Chamber Choir sent our a questionnaire to 137 Metro Vancouver candidates about arts and culture issues. You can read the results here.

You can also check out the CBC’s Vote Compass, which asks about all topics and tells you where your opinions fall compared to those of the four major parties. Happy voting!

Ve Vaaaaant Your Bloooood

The Fringe has gotten together with Canadian Blood Services’ Partners For Life, a national program committed to saving lives through blood donations! Did you know one blood donation can save up to three lives?

Our office made a trip together to donate and eat free cookies. If you’d like to donate under the Fringe umbrella, you can use our partner ID, VANC013806 and register here. Or, consider signing up your organization for the Partners for Life program. You could get cookies too! All it takes is a little bit of blood.

rEvolver Theatre Festival

The latest from Up in the Air Theatre’s foray into festivals is rEvolver: the Changing Stage Theatre Festival. Branching from the Walking Fish Festival and the Neanderthal Festival, rEvolver will have a little bit of everything. In fact, they say to “Expect everything EXCEPT the Kitchen Sink.”

What you can certainly expect is the return of some Vancouver Fringe alumni!

Alley Theatre [Tape (2009), Lost in Space (2011)] is putting on Kayak, about a bleach-blond mom, alone in a kayak trying to save her son from his environmentalist girlfriend.

2011 Pick of the Fringe winner, Big Shot, has Jon Lachlan Stewart jumping from one character to another as the story of a SkyTrain shooting is told by the boy who witnesses it—as though it’s an action movie.

Creator of 2009’s Cam and Legs, Ramshackle Theatre, presents kid-friendly Sci-Fi Double Feature, a puppet show filmed and projected live on to the big screen. If you like campy b-movie science fiction, this one’s for you!

There’s lots more too, so be sure to check out rEvolver’s website to learn about all the shows and go see them May 14 to 26!

The Theatre Scene

Just a taste of what Vancouver has to offer in the way of theatre:

Next Stage Theatre Festival Accepting Applications
Now-May 24
Toronto
The Next Stage Theatre Festival is open for applications from any artist who has participated in at least one Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals festival, including the Vancouver Fringe! The NSTF will be held in January, 2014, in Toronto.

Festival Launch!: Professional Emerging Artists Accepting  Applications
Now-May 28
SFU’s Goldcorp Centre for the Arts
Are you a professional emerging artist? Participating in this Festival gives you the opportunity to showcase work before a panel of artistic professionals and participate in career-building workshops. Applications due May 28. Showcase and workshops June 21 and 22.

Never Shoot a Stampede Queen
May 9-25
Granville Island Stage
Directed and dramaturged by TJ Dawe, Never Shoot a Stampede Queen is Mark Leiren-Young’s award winning story of a city boy who takes a job as a reporter in a small town and meets unusual characters and reports on strange, strange news. Controversial tweet-seats are available May 15 and 22! Use the promo code “buddyholly” to get $10 off! Or use the code “newsie” and get two-for-one for Wednesday night shows and Saturday matinees when TJ, Zach, and Mark do talkbacks sessions.

Dissolve
May 20-24
CBC Studio 700
Fringe alumni Emmelia Gordon (The Progressive Polygamists) plays 14 characters in fellow Fringe alumni, shameless hussy productions’ of Dissolve, a show that’ll challenge your beliefs and behaviour surrounding alcohol, drugs, and sexual assault.

1/4 Life Crisis
May 22-25
Jericho Arts Centre
Being 25 sucks! Relationships are disappointing, and your dreams and your reality seem to run on parallel lines… but looking back at it can be hilarious! ¼ Life Crisis won the Audience Choice Award at the New York FRIGID Festival in 2010.

It all began in the recession days of 1983, when darkness reigned. Vancouverites had become weary of years of financial strain, the clinging irrelevance of overweight classic rockers, and the explosion of ‘80s neon, bad hair, and worse fashion. None of it was retro, yet, so times were tough!

Theatre had been the cultural space to explore politics, relationships, life—being human. But our culture had long turned to TV sitcoms. The little available independent theatre was scattered. No accessible and affordable space to connect financially-battered theatre artists and audiences seemed possible. Like today, many lived an isolated life with few, if any, truly nourishing cultural options.

But an unlikely troupe of theatre artists resisted, led by the fearless and feisty Joanna Maratta! Despite the risks, they saw only one option: create such a place themselves, restore theatre for the masses. They held a few shows to a small but enthusiastic (some say desperate) audience. Something important had begun.

In 1985, Edmonton Fringe founder Brian Paisley helped Joanna and the others take the next step: make it a local version of the famed Edinburgh Festival Fringe—only the second one in North America! The immense response proved their instinct true. The new Fringe Festival met a great need. Pursuing the vision of “theatre for everyone,” local artists and audiences began to do what neither could do alone: join to explore and share our humanity. A community was born and would spread its discoveries to the world!

Every year since then, like a phoenix, the Festival returns. Fringe audiences and artists—your Fringe community—recreate and resurrect the transformative gathering that is the Festival.

This September, you and your Fringe community will continue the quest to unite and nurture the world with theatre. This quest is fully achieved only with your help.

A gift of $250—that’s only $21 a month—funds a single Mainstage performance. 
Last year, Fringe Lovers heroically funded 20% of all Mainstage performances with their donations—let’s do even more together!Spring for a performance and bring the amazing Fringe experience to you and hundreds of others.
(Smaller, monthly gifts also sustain performances and add up quickly.)
Spring for the 2012 Fringe with a $21 monthly investment or a one-time $100 gift!
Join visionary founder, Joanna, and other Fringe Lover heroes to help Fringe artists create a unique experience for as many as possible. Make a gift to change the world. Spring for the Fringe today!

Onsite Is Back—and You Can Be Part of It!

The Fringe’s site-specific theatre program, Onsite, is back for a third year—and we’re super excited to bring you another batch of emerging artists and their unique theatre creations this September! Artists in the Onsite Program are chosen on a first come, first served basis and are mentored by The Only Animal, Vancouver’s premier site-specific theatre company. Since January, participating artists have been exploring spaces on Granville Island, coming up with story concepts, and looking at the challenges they’re bound to deal with once they’re performing in their site. Sites are currently going through an approval process, but we think they’ll be super exciting this year!

Do you want to be part of an Onsite show? Onsite artists are writer/directors and they will present their show concepts and what roles they are looking to fill to round out their production teams on May 27! Artists and theatre keeners can come to see if they can join in. Groups will potentially be looking for actors, stage managers, designers, and other positions. Interested? Just show up!

Renegade Productions Studio
125 East 2nd Ave., Vancouver
Monday, May 27 at 5:30pm.

We also want to send a shout out to the RBC Emerging Artists Support Project for help funding Onsite with a $10,000 donation! Thank you so much RBC for providing us with the opportunity to bring theatre to even more people.

UPDATE! The Fringe Mingler is now open to ALL FRINGE artists and people who want to be part of a Fringe show! Check out our Facebook event for a full description.

Hot Copy: Getting the Media and the Public to Notice Your Show

Learn how to plan a marketing campaign for your show, how to prepare a press kit, and much more from Fringe veteran and arts marketing specialist Deb Pickman. Deb is a two time Jessie nominated actress, a founding member of shameless hussy productions, has over 400 festival performances behind her for several companies, and is currently the Marketing and Communications Manager for Theatre at UBC.

Although this workshop is focused on performing at the Fringe Festival, all artists who are producing an upcoming show will benefit from Deb’s marketing and publicity experience. This is an incredibly valuable opportunity to learn from one of the best in publicity, and we strongly recommend all artists attend.

Monday April 29, 7-9:00pm
Carousel Theatre
1411 Cartwright Street, on Granville Island

$10 (free for artists participating in the 2013 Vancouver Fringe Festival)
Please RSVP to administration@vancouverfringe.com

Farewell Isabella! We miss you already.

As many of you know, last month we bid a fond farewell to our beloved Managing Director, Isabella Kessel. Isabella was with the Festival since 2008 and made a lasting impact with her talent and tenacity for systematization, her efficiency, and her bright energy. Isabella has returned to her homeland in Germany to live closer to family while raising her beautiful bilingual son.

Isabella’s achievements were many—including introducing new systems and policies for staff, volunteers, and artists. If you ever noticed that something improved from Festival to Festival, Isabella probably had something to do with it. She was always quick to roll up her sleeves if we got in over our heads or something went sideways, especially in the Volunteer Centre during the Festival. She was always learning, be it new HR practices or a new English phrase. She enjoyed working and called the Fringe “the best job she ever had.”

She also played hard and we have fond memories of staff days at the beach where she would set up a slack line for everyone to try. She was never a stranger to the dance floor and could beat anyone at the Foosball table (with maybe the exception of a couple of young volunteers who came from Germany in 2009, one of whom who was her niece!).

Isabella’s greatest contribution, however, was her unflagging belief in working together as a team. She always started by building a team with friends. Her first question when we had a position to fill was “who do we know?” The result was many tight knit seasonal teams. Her belief in teamwork is now deeply imbedded in the way we do things. She always insisted that we be “on the same page” or that things were being done “from the same hand.” Sometimes her way of expressing things was not quite as fluid as a native English speaker, but you always knew what she meant. She meant, “Let’s commit to working on this together, communicate clearly about progress, and not give up until we see it through and we can celebrate!” Is there a German word for that? To us it will always be “Isabella.” Thank you for everything from the depths of our Fringey hearts. We wish you all the best with your new life and we can’t wait until our paths cross again.

More Marketing!

The Fringe’s marketing and communications team has expanded with the addition of Alex Buchner filling the new role of Marketing Director!

Alex is a displaced prairie boy who finds himself perpetually confused by the temperate climate of Vancouver and this thing you call “ocean.” After earning a B.A. in philosophy from the University of Manitoba, he decided to make the switch to a far more profitable industry, live theatre. He brings with him extensive knowledge and experience promoting live theatre and looks forward to sitting in packed houses at this year’s Fringe.

Alex, and our Communications Director, Debby Reis will make sure that everyone in Vancouver knows the Fringe is happening this September. Welcome aboard Alex!

We’ll have our seasonal staff starting soon, and next thing you know, it’ll be time for Fringing.

Fringe Alumni at Vancouver’s Burlesque Festival

Watch some of the best shake their feathers and their tassels! The Vancouver International Burlesque Festival is coming May 2-4! Now in its eighth year, Van Burly Fest is one of the best attended burlesque festivals in the world.

You’ll find Fringe alumni, April O’Peel, Melody Mangler, and Razzle Tassel Burlesque performing at Burly along side international stars Imogen Kelly, the King of Boylesque Russel Bruner, host Foxy Tann, and burlesque legends Judith Stein and Shannon Ddoah!

“Burlesque can be so many things to different people which is why it has flourished lately. It can be sexy, it can be raunchy, it can be political, and it can be hilarious,” says Van Burly Fest’s board secretary, Sparkle Plenty.

For more info about Van Burly Fest, and to buy tickets, check out their website.

The Theatre Scene

Just a taste of what Vancouver has to offer in the way of theatre:

In the House Festival: 10th Year Anniversary Gala
May 9
Famee Furlane Hall
Celebrate the festival that can be in your home! Our good pal, David C. Jones, will be auctioneering and there’ll be music, storytelling, and clowns.

Brief Encounters
May 9-11 & May 23-25
Performance Works & The Cultch
Brief Encounters pairs two unlikely artists to create something new! With only two weeks to put something together, these artist pairs will fuse genres and push boundaries on stage. These May editions of Brief Encounters include a few Fringe-y faces too.

Mump & Smoot in Something
May 22 – June 2
The Cultch
We can’t believe it’s not sold out yet! Fringers are bound to remember Mump & Smoot, the clowns of horror who graced Fringe stages in the late ‘80s and ‘90s. This show is not for kids.

Jazz Festival needs volunteers!
June 21-July 1
Various
Every year the TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival brings the world’s best jazz artists to Vancouver. Register online to volunteer and be a part of the action. Volunteering is a great way to hear amazing music, gain experience, and receive exclusive volunteer-only benefits.