A happy Fringe venue!

We hear lots from Fringe artists, volunteers, and audience members. But there’s one special group that we never hear from: Fringe Venues. As we emerge from our winter caves and gather together, we thought we should give voice to those crucial Festival players. So, without further ado… in their classic short email production of A Spring Fling Far Flung, we give you the Venues!

Spotlight centre stage.

Fringe Onsite (sobbing softly): Why have they left me?

Waterfront Theatre (a Fringe Mainstage): Oh stop with the drama, Onsite! I miss all the Fringe people, too, but they’ll be back soon enough. With all your unusual outdoor stages, can’t you just relax and enjoy your many identities?

Onsite: You’re right, Waterfront. It’s just that I feel like a bunch of ordinary places without them… You know, when they arrive I can actually feel them—it’s so exciting to become a stage! Waterfront: Yeah! Especially the first people, with their voices bouncing around my lobby. Then that rush as they stream in, all laughter and anticipation!… and those artists on my stage!! Oh my! Onsite: I can’t wait! Folks will find me on a floating dock. No! A spooky garage. No! A beautiful park!…

Waterfront: I’m excited too, but let’s focus on what’s important.

Fringe Bar (holding a disco ball): Legendary dance parties!! Waterfront: Uh, not quite. I meant how we bring this all together to happen again this year!

Fringe Bar: Right! Should be easy! Who doesn’t love the Fringe?… Wait a sec, this awesome Festival passes on 100% of the ticket money to the artists, right?… Onsite: Exactly!!… Uh… but then who pays for us??

Blackout. House lights come up on you.

Yes, friends, Fringe Venues need funding too. Help give artists and audiences the venues we all need. For a small monthly donation of only $21 or a lump-sum gift of $250—the cost of one Mainstage performance—you can help keep our lights on and our Festival strong! Smaller donations add up quickly, too.

Our goal is to fund at least one performance for each of our 28 years. You can get us there—do it for the Fringe Venues who love you!

Spring for a performance, Spring for the Fringe… Let’s make 2012 the best Festival ever!

Presented by the Fringe Venues who miss you and eagerly await your return! xoxo

The Vancouver Fringe is a registered charitable organization #118919547RR0001

Spring goslings invade Granville Island in all their cute fluffiness!

At last, we’ve turned the office heat off and opened the windows to that long-awaited Spring sunshine. The sun has returned to warm our bones. Granville Island is inundated with fluffy goslings, waddling after their mothers. Happy chirping in the air, the smell of cut grass, and the warmth on our faces (oh the warmth!) tells us Spring has sprung!

‘Round these parts, that means essential elements of the 2012 Festival are gathering as they emerge from hibernation like hungry bears. Artist lineups are being confirmed, volunteer recruitment is gearing up, and new staff are learning the ropes. But, truly, nobody is more essential to the Festival than YOU… and it’s Spring for you, too! It’s time to stretch out under the sun and provide the missing element that makes the Festival possible for everyone–the donor support of Fringe Lovers!

Though the ticket money goes right to the artists, donations provide the venues for them to change your world and the worlds of thousands of other people. 
You all know: this is YOUR Fringe and your investment makes it fantastic!!

In past years we’ve fundraised in October through $5K in 5 Days, inviting you to “Fall” for the Fringe and become a Fringe Lover. But with just over 100 days to the Festival, right now seems a much better time of year to be talking Fringe Love. So, we’re leaving Fall behind and asking you to Spring for the Fringe! We’ve got until Friday to reach the $7000 goal!

Believe it or not, a gift of $250—that’s only $21 a month—funds a single Mainstage performance and the type of indescribable experience that only happens at the Fringe. Spring for the cost of one of those performances and make that experience possible for you and hundreds of others in 2012. Smaller, monthly gifts also sustain performances and they add up quickly.

Spring for the Fringe with a $21 monthly investment or a one-time $100 gift!

Do it for the artists, your friends, yourself! Do it for the goslings! Do it for Spring!
Spring for the Fringe and help make 2012 the best Festival ever!

Wow! We’ve now got a luxurious trip to Cancun for our September 4 Opening Night Auction—save that date!

The Exquisite Hour Lives!

Lemonade lovers, don’t fret! The Exquisite Hour, which was supposed to be remounted as part of the Vancouver Playhouse Theatre Company’s Recital Hall Series, has now moved to the Revue Stage!

A lonely bachelor and an encyclopedia sales lady connect in The Exquisite Hour. May 1-12 at the Revue Stage on Granville Island.

We were all shocked by the Vancouver Playhouse’s sudden closure last month. The effects are widespread and deep. One of the losses is the support that the Playhouse gave to up and comers like Relephant Theatre and Snafu Dance Theatre (Little Orange Man). These companies were the first recipients of the Fringe Playhouse Award and were to be remounted as part of the Playhouse’s season. It will take a long time for the community to rebuild, but efforts are underway. As part of that rebuilding we will look for ways to recreate the opportunity for Fringe artists to be seen on the stages of professional theatres around town. In the meantime we are thrilled to announce that The Exquisite Hour WILL GO ON!

As a precursor to the Award’s official launch at the 2011 Festival, the 2010 Vancouver Fringe show, The Exquisite Hour, was supposed to be on at the Recital Hall from April 20 to May 5, 2012. Sadly, with the Playhouse closure came the cancellation of the production.

The team at Relephant Theatre quickly went to work to find another venue. After all, they had been preparing for months! With a little help from friends in the theatre community, including the Arts Club, which is providing production support, the Relephants were able to secure the Revue Stage on Granville Island for The Exquisite Hour, which will run from May 1 to 12!

Lucky for you, you can still catch this enchanting production about a bachelor and an encyclopedia sales lady, all while drinking a lovely glass of lemonade. Click for more info and tickets.

Giant Invisible Robot Part of TREMORS Festival

Did you hear that? Or maybe you felt it?

The TREMORS Festival is on April 10-28, 2012.

Emerging artists are descending on Vancouver for TREMORS, Rumble Productions’ performing arts festival, including Fringe Festival hit, and the 2011 Georgia Straight Critics’ Choice Award winner, Giant Invisible Robot!

Giant Invisible Robot features Russell, an extremely shy young man, and his giant, invisible, and destructive robot. It left a few Fringe staffers in tears and more than one of us developed a little crush on performer and writer Jayson McDonald. Rumble’s Laura Efron saw the show during the 2011 Fringe and it stayed in her memory too. So when another performer had to drop out of TREMORS, Giant Invisible Robot came to mind right away. It’s on at the Cultch April 17 to 21.

But there are other shows too, and for a mere $40, you can see three of the four shows (Giant Invisible Robot, Endgame, and A Last Resort), plus you get 20% off if you choose to see The Last Days of Judas Iscariot too! Click here for more info and tickets.

Plus, there’s also the (free!) TREMORS Showcase with emerging artists and their original pieces on April 15 at the Cultch! Visit Rumble Productions’ website for details.

The 2011 Fringe staff bonded pretty quickly. Think you can bond with us too? Apply for a job or internship!

Work for the Fringe

The 2012 Fringe Festival is just around the corner! To get ready, we need a big team of seasonal staff and interns. Think you’ll fit right in? Check out our postings! Right now we’re hiring for the following positions:
Volunteer Coordinator
Lead Designer
Communications Coordinator (internship)
Fundraising & Events Assistant (internship)
Artist Services Coordinator

We’ll be posting more positions soon, so keep any eye out!

P.S. Although we joke about Exquisite Robots in the headline, we do not actually want to work with robots, exquisite or otherwise.

Thanks for Taking the Quiz!

Thanks to everyone who took the time to learn about charity fraud by taking the CanadaHelps and Capital One Charity Fraud Awareness Quiz! And special thanks to those of you who chose the Fringe at the end of the quiz for your donation—you make the Festival happen!

As your charity of choice, the Fringe will get an extra $10 from Capital One for your donation. You lovely quiz takers raised $1,147.72—that amount funds the entire run of a Mainstage artist!… And we haven’t even counted the top ups from Capital One yet!

If you donated $25 or more, you get the fame of recognition on our website (among other Fringe Benefits). Donated $1-24? We love you too! Ask us for a hug anytime! And a BIG SECRET SMOOCHY HUG to the mysterious Ms. or Mr. Anonymous who gave $250. Whoever you are, you are Anonymawesome!

Missed out but still want to make amazing theatre possible? You can choose from lots of cool (and easy) options.

So, huge thanks to the following quiz takers who donated to the Fringe!

March is Charity Fraud Awareness Month and CanadaHelps and Capital One are teaming up once again to teach you about charity fraud!

Last year you helped the Fringe become a major recipient by taking their quiz, which asked questions that gave tips on avoiding charity fraud.

This year, help us again! Take the new quiz, make a donation to us (just search “Vancouver International Fringe Festival” when you’re prompted), and Capital One will add an extra $10 to your donation (up to $25,000 or March 31, whichever comes first)! And don’t forget that you can donate as little as $1 for us to get the extra $10!

Charity fraud sucks but donating in March is awesome! Take the quiz now and donate to the Fringe!

2012 Plans in Motion

Think it’s too early to start planning the 2012 Fringe Festival? Little do you know that we’ve been planning since October 2011!

Can you donate a couple nights at your cottage for our Opening Night?

We’ve been working super hard and want you to save the date for the 2012 Opening Night! Come out to Performance Works on September 4 and you’ll get to bid on brunch at the fancy Sylvia Hotel, travel vouchers from WestJet, Chilliwack River Rafting, and a Stanley Park package that will include Stanley Park Horse-Drawn Tours. And that’s just what we’ve collected so far! And of course the night will feature showcases from 2012 Festival artists, along with more fun times! We’ll continue hunting around for more items too, so you know, if you can donate a night at your cottage, can spare some Canucks tickets, or have another idea for a great auction item, contact Ana Elena Garza at events[at]vancouverfringe.com.

Artists have been busy applying to the Festival since November and we’re happy to report that the Mainstage, Onsite, and BYOV categories are now all full! Artists are still welcome to apply for BYOV and Onsite, but they will be waitlisted. Curious to see who’s in? Check out our list of accepted and waitlisted artists here.

This year’s Festival will be held September 6 to 16 and our Opening Night will be on September 4. See you all there!

Chocolate and Squid and Flights! Oh my!

In our last newsletter, we told you about confirming sponsorships for the 2012 Festival. As promised, we have more updates!

What does Arlene Dickinson have to do with the Fringe? She's evaluating our sponsor, Camino, on CBC's The Big Decision.

WestJet is our newest sponsor and we’re super excited to celebrate the airline’s 16th year serving Canadians by having them join our 11-day party! On top of the totally top secret treats we’re working on with WestJet to make your Festival experience even more fantastic, WestJet is providing us with free flights! We’ll be auctioning some of these off at our Opening Night.

2012 will see the return of fair trade organic Camino goodies! In this fifth year of our partnership, the exciting new ways Camino will support our Festival fundraising efforts will bring that sweet smile to everyone’s face (and tummies). Keep your eyes peeled for the Camino Lounge and other opportunities to satisfy your sweet tooth while supporting the Fringe! And Camino has some exciting news too! On March 19, they’re being featured on the CBC show, The Big Decision. Camino will be live tweeting their reactions to the amplified drama of reality TV, so check it out at @caminolala.

Speaking of tasty things, Dockside Restaurant is back on board with the Fringe! Known for their use of OceanWise  certified seafood and their amazing patio (which is featured in this nifty video), Dockside will once again be supporting our Opening Night party at Performance Works (remember that delicious Chili Squid?).

Hope you’re getting as excited about the Festival as we are!

Theatre News and Happenings

Vancouver Playhouse Theatre Company Closing
We’re sad to report that on March 9, the Vancouver Playhouse Theatre Company announced that it will be closing its doors for good. With cuts to arts funding in recent years and substantial cash flow issues, the Playhouse has accumulated nearly a million dollars in debt. Fifteen staff members and 200 contract artists will be losing work with the closure. The Vancouver Playhouse played an important role in developing emerging artists such as our Fringe Onsite mentor, Kendra Fanconi of The Only Animal, as well as countless others. We’re sad to say that this means that the Fringe will lose the Fringe Playhouse Award and 2010′s The Exquisite Hour and 2011′s Little Orange Man, will not have a chance to be showcased at the Vancouver Playhouse. For more information, read the story in the Vancouver Sun.

Taking Home the Silver! And First Place!
The Fringe is pleased to accept the honour of being voted “Silver” in WE’s (the WestEnder) Best of the City in the Performing Arts Festival category. Thanks to everyone who voted—we sure feel loved! To add to the love, we were also awarded first place in the Vancouver Courier’s 2012 Reader’s Choice Awards for Best Performing Arts Festival according to East Side readers! Thanks everyone!

Send NGGRFG to the Edinburgh Fringe!
NGGRFG is the story of a bullied gay black kid and how he faces two words, and the people who use them to hurt him. It made a big splash at the 2010 Vancouver Fringe Festival with huge lineups every night! Now, NGGRFG wants to head to the biggest Fringe Festival in the world, Edinburgh! And you can help! Make a pledge on Kickstarter to send Berend McKenzie and his team to the biggest arts festival on the planet!

World Theatre Day: March 27
March 27 marks the 50th anniversary of World Theatre Day! There’ll be events all over the world, including here in Vancouver. Check out the Greater Vancouver Professional Theatre Alliance for events. Plus, award-winning actor, director, and producer, John Malkovich, will write this year’s speech. It’ll be read at a Parisian gala on March 22. We’re sure it’ll be super inspirational!

Handmade-y Fringe Valentines Cards like these were emailed to people who donated during Flaunt Your Fringe! Meanwhile, Fringe Lovers got handmade ones in the mail.

Well it’s that loving time of the year again… but, actually, it’s a time to celebrate loving that happens the rest of the year too! Really, what better time is there than Valentine’s Day to thank those who love the Fringe enough to donate?

We’re blushing with the love we receive each year during the Festival and the fundraising campaigns we run. This year, we sent hand-made cards (each one unique) to all our Fringe Lovers. Meanwhile, those who took the Festival challenge to Flaunt Your Fringe! got one of these homemade-y cards via email.

“Sweetheart” donors Judith and Ethel Coffin got their cards yesterday and have already told us how much they appreciate our crafty and loving thanks!

It’s not too late—Valentine’s Day love continues and you, too, can show your love for the Fringe! Thanks and smooches to all of you!

Update: BYOV and Onsite Shows in 2012 Festival

Artist applications keep rolling in for our Bring Your Own Venue (BYOV) category, but our Onsite program is already full!

Peter 'n' Chris will be back as a BYOV for the 2012 Fringe. Rumour has it, their show is called "Peter 'n' Chris Explore their Bodies." Photo by Emily White.

The lottery for the Fringe Festival Mainstage category happened back in December, but we’ve been accepting BYOV and Onsite applications since January 17.

Onsite filled up in only three days and we’re super excited to see what new sites artists will animate during the Festival. There are even two artists giving Onsite another go (Ingrid Nilson of Yum/Yuck and Christina Campbell of Rove)!

BYOV applications keep on coming in and we’re going to take on as many as we can handle. We’re pleased to see, Peter ‘n’ Chris and David C. Jones in the BYOV category as well as Jacques Lalonde, back for his 26th Fringe in a row! And a new venue, CBC Studio 700, will also be part of the Fringe. And there’ll be some exciting site-specific shows outside of the Onsite program, including a show at Paul’s Omelettery.

If you’re an artist and thinking about doing a BYOV show, read this, but keep in mind that at this point in time, site-specific shows are more likely to be accepted.

Click here to see the whole lineup of all artists and the waitlists.

And in other news: Beercake

There are so many players that have to come together to make a great Fringe Festival. The artists, obviously, have to create interesting work. Patrons like you have to come out to see and discuss the shows. Volunteers help make the Festival run smoothly. Not to mention that Fringe staff and interns, our donors, government supporters, and the media all add to the creation of the Festival.

Baker extraordinaire, Lois Dawson, cuts the St. Ambroise beercake she made for us to celebrate a renewed contract with the beer brand!

Sponsors play a major role too! They contribute cash and in-kind supplies. The Festival would be much smaller and less awesome without their support. That’s why we’re happy to announce that St. Ambroise, our Fringe Bar sponsor, and the provider of all the beer sold at the Festival, has committed to the Fringe for another three years! To celebrate, we dug around the St. Ambroise McAuslan website and found a recipe for Chocolate Cake. We asked our good friend and former staffer, Lois Dawson, to make it to celebrate our new contract with St. Ambroise!

Lois was live tweeting at she baked, using the #beercake hashtag, all the while making the Vancouver theatre community drool. The cake was huge, but she managed to get to our office where we all chowed down on the massive St. Ambroise Oatmeal Stout cake in celebration of signing our new contract!

We’re working hard on other Partnerships too! We’re excited to announce that car2go has confirmed a second year with even greater involvement and WestJet is coming on board as a super new Partner! We’ll post updates on how they’ll be involved in the Festival in September, so stay tuned!

Donor Profile: Siobhán Quinn & Stephen Silverthorne

You may have seen Siobhán Quinn and Stephen Silverthorne at the Festival in their creatively altered Fringe volunteer shirts, and Siobhán likely with her knitting. The pair have been Fringers since the early 1990s at the Montreal Fringe. And although they didn’t meet at the Fringe, they certainly bonded over it when they did—how could they not when they each see dozens of shows every year?!

Fringe Lovers, Siobhán and Stephen.

But they don’t just see shows, they are both long-time volunteers. Siobhán started volunteering in Montreal in 1996, when she was promoted to venue captain on her first shift! Stephen started volunteering with us in 2010. “I figured I’d been enjoying the Festival for so long and realized I had some office/organizational skills that might match up to positions creative types might not be so keen to volunteer for… so I became a bean counter!” Stephen explains. He even suggested we create a new volunteer position, Count Room Captain, a role he filled in 2011.

The couple started “Going Steady” with the Fringe in 2010 with monthly donations as a reaction to arts funding cuts. “We figured we could afford to chip in to help ensure the viability of a Festival we love,” they shared. “Not only do Fringe Festivals give artists a venue that they might not ordinarily have, it gives audiences an opportunity to experience a wealth of live theatre!” Siobhán elaborates.

Siobhán has also donated to the Fringe in an unusual way. She loves a knitting challenge, so she knit our mascot Jimmy and a handful of chickens! We love them and that yarn-Jimmy represents us on Twitter and Facebook.

Do you want to join Stephen and Siobhán and become Fringe Lovers? Donate here or get more info.

Wanted: Fringe Artists

Cast and crew of the 2010 Fringe hit, Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog at the Firehall Arts Centre. Photo by Lachlan McAdam.

So, you have a great idea for a Fringe show, but you didn’t make it into the 2012 Festival through the Lottery? Or maybe you’re a theatre maker looking for a challenge? Well, you can still be part of the 2012 Vancouver Fringe Festival!

Starting January 17, we will start accepting applications for BYOV/Site-Specific Shows and for the Fringe Onsite Program and we’ll accept as many as we can.

So what’s the difference between Fringe Onsite and the BYOV/Site-Specific categories?

Fringe Onsite session at the site for "wreckage." Photo by Thorsten Gohl.

Fringe Onsite is an 11 week program with mentorship from The Only Animal, Vancouver’s premier site-specific theatre company. Don’t come with a script, or even an idea! You’ll be challenged with a space on Granville Island and have to build a show around that site.

The BYOV/Site-Specific categories are for those of you with an idea in mind already. We have pre-approved venues (however we will consider others), or if you already have a story based on an unusual site, then this might be the category for you.

Read up now, because January 17 is just days away!

Gaming Grant Update

As many of you know, in 2009 there was a major shift in funding for arts and culture in BC when most arts organizations, including ours, became ineligible for Community Gaming Grants. We had just secured a three-year agreement from Gaming which has carried us through until now. It was a long two years in which many of our colleagues struggled and reduced their activity significantly—and the Fringe panicked and fundraised.

Christy Clark announcing restoration of adult arts organizations eligibility for Gaming Grants at the Port Moody Arts Centre on January 11, 2012.

In the interim, Premier Christy Clark commissioned an independent review to undo the “mistake” (her own words) that was made at that time. The review was extensive and engaged 1,700 British Columbians in dialogue about the value that community groups bring to our province. The review has now been completed and options given to the government. The report is long and the options are many, but the most important result from our perspective was that our eligibility to apply for Gaming Grants was restored. There is less funding available than there was in 2008 (by $21 million dollars), but we are again eligible.

What we learned over the past two years of preparing for such a major loss is that we have a strong and broad base of supporters that we can count on. You have been, and will continue to be, our best bet because you understand the value of what we do. The change in policy in 2009 indicated that the government did not understand the value of arts in our communities. Not only did they cut arts funding, but they made the arts community virtually ineligible to apply for funding. Throughout her announcement speech Premier Clark talked about the ability of community groups to deliver services effectively and with agility, which indicates there is perhaps a renewed understanding of what the non-profit arts sector can and does do with government investment.

We are thankful that there has been a change of heart in government although the investment is considerably smaller. The uncertainty does continue—we don’t know if we will receive a grant—and we don’t know if it will be anywhere near the amount formerly invested in us. We are most thankful that when mistakes were made in 2009, Fringe supporters like you gave us hope and courage to carry on despite the uncertainty.

Gaming Grants are not awarded for artistic merit but for community engagement, one thing we have in spades. So thank you for being such a strong community. We hope to report in the future that the engagement we have together will be acknowledged with a grant from BC Gaming.

—David Jordan
Executive Director
Vancouver Fringe Festival

Donor Profile: Don Wright

Back in the early days of the Vancouver Fringe Festival, a man named Don Wright got involved—first as a patron in a car load of UCFV Theatre Department kids, then as a writer and actor in Blue Herring and Sex Outside the Box (“we were thrilled when a Vancouver Sun writer gave us one star out of five,” Don laughs), as a volunteer when the Fringe moved to Granville Island, and finally as a monthly donor last year.

Don Wright on top of the Pyramid of the Sun (Teotihuacan, near Mexico City).

“I fully understand that a monthly commitment really helps organizations with cash flow and budgeting,” Don explains. “And given the challenging political and economic climate for arts organizations, I felt it was time to show that I support the Fringe in this important way.”

But the Fringe isn’t the only charity Don is involved with. For the past 10 years he’s been the Regional Activism Coordinator (BC-Yukon) for Amnesty International. “It is a great pleasure to support people willing to engage in protecting the human rights of others,” Don says.

“But how can the Fringe’s work compare to that of Amnesty,” we asked Don. “I would say donate to both. I certainly do. The founding issue for Amnesty International 50 years ago was freedom of expression, and although there were no artists in the first set of cases, many writers and playwrights have been the subject of Amnesty appeals,” Don explains.

Don brought Amnesty International and the Fringe together in Short and Sweet: Small Plays for Big Ideas for the 2011 Fringe. “When the directors and I debriefed after the Fringe, one of them noted that we had ‘helped the artists see human rights, and helped the humanitarians see art.’”

Currently, Don is traveling in Central and South America on a one-year sabbatical. He’s hoping to catch some theatre as his Spanish improves. “It is really the culture, the way people live and organize their lives, and present themselves and their world views through the arts that [my partner and I] are particularly looking forward to,” Don shares. You can check up on Don via his blog, here.

Food at the Public Market

Chef led tour of the Public Market. Photo courtesy of Tourism Vancouver.

Food and wine are two of the greatest things in life. A third is another reason to come down to Granville Island (besides the Fringe Festival of course). That’s why Plated and Paired at the Granville Island Public Market promises to be such a great event!

As part of Dine Out Vancouver, the Public Market shops will provide cheese, pastries, and sausages, along with tasty morsels created by Granville Island’s chefs, and pair them with BC wines (including some from our wine sponsor, Mark Anthony).

Sadly, Plated and Paired is already sold out, but that doesn’t mean you can’t discover all the tastiness the Public Market has to offer! Edible Canada has chef guided tours of the Public Market, plus some other stops around Granville Island. Another option is just to wander the Public Market. But before heading down, please not that the Market will be closed on Mondays throughout January.

Fair Trade for Children and Families!

We served Camino juices at the Camino Lounge and we're donating the rest to a deserving school. Photo by Lachlan McAdam.

We’re thrilled to announce that the Fringe and our sponsor Camino will donate over 150 litres of fair trade organic juice to the students and families of Admiral Seymour Elementary School. The juice is a tasty surplus from the 2011 Camino Lounge, which enticed lucky Fringe patrons to donate in exchange for generous samples of Camino’s new fair trade organic juice and candy bar lines. The yummy and nutritious juices are a great way to support the growing children of this 100+-year-old school, whose wish list raises serious questions about how children can have such need while living in such a wealthy city. Camino’s donation reminds us that we are all one community.

“This helps us meet our goal of helping families meet the immediate need of providing healthy food to their kids. Organic fruits and vegetables are the most expensive foods to provide and many families can’t afford it. It’s kind of like gold to them,” Admiral Seymour teacher extraordinaire, Carrie Gelson, says. “The school puts together weekly bags of groceries and other items that they send home with the kids for their families and this juice will be included.”

Carrie will be speaking on January 25 at the End Child Poverty Now! forum at Langara College to bring awareness to this important issue.

We at the Fringe extend a huge thanks to Camino and welcome the students, families, and staff of Admiral Seymour into our extended family. We think you’re an essential part of our community!

Hello. Goodbye.

Our newest intern, Ana!

You all know that the super dedication of our interns lends us an almost indestructible power to do more than your average festival. Well, the Fringe has reason to celebrate yet another amazing volunteer to our ranks: Ana Elena Garza! Originally hailing from the beautiful 500-year-old city of Monterrey, Mexico, Ana has joined the Development Department to support its off-season efforts to prepare for the 2012 Festival and beyond. Ana brings a great mix of experience with site-specific and other theatre, cool small-scale events, and edgy and fun marketing and public relations work. With her indomitable enthusiasm and alert sense of humour, she’s got the perfect background and attitude to make her mark on the Fringe and help us support a fantastic 2012 Festival. We’re very excited to have her on the team!

Miss Aleks is leaving, but we'll love her forever.

Continuing much of the same work, Ana will be filling the impressive boots (and you should see her dresses!) of Aleks Brzozowski, whose time as Development Coordinator has sadly come to a close. Aleks did a phenomenal job as the right hand (and sometimes left!) of Gareth Duncan, helping evolve the Development Department into a well-organized and focused component of the Fringe. We already miss her!

Lottery Success!

Last Wednesday, December 7, we held our Mainstage Lottery at the ANZA Club to choose who will be on the Mainstages during the 2012 Vancouver Fringe Festival! We received over 200 applications for a mere 48 spots, so tensions were high as the lottery went on. Between drawing applications, we held group high-fives, had a group scratch-and-win scratch off, and 10-second dance parties (with prizes including tattoos, disco balls, and juice from our sponsor Camino), all the while being live tweeted to artists and fans around the world!

Fringe Fest Executive Director, David Jordan, points out that there are only a few spots available in the Vancouver Fringe Mainstage category! Photo by Sadia Khan.

The Mainstage category includes shows in the Fringe on our seven Mainstage venues (Revue Stage, Waterfront Theatre, Performance Works etc). The Fringe provides these artists with a venue, schedule, technician (for lighting, sound etc), as well as front of house volunteers, marketing support, and more. Artists in these coveted spots are chosen by lottery and we divide them into three categories: provincial, national, and internationally based artists. But because of the Vancouver Fringe’s role in the Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals (CAFF), which held their touring lottery on October 19, priority spots were given to eight tour winners. The remaining 40 spots were open to artists who applied and many were in attendance at the ANZA. They were given a Jimmy balloon so we could spot them if their name was drawn.

The night started off with a couple other draws: the Membership draw, which was won by Sean Quigley, who gets a Superpass for the 2012 Fringe Festival and a gift basket from Legacy Liquor. The second draw was from participants who took our 2011 Audience Survey; and a 2012 Superpass was awarded to Lindsey Taylor!

Then we started drawing artists. Amazing show names were being called, like Chlamydia dell’Arte: A Sex-Ed Burlesque, 411 Dramaturgy’s Almost Complete Works of Hip-Hop, and John Grady with Fear Factor: Canine Edition. With names like these you start to get excited!

Festival favourites like Jem Rolls, Martin Dockery, 2011 Spirit of the Fringe Award Winner, Cameryn Moore, and 2011 Fringe hit-makers, Wonderheads will also be in the Fringe next year!

Gail MacKenzie leaps out of her seat when she learns she's been drawn for a spot in the 2012 Fringe. Photo by Dallas Kolotylo.

The most palpable excitement came from artists who were there when their application was drawn. Mortal Wombat’s Jennifer Siddle was in the house to talk about her show, Caps Lock: The Musical, an exploration on social media’s effect on relationships. Gail MacKenzie, who will be producing Boobies, Tits, Breasts and Bosoms, leaped up to the stage when her show was drawn. Congratulations to all the winners! To see who’s in and who’s on the waitlist, click here.

Following the Lottery, Peter ‘n’ Chris gave a hilarious performance that included their own take on Shakespeare. The boys didn’t make it in the lottery though. We expect a Bring Your Own Venue (or Onsite) application from them. Anyone can submit one and we’ll accept them on a first come, first served basis beginning January 17.

A special shout out to Tristan Orchard, who DJed all the 10-second and closing dance parties during the lottery and to photographers Sadia Khan, and Dallas Kolotylo and Sabrina Smith of Dallas Kolotylo Photography.

We’re super excited about the Festival next year and hope you are too!

Fringe Baby! (err…Donor Profile!)

Meet Christina Price. Christina is a special part of the Fringe family. Not only has she been a volunteer, but she’s also a donor, a former staff member, and her bouncing new baby boy Matthew was practically born at the Fringe.

Christina and Matthew Price are big time Fringe supporters!

Christina first came to the Fringe Festival in 2003 after working for a year in Japan. To become reacquainted with Vancouver, she decided to do some volunteer work, and she was hooked on the Fringe from the get-go. “Not only did I see some incredible shows (for free!), but as a volunteer I was treated with so much respect and appreciation,” Christina says, recalling her first experiences. When she came to work for the Festival as the Interim Festival Manager (covering maternity leave for Isabella Kessel), Christina loved being one of the folks continuing the trend of showing love towards that fantastic team  of more than 500.

But before starting her job with the Fringe, Christina began donating to the Festival. “I heard that the BC Government was taking away the Fringe’s Gaming funding, and while I knew my little donation couldn’t make up for the tens of thousands of dollars that the Fringe would be missing, I was so outraged I wanted to put my money where my mouth was,” she explains. “The Fringe is such an incredible organization, managing with very little money to put on a world-class Festival that celebrates artistic freedom and risk-taking and is accessible to artists, audiences, and volunteers. But really, I donate to the Fringe because it’s had such an enormous impact on my life.”

Which brings us to Matthew: While covering a maternity leave position, Christina herself became pregnant. All summer long, Matthew kept expanding her belly. But Christina, die hard Fringer that she is, kept right on working through the Fringe in September, until September 17, two days before the end of the Festival, when Matthew was born. We even had a radio code in case Christina went into labour while at  the Festival, but “the chicken was hatched” at Lions’ Gate Hospital.

Matthew has started his volunteering early in life as the Roots of Empathy baby at Tyee Elementary School, but Christina is looking forward to having him join her at the Fringe. “Part of the reason I donate to the Fringe is because I feel it’s up to people like me to ensure that the Fringe is still around when my son is old enough to volunteer—or produce a show!”

Thanks Christina, not only for donating, but for being part of our extended family, and for letting us be part of yours!

$5,000 in Five Days: *Update*

Slow and steady wins the race! Thanks to everyone who donated to the Fringe during our $5,000 in Five Days campaign this past October! Although we missed our five-day target, we did reach our $5,000 goal! Thanks to everyone who gave to us. Your dollars make the Festival, and our commitment to artist development, better!

You can still donate to the Fringe and support local artists, but this is your last chance for a 2011 tax receipt! You know the tax man will love you for it. Donate $25 or more by December 31 and we’ll get you a receipt for the 2011 tax year. Wait till January and we’ll give you one for 2012!

Happy Holidays!

Ah, the holidays…a time to drink some eggnog, wrap presents for your loved ones, and synch the Christmas lights to your favourite techno song. And we want to be a part of it! To celebrate the season, we’ve been slogging through YouTube videos to entertain you. Have some fun with our online Advent Calendar on Twitter or Facebook. We’ll be posting daily, so keep your eyes peel for more random entertainment!

Happy holidays from the Fringe!

Jimmy loves lotteries.

Can’t wait for the 2012 Vancouver Fringe Festival?! Neither can we! So come out and be part of the start of next year’s Festival:

What: Vancouver Fringe 2012 Mainstage Lottery Party
Where: The ANZA Club (3 West 8th Avenue, Vancouver)
When: December 7 at 8:00pm
How Much?: Bring a scratch and win for entry! (Don’t worry, no one will be turned away!)

We’ll be drawing the artists who will appear in the 2012 Fringe Festival (Mainstage category) and you’re invited to be the first to find out who’s in! “Draw?” you ask? Yes, that’s right! We literally draw applications from a set of hats to choose the lineup for the Festival.

We’ll be treated to a special performance from Fringe heart throbs and 2011 Pick of the Fringe winners, Peter ‘n’ Chris. Then we’ll dance the night away with DJ Tristan Orchard!

And if you can’t make it, be sure to follow us on Twitter cause we’ll be live tweeting the results!

Do you want to be in the draw? Apply now because Mainstage applications are due November 30 at 4:00pm PST. For info on how to apply for the BYOV category or for the Onsite Program, click here.

See you on December 7!

Leonard Schein is a True Star

You might recognize Leonard Schein’s name from Vancouver’s film culture—after all he is a co-partner in Festival Cinemas and he founded the Vancouver International Film Festival, so you might wonder what on earth he has to do with the Fringe (and trust us, he’s not confused that we’re actually some alternative film festival like some people).

Leonard Schein loves theatre, be it live or at the movies.

“The Fringe is one of the best theatre experiences that we have in Vancouver,” Leonard explains. “And it is certainly the most accessible from a cost perspective of any live performances in Vancouver.”

Leonard has been involved with the Fringe for so long, he doesn’t even remember when he got started! But he sat on our board for a number of years. “It was great seeing these talented people in little venues in East Vancouver,” Leonard says, remembering his early days with the Fringe. “It was refreshing to see original and unique performances.”

On Saturday, September 17, also known as Leonard Schein Day, Leonard matched all donations made during our Sweet on the Fringe pre-show pitches and the Flaunt Your Fringe ticket top-up campaign. This generous contribution has earned Leonard the prestigious title of the Fringe’s One True Love (AKA our top donor). Thanks so much Leonard!

While Leonard feels great about the recognition, he says, “my main motivation was to increase other people’s donations by inspiring them.”

Feeling inspired? Donate today!

Thanks for the Art!

As you may know we are supported by many donors and many in-kind donors. This year, when we made a call out via our newsletter for items for our fundraising auctions, we were overwhelmed by one particular gift. Mark and Linda Belzberg donated two paintings to us, one worth approximately $8,000 and the other $13,000!

We'll selling Michael Israel's Bono BW at an art auction some day soon.

The first is Theo Tobiasse’s La Douceur du Thé et des Ponts de Venise. Tobiasse’s work is often referred to as modern primitivism and he touches on themes of exile and childhood reminiscence.

The other is Michael Israel’s Bono BW. Israel is a showman. He creates his pieces with a live audience and musical performances as he leaps around throwing paint at the canvas. No one is ever really sure what will come of the painting, but he tends to focus on pop culture personalities.

You can imagine how pleasantly shocked we were to receive this phone call. We were so honoured that Mark and Linda, long-time supporters of the Fringe, thought of supporting us with these unique gifts. Given that we’d never sold anything for more than $1,000 in our auctions, we decided we weren’t quite ready to sell them there. We’re currently planning on selling them in a future art auction—unless anyone out there is a really big U2 fan…

If you’re interested in contacting us about these paintings, email Gareth Duncan at fundraising[at]vancouverfringe.com.

Shiny, Beautiful, Printed Things

“Wow, that was fast,” was a sentiment felt in the office the first time we had an item printed with PrintPrint.ca (an Ultra Xpress Company)—and that sentiment was refreshed every time we got an order delivered. And the Fringe prints a lot of little things: membership cards, passes, posters, flyers, and more!

Fringe items printed with PrintPrint.ca.

PrintPrint.ca got its start in 2001 when Salim Lakhani, who was a local night club and arts events promoter, started printing his own promotional materials. He soon realized that Vancouver needed a fast, affordable printer and PrintPrint.ca was born! The company grew quickly, doubling its size by 2004. They’re now located downtown and have a full production facility where you can get pretty much anything you need printed.

PrintPrint.ca wants to offer Fringers a deal! If you start following PrintPrint.ca on Twitter you’ll get $10 off your next order! And they’re running a special deal on tent cards and posters, just ‘cause they love hockey season so much! Click here for a special deal for insiders only!

Theatre Community Briefs

Baby, It’s Cold Outside
Those teen sensations, Awkward Stage Productions are at it again! This time they’ll be performing a cabaret with songs from Avenue Q, Songs for a New World, and Spring Awakening—not to mention their Fringe hits 13 and Smile! See it December 7 and 8 at CBC Studio 700. Visit Awkward Stage Productions’ website for tickets and details.

Here at the Fringe, we couldn't help but Photoshop the the Neanderthal Arts Festival mascot and the promo image from Baby, It's Cold Outside.

Neanderthal Arts Festival Call for Submissions
The Fringe isn’t the only place in town for new and experimental theatre! The Neanderthal Arts Festival takes place July 21-31 at the Cultch and they’re currently accepting applications from artists! Unlike the Fringe, Neanderthal is juried, so you have to know what you’ll be presenting when you apply. Applications are due December 15. Check out the details and the application.

Greater Vancouver Professional Theatre Alliance
Did you know that there’s an alliance of theatre companies and professionals in Vancouver? There is! They’re called the Greater Vancouver Professional Theatre Alliance (lovingly referred to as the GVPTA) and they do all sorts of great stuff to promote theatre in Vancouver, like producing the Vancouver Theatre Guide. It’s one of the best places to find out about what’s on in the city (and they have a mobile version too)! You can even sign up to get their weekly newsletter, Casting the Net to get theatre listings sent right to your inbox! We love the GVPTA and think that you will too!

So You Wanna Be a 2012 Fringe Artist?

So you wanna be a Fringe artist? Well, you can! Applications for 2012 Fringe Festival will be available online starting November 1! Applications are open to everyone! And we want everyone to apply!

How do we choose shows for the Festival? They are literally drawn from a hat!

Applications for the Mainstage Category (to be onstage at the Waterfront, Performance Works, etc.) are open November 1-30. The Mainstage Lottery Draw Party (where we literally draw shows out of hats) will be held on December 7 at the ANZA Club. There’ll also be an improv performance from 2011 Pick of the Fringe winners, Peter ‘n’ Chris, followed by a dance party that night!

BYOV (Bring Your Own Venue) and Onsite applications will be accepted starting January 17 and shows will be chosen on a first come, first served basis (as long as they meet criteria set out here).

Want to know more? Click for information! And please share this link with any and all performing artists you know!

We’re Ever So Grateful!

Thanks to all of you who donated to the $5,000 in 5 Days campaign! We had a lot of fun telling you about the amazing things your donations do for the Festival and its artists. We’re also proud to have included our Facebook fans and Twitter followers. Everyone who contributed to the campaign is helping ensure that the 2012 Festival will be the best one yet!

We didn’t quite hit our $5,000 target, but we did get a whole whack of new donors. So, a massively huge hug to all of you solid supporters who renewed your donation and an extra special smooch to the awesome newbies who joined the Fringe Lover family!

We asked our Facebook fans to tag themselves in this photo if they donate to the Fringe.

Aleksandra Brzozowski
Odessa Cadieux
Lois Dawson
David Dowis
Miranda Duffy
Kiersten Eis
Barbara Ellison
Eddie Hung
Tammy Isaacson
Isabella Kessel
Shantini Klaassen
David Magallon
Annastasia Palubiski
Thomas Paolucci
Samantha Quon
Rebecca Shindler
Lindy Sisson
Lara Smith
Vaughn Something
Lisa Turner
Katia Tynan
Kate Wilkins

Thanks to all Fringe supporters—during $5,000 in 5 Days, during the Festival, and throughout the year!

Forgot to donate? It’s not too late.

A Special car2go Deal for Fringers!

Our Communications Director's first trip in a car2go, earlier this summer.

You’ve seen the little white and blue car2go smart cars dashing around town. Maybe you saw them around the Fringe? That’s cause they’re one of our fantastic sponsors! We used car2go to travel between BYOVs in East Van and the Festival’s hub on Granville Island—and boy, was it handy!

Have you ever wondered about the nifty car share company? Well wonder no more! They’re offering Fringe lovers a special deal. You get free registration and 30 minutes of free drive time when you sign up with the promo code “FRINGE”! Once you get your card, you just scan it in the car2go scanner, get in, drive, and then you can leave the car anywhere in the operating area! You can book ahead of time, but you don’t need to—it’s super easy and it’s fun to drive a smart car.

Theatre Deals and Happenings

Alright theatre lovers! Here’s a round up of special stuff that we like and that we think you’ll like. (Some of them even have special deals!)

Smile: The Musical
Oct. 26-30 at the Norman Rothstein Theatre
Awkward Stage Productions are remounting their Fringe hit, Smile: The Musical, today till October 30! And they want to offer Fringe lovers a special deal! Fringe Members get two for one tickets when purchased at the door! Plus they’re having a contest. Spot their transit shelter ad, take a photo, and send it and the bus stop number to awkwardstageproductions@shaw.ca and you could win a pair of tickets to their show! Tickets and info.

Here Be Monsters Festival
Oct. 27-30 at Performance Works
On this weekend! It’s all about new play creation, performance, and artist workshops, forums, mentorship, networking, and opportunities for theatre artists to collaborate. Schedule of events and tickets.

Snowman
Nov. 4-19 at the Revue Stage
Rumble Productions presents Snowman. Denver and Marjorie spend their time doing cocaine with Jude, a young gay man, in a remote northern community at the edge of a glacial sheet. When Jude discovers the body of a prehistoric boy frozen in the glacier, everyone’s life begins to change. Fringers are being offer 20% off tickets to evening performances from November 6-19! Just use “FRINGEFAN” as the promo code! Production info and tickets.

Waiting for Godot
Dec. 27-Jan. 21 at the Cultch
Don’t wait to take advantage of this special Fringe promo code! You’ll get 20% off tickets purchased between October 27 and November 22—just use “GODOT” in the “Use Discount Coupons” section of your online checkout. A British Royal National Theatre poll voted Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot as “the most significant English language play of the 20th century.” Don’t miss your chance to see it! Info and tickets.

It’s the final email of the 5-day campaign… You got off to a really strong start (thanks!), but donations have slowed down. Everyone knows that Vancouver is a last minute sort of town—so, if you’re thinking about donating or renewing your support, now’s the time!
This is the last day to reach the $5,000 goal!

Donate Now!

The Fringe really expanded its physical and artistic presence this year, spreading the Fringe out to all corners of Granville Island. We had site-specific theatre with Fringe Onsite, Art (Is)Land installations peppering the Island, and expanded programming at the Fringe Bar that kept Railspur Alley bustling every night.

A busy night at the Fringe Bar. Photo by Skot Nelson.

These site innovations are just the sort of evolution the Fringe wants to continue into the future. Your contribution helps build exciting Fringe projects like these each year.

Monthly support of $5, $10, $20, or more is the best way to help us plan the 2012 season with confidence—all normal Fringe Benefits apply and can be made by either direct deposit or credit card.

You can also make a one-time donation online, by mailing a cheque (payable to “First Vancouver Theatrespace Society”), or by phoning us at 604.257.0350 (Ex. 107) for personal service.

Lost in Place: 2011 Onsite show. Photo by Thorsten Gohl.

A Poem about the Fringe

Future of the Fringe

What will the next time feel like?
What nooks and crannies will we squeeze into?
What surprises will we find between
show times, on wooden walkways,
or deep  in curious conversation
with our fellow lovers of theatre
under  the stars on Granville island?
I’m  already dreaming.
And you’re there.

Robyn Williams Dann: From the tips of her toes to what’s under her pants

During the Festival you probably saw Robyn Williams Dann running around with her radio headset, solving problems for volunteers. Or maybe you saw her surrounded by the Frunks at the Fringe Bar. She is a major fan of the Fringe and it all started with a free pair of underwear.

Robyn Williams Dann even got a Fringe chicken pedicure!

“It was 2005, [the Fringe was] giving away Ginch Gonch underpants as part of the curtain speech and I won a pair! … I just remember thinking ‘this festival is where I belong,’” Robyn shares. Since then she’s become a superstar volunteer, dedicating 40-plus hours during the Fringe. You’d think that after giving so much she wouldn’t feel a need to do more—but you’d be wrong.

“It is my grown up summer camp. It’s where I spend 11 days hanging out with my theatre peeps, drinking beer, dancing, laughing, riding my bike, and seeing some amazing shows,” Robyn explains. “When I learned about Canada Helps and how easy it was to become a monthly donor, I thought ‘why not?’ I donate $25 a month, automatically, and while I don’t even notice it coming out of my account I end up donating $300 a year! Can you imagine if everyone set up an account to donate $1 monthly? What about $5 or $10? It’s staggering what a small amount from a lot of people adds up to.”

We couldn’t agree more! Thanks Robyn!