A few random comments/suggestions/rants (in no particular order):

- No late seating? Duh! This policy is all over the web site, stated several times in the festival guide, and printed in bold at the top of every printed ticket confirmation. Some of these venues are the size of my walk in closet and some shows were only 45 minutes long. Get to the venue on time!

- Buttons? Get over it. It was $5. Buy a button, take it with you to every show, and take advantage of the merchant discounts before and after shows. FYI: Comp tickets and press passes didn’t require buttons.

- Baldochino? A great idea that didn’t seem to come together as well as hoped. Tweaks? Serve beer/wine past 11pm on the weekends (I realize that this was a DC permit issue, but someone should have some contacts that can find a way around this). Have a band / open mic night / improv / preview session every evening.

- More midnight shows! We don’t sleep and would like to see more shows.

- Less rain. OK… that is Bob Ryan’s fault. I’ll petition him for less rain next year.

- I would love to see a show day/time matrix somehow built into the program. I spent a lot of time flipping back and forth through the program trying to figure out what shows I could see on a particular day at a certain time.

Thanks again for a great DC Fringe 2008. I am looking forward to next year already.

I don’t think the button is such a bad thing. If you see a lot of shows, the $5.00 adds little to the toal cost. Next year, button-haters will be used to the idea, and by 2010 it will be a given.

Although it often seemed that lot of things I wanted to see were at the same time, the schedule was fine. I liked it that there were some different choices during the two weeks – fewer conflicting time overlaps that way!

The program needs to give times and locations in the day index. It was difficult, to the point of impossible, to come out of one show and figure out if there was another show nearby to go to. The website helps somewhat, though it too did not have location,date,and time in the same place, but the internet is not much use when you’re on the sidewalk with a few minutes before another show you might want to see. Location codes would be handy for this purpose, giving area and specific theater. AM1, AM2, for instance, to indicate Adams Morgan and NY1, NY2, etc the 7th and NY Ave cluster, DC1,DC2 etc for the venues in the Dupont Circle area, Studio, Source, Cole, Universe.

The Baldacchino was mostly dreary whenever I was there, but I was never there for a performance, so maybe it was livelier sometimes. It did not strike me as an inviting place to hang out between events in the 7th and NY area, which is what I’d hoped it would be.

The WashCP was the champion of fringe audiences before there was a festival. What happened? The majority of the audience “best picks” were either tersely dismissed or ignored by you and your team. There’s something wrong with that.

Mr. Graham, with all respect, please release your grip from the CP and move on. No one can deny that you are a gifted critic, but you are out of touch with us. You would be a perfect fit for Metro Weekly, maybe even The Times. Please pass the CP torch to someone else and give the groundlings our paper again.

To give due credit, the overall scope of coverage did improve this year. The guest reviewers were a nice touch when they weren’t trying to channel your “wit.” Monkey see, you know. We all understand it’s your house, they just live here.

We need that voice for the young and the new. F&P should take the lead in setting a positive and inclusive tone for creativity, experimentation, breakthrough, mindless fun, success, failure and everything else that the fringe festival encompasses. WashCP should capture that spirit all year long.

The purpose of the buttons needs more explicit explanation, perhaps the reason so much controversy and disappointment was generated. Every ticket/button buyer should be made aware immediately of the businesses that participate in the year-round discounts available to fringe participants. Lists should be available at the door of each performance. Audience members could use the buttons for food and drinks before or after the show at the least. I overheard one person asking about restaurants in the area, and the ticket seller didn’t have a clue. Sure, the booklet and website do offer explanations, but this information shouldn’t be buried in the literature, but have high profile. I think many buyers simply tossed the buttons after the show. Fringe buttons are good advertisements and reminders all through the year, increasing fringe awareness throughout the community while encouraging local economy.

Wow! What an energizing few weeks we all just had! The bad shows to excellent…we had ourselves a Fringe. Boasting a record 41 sell out shows…I will let tell Trey tell the rest of the numbers…our third year has given us growth, the hiccups and a sense of purpose to continue on. This is no easy task for us as we forge in path of creating an outlet for visiting and local performing artists. We sooo appreciate the artist that produce their works in the Fringe and the patrons that take the chance on them! We get some things so right and others…we will grow into communicating better and crafting to suit the artists and patrons that support Fringe. We think there is a place for Fringe here in the nations capitol…all we are doing is getting it started. We believe DC is a great city. We are more than just a three week fringe festival – watch us grow…and once again July 9 – 26th, 2009 we will roll out the welcome mat for visiting and local artists and patrons. We are not going anywhere – we are getting bigger, better and more toned each year. If you have comments about the festival I suggest you contact the Festival ( email, phone…). We are here to make this event for you! We love to hear what worked and what didn’t…it only makes us better.

Again, thanks to all those that live right here and those that come to play with us in July for making this a record year for Capital Fringe!