All right, that’s it for me folks.  I’m about to go see a little something called Yearning to Itch: What Waitresses Will Do For Tips.  We’ve also got our army of guest reviewers, as well as Trey Graham, Glen Weldon, and Ted Scheinman out there watching and writing all over town.  So check in at all hours to for updates on what’s worth seeing and what’s worth skipping.  

And if you’re bored in the meantime (and for some unacceptable reason you’re not out seeing a show), check out another Post piece on DC Fringe, this one by Ellen McCarthy.

The phone’s ringing again, but now no one is here to answer it.

I just snuck into a rehearsal for METRO: In the State of Mind over in the Baldacchino.  First off, the space looks ultra-colorful and ultra-cool (check out the photos if you don’t believe me).  Only when a helicopter whirls by overhead do you remember you’re in DC.  

METRO is presented by the Pointillism Jazz Consort from Copley, Ohio.  I wondered what exactly pointillism jazz was, and from the bits and pieces I saw, it seems to involve creating a rich, textured soundscape of voices and recordings.  It certainly isn’t singing, but it isn’t Stomp either. One performer makes a “schh” noise at a certain rhythm; another performer syncopates with that; still others chime in behind and above and from the sidelines.  This all happens over a layer of Metro-inspired din: bells, whistles, door-opening announcements, general choo-choo chugging, &tc., &tc.  

The show opens tonight at 7:00 PM, and I imagine this is one of (if not the) first time the cast has gotten to rehearse in the space, if only because the space wasn’t really built until this week.  This is what Fringe is all about: guerilla theater.  Get up there and do it.  Make it work.  Cut that line out if you need to, create that tableau in half the space we rehearsed in, yell that “schh” noise at twice the normal volume to compete with New York Avenue traffic, stop wiping that sweat off your brow and just nail it now because godammit we open in 2 and a half hours.  

And to think, this kind of stuff is going on with 120 productions across the city, if not today, then at some afternoon in the next couple of weeks.  Talk about a state of mind.  

Curtain time is drawing nearer and nearer, and you can smell the excitement (and stress) here at Fort Fringe.  Or maybe that’s just the faint odor of parmesan cheese that still lingers like an olfactory ghost in the corridors and kitchens of this former Italian restaurant.  Either way, I have to say it’s kind of appetizing.

In any case, here are some photos.  The highly-hyped Baldacchino (a colorful reinterpretation of fixtures like this one at the Vatican): 

And the inside:

And the retro-red box office:

And the rat traps, all in a row: 

I just got a phone call from a friend of mine asking if there was a $15 cover charge for tonight’s opening night party.

The answer, emphatically, is NO! No, no, no.

There is indeed a party, however–tonight, 9 PM, Fort Fringe, 607 New York Ave NW–and it’s free as the wind is windy.

But before the revelry begins, what show(s) are you going to see tonight? Any suggestions?

So I’m sitting in the offices at Fort Fringe right now, and things are most certainly abuzz.  I’ve been here for approximately 7 minutes, and already Julianne Brienza (DC Fringe’s executive director) has had to trek over from her desk to answer the phone (inconveniently located in the corner) 3 times. That’s one phone call every 2.333… minutes, although the frequency is sure to pick up as we get closer and closer to the first shows beginning this evening.

The phone is ringing again, here comes Julianne.  Someone else offers to get it, but she won’t have any of it.

“Don’t worry, I’ll get it, I’m on a roll.”

When she isn’t on the phone–mostly answering inane questions about tickets from chaperones of very large groups of Christian children and the like–Julianne breaks various bits of exciting news to her staff as it comes in on her computer.

For example, lots of press for the Fringe today (Express, Playbill, and City Paper for starters).

And then there’s the DC Theatre Yahoo group, whose moderators have had to limit the number of posts per Fringe production because they were too inundated with the stuff.

“I think that’s great–they have to make a policy because of us!” Julianne laughs.  ”That’s so cool!”

She says that for every email she reads, she gets about 4 more in her inbox.  I’m going to email her a link to this blog post right now from across the room, just to be annoying.  And supportive. Annoying and supportive.

On Monday, we assembled our army of guest bloggers and sat them down with Fringe & Purge theater critic Trey Graham to teach ‘em a thing or two. It was an extremely long, pedantic, and intensive session–half the bloggers couldn’t even make it through the first half without running out of Fort Fringe screaming gibberish–but those of them that did survive the lesson seem to have been made stronger by it. Here are a few of the Training Day highlights:

Trouble viewing? Try the YouTube version of this video.

Check out Trey Graham’s post from two years ago on the inaugural Fringe & Purge blog giving the run-down on what the Fringe Festival is exactly.  Bear in mind that back then, this whole Fringe thing was a new concept for DC.  But lest we take it for granted–or if this is your first Fringe experience–give this old diddy a read.

Tomorrow: blast off.

Check out Marc Fisher’s insightful piece on DC Fringe in Sunday’s Post.  It’s about the banal, nitty-gritty obstacles–and, on the flip side, the simple triumphs–that are an inevitable part of mounting a festival like this.  It’ll make you glad that you don’t have Julianne Brienza’s job.  Give me rats over fire inspectors any day.

Last night at RFD in Chinatown, a smattering of Fringe productions presented short segments from their shows, and I have to say that on the whole it was pretty impressive. So as you’re sifting through the festival guide, wondering how on earth you’re going to choose from 120 different productions, here are some standouts from the preview. Keep in mind, however, that last night was only a small handful of this year’s performances. What are you looking forward to? What else do we Fringe & Purgers need to see?

7 (x1) Samurai
David Gaines
Mr. Gaines may hawk his show as “An Epic Tale…told by an idiot,” but during the 7 minutes I witnessed last night, it became uproariously clear that this man is no idiot. Dressed as part street-pantomime part Japanese warrior, Gaines was riveting as he moved seamlessly among his manifold nonspeaking characters. This is serious, sidesplitting, mesmerizing stuff, and to see one man sustain it for 45 minutes is a feat I refuse to miss.

Slave Narratives Revisited
Mosaic Theatre Productions
Talk about a powerhouse: Lary Moten, in two tantalizingly short monologues, had everyone in RFD’s back room transfixed last night. He transformed that space twice in 5 minutes: first into an antebellum southern crossroads, and then into a Montgomery bus in 1956. There were some truly sublime (and deeply funny) moments, and if this is what 5 minutes in a bar feels like, well then I can’t wait to see the real thing.

Check out a few more suggestions after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

649 performances.
120 shows.
20 venues.
18 days.
1 really big tent.

This is Capital Fringe 2008.

And this is the City Paper’s Fringe & Purge blog, a virtual vortex of all things Fringe. Bookmark this blog now, because you’re not going to make it through July without us. Without each other, really, because this blog belongs to the entire fringe community. Want to know what show is hot? Fringe & Purge blog. Want to know what show has the most nudity? Fringe & Purge blog. Want to tap into the opening-night buzz? Fringe & Purge blog. Want to know where the party is? Fringe & Purge blog. Want to know what the hell you did at that party? Fringe & Purge blog.

Seriously, this is your Fringe forum, your steam valve, your best friend, your Playbill, your moral support, your savory hangover brunch. Leave comments. Talk to each other. Send links. Spread the word. And see as many damn shows as your pupils and cochleas and medullas oblongata can possibly handle.

Go out and fringe. Come here to purge.

[Below you will find posts from the 2007 Capital Fringe Festival.  If you're feeling nostalgic, please go ahead and peruse.]