It’s Fringin’ time! The Opening Night Party starts tonight at 9 p.m. at Avenue, 649 New York Ave. NW. Fringe artists and performers will turn the three-story club into a cabaret. And life is, you know, a cabaret, old chum.

Plus, we’re unveiling the first-ever, super-fantastic Fringe Confessional! Come confess your Fringe sins–and anything else you’re in need of confessing. Best ‘fesses may be posted here. And who doesn’t want to see that?

See ya there!

(NOTE: This was supposed to go with Mr. Graham’s inaugural post but somehow didn’t. We blame YouTube.)

So, Trey has had it up to here with Shakespeare. Perhaps watching this video will change his mind.

Hilary Kacser invited us to a rehearsal of her Fringe offering Love & War: With the Bard’s Broads and Dames, and of course we said yes. Hilary was freshly back from London, where she was invited to present her last year’s Fringe show, In Pursuit of the English: Rose, at the Doris Lessing Conference. Tally-ho, eh?

The two-part play is directed by Jennifer Crooks, who is also filling in for an unavailable actor. Love & War also features Jordan Boughrum, Liesyl Franz, Jason B. McIntosh, and Mike Wong.

Herewith, some visual snippets to give a brief idea of what’s in store when Love & War: With the Bard’s Broads and Dames plays at Touchstone Gallery, 406 Seventh St. NW on Friday, July 20 at 9 p.m.; Saturday, July 21 at 8 p.m.; Sunday, July 22 at 6 p.m.; Friday, July 27 at7 p.m.; and Saturday, July 28 at 9 p.m.

Laura Zam seems to specialize in one-person shows with two-word titles about three subjects. Last year’s Fringe offering, Stupid Frailty, dealt with Internet dating, death, and genocide. This year, Laura returns with another one-woman show, Collaterally Damaged, about art, sex, and genocide. The shows are comedies. Kinda.

Shirley Serotsky is the play’s director, and she’s not only pushing Damaged to the stage, but also shepherding two “mini-musicals” for Bouncing Ball Theatrical Productions, Cautionary Tales for Adults and The Many Adventures of Trixie Tickles. Busy, busy, busy.

We caught up with Laura and Shirley one hot afternoon in the relative shelter of the courtyard at Laura’s apartment to discuss life and theater and Fringe Freaks.

Collaterally Damaged is at the Colosseum at the Warehouse Theater, 1021 7th Street NW, at midnight, Friday, July 20; 6:30 p.m. Saturday, July 21, and 5:30 p.m. Sunday, July 29.

Everywhere you turn, it’s Julianne, Julianne, Julianne! Which is all well and good and certainly deserved. But let us interrupt the Brienzafest for a brief–too brief, perhaps–moment with the other CapFringe founder, Damian Sinclair.

We caught up with Damian at the Fringe Box Office grand opening last week. The location, also known as the Unified Launch Theory, and incorporating a stage called the Launching Pad. The site was designed by noted D.C. artist Robert Cole and Fringe technical director Scot McKenzie. It’s a fun spot, reminding me of a Tastee Freeze stand, circa 1962. Probably not the intention, but that’s how my mind works, especially in this heat.

A sell-out hit from last year’s Fringe, The Eddie Lounge Show returns this year with an all-new revue. We caught up with Mr. Lounge outside the Fringe Box Office during the official opening as he was distributing promo posters and postcards. Rule one: never stop promoting. Take it away, Eddie…

We popped in to the grand opening of the Fringe Box Office last night, and were delighted to hear a band in full swing. Delighted, because the musicians are all old friends. Dan Hovey (guitar), Jeff Gray (sax), and Eric Leifert (bass) were cooking up a sultry mix of jazz standards to beat the heat.

Jeff you may have seen with the partyriffic Joker’s Wild. Or, if you’ve been to a Nationals game, you may have heard the band’s baseball anthem, “Swing Batter Batter,” which won the team’s “Show Us Your Pastime” contest. And last time we caught Jeff and the Jokers, a certain Sen. Thompson was in the house, squiring a leggy blonde. Hmmm…

Eric is a veteran of such seminal D.C. punk bands as Big Black Nun and No Trend, and has the distinction of being one of the last D.C. musicians to play the Bayou, which he did with his band Congregation on that fabled Georgetown club’s last night in 1999.

Dan’s latest project is Gigahertz, a Cream tribute. Listen to these tunes and tell me that’s not Messrs. Clapton, Bruce, and Baker. Amazing.

Finally, though he didn’t get on stage, we were delighted to meet Eddie Lounge. Never one to miss a marketing opportunity, Eddie was passing out literature for his upcoming Fringe show, which he promises to be bigger and better than last year’s. We’ll have a video interview with Eddie up soon, as well as video of the Box Office soiree. It was quite the do.

The first-ever Fringe Festival Preview at the Palace of Wonders last week was a hoot and a half. Oh, make that a full-on hoot. And occasional hootenanny. This video doesn’t capture the half of it, but does give a tantalizing taste of what’s in store beginning July 19 all around town.

Witness Fringe excerpts from Swami Yomahmi, Lysistration, the puppet stylings of BurleyQ, the Pabst and Popcorn Hour, Nautch DC, Bouncing Ball Productions, and SpeakeasyDC.

So much more to come…

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWlypJED7-g]

Don’t talk to Fringe playwright Kristen Cantwell about her new work at dinnertime, because you will be overtaken, as I was, with fierce hunger pangs. Because Kristen’s play is the musical cabaret, Butter: A Love Story.

Kristen scored at last year’s Fest with Confessions of an Invisible Woman (Here’s Trey’s video interview.), and if my stomach is any indicator, Butter will repeat that triumph.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sz9-mqYsM6I]

Wow. A dazzling night of Fringeness at the Palace of Wonders: magic, music, puppets, drama, comedy. And beer, popcorn, and hot dogs. That’s pretty much all I ask of life.

We’ll have video highlights of the evening up soon, but in the meantime, check out Bob Morrison’s excellent pix from the evening here.