So, clearly this isn’t how you want your “talent profile” to show up in the upper right-hand corner of Minnesota Playlist’s main page. If there’s one thing I know about theatre (and there just might be only one), it’s that you’re never going to make it big unless you complete your Minnesota Playlist talent profile. Dowling is more than likely rifling through it right now, hoping against all hope that he’ll find his next…hey, let’s just say “Rosalind”.
We sort of dropped the ball on Monday night. Our live blogging left much to be desired. We wanted to bring you a live list of companies as they were drawn from the bin…and we missed a butt load. They really whizz through that shit, don’t they? Well, let’s just chalk it up to us being live-blog virgins. We’ll last longer the next time. Here’s the complete list, by the by.
If you’re one of those Fringers who loves your festival chock full of veterans, the 2009 Fringe line up is your theatrical wet dream. Here are just a few of the “big guns” in this year’s fest:
And on a selfish note, there was one company that I had HUGE butterflies for, but unfortunately landed on the Wait List. This company could’ve — nay, would’ve — made my entire Fringe. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the biggest miss of the 2009 Fringe Lottery…WILLIE’S WENCHES!
I forgot to mention the fact that during our live blog tonight, you’ll have the opportunity to participate by adding your own commentary. So, if your ball is pulled, this might just be the perfect opportunity to announce to the world what you’ll be doing in the 2009 Minnesota Fringe Festival AND plug your show at the exact same time!
I know they say to “never say never”, but it’s never too early to start promoting your Fringe show.
Don’t forget to swing by the blog tonight at 7pm and check out our live blog of the 2009 Fringe Lottery. It’s gonna be cool like the other side of the pillow.
One of our fantastic FringeFamous readers just forwarded me an email from Carol Schweickhardt over at Theatre Space Project. TSP runs the little Lowry Lab Theater in downtown St. Paul. According to Schweickhardt:
“Thanks to a generous grant from Travelers Foundation, we have a fund to use for the purpose of improving the diversity in our space. We have 5 weeks of rent subsidy available. Each group may apply for 1-2 weeks of free rent. We do collect a per ticket charge to help make this program more sustainable.”
So there you have it. If you’re a small group with a small-ish show and a smaller-ish budget, you might want to apply for this freebie. The space has undergone some recent renovations and looks pretty nice. The only downside is that, despite some new signage, it’s still a tough place to find (and St. Paul still sucks a fat dick). But you can’t beat the price of zero dollars.
“Penumbra Theatre announced a series of cost-cutting steps Wednesday, including the postponement of an August Wilson play from this spring to next fall and the slashing of its $3.8 million operating budget by 24 percent.
The company plans to cut its operating budget more, to $2.5 million, in 2010, and produce plays with smaller casts.
But the company will proceed with a $520,000 refurbishment, which is to start in March and will add offices and patron restrooms.”
Why choose building renovations over programming? Maybe if Penumbra would save that $520,000, they wouldn’t have to produce plays with smaller casts. I mean, are you in existance to create the art that you want to create, or to have nice offices? Priority check, Penumbra!
Does your heart race when you walk by the Rarig Center? Do you get enraged when Kowalski’s refuses to give you a button discount? Does Matthew Foster give you a big one? If the answer is “yes”, then you’re probably a lot like us: head-over-heels in love with the Minnesota Fringe Festival. And if that’s the case, then you’re probably counting down the days to the 2009 Fringe Lottery (this Monday, Feb. 16).
Wait — what’s that you say? You can’t make it over to Bedlam Theatre to see it live? Well have no fear, my little Fringe-lovers. This year, to see the results live, you require only a computer and a connection to the Internets. That’s right…we’ll be live-blogging the entire motherf@#ker RIGHT HERE! Want to see if your ping pong ball was lucky, but also want to search for porn while sitting naked on your couch? Then stop on by at 7pm, Monday the 16th. We’ll be scrolling the results live in the box below. See you then!
If you get bored on your final day of the work week, check out this fun little discussion happening all over the theatrosphere regarding education and theatre. It’s not quite as interesting as the uber-homosexual video in our last post, but it should still kill 15 minutes or so of your day.
First, he talked about how important Jeune Lune’s space was to the organization, saying that “space was fundamental”. He explained how excavating the building made sense and helped the work that was being produced. He also added that moving to a space that was not a theatre helped to define what theatre meant…”instead of those grand proscenium spaces”. I guess Jeune Lune’s new space was modest? I’m sure Yellow Tree would totally agree.
Then we get to the question of “Why couldn’t Jeune Lune survive?” Surprisingly enough, it turns out that Jeune Lune could’ve made it after all. The problem: they would’ve had to compromise their work. And Serrand explains to us that, “it’s not about rooms and buildings and stone, it’s about the work.” Wait. I thought “space was fundamental”? I guess once you get the gigantic building, THEN it’s about the work.
Serrand then blows our minds by informing us of a major problem in the theatre today: that theatre artists aren’t salaried. I know…take a minute to wrap your head around that. He thinks we’d all be better off if we got paid more. THAT’S CRAZY TALK! He then says “it’s not that costly” to put artists on salary, which is funny since the vast majority of Jeune Lune’s theatre artists were jobbed in just like everywhere else. Brilliant.
That’s just the tip of a gigantic dumb-ass iceberg, so check it out. Basically, if Serrand ran his theatre even close to the way he aimlessly meandered around in this interview, it’s very easy to see why Jeune Lune no longer exists.
My blogging as of late has been absolutely piss poor. So to make me feel better, I clicked on over to Guthrie Corporation’s Big Blue Blog. It did the trick.
Take a look at some of the riveting news that LeeH recently broke:
“It was announced earlier this week that a South Dakota company (Daktronics) will be replacing the LED towers that sit atop our roof.
What happened to the old ones? I suppose there are many theories, but frankly I’m not actually sure what happened. Only one of the three has been operational as of late, so everyone here is thrilled that they will all soon be back to their text scrolling selves again.
…and the best part of the whole deal: the new ones are green. Not literally, but figuratively. Since they are LEDs they use less power than a traditional light (or so the engineer told me).”
Well, I think I can speak for everyone here at FringeFamous when I say “holy fucking shit”. I had to take a 20-minute nap after LeeH dropped that knowledge bomb on me. Insight like that is exactly why I frequent the Big Blue Blog.
I’m also super pumped about Guthrie Corporation’s decision to cut down on their energy usage. Kudos to you, Guthrie Corp.! Now, if we could only get the other theatres in town to use LEDs on their 40, 60, and 80-foot tall scrolling towers of light…
Please allow me to give you the SparkNotes version of 
My blogging as of late has been absolutely piss poor. So to make me feel better, I clicked on over to Guthrie Corporation’s 