Monday, December 8, 2008

Fringe Review: New Orleans Fringe Fest





Guest Review:
New Orleans Fringe Fest
By Guest Reviewer:
Annie Howe of Nana Projects


Guest Festival Ranking: 5 bow ties out of 5.
Mr. Fringey’s Description: If Frank Zappa made a baby with Nina Simone and they allowed Nora Jones to raise it

The Sunny-side: (Give 3 reasons this fringe is the bomb)

1. The organizers, staff and volunteers
2. The audiences were amazing and up for any kind of show

3. The shows were super high quality and totally great
4. The festival did an incredible job publicizing the event





The Flip Side: (Give 3 reasons this fringe sucks or what makes it difficult)
I would say that the festival was a huge success and the things I will list below probably would change next years the festival expands so I would not say they made the festival bad but are hopefully changes that will happen next year


1. I think intentionally the venues were small so that way shows would be crowded- Maybe more shows or bigger houses some shows had to turn people away- which I guess is a good sign!
2. More opportunity to expand runs- again probably because the festival was a new one they wanted to contain it, but there were many shows that could have extended their runs
3. Again same as above each show only got three slots to perform in the times were really good though and every show we went to no matter the time of day was crowded if not full


4. Your Money Sock:
How big of a money sock do you need here, based on food prices, and other
expenses? (Choose one: A tiny sock, a men's tube sock, a full blown
stocking)

I would say you need a ladies ankle sock- New Orleans is easy to get around with out a car
but there are so many bars and places to eat- it depends on how much fun you want to have
there were many people hosting folks from the fringe at their houses so that helped a lot

flights were cheap from Baltimore.

5. How to Fill Your Seats: What's the best way to fill your seats here marketing-wise?
Post cards all over town, word of mouth we just talked to everyone we met and a ton of people knew about the fringe already and were excited- seems like if the audiences liked your show they really went and told their friends by our last show we had standing room only!




6. Is there a fringe central?
Yes they set up a circus tent and had parties there each evening- again another place to network and make connections.

7. Ticket Prices:
$7.00 or 5 shows for $30.00 plus a three dollar button
Do you get 100% of door? If not, how much.
50% of the door

Do performers see other shows for free?
Each company got 10 comps to use however they liked


8. Payment:
Do you get paid each night? If not how? Were you paid on time if the money was sent to you?
Payment after but notified quickly about ticket sales after each show.

9. Showcase:
Is there a showcase for out of town performers?
Not this year

10.Venue Location:
Can you walk to all the venues? If not how did you get around?
Walk to most bike to all - We rented a car because our show needed a car to transport all the luggage

11. Travel-in: What city do you fly into and how did you get to you destination?
Baltimore
to New Orleans via rental car

12. Billeting:
Did you use fringe fest lodging? If so, how was the lodging? If not, who did
you stay with?
Fringe hooked us up with an awesome guy who was hosting about 15 plus out of town fringers in his warehouse.

Fringe Specs:
Age
in Fringe Years: Brand Spanking New.
And:
20 spots available – 15 juried and 5 by lottery.
Festival Dates
: November 13-16, 2009
Application Deadline:
July 15, 2009
Applying:
www.nofringe.org. Snail mail with application.
Festival Cost:
$25
Ticket Prices:
7 bucks.


About Mr. Fringy's Guest Reviewer: Annie Howe of Nana Projects
Mr. Fringey’s tag:
Cirque Du Sole on a piece of gluten free toast with real butter.
Check them out at: www.nanaprojects.com




What categories does your show fall under? (IE, comedy, women, religious, etc).
Puppetry

What's the name of the show (s) you are fringing this year?
Danny The Diver and Luna

What has been your favorite fringe?
(
Nana Projects is new to the fringe, so they didn’t have answers for the usual fringe questions).

Do you use your own tech person at your shows? If so, how much do you pay
them?

The fringe provided all the tech support.





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