Southern Performers and Alternate Roots

If you're a southern artist and you live in the south and you figure the vision of your work speaks to a higher calling, (whether that means you want to make the world a better place or you have a distinct social calling), you'll want to know about Alternate Roots and more specifically the Annual Alternate Roots conference.

I spent 5 of the 6 days there at the Lutheridge Conference Center just outside of Asheville, NC and was literally blown away by the quality or performances I saw there (you can actually get worn out from the number of standing ovations you participate in), the depth I connected with other artists who shared a similar calling, and the sheer number of career connections I made. Hands down this was the best conference I've been to in the seven years I've been working as a solo performer.

Alternate Roots is 32 years old and their tag-line is "Arts, Community and Activism." The conference consisted of about 50% late career artists, 25% mid career artists, and 25 % emerging artists including a huge group of artist kids who were performing pieces that were amazing.

The days were packed with business meetings that all artists attend related to the organization, artists studios on topics like creating parades and fighting racism through the arts, three incredible meals a day, performances from well known companies such as Junebug, Carpet Bag Theater, Thousand Kites, opportunities to learn how to walk on stilts, juggle and break dance.

And to top it off, starting around midnight there was a late night show run by some of the souths best emcees, comedians and spoken word artists which ran until about 3am in an open air church, where it was quite evident that I was in the midst of a distinct artistic "movement" happening on the premises - and by movement I mean something akin to the "Beat" movement or the "Moveable Feast" movement.

Here's just a handful of artists and art organizations who participated:
www.mondobizarro.org
www.risingappalachia.com
www.turnerworldaround.org
www.artsanddemocracy.org
www.cucalorus.org
www.spiralq.org
www.dancenow.org
www.roadside.org
www.fracturedatlas.org
www.nanaprojects.com
www.here-nrv.org

Guest Review: Montreal Fringe

Guest Review: Montreal Fringe Festival
By Guest Reviewer: Sophie Nimmannit

Guest Festival Ranking: 5 out of 5 bow ties (for fun and kinda frenchy)

Mr. Fringy's Description: The Captain Beefheart/Jenna Jameson Express.

The Sunny-side: (Give 3 reasons this fringe is the bomb)
1. 13^th Hour – awesome nightly variety show that lets audience and artists join the party, and gives good publicity opportunities

2. Audience attendance

3. Some stellar, professional venues.


The Flip Side: (Give 3 reasons this fringe sucks or what makes it difficult)
This fringe did not suck. Difficulties included
1. Billeting. One of our performers was there last year, had a problematic billet and found his own place to stay on couchsurfing.com. Two of us were able to return there this year. Our number three didn't have a billet until the day we arrived, and switched midway through.

2. Not having an artist pass. Sure, the password system encourages us to meet each other, maybe or earn a few extra bucks, but there's so little time! I have plenty of strategizing to do for my show. Putting energy into figuring out what shows I have passwords to during the times I'm free just makes me sad. And other shows aren't going to make money on me. I'm on a budget. Without the password, I won't go to the show. I was so excited to see all the French language shows at this fringe, but being an out-of-towner, I missed their showcases, so I didn't know who to approach to get passwords, and I didn't have time to do detective work, so I missed most of them. When I have an artist pass, I see everything I can, and I get so excited about being an artist. It's a 2 week utopia.

3. Managing sleep cycles: the nightly party starts at 1am, get home around 4am. Sometimes I had to miss out on the party to feel sane.


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) How much money did you spend on this one when all was said and
done?
A men's tube sock. Food was a little more than I'm used to, (I'm spoiled by NYC cheap eats),but beer was a little less! Taxes were higher, so at the register things cost a bit more than on the price tag. And beware, iced coffee is expensive, and they kept serving it to me with half a cup of milk already in it – once with assorted fruits skewered on my straw. The following is in USD.

Travel: about $120/person round-trip NYC-Montreal driving, gas & tolls
Festival Fee: about $620
Food/Personal Budget: $200/person for the festival

How to Fill Your Seats: What's the best way to fill your seats here marketing-wise?
Do a show about anal sex with full-frontal nudity and walk around town wearing a glittery dildo under your tutu. Or: Get the paper buzz-forms, hand them out right after your show. Flyer, perform in promotional events, etc.

Is there a fringe central?
Yes. And it serves beer, has bands and shows and an art market to keep attracting the passers-by.

Ticket Prices: Do you get 100% of door? If not, how much.
Yes, minus 15% tax. You can apply to be exempt from the tax. Our application was rejected by the Canadian government.

What's the ticket range price?
$5-$9

Do performers see other shows for free?
No. Boo. See above.

Payment: Do you get paid each night? If not how? Were you paid on time if the money was sent to you?
We could choose to get cash the day after, at the end in cash, or at the end by check. We took cash the day after each show, and a check for the last night because we left town. The check arrived promptly! My bank charged me a fee for depositing a Canadian check.

Showcase: Is there a showcase for out of town performers?
Yes! We all got a minute at the kickoff party after the parade. It was big and fun and had talented MCs.

Venue Location: Can you walk to all the venues? If not how did you get around?
You're asking the wrong person. We brought our bicycles and I didn't walk anywhere until the 4^th day. That might have been the only time. Venues are walkable, though sometimes I guess it would be half an hour. (the schedule has half an hour between shows).

Now, Montreal is AWESOME for bikes. They have great routes and lanes. On bike I could zip from venue to venue in a chill, breezy 10 minutes. Such a joy, and the rest of the city is out on their bikes too. They don't wear helmets. Occasionally stuck in traffic, had to circle the block occasionally to find parking.

Travel-in: What city do you fly into and how did you get to your destination?
We drove from NYC. We looked up swimming holes on the internet and jumped in one on the way. It should have taken 8 hours, but then one of the bridges into Montreal was closed because a storm had blown a truck over. We spent 2 hours waiting to get over the other bridge.

I heard the train was also a reasonable option. We might try it when we go back up for the Harvest Festival with our other show FLUID (Harvest/Recolte is the LGBT theater festival, www.villagescene.com)

Billeting: Did you use fringe fest lodging? If so, how was the lodging? If not, who did you stay with?
I listed this as a Flip Side difficulty. Last year, one of us had to leave a fringe billet and found a great place on couchsurfing.com. Two of us stayed there. Our other person was got a message about her billet as we drove up, but could only stay in that place for 4 days, and had to switch.

Fringe Specs:
Age in Fringe Years: A 17 year old who was raised by a porn star and Frank Zappa.
Festival Dates: June 7-17, 2008
And: 90 companies from 8 different countries, 5 provinces, and 5 states.700 performances in 10 main Venues and 6 OFF Venues, an outdoor site and Fringe Club.
Application Deadline: October 31, 2008
Applying: www.montrealfringe.ca
Festival Cost: $660

About Mr. Fringey's Guest Reviewer: Sophie Nimmannit
Mr. Fringey's tag: Like going back to school and getting that really sexy education you always thought you were missing in your prerequisites.

Check her out at: www.packofothers.org, www.myspace.com/packofothers (and they have a facebook group)

What categories does your show fall under? (IE, comedy, women, religious, etc).
Burlesque sex-ed. Kinda queer.

How long have you been fringing?
I first fringed in 2005. My co-performer started in 2003.

How many fringes do you do each year?
1-2. Limited by travel costs.

What has been your favorite fringe?
Minnesota. (I've been to Victoria, Vancouver, Boulder, Minnesota and Montreal.)

What has been your biggest money making fringe?
Montreal

What fringe did you make your most important contact?
Ha! Well, I think I have to say Boulder. That's where I met my co-collaborator on Peg-Ass-Us, John Leo. We made out at party there, and we started dating, and we started making a show. (Slash was in Boulder too, but I met him in Minneapolis.)

Otherwise, Minnesota has given us a pile of contacts – it's a very social fringe.

In one word, why do you fringe?
Strangers.

What's the name of the show (s) you are fringing this year?
Peg-Ass-Us, FLUID. We have one more stop: San Francisco. We're in a non-traditional venue, the Center for Sex and Culture!.

Do you use your own tech person at your shows? If so, how much do you pay them?
We use fringe techs. We bring along a competent stage manager.

Any fringes to avoid?
Not yet.

Guest Review: Orlando Fringe

Guest Review: Orlando Fringe Festival
By Guest Reviewer: The dudes from The Cody Rivers Show

Guest Festival Ranking: 4 out of 5 bow ties

Mr. Fringy's Description: The San Fran fringe of the east coast (with a side of flipper soufflé)

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

1) Very high overall quality of venues. Really nice spaces.

2) Venue convenience is extraordinary. All of the festival venues are
in two buildings that are on either side of a small park-like space that
is converted into the festival epicenter. Extremely convenient for
flyering, seeing shows, logistics, etc.

3) Festival organization and administration is excellent. They have
their act together on every front, and they have made the Fringe into a
much-anticipated special event that the community not only knows about,
but cares about.

The Flip Side: (Give 3 reasons this fringe sucks or what makes it difficult)

1) Orlando is one of the most sprawled out cities I have ever been to,
and it has an abysmal public transportation system. Out of necessity,
most of the billets are outside of convenient walking distance, so
figuring out transportation can be a little bit of a puzzle (we bought
old bikes off of Craig's List, some other out-of-towners rented and
shared a car, etc.) Getting around to get things done can be a huge
project. It feels like all of the businesses in Orlando are located in
huge strip malls that are all far apart, and are set-back from the road
by half-a-mile, which is to say that it can be hard to get around
effectively no matter what mode of transportation you are using. People
are generous with offering rides, however, and often you can work
something out. It is an issue though..

2) It can be a little challenging for touring acts to get attention.
Can be. Local companies invest a lot of time and energy and money in
their Fringe productions (which is good), and sometimes it can feel like
most of the patrons there to see whatever group(s) they already know,
rather than to check out new folks from out of town. The media reviews
just about everything, but save for a few small exceptions, the
overwhelming majority of preview coverage was dedicated to local companies.
All that said, more than a few touring act have really triumphed in
Orlando, so I think the reality is that the crowds there are ultimately
checking out that which is worth checking out. It may just feel like
more of a local in-crowd scene than it actually is.

3) There was something off about the system for performers letting
other performers in to their shows this year. It was kind of a hassle,
and inconsistent and didn't work very well. This might have been just a
flukey thing because I think they switched over to a new ticketing
service or system for this year's festival.

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) How much money did you spend on this one when all was said and done?
Tough to say...my consumption patterns are a little different than most
people's. I don't think the city is unusually expensive, but how one
deals with the transportation situation might affect this number. I'll
go with men's tube sock.

How to Fill Your Seats:

What's the best way to fill your seats here marketing-wise?
Nothing fancy. It is a really easy place to flier, because the venues
are so centralized, so that is a pretty easy recommendation.
There aren't very many places to poster. The festival administration
does a great job of getting word out to the city at large, so the most
important effort is to get people who are already at the festival to
choose your show.

The out-of-towner's preview was really ineffective in 2008. Basically
just performers watching each other, and a handful of other folks. So,
whereas that can be a critical thing to participate in at other
festivals, it did not prove to be so in Orlando. That may change though,
so I wouldn't write it off completely.

As mentioned above, the media does not seem aggressively interested in
previewing out-of-town shows, but they do tend to review everything. And
if you came to them with a strong story angle they might be interested.

Is there a fringe central?
Yes. It is in between the two buildings that house the venues, in a
park-like setting. Very pleasant. It's a make-shift market bazaar with a
live stage and food, etc.

Ticket Prices:
Do you get 100% of door? If not, how much.
Yes, you get 100%.

What's the ticket range price? I forget the ticket price range, but I think it was
something like $6-10.

Do performers see other shows for free?
The comp situation was set up so that each show could offer a maximum
of 10% of its house as comps. Performers get no special treatment, and
as mentioned above the ticketing system was new this year, and a bit
out-of-wack as far as comping other performers. The usual system of
distributing passwords that any performer could use whenever to secure a
comp was problematic, and it took most of the festival to sort of sort
it out.

Payment:
Do you get paid each night? If not how? Were you paid on time if the money was sent to you?
There were two payouts for the festival: One roughly half way through,
the second on the day after the last performance day.

Showcase:
Is there a showcase for out of town performers?
Yes. See answer to question #5. In 2008 I think it was mostly not
beneficial. Not many general public folks there.

Venue Location:
Can you walk to all the venues? If not how did you get around?
Getting to the festival site can be an issue, depending on where one is
staying in the city (it is very sprawled), but once you're there, you're
there. All the venues are in one tightly concentrated spot. Easy walking.

Travel-in:
What city do you fly into and how did you get to you destination?
We actually took the train in, but all modes of transportation lead to
Orlando...eventually...

Billeting:
Did you use fringe fest lodging? If so, how was the lodging? If not, who did you stay with?
Yes, we stayed with a billet arranged by the festival. It was great,
and I didn't hear any horror stories about anyone's situation. The
festival seems to find good people as hosts.

Fringe Specs:
Age in Fringe Years: A 17 year old, with a bit of a 16 year old's premature ejaculation problem (re-read Judy Bloom for specifics)
Festival Dates: May 14 - 25, 2009
And: In 2008 there were 77 artists doing 500 shows.
Application Deadline: November
Applying: www.orlandofringe.org
Festival Cost: $258- $600

About Mr. Fringey's Guest Reviewers: The dudes from the Cody Rivers Show - (hands down the funniest and most unique comedy act on the fringe circuit)

Check them out at:
www.codyrivers.com
www.infinitelaughs.com

What categories does your show fall under? (IE, comedy, women, religious, etc).
'The Cody Rivers Show': Physical comedy theatre.
'Boom': Solo show. Fiction.

How long have you been fringing?
3 Years.

How many fringes do you do each year?
5-8

What has been your favorite fringe?
Tough call. Montreal and Minnesota are definitely in the upper echelons.

What has been your biggest money making fringe?
Edmonton and Vancouver.

What fringe did you make your most important contact?
That is a very difficult question to answer. We have made extremely
valuable contacts (personally and professionally) at more-or-less every
fringe we have been to.

In one word, why do you fringe?
Opportunities.

What's the name of the show (s) you are fringing this year?
'The Cody Rivers Show presents: Stick to Glue'
'Boom'

Do you use your own tech person at your shows? If so, how much do you pay them?
No. We always use the festival technician(s). They always do a great
job, and unless you have a extremely tech-heavy show, or work with
someone who really knows your show, I think it is a waste to hire
someone in.

Any fringes to avoid?
I'm too shy to answer that in a straightforward way, but I'll just say
that we met Jimmy Hogg at the festival he refers to in his answer to
this question, and the man is not lying. If anything, he is being generous.