MARCH 2008

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Thank you to our Sponsors: The George Cedric Metcalf Charitable Foundation The Catherine and Maxwell Meighan Foundation The Ed Mirvish Family Charitable Foundation The Charles Ivey Foundation The Fringe is a member of: The Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals (CAFF) Theatre Ontario Tourism Toronto Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA) Toronto Arts Coalition Festival and Events Ontario

Producers' Greeting:

Hello Fringers,

Thanks for thinking of us in the dead of winter. We're always thinking of you. If you haven't already, please fill out our survey on a variety of pressing Fringe issues. It'll help us improve our communications with you and take your wishes into account as we plan for upcoming festivals.

Keep on reading for the low-down on the Dance Initiative, our 2nd annual Cover Contest and lots of good stuff going on in the community.

Gideon Arthurs, Executive Director
Bridget MacIntosh, Producer
Cindy Rozeboom, Development and Marketing Coordinator
Deanna DiLello, Festival Associate

Dance Initiative Lottery Results

The first annual Dance Intitiative was held on March 3, graciously hosted by HUB 14. Thank you everyone who applied and those who came out to the lottery.

We are pleased to annouce the following lottery winners:

The Fringe received 33 applicants in total - from Ontario, Montreal, St. Johns Newfoundland and Winnipeg. Click here to see the full list of applicants.

The Dance Initiative is a new program developed in cooperation between the Fringe of Toronto and the Dance Umbrella of Ontario.  The Dance Initiative is the creation of eight new dedicated dance performance slots at the Toronto Fringe Festival, to be premiered at the 20th anniversary Fringe, July 2-13, 2008. 

Fringe Cover Contest -Deadline Approaching

We're looking for an exciting and engaging image to grace all of our 2008 Fringe marketing materials.

Your image could end up appearing on the cover of the 2008 Official Fringe Program as well as on the festival's posters, brochures, ads and website.  The winner will receive a $500 cash prize as well as a VIP Unlimited Pass for the 2008 Fringe Festival (the VIP Unlimited Pass is good for up to two admissions for any Fringe show for the duration of the festival.

Click here for more contest information and an application form. If you have any questions please contact us at fringe@fringetoronto.com or 416-966-1062

Fringe Plays Onstage

BELLA DONNA
winner of the 2005 Fringe New Play Contest and a Patron's Pick, will open at:
Berkeley Upstairs
May 16 - June 7

Starring Francoise Balthazar, Stephen Sparks, Lindsay McMahon, and Mimi Mekler. Directed by Sue Miner. The play is being produced by Burning Passions Theatre in association with Some Strange Reason Theatreworks.

BELLA DONNA is published by Playwrights Canada Press. It was produced last April at the RCA Theatre in St. John's , directed by Berni Stapleton.

Yabu no naka: distruthted in Tokyo!
By Ahuri Theatre

Three continents - Four languages - Fives bodies - One amazing show This dynamic international cast ( Canada , Sweden , Japan , France) brings you a stunning physical theatre adaptation of? Yabu no naka?, the famous modern short story written by Ryunosuke Akutagawa -- the story was borrowed by Akira Kurosawa for his celebrated movie Rashomon. Ahuri theatre was voted best ensemble at the Toronto Fringe Festival 2007!

Setagaya Public theatres Theatre TRAM
TOKYO
April 3 – 6, 2008
For more information call +81.3.5432.1526 or visit http://setagaya-pt.jp

Announcing MacKenzie Ro's production of the 2007 NNNNN Fringe Triumph
DISCO PIGS
By Enda Walsh

Pig and Runt—an inseparable duo living their lives in the ill-defined and confusing no man's land between childhood and the adult world. We meet the pair—a self-described Irish “Bonnie and Clyde” —on their shared 17 th birthday, and Cork City through their eyes is a wet grey wasteland with only one diamond shining out of the shite, The Palace Disco.  www.mackenziero.com

Benefit Performance for Equity Showcase Theatre
Sunday March 16 th @ 8PM
Alchemy Studio Theatre
133 Tecumseth St. (Queen & Bathurst)
PWYC at the Door
Theatre box-office opens at 7PM

Fringe Artists Onstage

Puppetmongers Theatre presents
The Brick Bros. Circus
Created and performed by Ann Powell and David Powell
401 Logan Ave at Dundas St. East

SEE BRICKS DO TRICKS IN ONE OF THE SILLIEST SHOWS ON EARTH!
Recommended for family audiences age 5 and up.

The Brick Bros. Circus is yet another witty and whimsical creation from Puppetmongers. They offer it up this year as a March Break activity for the whole family with daily 2:30pm matinees followed by puppetry workshops for the kids. Seating is limited, reservations recommended.

March 10-15, 2008
Daily matinees at 2:30pm with post-show puppetry workshops
Special Early Bird online deal until March 9: $10 adults, $5 kids, $8 for the workshop (per child with adult)
After March 9, all tickets $10, and post-show workshop $8.
Reservations and info: 416 469 3555
Cash or cheques only at the door.
www.puppetmongers.com

Floor 6 1/2
Written and Directed by Adam Barrett
Starring Heather Schiller and Jamieson M. Eakin

Floor 6 1/2 is a play about two strangers trapped in an elevator for ten hours. Lucy's got baggage. Aaron has secrets. All they have in common is their shared loathing of elevator music. The story is told in a series of brief scenes, giving us glimpses into moments of their relationship over the course of that time, how they develop from stranger, to nemesis, to what could maybe be friend.

Buddies in Bad Times, in the cabaret
Mar 22, 2008
2:30 pm - PWYC
8:00 pm - $10
Visit www.shoddyproddy.com for more info

DEATH OF A CHIEF
Buddies In Bad Times
March 6 th - March 16th, 2008.

THEATRESPORTS
Bad Dog Theatre, 138 Danforth Avenue (at Broadview)
Saturday evenings at 8pm

Theatresports pits the supremely talented cast against each other in fast and furious short form improv matches. The audience will vote for the best scenes and declare each evening's winning team. Your host and moderator, Robin Archer, will award penalties and bonuses while taking poignant jabs at the performers. This format has been emulated by television programs such as Who's Line is it Anyway?, and The Canadian Improv Championships but needs to be experienced live where the world of improv becomes a delightfully vicious sport!

Tickets $10    Call 416-491-3115     RECOMMENDED AGE FOR THIS SHOW IS 13 and UP.
For other Bad Dog Theatre improv and comedy show listings visit www.baddogtheatre.com

Alt.comedy Lounge
Monday Nights at 9pm
The Rivoli, 332 Queen St. W.

The Rivoli presents Mon-night alternative comedy.
Tickets: PWYC, 416-596-1908, www.altcomedylounge.com

SketchComedy Lounge
Tuesday nights at 9pm
The Rivoli, 332 Queen St. W.

The Rivoli presents Tuesday night sketch comedy.
Tickets: PWYC, 416-596-1908, www.altcomedylounge.com

Workshops, Readings, Forums, Calls For Submission

GESTATION SERIES

A monthly reading series with a focus on new experimental work

The Cheshire Unicorn presents its exciting monthly experimental script reading sessions called Gestation Series on the first Monday of each month. It is an opportunity for new scripts to be read by actors, where preference is given (but not limited) to scripts which are written for the stage and explore experimental subject matter or way of showing a story. As well, there is a draw for The Birth Canal, where a writer will have a month to write a script on a given topic, which will be presented at the following series.

Submission request is ongoing - Playwrights can email your script (of any length) to gestation@cheshireunicorn.com with a synopsis, character breakdown and your mailing address. You can also give in hard copies on the night of the series for future readings, or arrange to send by snail mail. We accept all types of scripts, although preference is given towards experimental material. Although we accept all lengths, if a script is over 25-30 pages, we may only read the first few scenes, or the equivalent to 25 pages or so.

For more information:
email gestation@cheshireunicorn.com
call 416.726.5085 or
join the facebook group (called Gestation Series).
www.cheshireunicorn.com

THE CULTURE CONGRESS

Harbourfront Centre, in partnership with The Theatre Centre and Crow's Theatre, invite you to take part in the inaugural edition of The Culture Congress, a forum in Toronto that opens our lively artistic community to the world; bringing together practitioners from the local, national and international performance, visual arts, new media, design and cultural communities for an exchange of practical skills, information sharing and ideas.

Taking place this year from March 7-10th, as part of World Stage's partnership with The Theatre Centre's Free Fall 08 ( www.harbourfrontcentre.com/worldstage/performances/freefall08/ ), a national festival of experimental interdisciplinary performance, The Culture Congress dares to ask ‘What is Your Relevance?'   

Over the course of four days, participants of The Culture Congress can challenge themselves and each other through a series of workshops, discussions and performances as provocative questions are developed, raised and explored:

Planned activities include: a keynote address, talk sessions, workshops, networking events and an exclusive pitch session with international presenters. Committed to ensuring that special opportunities for artistic and community development remain accessible, we are happy to announce registration to participate in The Culture Congress is FREE.  

Please RSVP to hatch@harbourfrontcentre.com in order to reserve your spot and receive up-to-date information on events, speakers and moderators related to this forum.

News & Ticket Offers

Save us!! [Hamletown]

A work-in-progress performance showing: A dance party, blissed out meditation, boredom, suicide, an attempt at Hamlet, documentary footage, failure, and aspects of the Jonestown massacre. Save us!! [Hamletown] is about a collective of artists who remove themselves from society feeling they can create a better life away from mainstream culture.

Friday March 7 th & Saturday March 8 th 2008 @ 8 p.m.
Part of  Harbourfront Centre's HATCH series
Studio Theatre, York Quay Centre, 235 Queens Quay West.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for students, seniors or members of Equity and CADA.
For tickets, the public can call the Harbourfront Centre Box Office at 416-973-4000.
Information: www.harbourfrontcentre.com/hatch or 416-973-4000

Canadian Opera Company

Opera for a New Age - $20 tickets are available to mainstage performances in the 3C/4C/5C areas for patrons aged 29 and under. Tickets will be available about one week before showtime.

Student Rush - Subject to availability, students may purchase one (1) ticket per valid student photo identification as of 11 a.m. on the day of a performance. Tickets will be sold as best available at a 50 percent discount.

Rush Tickets - Subject to availability, rush tickets are offered in the 3C/4C/5C areas of R. Fraser Elliott Hall at $20 each. Any tickets remaining in other areas of the auditorium may be purchased at a 50 percent discount.

All rush tickets for COC performances are on sale at 11a.m on the day of a performance. Tickets can be purchased in person only, at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts Box Office, 145 Queen St. W. , Toronto , and are subject to availability.

For more information please visit www.coc.ca  

TO TIX - Toronto 's One Stop Ticket Shop

Similar to the Booth in New York 's Times Square, London 's Leicester Square and Vancouver 's downtown tourist information centre, T.O. TIX offers its patrons a wide variety of theatre, dance, opera, comedy, music and special events.  T.O. TIX is also an official outlet for TicketKing, Gray Line Sightseeing, ShopDineTour Toronto, and the Ontario Science Centre.

Located in Yonge-Dundas Square , T.O. TIX's hours of operation are Tuesday through Saturday, Noon to 6:30PM. Booth sales are in-person only.  T.O. TIX is Toronto 's central ticketing outlet featuring discounted tickets on the day of performance as well as full-price tickets in advance. Tickets can be purchased online, or in-person at the T.O. TIX ticket Booth.

SIGN UP now to receive the T.O.TIX Daily E-Bulletin to find out the best deals on tickets to theatre, dance, opera, comedy, music and special events in Toronto. Visit www.totix.ca today!

HIP TIX

Hip Tix offers discount tickets for students. With your valid student I.D. card, you can attend select preview performances for most theatre, dance and opera productions across Toronto for only $5!  Find more info on this program at www.goliveto.ca  

If your company has a special ticket offer or would like to provide a unique offer to Fringe newsletter subscribers please forward more information to fringe@fringetoronto.com