Fringe Buzz
Best of Fringe Uptown! at the Toronto Centre for the Arts
By Sonia Borkar
This delightful juried festival invites the best performances of the Fringe Festival, uptown to the Toronto Centre for the Arts for bonus performances. In a single night you will be able to see two very different performances. Tickets are $15 and the full list of shows is available now at www.tocentre.com Tickets can be purchased through the Toronto Centre of the Arts website, and not through the Toronto Fringe Festival Box Office.
Here are the 11 shows that have been selected for the Best of Fringe:
Read the rest of this entry »
2011 Toronto Fringe shows Mooney on Theatre folks will be sad if they miss
By Megan Mooney
So, the Toronto Fringe Festival is drawing to a close. Today and tomorrow are your last chances to do some hard-core fringing this year.
With 145 shows, it’s impossible to see everything. So I asked my writers what they will be sad to miss if they don’t get to see it. Here’s what they told me:
Patron’s Picks for 2011 Toronto Fringe Fest – get tickets to those shows that kept selling out!
By Megan Mooney
Each of the festival’s 13 main venues has a Patron’s Pick. It is determined by the show that sells the most tickets to their show over the course of the festival. Unlike during the rest of the festival, where only 50% of the tickets are available for advance sale, For the Patron’s Pick, 100% of tickets can be sold in advance, so make sure to buy your tickets early. They’re on sale now, and you buy them just like any other advance tickets at the Fringe.
All the patron’s picks are Sunday evening, a listing of the time in each venue is in bold in the Sunday section of the Master Schedule.
See below for a listing of all the patron’s picks:
Toronto Fringe Buzz for Thursday July 14, 2011
Here’s the latest Toronto Fringe Fest buzz we’ve been hearing around town. If you’ve got any scoop to share, feel free to post it in the comments section below!
Shows with sold-out advance tickets for performances
The following shows have completely sold out their advance tickets. Half of the seats for every Fringe performance are available for advance sales, the other half can only be purchased in-person starting one hour before the show so if you still want to see any of these shows, we suggest getting there VERY early and lining up.
Kim’s Convenience
Shotgun Wedding
Patron’s Picks
If the show you want to see is sold out, don’t fret! Patron’s Pick Performances are one last chance for you to see them. On July 17th, each venue will have an encore performance of the most attended show at that venue. The best news? 100% of the tickets will be on sale in advance. Patron’s Pick tickets go on sale Friday, July 9 at 5:00 pm. To book tickets, call 416-966-1062 or book online at http://www.fringetoronto.com.
Mini-reviews from our contest winners
Every day we have been offering readers a chance to win tickets to Fringe performances. Some of them have kindly provided us with thoughts on the show they attended. Thank you, dear readers! Here are some of the comments we received:
Cancer Can’t Dance Like This
“Dan Stolfi combines some dance, some caricature and some confessional in an honest account of his struggle with cancer. I really enjoyed the diary readings that were written as he went through the treatments. That’s where the show shone. The caricatures of the parts of his body affected by the cancer fight leaned a little too far toward cartoon Italian stereotyping for me and I had to struggle to find the value in them. Others easily did see a lot of humour in them and laughed heartily.”
Gravestone Posse
“You get to watch a radio program. A skilled cast, keyboard player and sound effects tech present a comic melodrama with some outrageous punning. A complex story line from the wild west , and actors frequently changing their hats literally and figuratively demand that you pay good attention. Sit up front and you’ll find clues about pelvic massage, the tumbleweed grapevine, zombies, and who shot the sheriff but not the deputy. Worth the walk to station CIUT at Hart House.”
Mister Baxter
“I really enjoyed Mister Baxter. Considering that I saw the 10:30 PM show at the end of a stressful day, I stayed completely engaged throughout — not always true for me at late-night shows! Having teachers in the family and knowing of a couple of incidents paralleling Mr Baxter’s, the story that was the catalyst to the whole piece really touched me. I enjoyed that no definitive verdict was given on the incident — only the fall-out from it. I recommend this to everyone looking for a strong ensemble piece at the Fringe.” – J
P-Dale
“We had a great time watching P-Dale. The story was very well told by 4 main and a couple of additional actors, who did a wonderful job portraying a bit about people’s lives growing up in Parkdale (or was it Richmond Hill?) and some of the problems people face. We particularly loved Twizzle who had some great lines and did a fabulous job of acting the part of a gangsta rapper. Only thing missing perhaps was their pants not being worn down at their knees. The writing, directing, and acting was all very well done by everyone. The play did a good job of combining humour, a bit of rap, and interaction with the audience with some very serious subject matter. It was definitely a show we would recommend to any fringers who want to experience a very interesting and unique Toronto neighbourhood.” – Eve-Lynn
The Last ROCK ‘n Roll Show
“Hi energy and hi volume from the four musicians and front man Jeff Jones. A mini rock concert, their songs tell the band’s ups and downs with emotion. As counterpoint, the notorious female rock critic (Dayna Chernoff) chronicles her volatile love/hate relationship with rock music, and skewers a few rock star types for the audience’s enjoyment. We attended a Monday afternoon gig! The crowd will surely take it up a few notches for the evening performances.” - P and J
The Travelling Salesman & His Magical Suitcase of Desires
“Commedia dell’arte is great for children’s theatre with its broadly drawn characters that boldly state their intentions all in bright coloured clothes and this show was terrific. From the first entry of the salesman to the curtain call of the doctor the audience was drinking in every moment. Marcel Dragonieri playing the salesman was very engaging. There’s always a true gem or two at KidsFringe and this certainly qualifies as a gem.”
Mickey & Judy
Loved the show! Michael Hughes is a vocal gem with incredible storytelling abilities. His story was touching and hilarious.
Caught Our Eye Playlistings: Favourites so far from our Fringe Writers
By Sonia Borkar
At this year’s Toronto Fringe Festival, Mooney on Theatre has 17 writers covering all 145 shows. Instead of posting our regular “Caught Our Eye” playlistings, we’ve asked a few of our Fringe writers to talk about their favourite show so far and why they enjoyed it. Hopefully their picks can help you navigate the festival better.
Toronto Fringe Buzz for Saturday July 9, 2011
By Megan Mooney
So, here we are at Day 4 of the Toronto Fringe Festival. Is everyone having fun? What have you been hearing around you in the line-ups and at the Fringe Tent? We want to know! Tell us in the comments section
Here’s some stuff we’ve been hearing:
Toronto Fringe Fest 2011 Opening Day – Speeches, sprints, Visual Fringe and Art Wank
Wednesday was the official opening day of the 2011 Toronto Fringe Festival. The opening ceremony included the Great Poster Sprint, a race for cast and crew members to run up and post their show posters on a giant wall. The ceremony was also attended by former mayor David Miller and David Mirvish of Mirvish Productions.
Read the rest of the entry for photos and videos of:
- Video highlights of the speeches from David Mirvish and David Miller
- Video of the Toronto Fringe Festival poster-sprint
- Photos from the Opening Ceremonies, Visual Fringe and the Art Wank
Caught Our Eye Playlistings – What our Fringe writers are most looking forward to
At this year’s Toronto Fringe Festival, Mooney on Theatre has 17 writers covering all 145 shows. Instead of posting our regular “Caught Our Eye” playlistings today, we’ve asked a few of our Fringe writers about which show they are most excited to see at the festival and why. Here are the responses we got; hopefully these answers whet your appetite and help you find a Fringe show that interests you.
Pick of the Fringe (Punch In the Box Productions) 2010 Toronto Fringe Review
By Megan Mooney
There are a few ingredients needed to make a great sketch show. You need talent, a point of view, strong writing and competent directing. Simply put, Pick of the Fringe has it all.
Air Conditioned Venues – 2010 Toronto Fringe
By Sam Mooney
By Sam Mooney
Beat the heat – see a Fringe show in air-conditioned comfort!
There are lots of ways to choose which Fringe shows to see. This week why not go to shows in air-conditioned venues?
You can download the Fringe program, look for the venue and see what’s playing. I went to 2 shows at the George Ignatieff Theatre today. Stayed cool.
Keep reading for a list of all the air-conditioned venues.