Holiday Wrap

Blink and you’ll miss it!

The 2015 Fringe Festival has wrapped, Thanksgiving has passed, and I lost my job! Before I take off for Portland and the Bay Area to visit some close friends in distant places, let’s fill you in on all the good stuff.

FESTIVAL PHOTOS

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A hapless block of soy is eviscerated for the crowd's amusement in The Medicine Show [click image to see full photo].

We’re currently reconstructing our galleries to make them easier to view and a lot more attractive to boot. Check out how they look so far! Each year’s festival events are now viewable by clicking on each year’s respective poster, you might even find yourself in there!

AWARDS

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This year’s winner of the 2015 Audience Choice Award went to the exciting, high-energy: THAT WAY MADNESS LIES: 30 Shakespeare Scenes in 60 Minutes, directed by Sarah Curnoles.

The 2015 Best of Fringe was a difficult choice, and went to the incredibly original, funny, and all-around Fringey: THE TRIAL OF HANNAH PORN, by Alexandra Tydings.

TALK TO US

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We want to hear from you. Tell us what you liked, what you didn't, and what you want to see next year! Please fill out this brief survey that will help us to better serve you, our fans and readers, and pass it along.

THANK YOU

Thanks again for all of your support. As we often say, Fringe exists for you and because of you! Your support makes each year possible.

Please consider making a donation to support Fringe and our efforts to cultivate Baltimore as a hub for theatre and the performing arts, to elevate the status of our city, and to be a part of the solution! Click here or on the donate button below to make a tax-deductible contribution to Fringe before the end of the year.

Have a wonderful holiday season, and a safe New Year. See you in 2016!

Keep fringing,

Zach & Mike, Co-founders

Thanks & Giving: Awards, Thanks, and Holiday Giving

As we find ourselves venturing into the holiday season, we at Charm City Fringe find ourselves looking back onto the festival that was. We extend our sincere gratitude to everyone who made Fringe Fest 2014 the massive success that it was. Actors, directors, writers, tech crews, bands, comics, venue managers, and audiences all made it possible.

As a festival, Charm City Fringe once again nearly doubled in size, with each individual artist also earning 40 percent more than last year. This is a monumental step for the artists and art in Baltimore and a testament to just how much your support matters.

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Photo by Laura Gardiner

This year, we built out the festival to include the Hampden neighborhood; utilizing the beautiful, eclectic Church & Company venue as well as the Great Hall Theatre at St. Mary’s and after parties at Golden West.

There was so much energy, creativity, and philanthropy on display at this year’s festival, and we here at Charm City Fringe are so thankful to everyone who made it possible. From our volunteers who put in countless hours, going above and beyond to prepare each venue, to our sponsors and partners who gave us the means to make 2014 our best yet, to the artists, who again showed that there is tons of great, fresh new work to be seen: Thank you.

This year’s Charm City Fringe Festival was a grand experience, and with your support it will continue to evolve, grow, and provide a platform for Fringe art and artists through 2015 and beyond. We’ll see you then, and perhaps sooner than you think.    

Bravo, and have a wonderful, safe, and wonderfully safe holidays.

-The Charm City Fringe Family

Photo credit: Valerie Paulsgrove, Baltimore City Paper

AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARD

This year we launched an Audience Choice Award for the artist or company that receives the most votes. This year's recipient:

LES(S) CLOWNS: NOTHING.

BEST OF FRINGE

Each year, we choose the artist or company that most embodies the Fringe esthetic. We had countless wonderful productions, but one in particular stood out. This year's recipient:

INTERROBANG THEATRE CO: LEVELING UP

SUPPORT FRINGE

The growth that the festival and our artists were able to achieve in 2014 is a testament to just how much your support matters.

This holiday season, we ask that you take the opportunity to give back to the artists and arts community of Baltimore. Let your friends and followers know that you participated in or support the arts scene and Charm City Fringe with the hashtag #bMoreFringe15.

We hope that you will consider Charm City Fringe in your holiday generosity.

Theatre, and Music, and Beers! Oh My!

We’ve locked down the venues, picked the artists, received more grants and support than ever before, and our educational work is taking off. Oh, and there’s going to be a Fringe Beer.

 First, the artists. We’ve nearly doubled the performing companies this year. There’s a one-woman cooking show comedy and a group of clowns exploring the meaning of life. And if you’re looking for something else, there’s plenty more.

Click here to get the scoop on all of this year's performers

Now, the venues. Returning for their second engagement with the Fringe Fest is the historic Baltimore Theatre Project, a force in Baltimore’s theatre community since opening its Mt. Vernon doors in 1971. New to the Festival is the Chicken Box of Station North and Hampden’s Church & Company. They’re as interesting as their names might suggest: one is housed in a former NY Fried Chicken, the other nestled in an historic church off the Avenue. 

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Want the first peak at the 2014 artwork for the Charm City Fringe Fest? Well, you've found it, the wonderful work of Navid Azeez!

Of course, all of this is made possible by the help of our sponsors. We are thrilled to join forces with Brewer’s Art. Not only are they hosting happy hours and late-night gatherings for the festival, but Brewer’s is crafting a special release Charm City Fringe Beer! It will be delicious, we promise, and exclusively available on draught at your favorite Fringe bars and venues, also a promise.

If you're getting as excited as we are then I suggest signing up right here to volunteer at this year's festival. We love our volunteers and, along with all of our love and respect, they will receive free festival passes and cool swag. 

Before the fest hits in full this November, be sure to catch Charm City Fringe at HampdenFest on September 20th and again during Free Fest this October. We’ll have free giveaways, prizes, and discount tickets and buttons for the Festival!

That's all for now. Tune in next week for news on our new educational efforts!

With love, 

Michael Brush, co-founder

Artscape, Festival, and the Omnipresent "More"

Holy wow! It’s July 4th and I missed last month’s blog. Well, sometimes you miss a blog here and there. We hope you got by all right, and never fear, we’re back.

Since you last heard, a lot has gone down here at Charm City Fringe HQ (hence the missed blog, in fact): we’re getting sponsored by our friends at The Brewer's Art, expanding the festival into Hampden, and we received a ton of applicants for the 2014 Fringe Fest—that’s coming up in November, you know! I can speak for myself, but I’m also going to speak for the rest of the Fringe team when I say that we’re excited by the mix of artists and companies coming to Fringe this year.

Do you think alien encounters may be ripe for the theatrical picking? Well we have that, TWICE!

Puppets? Yes, please.

Interpretive dance and narrative storytelling? You bet.

Shakespeare? This is a theatre festival, of course there’s going to be Shakespeare (this time, a comedy!).

Improv? Darn tootin’!

There’s more too, but to find that out, you will just have to follow us on The Facebook to stay up to date (got a smartphone, more of a Twitter user? Follow us @CharmCityFringe).

“But Zach, the festival is sooo far away, it’s in November!” Oh yes, little one, but fear not, your favorite Fringe peeps will be at Artscape this July 18-20. We’ll have a table at the GBCA tent and at Theatre Project too! We’re going to have some inside scooping going on for the festival, plus our cool new T-shirts, some classic merch from Fringe past, FREE stickers, and…wait for it…

A SPECIAL DISCOUNT FOR FESTIVAL PASSES AND BUTTONS!

That’s about it for now. Oh yea, we’re still accepting BYOV (that’s Fringe-speak for Bring Your Own Venue) productions through the end of the month, so it’s not too late to join Fringe! Don’t scare Michael again like you did last time, send those apps in!

Charm City Fringe Fest 2014 is right around the corner, and applications are frighteningly easy! Apply now! http://charmcityfringe.com/2014-application/ Charm City Fringe Festival: November 5th-9th, 2014 Applications available April 1st-June 15th, 2014 Check us out on: Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/CharmCityFringe Twitter - https://twitter.com/CharmCityFringe Official Site - http://charmcityfringe.com/ Donate to CCF - http://charmcityfringe.com/support/

^last time

Cheers,

Zach Michel

Co-founder, Festival Producer, and Tardy Blog Writer