We have partnered with the City of West Hollywood’s One City One Pride LGBTQ Arts Festival to offer select participant shows with LGBTQ-themes complimentary Festival registration, courtesy of a scholarship received from the City of West Hollywood. We are excited to announce that the winners are:

• BRAVO 25: YOUR A.I. THERAPIST WILL SEE YOU NOW     
• DEAD BOYS
• DEBAUCHERS
• DOG SEES GOD: CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE BLOCKHEAD
• #LASTDANCE
• NICKY
• RONNIE BRIXTON – BEST OF BRITISH BOXING
• SEX ANYONE
• THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF DRAG IN A FEW MO-MO
• UPSTAIRS – A MUSICAL TRAGEDY

The Hollywood Fringe Festival is proud to support the LGBTQ community and congratulates this year’s winners!

For more information, including a list of participating venues, please visit www.hollywoodfringe.org/weho_2017.

The City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) and the Hollywood Fringe Festival will present “LA Theater Scene and Paths Towards Success”, a panel about theater presenting in Los Angeles on Saturday, June 24, at 3:00 p.m. at Sacred Fools Theater – Main Stage, located at 1076 Lillian Way, Los Angeles, CA 90038.

This special event is free and open to the public and features some of Los Angeles’ leading theater presenters as they discuss how theater presenting works in the city and how they choose theater projects. The panel will also identify the trends in national and international theater, and provide ideas on how to amplify the local theater community.

“The Department of Cultural Affairs is excited to be co-presenting this panel exploring how LA’s theater and presenting communities can work together to provide support to our home-grown artists,” said DCA General Manager Danielle Brazell. “LA has a world-class, entrepreneurial creative community, and this forum will help guide and shape our collective success at presenting quality work to as many residents and visitors to LA as possible.”

“LA Theater Scene and Paths Towards Success” was created to welcome Los Angeles presenters into the Fringe community, showcase local theater, and explore the Fringe theater community’s place on the global stage. The goal of the panel discussion is not only to educate and inform, but also to foster fruitful relationships that will enable small and independent productions to confidently grow and take projects into the future.

“We are very enthusiastic to partner with DCA in this manner because we believe in the power of the theater community in Los Angeles,” said Hollywood Fringe Festival Director Ben Hill. “This panel will certainly help to foster relations between Fringe producers and high-profile theater presenters, and it will also set the stage for further discussion about collaboration, growth, and viability of Los Angeles theater on a global scale.”

The panel, moderated by Ben Johnson, DCA’s Performing Arts Division Director, includes:

• Paul Crewes, Artistic Director, The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts

• Carolyn Elliot, Director of Programming, The Broad Stage

• Ben Hill, Festival Director, Hollywood Fringe

• Andy Horwitz, Director of Program, Skirball Cultural Center

• Allen Moon, Director of Touring & Artist Management at David Lieberman Artist’s Representatives and Artistic Director of Santa Ana Sites

• Selene Santiago, Programming Director, Encuentro de las Americas Festival, Latino Theater Company

Tickets for this event are free and open to the public. Ticket reservations will open on May 1.

To reserve your space, please visit http://hff17.com/4688.

Q: How did you get involved with the Hollywood Fringe Festival and what made you want to stick around?

A: I first experienced the awesomeness of Fringe during the Opening Night Party of 2016. I was attending as a guest of the incompararable Bella Luna (Fringe’s Cabaret Director). We had arrived early and through some sort of cosmic alignment I was able to get behind the bar and help out. I found a groove quickly and really enjoyed my time there that night. It turned out to be the first night of several that I was lucky enough to spend at Fringe Central. The people and energy of Fringe are amazing and almost as intoxicating as the drinks. There are no friendships quite like Fringeships and I can’t wait for this year.

Q: Tell us about your experience behind bars.

A: I started bartending shortly after I turned 21. I was looking for a job that allowed me flexibility to continue pursuing acting, so I went through a bartending training course and then got a job at a restaurant. During the few years I worked there, I found I really enjoyed the fast paced, friendly, and dynamic work that is bartending. It was the perfect fit for me. I started working at other types of bars ranging from nightclubs to hotels. I’ve held several positions including bartender, manager, loss prevention, auditing, and menu consulting. I am currently working full time at the Hollywood Pantages theatre, a bar that has been my on again off again home for 11 years.

Q: What are you most excited about your new positiion with the festival?

A: This year as Bar Manager I am excited to be more involved with the sponsored drink program, helping Fringers spread their name throughout the crowd by creating memorable libations that are branded for their shows. I also can’t wait to be a part of the experiences and the parties that bring the incredible people of Fringe back again and again.

Q: If you were a liquor, what would you be and why?

A: That’s a tough question, but I’d like to think I’d be an aged rum: flavorful, fun, and mixes well with a variety of things. Plus I’m part pirate, and more often than not, I am why the rum is gone.

I look forward to seeing last year’s Fringers and meeting all the new ones, so come on down to Fringe Central and grab a drink!

If you’d like some great publicity for your show or business, we invite you to take part in the auction for the most coveted Guide spots: the centerfolds, inner front cover, and back cover. The auction opens Thursday, April 20th at Noon PDT and ends Monday, April 24th at 6pm PDT. You can participate whether or not you have already purchased an ad in the Guide (if you did, your original purchase will be deducted from your bid). If you purchased an ad smaller than the full-page size, you will need to upgrade if you win. The opening bid for the centerfolds is $750, and both the inner front cover and back cover opening bids are $1,000. We have also set “Buy Now” prices for each option. Go here to participate in the auction. 

The sponsored drinks program is back for its seventh year, allowing you to feature a drink crafted especially for you at the infamous Bryan’s Bar at Fringe Central. For $100, you provide the name, your base alcohol choice and other information about your show, business, etc and our bartenders will create a hand-crafted beverage to promote you, your business, and/or production! You will also receive an official #hff17 social media mention, a newsletter shout-out, and printed signage at the bar. All proceeds from sponsored drink sales go to the Fringe.

The deadline for sponsored drink submissions is May 20th. If interested, please complete this form.