Thanks again to everyone who attended the Town Hall this week.

For those of you who couldn’t make it, we have included the following audio track for your listening pleasure.

We begin with about 80 minutes of information on marketing shows then move right into Q & A.

Thanks to the staff and management of Theatre of Arts (the home of Fringe Central 2010) for hosting us this evening. We will have other opportunities to interact as a community as we approach the big dates in June.

Give it a listen!

Join the Fringe staff and scores of your Fringe cohorts for a Hollywood Fringe Town Hall on Tuesday, April 10th. These are always a good time with lots of socializing and helpful information to ensure a successful Fringe experience.

This time around we are hosting our second Town Hall at Theatre of Arts, the site of the 2010 Fringe Central Mainstage & Box Office.

As soon as the Town Hall wraps up, we move across the road for an informal mixer at a location to be announced.

Can’t make it? Fear not, we are recording the whole thing so anyone can listen.

Please rsvp on facebook or by emailing us at [email protected].

Hope to see everyone there!

Ben

WHAT: The Fringe Town Hall

WHEN: Tuesday, April 10th, 2012 at 7pm (doors at 6:30)

WHERE: Theatre of Arts, 1625 Las Palmas Avenue, Hollywood, CA (West side of Los Palmas just South of Hollywood blvd)

WHY:

• To answer your questions and listen to your feedback
• To guide you through marketing your show or venue
• To announce new programs and promotions

WHAT: The Fringe Mixer

WHEN: Monday, February 20th, 2012 shortly after 9pm

WHERE: The Pig N’ whistle (6714 Hollywood Boulevard)

WHY:

• To socialize with staff, fellow, participants and venues
• To imbibe drink specials: $3 drafts, $4 wines and $5 wells.

Greetings, Fringers-

Every year we partner with the good folks at LA Weekly and offer participants discounted advertising and exposure through Los Angeles’ highest profile weekly paper. You may have caught our beautiful ads gracing the June issues, as well.

One of the most anticipated evenings of the arts world is the LA Weekly Theatre Awards, this year held on April 2 at 7:30 (6:30 doors) at the Avalon in Hollywood; that’s one day after the registration deadline for those of you paying attention. Tickets are a very reasonable $25 which can be purchased here.

Make sure to bring your toga because it wouldn’t be a real theatre party without a theme. In the words of Steven Leigh Morris: “The event will be a replication of the first-ever theater awards ceremony, circa 450 B.C., honoring Dionysus, god of fertility and wine.”

To make this even more Fringey for you folks, the hosts of the evening will be perennial HFF group (and winner of the 2011 Fringe comedy award) Lost Moon Radio. I am sure we will be enjoying the music of the Moon Units, the band that powered the infamous karaoke nights in the Fringe Tent.

Check out this fun slideshow from their 2011 Awards and congrats to the nominees.

We will be there having a great time…hope to see you, as well!

Ben

Hollywood, CA- Organizers of the Hollywood Fringe Festival announced today that Theatre of NOTE will serve as the 2012 Fringe Blackbox Theatre, a new venue for this year’s fest. The third annual festival takes place June 14-24, with a week of previews taking place June 7-12. Registration for the festival is now open.

The announcement of a “Blackbox” venue marked a shake-up for the open access arts fest, which hosted a Fringe Central space in both 2010 and 2011, but has never before hosted multiple Fringe-run venues. The Fringe Blackbox at Theatre of NOTE will highlight solo artists, comedy and other performances suited to the intimate and infinitely re-imaginable space that has helped to define Hollywood theatre for the past 25 years.

“It seems only natural that we are partnering with Theatre of NOTE in this fashion, as we’ve had a close relationship with members there since we started planning the Fringe in 2007,” said Fringe Festival Director Ben Hill, “In fact, our Fringe [film] Director Ezra Buzzington, who himself co-founded the Seattle and NY Fringe Festivals, has been a member at NOTE for 10 years and was one of the first community members to encourage myself and the other co-founders to bring a Fringe to Hollywood.”

Hill went on to remark on the implications of this change in strategy for the central organization: “We are always seeking new ways to promote and assist our participants, which is why we have traditionally made rent at Fringe Central so low. This year, we decided to host an additional space to act as an alternate venue befitting smaller scale Fringe productions. The Fringe Blackbox at Theatre of NOTE will serve as a great compliment to the Main Stage at Open Fist.”

Located on Cahuenga Boulevard in central Hollywood, Theatre of NOTE lies in the middle of the Hollywood Fringe boundaries and has served for years as a strong link between the comedy clubs of Hollywood Blvd. and Theatre Row on Santa Monica Blvd. Since it was founded in 1981, Theatre of NOTE has always been actively involved in the Los Angeles theatre community, winning countless accolades for its premieres. The Hollywood Fringe has proved no exception. For the past two years, the venue has had some of the most successful shows in the Fringe; in 2010, one of its Fringe shows won the coveted “Top of the Fringe” award.

The Fringe announced in early February that the Open Fist Theatre will serve as the Fringe Central Box Office & Main Stage in 2012. Fringe Central was hosted at Theatre of Arts Arena Stage in 2010 and at ArtWorks in 2011. The Fringe organization has chosen to partner with different venues each year to help provide a new experience for returning artists and audiences. Aside from the Fringe-run venues, over twenty Hollywood venues have already signed on to participate in the third annual festival.

About Theatre of NOTE

We at Theatre of NOTE are an enduring ensemble of diverse theatre artists in the heart of Hollywood who inspire, inform, and ignite our audiences by discovering courageous voices and creating entertaining, provocative, and revelatory theatrical works.

NOTE was founded in 1981 by Kevin Carr, along with Kitty Felde, Marc Gordon, Melanie MacQueen, Heather Carr, & Ted Parks as a forum for original one-act plays (N.O.T.E. stood for “New One-Act Theatre Ensemble”), and to provide a stimulating environment for new playwrights. Since its inception, NOTE has been through several transitions, but the integrity of the original idea has always remained intact. We premiere an average of four main stage productions a year, by writers such as W.H. Auden, Bertolt Brecht, Sheila Callaghan, Christopher Kelley, Tony Kushner, Jennifer Maisel, Leon Martell, Murray Mednick, Dennis Miles, John O’Keefe, Erik Patterson, Bill Robens and Jacqueline Wright. NOTE also upholds a tradition of acclaimed late-night shows, first launched in 1988, in addition to the now-annual, notorious, celebrity-crowd art magnet, The Hollywood Performance Marathon. We have earned consistent commendation from the Los Angeles press and national acclaim from such publications as American Theatre. In all, NOTE has accumulated almost 100 honors and nominations, including awards from the LA WEEKLY, Backstage West, L.A. Stage Alliance (Ovations), and PEN International. Thanks to over 25 years of advancing theatre in Los Angeles, NOTE has received generous government and corporate support, including grants from the California Arts Council, the Cultural Affairs Department of Los Angeles, the Flintridge Foundation, the Libby Holman Foundation, the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, Robinson’s/May, Sedgwick James Inc., the Audrey Skirball-Kenis Foundation, Verizon, Time Warner and, most recently, The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce in recognition of our Young Writers Project, an outreach program benefiting local high school students.

About Hollywood Fringe

The Hollywood Fringe Festival is an annual celebration of the emerging arts.
Environments for the Fringe include both traditional and unorthodox venues; fully equipped theatres, street corners, clubs, bars, and places unexpected. Performances are self-produced by local, national, and international arts companies and independent performers. In the spirit of most Fringes, participation is open and uncensored.

In June 2011, over 200 groups participated and over 25,000 tickets were sold, making the festival one of the largest of its kind in the United States. The event has been called “an artful feast” by the LA Times, “a roaring success” by Backstage, and “a triumph” by LA Weekly.

The Hollywood Fringe’s Mission Statement:
Host an environment for bold and experimental works
Champion underground art and artists
Vitalize the arts industry in Los Angeles
Promote and enrich the Hollywood neighborhood

Key Festival Dates
Feb. 1st- Registration Open
April 1st- Registration Deadline for Guide Inclusion
May 11th- Fringe [film] Submission Deadline
June 7-12- Fringe Previews
June 13th- Fringe Opening Night Gala
June 14-24- 2nd Annual Hollywood Fringe Festival
June 24th- Fringe Award Ceremony & Closing Night Party

Thanks again to everyone who attended the Town Hall this week.

For those of you who couldn’t make it, we have included the following audio track for your listening pleasure.

It begins with a rousing introduction by Amanda Weier of Open Fist (our host venue for the evening), followed by about 45 minutes of information and 60 minutes of Questions & Answers.

Give it a listen!