The 2010 Fringe Festival is over but the Fringe tradition has just begun. Now we begin settlement, navel gazing, and post mortem. Just in case anyone thought we would take a breather, here is our agenda over the next three weeks and beyond…

This Week

• We are now in the process of final festival accounting which includes cutting checks to participants for presales.
• We will also start polling participants for sales numbers and verifying addresses.
• Note that in some cases, your checks will be sent to your venues first.
• Also remember that an 8.5% commission will be deducted from all pre-sales (please tell me this isn’t a surprise)

Next Week

• We launch into some serious internal navel gazing.
• By the week’s end, we hope to produce an annual report including numbers and an internal post-mortem.
• All checks will be mailed to participants (and venues) by the end of next week

The Following Week

• We will host two post mortems: One for venues, One for participants and the community at large.
• We will announce the dates and places of these events asap

The Future

• We intend to hold lots of events where we can keep the community going
• There are a lot of exciting changes coming to the Fringe in 2011, keep your eyes and minds open.

One thing regarding the post-mortem: We are up to hear all your ideas assuming they are presented respectfully (to us and to each other). One thing that’s a question of contention today is the subject of leaving it an “uncurated” festival. This will not change, the Fringe in Hollywood will never turn away projects that have secured a venue and paid their registration.

One change we do intend to make is to make it clear when a partnering venue has decided to curate itself. For example, Theater of NOTE this year programmed its venue with content specific to its aesthetic, while The Complex took all comers who paid rent. We feel our Fringe model (based on Edinburgh Festival Fringe) allows for both standards to exist simultaneously, presenting the benefits of a curated fest with the vastness and opportunities presented in an uncurated fest.

Enjoy!

Ben

Our sincere thanks to our awards sponsors and congratulations to the winners!

Bitter Lemons Awards

The BLOAT (“Bitter Lemons Award for the most Outrageous Theatre”): The Wolf Girls

LATheatreReview.com Awards

Outstanding Contribution to LA Theatre La Fringe Award for Solo Performance – The Most Dangerous Woman in America
Nominees: Brownsville Bred, The Event

Outstanding Contribution to LA Theatre La Fringe Award for Ensemble Performance – Medea
Nominees: The Birthday Boys, The Wolf Girls

Outstanding Contribution to LA Theatre La Fringe Award for International Performers – British Invasion
Nominees: The Packer, Mission of Flowers

Outstanding Contribution to LA Theatre La Fringe Award for Overall Fringe Performance – The Birthday Boys
Nominees: The Wolf Girls, Friends Like These

Get Connected & CMJ Marketing Awards

Tweet Master or Mistress: Rachel Stoll

The Center for Sustainable Practice in the Arts (CSPA) Awards

The CSPA Fringe Award for Sustainable Production to Presque Pret a Porter, produced by Dreams by Machine, which was Laura Brody.

Principality Production Awards

Most Eccentric Costume: Dylan Jones, show: Pink Champagne
Most Socially Aware Show: Jeff Gardner, show: Kill Your Television

Congratulations to all the winners of the Fringe-sponsored awards!

We will be posting the winners of the other awards presented yesterday later in the afternoon.

THE FREAKS

• Top of the Fringe Award: T-O-T-A-L-L-Y!
• Fringe First Award (world premiere): The Birthday Boys
• Fringe International Award: BURTON
• Fringe Award for Theatre: T-O-T-A-L-L-Y!
• Fringe Award for Comedy: The British Invasion
• Fringe Award for Musicals & Operas: Rehab! The Musical
• Fringe Award for Music: The Poxy Boggards
• Fringe Award for Cabaret/Circus: FreakShow Deluxe
• Fringe Award for Dance & Physical Theatre: 4 Clowns
• Fringe Award for Visual Art: Gavin Worth Art Exhibit

THE SILLIES

The Gusher Award, for the Fringe staffer who shed the most blood
Bryan Burgess

The Fringe Central Rat Award, for making FC their Fringe home
Nik Coppin, Gedaly Gubrick, Pam Noles

Why did I tell you that? …for the most embarrassing story at a Fringe Jam
Lisa Keddie, Jon Armstrong (runner up)

The Work Horse Award, volunteers with the most commitment to Fringe
Liz Steele, Nathaniel Beaver, Gill Torres, Becca Miller

The Bike Horse Awards, Fringers most dedicated to bike transport
Enci Box, Stephen Box, Steven Leigh Morris (honorary)

Mayor of Fringe Central, for the FourSquare Mayor
Rachel Stoll

Early Planner, for the first to market their Fringe shows
David Wisehart, Greg Crafts

Congratulations to the nominees! The entire Fringe community is welcome tonight for the awards ceremony at 7pm. To guarantee tickets, purchase one online ($12). Tickets will be free at the door – make sure to arrive at Fringe Central at 6:30pm for the best chance at a seat in the theatre. Directly following the awards, we will be hosting a closing party at Fringe Central (no admission fee, cheap beer).

Without further introduction, here are the nominees…..

TOP of the FRINGE

The Birthday Boys
belz road productions

The British Invasion
best medicine productions

T-O-T-A-L-L-Y!
t-o-t-a-l-l-y!kimleigh production

INTERNATIONAL

BURTON
miles productions

The British Invasion
best medicine productions

Jesus: The Guantanamo Years
abie philbin bowman

FRINGE FIRST (World Premiere)

4 Clowns
alive theatre

The Birthday Boys
belz road productions

VENT
theatre of note

COMEDY

The British Invasion
best medicine productions

Lost Moon Radio
needtheater special project

That’s funny. You didn’t sound black on the phone.
big guns big tobacco

THEATRE

The Birthday Boys
belz road productions

Mission of Flowers
green room presents

T-O-T-A-L-L-Y!
t-o-t-a-l-l-y!kimleigh production

MUSICALS

The Fantasticks
thetribe productions

Rehab! The Musical
ecclectic theater

That Great & Dreadful Day-Tall Tales From The American Swamp
the swamp company

DANCE & PHYSICAL THEATRE

4 Clowns
alive theatre

Kill Your Television
quantum theatre

Ten West
ten west

CABARET & CIRCUS

FreakShow Deluxe
freakshow deluxe llc

I Do Card Tricks And I’m Funny.
jon armstrong

pink champagne
freakstar entertainment

MUSIC

Escalator Hill
escalator hill

The Fuxedos
the fuxedos/glazed yams, inc.

The Poxy Boggards
Angryfolk records

VISUAL ART

Gavin Worth Art Exhibit
gavin worth art

Presque Pret a Porter
dreams by machine

THE BLOAT (sponsored by www.bitter-lemons.com)

4 Clowns
alive theatre

Kill Your Television
quantum theatre

The Wolf Girls
cowboys and indians theatre company

Tweet Master or Mistress Award

Abie Philbin Bowman – Eco-Friendly Jihad
Gedaly Guberek – LA Lights Fire, High Over Heels
Gregory Craft – Friends Like These
Jacquetta – It’s funny. You didn’t sound black on the phone.
Rachel Stoll – Valentino
Tracy Eliott – The Girl Who Would Be King

Could it be? Yes it could. One day left…

Fringe will be rolling to a close on Sunday as we celebrate and remember our time together and ponder a new future now that Fringe has entered our lives. Let’s not be tearful, though, as we have much to cherish from our communal experience over these past two weeks. New relationships have been formed, miracles have materialized, and the gods have indeed wept.

I know I tend to get a bit mushy in these posts, but it’s easy to be overcome with the warm feelings, the sense of community, and the support and contributions you have all provided before and during this Fringe. I have said it before: This is a festival of community. This was fundamentally your festival and you made it the experience it became. Looking to the horizon as June once again rings in the Summer days, you will recreate it all over again. Such is the beauty and wonder of Fringe.

There yah go…a double serving of poetry to make up for yesterday’s brevity.

Now on to the news…

AWARDS
Those of you who have received ballots in your email are the official panelists for the festival sponsored awards. Specifically, this includes venue managers, participants, and HollywoodFringe.org reviewers who have contributed a substantial amount of work in the form of written reviews. You need to cast your ballots by noon Sunday for your votes to be counted. And here’s a new bit of good news: To warmly embrace our entire community, we are dropping the walk-up admission charge for the awards. Obviously there are a limited number of people we can fit in the 99 seat theatre at Fringe Central (1625 N Las Palmas), so make sure to arrive at 6:30 to secure your admission. If you have already made a reservation, it will be honored. If you feel nervous about securing a seat, you can still pay $12 to reserve one and we will guarantee you a place in the theatre.

CLOSING PARTY
Let it be known! Closing party is a chill and (no doubt) slightly emotionally-charged gathering at Fringe Central starting circa 9pm Sunday night at Fringe Central. Need T-shirts for your casts? Grab me and let’s talk bulk discounts. The gathering will begin directly proceeding the awards ceremony. There is absolutely, positively no cover charge to gather and beers/wine/sangria will be cheap.

HOUSE SIZES
My own personal obsession with house sizes is quenched to an extent today. The word on the street is that the public is starting to join our newly born ritual. I have heard from many of you that houses have grown in size and enthusiasm. Well done, everyone. Promotion works – and group promotion works better. For all those self-involved arts organizations out there that think they can live in their own little world, let this be a lesson: The arts are a group effort, what’s good for one of us is good for all. Be isolationist at your own risk. If nothing else, this is a wonderful omen for next year’s experience.

See you all tomorrow for one last day of Fringe 2010…

Ben