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The ESL Rochester Fringe Festival will feature more than 700 performances in its 15th edition. The event takes place Sept. 15-26 across 45 venues.
This was a record-breaking year for applications, organizers say, resulting in returning favorites, festival debuts, and U.S. premieres in many genres. While the fest hosts acts from all over the world, it also serves as an annual spotlight for local talent to showcase their work to thousands of people, thanks in large part to the accessible, no-cost application process.
“As we celebrate our second year as title sponsor of the ESL Rochester Fringe Festival, we’re pleased to stand alongside a festival that has become an honored tradition in Rochester’s arts landscape,” says Tom Rogers, ESL president and CEO.
“We stepped up last year because we believe in everything that Fringe Fest stands for,” he adds.
This year, Fringe brings “Circus in the City,” or, as organizers call it, a festival within a festival. Supported by an Empire State Development grant, Circus in the City will include free outdoor events, circus arts, street theater, and interactive experiences. This will also be the first large-scale collection of outdoor circus performances in Western New York, organizers say.
Also new this year is the Garden Studio, a second performing arts space added to Dawn’s Spiegelgarden at One Fringe Place. The Garden Studio is a small theater space that offers a more intimate environment for shows with up to 60 audience members, according to organizers. Shows in the studio include “Just to Be Close to You” by Cam Porter and “Tea Party at the End of the World,” where guests are presented with exquisite tea and parlor games.
“Sometimes people tell me that Fringe is kind of overwhelming, but that’s the point!” notes Erica Fee, founding producer and CEO.
The Spiegeltent, a jewel box theater, will continue to host some Fringe shows, including the Edinburgh Fringe Festival cult hit, “A Young Man Dressed as a Gorilla Dressed as an Old Man Sits Rocking in a Rocking Chair for Fifty-Six Minutes and Then Leaves.” Comedian Pete Davidson, announced as this year’s headliner in June, will perform at Kodak Hall.
The organization is in the final stages of raising funds for the first Fringe Comprehensive Campaign. It has raised 84% of the $1.575 million goal. The funds will help acquire a rare Spiegeltent, a distinctive performing arts venue.
Brodie Martin is a recent graduate of Nazareth University and a member of the Oasis Project’s third cohort.
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