FRINGE APPLICATION IS AVAILABLE

Is your favorite time of year Fringe Time?  Yup.  Us, too.  That’s why we’re very excited to bring you this news:  the 2010 MN Fringe application is up and ready for your downloadingness.

A few things:

• Unfortunately, the application fee didn’t magically disappear.  Fortunately, it didn’t go up.  You’ll still have to pay $25 for a numbered ping pong ball.
• You have until 5pm on January 29th to get your app in.
• The MN Fringe is introducing some enhanced producer education options this year.  A little something called First Steps will match Fringe newbies with a more experienced production company to help them “win-the-Fringe” (copyright John Heimbuch).  A little something called Next Steps will provide support for companies looking to let go of the nookie blanky and produce outside of the Fringe.  Both programs will snag participants from a pool of eligible companies via (what else) a lottery.
• There is now a “tour application”.  Two companies (assuming two companies apply for this) will be lottery-selected to participate in a four-city Midwest Fringe Tour Circuit.  Kansas City, Indianapolis, Minnesota, and Chicago are the four cities.  One application, four fringes, you, and your insanity.
• The BYOVs have been scaled down to a maximum of four slots.  And these bad-boys are now due at the same time as the general application.  Good job, Fringe.

That’s it for now.  Fill out that application and start writing your totally awesome werewolf/vampire/Good Fellas adaptation of The Master Builder.

You can say a lot about the Tenenbaum family, but you can’t say they’re stupid.

For those of you that didn’t catch it in the comments, my last post struck a nerve with Lee H. over at Guthrie Corporation’s Big Blue Blog.  Apparently, sarcastically claiming that he pushes the blogging envelope wasn’t very nice.  To make it up to him, I figured I’d address his comment directly in this post.

Lee starts,

“Jay strikes again … Whether or not you particularly care for Rohan and Graydon’s back and forth piece, at least they signed their names to it and have an email address where people can comment.”

Lee, you can email us at “author [at] fringefamous [dot] com”.  We also have a phone number where people can call us and leave a message.  That information has always been listed on our About page.

“Anonymous commenting and unsubstantiated shit-throwing is just the mark of very small people.”

Ah, yes…the anonymous thing.  The classics never die.  The logic that opinions and/or ideas lack merit without a “real” name attached is just plain silly.  Besides, Lee, if I told you my real name, you’d still have no idea who I was.  I’m a guy in town who follows theatre.  That wouldn’t change if my name was John or Ben or Sam or Ron.

“Honestly, I don’t care who you really are or what you do, and I can tell by your ongoing slander of “LeeH” that the feeling is mutual.”

Actually, I do care what you do.  That’s why I’m so often commenting about the Big Blue Blog.  Also, slander is a spoken-word situation.  I think you meant to use “libel”.  But I knew what you meant.

“Does it suck that major news outlets are continually covering the Guthrie?”

No.

“Does it suck that the Guthrie and CTC have figured out a way to rent costume stocks to create another source of revenue?”

No.  It’s pretty awesome.  It’s something I’ve been taking advantage of for over ten years.

“Does it suck that my fellow Guthrie employees and I get paid a living wage to work at one of the country’s top theater orgs?”

No.  Why would that suck?

“Absolutely not. I’m blessed to have a job that affords me luxuries that colleagues at other local organizations will only ever dream of … I stand by the quality of work that I’ve been tasked to complete, and will continue to offer my knowledge nuggets via a variety of platforms.”

See, now this is where our road forks, Lee.  The argument I’m making is that the Big Blue Blog should aspire to more than mere nuggets of knowledge.  I’m saying that the blog belonging to one of the greatest theatres in the nation (assuming that’s how you guys over there like to think of yourselves) should include much more than “check out our review” or “here’s where you can find your next Halloween costume”.

“I’m sorry that Jay can’t find a more productive way to support theater in the Twin Cities.”

I’d be sorry about that, too, if that’s was what I was trying to do.  This blog is for entertainment purposes, Lee.  I don’t get paid to do this.  I’m not trying to change the world with my mighty blog.  I post when I’m bored…to pass the time…usually in my underwear while sitting on the couch half-watching Project Runway.  You’re giving this blog way too much credit.

“It speaks mountains about the type of person he is and the company he keeps.”

My friends would be totally bummed to hear that you’re judging them based solely on my blog.

“I am always welcome to engaging in a discussion that offers constructive criticism … your blog, however, offers something that is frankly far different from that.”

I’d call it snarky discourse.

“Jay (and other posters/readers) if you have a beef, comment and/or idea for me and/or the Guthrie you can contact me directly leeh@guthrietheater.org, 612.225.6142 or via webmaster@guthrietheater.org. You’ll find that, unlike Jay, I’m not afraid to take full ownership of my work.”

Got it.  Users of pseudonyms can’t fully own their work.  You know, people like Moliere, Dr. Seuss, Mark Twain, Lewis Carroll, Jane Martin, Voltaire…

Look, I get it, Lee.  You’re upset that I pick on you and the Big G.  And it’s true.  I do give you lots of grief without any helpful ideas of my own.  I just bitch and bitch and bitch, and then leave it to you to do your job all by yourself.  That sucks.  So, today I’m turning over a new leaf.  Here are three things I think the Big Blue Blog — the blog belonging to one of the best regional theatres in the country — should and could be doing:

1. Writing Blog Posts — This one might seem obvious, but you guys haven’t been doing it and it’s what makes a blog a blog.  As of right now, what one gets if s/he visits the Big Blue Blog is a bunch of links that direct the user to someone else’s content.  Click here to see a review of this show, click there to read our mention on this blog, etc.  You might as well just use your Twitter account and call it a day.  With all the crap on the Internets, you can be sure that if people are taking the time to visit G Corp’s blog, it’s because they’re interested in what G CORP HAS TO SAY.  Which brings us to number two…
2. Giving Us Something Interesting — There has got to be an absolute shit ton of awesome stuff going on at Guthrie Corporation.  I mean, it’s a theatre corporation, right?  But we’d never know that from reading the blog.  When a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright is hanging around for three weeks, how about throwing us a quick (exclusive) interview with the guy?  Can we maybe get a costume designer to show a sneak peak of the designs for an upcoming show?  Or a set designer?  And then can said designer talk a bit about the how/why of the designs?  Can we hear from the actors?  The directors?  The administrative movers and shakers?  Can we hear from ANYONE besides Lee H.?  If the Big Blue Blog did some of these things, it would instantly be one of the most interesting (and probably most frequented) theatre blogs in the country.  No shit.
3. Letting People Talk — Number three is another simple one:  comments.  Give your readers a way to post comments on the actual post.  Without a way to post comments, I’d never have known how you felt about me, Lee…and that would’ve been sad.  It would be a cake walk for your web developer to install.  Plus, the more you can do to make your blog a social experience, the better.  Readers will be more likely to come back if they know they can have a discussion with the peeps on the inside as well as each other.  And if more people are reading the blog, it makes it more beneficial to G Corp. if/when you occasionally decide to drop that dumb-ass “click here to read our awesome review” link.  Eh?  Eh??

There you go, Lee.  That’s three beefs/comments/ideas.  And you’re still the one who gets the money.  Look how well you’re working the system!

Now…back to Project Runway.

Hey, gang!  Didja happen to catch the dumb-as-fuck very enlightening Rohan Preston/Graydon Royce recap of TC theatre?  If not, please do check it out.  It’s just the best ever.  And lucky for us, they happened to swing by FringeFamous to extend their silly little back-and-forth*.  Enjoy!

Rohan Preston: Oh, Graydon.  I do so love the theatre.  Love it, love it, love it!  Don’t you just loooooooove it?

Graydon Royce: Well, I normally like to be a little grumpier than you, Rohan.  But, yes.  I must admit that I, too, so love the theatre.

R.P.: Oooooh!  Just hearing you say it makes my tummy excitedly upturn!

G.R.: Theatre.

R.P.: Ooooh!

G.R.: Theeeeaaaaatre.

R.P.: Ooooh, stop!  You nasty little cock smootch!

G.R.: But seriously, Ro-Ro, there’s only one thing I love more than [whispers] theatre.  Know what that is?

R.P.: Skinny jeans?

G.R.: No.  Although I do love skinny jeans, the one thing I love more than theatre and skinny jeans is…Halloween!

R.P.: Oh, no.  No way.  Too scary for me, Graydon.  Stop scaring me.  Uh uh.

G.R.: Now…hear me out.  Do you enjoy parties?

R.P.: Yes.  Yes, I do enjoy parties.

G.R.: What about candy?

R.P.: Delicious with a capital D!

G.R.: And costumes?

R.P.: I.  Love.  Costumes.

G.R.: Well, there you go, Ro-Ro.  That’s Halloween!

R.P.: You know, I never really thought of it that way before.

G.R.: That is because you are fucking stupid.

R.P.: I certainly can be sometimes, yes.

G.R.: Wanna know something else?

R.P.: I always want to know things.

G.R.: Well, I follow Guthrie Corporation’s Big Blue Blog —

R.P.: Big Blue Blog?  What the deuce is that?

G.R.: Oh, it’s Guthrie Corporation’s blog.  They post all sorts of juicy G Corp. inside information — like what USA Today said about them, or what KARE 11 said about them, or what we’ve said about them.  Sometimes they’ll even tell you when one of their shows is opening.  You know, stuff you can’t find anywhere else.

R.P.: Guthrie Corp. has a blog?!  What a thrilling piece of news!

G.R.: I know, right?!  Blogs are cool.  So Guthrie Corporation is cool because they have a blog.

R.P.: Makes perfect sense to me.

G.R.: Anyway, I read on the Big Blue Blog that Guthrie Corporation rents out costumes for Halloween.

R.P.: Oooooooooooh!  I can’t believe they revealed such a valuable gobbet of information.

G.R.: That’s Lee H. for you; always pushing the blogging envelope.

R.P.: But, there must be so many habiliments in Guthrie Corporation’s storage.  How will I know which is the most bizarre?

G.R.: I’ll help you, Ro-Ro.  That’s what best friends are for.

R.P.: That and making out.

G.R.: Let’s kiss.

G.R. & R.P.: HOORAY FOR THEATRE!

*nope…no, they sure didn’t.

I just got done reading a post on MN Playlist about local companies that have figured out how to “use the internet better.”  [sigh]

Although you wouldn’t know it from reading Playlist, there are some really fresh ideas floating around the theatrosphere right now.  If you’re not keeping tabs on them, you’re missing out.

My current fave:  here and then here (in that order) — two posts discussing a “membership” model as opposed to the “subscription” model.  It’s a fascinating idea and one that’s currently in practice at ACT over in Seattle.

Who knows?  Maybe someone in the TC might try something like this once the excitement of YouTube dies down.

OH, THE HORROR!

Sorry to break it to anyone who thought otherwise, but Chicago and New York have always been better theatre towns than Minneapolis/St. Paul.  We have scrappier baseball players, but they’ve always had better theatre.

THIS SOUNDS COOL

Lovingly filed under the How The Hell Did I Not See This Sooner section of FringeFamous is a little something called Theatre Arlo.  Their mission statement — “Theatre Arlo wants a pony” — is something any artist can easily get behind.  But better than that, is their promise to mirror Guthrie Corporation’s season over at the Bryant Lake Bowl with warped, de-glamorized interpretations of each play.  And they vow to produce every show on a budget of $50!

So head on over to the BLB on October 11th, 18th, or 25th to check out their “really, really, extremely gay” version of The Importance of Being Earnest.  With an idea this fantastic, they deserve a good crowd.

CHAN SOLD FOR UNDISCLOSED AMOUNT OF WERTHER’S ORIGINALS

Chanhassen Retirement Homes has been sold to local entrepreneur Greg Frankenfield.  If you actually give a shit, feel free to check out the Strib article here…and then proceed with your day of watching Wheel of Fortune and mailing $5 to your grandson for his birthday.

THE SUPER SECRET IS OUT!

Yes, that’s right.  The secret location of the TC’s new theatre bookstore has finally been announced:  1771 Selby.  The location promises big windows, high ceilings, in-floor heat, and a potential backyard patio — all the things you want in a bookstore.