Below is a review of Experience Long Island,
the first Long Island Fringe Festival 2009. We would like to thank Mr. Fringey
for both his kind comments and his sincere criticism.
EXPERIENCE
LONG
ISLAND
Long Island
Fringe: Why First Year Fringes Fail
As you know Mr. Fringey announced the birth of the Long Island fringe during the
summer and so from Sept 25-27, Mr. Fringey packed his show and headed to the LI
Fringe to participate.
To critique the fringe really is a general critique of all first year fringes.
As you know I highly recommend against signing up for first year fringes. Venues
tend to be empty, it’s extremely hard to get people to see your shows and unless
you have a motive other than money and applause, it’s somewhat of a losing
investment. Although there are rare exceptions to this rule, I still recommend
waiting until a fringe reaches its fifth birthday before participating. Long
Island though fell into the same category as the New Orleans fringe for me. I
went because I wanted to check out a really cool place. And it is that. Even
though it’s miles away from it’s big brother, NYC, the towns on Long Island, are
heavily influenced by that unique NYC pulse, but a have a unique back woods
beach vibe.
If I was doing a traditional fringe review I’d have to describe the LI fringe as
“your best friends little brother who has autism and seems really cool when he
flaps his hands like a seal and counts clouds.”
On the plus side:
The venue is one of the best on the entire fringe circuit. At the center of the
venue hub is the Tilles center and the other fringe venues spoke out form the
center within the same building. Walking from venue to venue is a breeze. The
Tilles center is a beautiful state of the art performing arts facility (One of
the nicest I’ve seen in the country) that seats about 3,000. It comes with a
professional, extremely well-trained tech crew, ushers that wear the monkey
outfits and a box office that you’d expect to find when buying tickets for the
opera. Where most fringes feel like a bunch of hippies collecting money in
envelopes and passing along moonlighting band sound guys to run your tech, this
fringe makes you feel like a rock star. Most of the performers were from Long
Island or NYC which means most of them have received most of their artistic
influence from NYC. Because of this, many of the performers were top notch. Not
what you’d usually find at a fringe. I saw some of the best performances ever at
this fringe, performances I would have easily paid $60 a ticket to see
elsewhere. The events organizers Bob Goida and Deb Kasimakis treat you like
royalty. Performers see all shows for free, you get 100% of the door, the
participation fee was beans ($200) and they provided you with an opening night
four star spread and meet and greet that kicks off the event in style.
The cons:
From the beginning the LI fringe ran into problems. Early on, the New York
Fringe sent the LI Fringe a “cease and desist order” telling the organizers they
couldn’t use the “fringe” name. (This is why Frigid didn’t use the “Fringe”
name). And so, the LI Fringe ultimately became the “2009 Experience Long Island
Fr*^g* Festival. From a future marketing perspective it’s sure death. Names are
everything and it makes the festival sound more like a cheesy outdoor local
family art event. I anticipate that unless they find a better name, the festival
will be hard pressed to become accepted by the fringe community. The fringe
takes place on CW Post Long Island University campus. It’s beautiful, and has a
really impressive performing arts program, but to be honest, connecting a fringe
to a college with a large commuter population, (from a marketing perspective) is
extremely tricky. Students don’t see shows on campus on weekends. In fact,
students aren’t even a part of the fringe demographic. (Regular theater patrons
aren’t part of that demographic either). Even when a professor requires students
attend an event, it’s hard to get them there, especially when they have to pay.
And so a campus environment can be somewhat isolated especially to arts patrons
from the outside community.
GO: If you want to make some connections in the
city and get a chance to perform on one of the best stages in the country.
SKIP IT: If fringing for you is about recouping a
monetary investment and you don’t like to perform in an empty venue. -
Review by Mr Fringey on the Fringe or Die Blog
http://www.fringeordie.blogspot.com/
Pandagraphics Design Studio