A new home with new shows
Orlando Fringe is putting its best foot forward in a new way for the 2023 Winter MiniFest: It will be the first event in its new ArtSpace at 54 W. Church St.
“There are a lot of artists brand-new to Orlando” who are participating, says producer Lindsay Taylor. “They’ll get the best treatment right off the bat.”
Fringe ArtSpace officially opens with a free open house and party on Jan. 11, and the Mini-Fest kicks off the following night with 16 shows taking place over four days.
Previously, the Mini-Fest took place in rented theaters at Lowndes Shakespeare Center in Loch Haven Park, but presenting the festival in the Fringe’s own space provides benefits to the organization, according to Taylor.
“We can load in whenever we want, we can plan technical rehearsals whenever we want,” she says. “It’s a pressure reliever off us.”
With the festival’s move downtown, theatergoers will notice some differences — notably in parking. Street parking is free after 6 p.m. and all day on Sunday. There are multiple garages available around the theater, with the 55 West Garage connecting directly to ArtSpace via a secondstory covered bridge.
And while the Fringe’s bar will serve light snacks, theatergoers are encouraged to find heartier fare in one of the nearby downtown restaurants. (The Fringe bar will stay open for a while after the last show ends each evening, Taylor says, to allow “Fringe hangout time.”)
The festival will make use of both theaters in the venue, generally
with two shows running at the same time. The Fringe staff has run some noise tests, said producer Tempestt Halstead, even listening for whistles and rumblings from the nearby railroad tracks.
“There were no sound issues at all,” Halstead said. “Even when the train was running we had no issues.”
While participants in each May’s much larger Orlando
Fringe Festival are chosen through a luck-of-the-draw lottery, the shows at Winter MiniFest are curated. The goal this year was a mix of previous Fringe hits and new offerings.
About half the shows are held over from the 2021 festival, which was moved online because of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Taylor, who stepped down as the Fringe’s producing artistic director this summer but is helping get the new ArtSpace off the ground with this one last event.
“I had people messaging me last May,” said Taylor of artists who had been scheduled to present productions in 2021. “They are ready to perform their shows.”
Familiar titles to Fringegoers include “Rosegold,” a riveting one-woman psychological thriller; “Coffee and Cedar,” a sweet family drama; “ExperiMental,” with Steven Nicholas’ mind-based magic; “VarieTease: On the Move,” a dance-based look at coping with change; Michelina Moen’s improvised “Always Now” dance show; Jordan Bertke’s “The Sack,” a very funny parody of superhero tales; and “Cross Country: A Self-Help Concert Performance,” a musical full of radio-friendly original songs.
Familiar faces headlining new shows include Erika Kate MacDonald (“13 Dead Dreams of Eugene,” “Away, Now”) with “The Barn Identity,” a storytelling hour named one of the top picks of the Cincinnati Fringe Festival, and Paris Crayton III (“Spare the Rod”), with an intergenerational story of family and love in “Bloodline.” In “Worst. German. Ever,” comic Paco Erhard (“5-Step Guide to Being German”) has new stand-up material that will “fix American and save the world,” he cracks, and Jon Paterson (“House,” “Inescapable”) presents a story of love and redemption in “How I Met My Mother.”
New productions include the physical-comedy romp “A Terrible Show for Terrible People,” in which a solo performer speaks only two words; “Critical Race Theory for Kindergartners,” a one-man sketch-comedy show;
“Sing Out Proud,” a musical that uses the songs of the Carpenters and the talents of Sarah-lee Dobbs, Natalie Doliner and Ned Wilkins to tell a story of pride, strength and being true to yourself; “The Awkward Ballerina,” in which Montreal storyteller Kristin Govers inspiringly shares how cerebral palsy has shaped her life; and “The Real Black Swann: Confessions of America’s First
Black Drag Queen,” which tells the true story of a former slave turned queer activist in the late 1800s.
Two programs are designed just for youngsters and will be presented on Jan. 14 as Kids’ Fringe. A free concert with children’s entertainer Mr. Richard and the Pound Hounds will be followed by “The Everglads,” which combines music and puppetry in an upbeat show about some talented Florida swamp critters (tickets just $5).
And a visual-art fair will feature works to admire and buy all during the Mini-Fest, along with art demonstrations throughout Fringe ArtSpace.
For the departing Taylor — after COVID-19 derailed her plans for the last two Mini-Fests — debuting the new space with the winter festival is particularly meaningful.
“To have it back in a space with audiences in person is special,” she says. “It’s going to be really exciting.”
ORLANDO FRINGE WINTER MINI-FEST
Where: Fringe ArtSpace, 54 W. Church St. in Orlando
When: Jan. 11-14
Cost: A $3 button, good for the length of the festival, is required to watch any ticketed show; then each show costs $15. The button fee supports the festival, the ticket proceeds go directly to the artists.
orlandofringe.org