Rochester Fringe Festival: A Conversation with Festival Producer Erica Fee
In this episode, Lunchador Co-Founder Chris Lindstrom (@stromie) interviews Erica Fee, the CEO and producer of the Rochester Fringe Festival!
The Rochester Fringe Festival, heralded as New York State's largest multidisciplinary performing arts festival, serves as a vital platform for both emerging and established artists. The festival, taking place from September 9th to 20th, features an impressive array of nearly 650 performances, with approximately a quarter offered free of charge, making it accessible for all to enjoy.
Mentions:
rochesterfringe.com - Three Heads Brewing (@three_heads_brewing) - Fee Brothers (@feebrothersofficial) - Gary Craig (@garycraig0483)
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Transcript
Well, that sound means it's another episode of Just Catching.
Speaker A:And I'm here with somebody that just can't not produce one of the most fantastic festivals that Rochester has to offer.
Speaker A:Guest, why don't you introduce yourself?
Speaker B:I'm Erica Fee.
Speaker B:I am the CEO and founding festival producer of the Rochester Fringe Festival.
Speaker A:Well, Erica, thank you so much for coming over.
Speaker A:Just so everybody knows, Lunchadore is partnering with Fringe to do a whole bunch of previews for the.
Speaker A:The festival this year, focusing on a lot of the, you know, a lot of the small produced shows.
Speaker A:People are doing these fascinating things that Fringe.
Speaker A:You could only have these at Fringe.
Speaker A:And that's the stuff we want to cover here at launch Order.
Speaker A:People that are so excited to do these things that they, they found a way to do it.
Speaker A:And it seems like that's something that you've been a real supporter of.
Speaker A:Every time I've heard you interview is talking about, like, how this is for everybody in just about every way it can be.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker B:So we are New York State's largest multidisciplinary performing arts festival.
Speaker B:For those who wonder, what is this fringe thing?
Speaker B:And we are one of about 250 fringe festivals worldwide.
Speaker B:We are all independent.
Speaker B: They started in: Speaker B: What happened was that: Speaker B:And they had a committee that decided all the programming.
Speaker B:And there were about seven groups that turned up.
Speaker B:It was eight groups actually turned up uninvited.
Speaker B:And they thought the post war spirit, they're like, we've won the war.
Speaker B:We're not going to be kept out.
Speaker B:And so they just rocked up with their sets and their costumes and their props and they found space in pubs and in lecture halls at the University of Edinburgh and they put on their shows.
Speaker B:And there was a reviewer who was trying to figure out what do I call these shows that aren't part of the official festival program.
Speaker B:So he nicknamed them the Festival Fringe.
Speaker B:But he also figured that this would never happen again.
Speaker B:It was just like total fluke that all these groups turned up.
Speaker B:Well, it snowballed to now become the largest arts festival in the world.
Speaker B:And in terms of event size, it's the third biggest event in the world.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker A:Is it really?
Speaker B:The Olympics are number one, the World cup is number two, and Edinburgh Fringe is number three.
Speaker A:That's amazing.
Speaker A:And I know like tons of people, even, you know, from the US and elsewhere will go there to perform because there's, there's such a depth of appreciation for different styles of performing that.
Speaker A:That acceptance, that radical acceptance of somebody just wants to do something cool.
Speaker B:Well, Edinburgh is a very unique festival in that it has.
Speaker B:I think it was like something like 60,000 performances this year.
Speaker B:I mean, it's absolutely massive.
Speaker B:And I used to live in the uk.
Speaker B:I produced in the uk.
Speaker B:I started off at fringe festivals by.
Speaker B:I was.
Speaker B:I was.
Speaker B:I started off as a professional actor.
Speaker B:I was a professional actor for many years in London for about 10 years.
Speaker B:And I was in a hit show at the Edinburgh Fringe, and I absolutely fell in love with it.
Speaker B:I do think that a lot of the reason for Rochester Fringe is because I was in a hit show.
Speaker B:If I'd been in a real stinker, probably wouldn't have happened.
Speaker A:You know what.
Speaker A:And I think there's amazing stories that come out of those too.
Speaker A:You know, the people that have the basement shows that get nobody.
Speaker A:But you're running it for weeks or for a week or two weeks.
Speaker A:Just as a.
Speaker B:Four weeks.
Speaker A:Four weeks at Attenborough.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:And just as a side note, what kind of, what kind of acting were you passionate about when you were doing it?
Speaker B:Well, I trained as.
Speaker B:And everybody knows, I think in the U.S. like, British drama training is.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's the real deal.
Speaker B:Intense, classically trained.
Speaker B:We used to make a joke that.
Speaker B:That the instructors didn't feel that the class had ended until someone was crying.
Speaker A:Oh, great, great, great.
Speaker B:At the end of a lot of classes.
Speaker B:But I mean, I trained in everything, so I did everything.
Speaker B:So I did a lot of stage.
Speaker B:I did stage commercials, some film, but a lot of stage.
Speaker B:And so that is where my true passion is, was the stage version of stage.
Speaker B:I absolutely love.
Speaker B:I love theater acting.
Speaker A:Well.
Speaker A:Cause there's also so much that can happen.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:You're prepping so much and you know, the crowd affects so much about everything that happens in the day.
Speaker B:Absolutely.
Speaker B:And you learn more from your audience than you'll ever learn from anyone else.
Speaker B:And the fact that each show is different every night, if you are truly in the moment as an actor and you living in your truth, which is probably a great lesson for all of us throughout the day, so that we're in our truth and.
Speaker B:And you're reading and responding in the moment.
Speaker B:And I just, I love that connection.
Speaker B:And that's.
Speaker B:That's what you find, that's what you find as an audience member too, when you see two actors on stage or two dancers or a comedian who is there and in the moment.
Speaker B:I mean, you just Know it.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:You feel in your gut.
Speaker B:And that's what I really love about actually fringe festivals in general, because it's the emerging to the superstar, and you don't know what you're going to find.
Speaker B:I mean, you.
Speaker B:That's why I hate the term amateur, because that is so inaccurate.
Speaker B:I mean, everybody in Monty Python started at the Edinburgh Fringe.
Speaker B:And so to be able to get that ticket and to see them, then, my God, it can't imagine.
Speaker B:It can just be a really incredible moment.
Speaker B:So we really encourage people for the Rochester Fringe to, you know, go ahead, buy a ticket to something that you recognize, something that you want to see.
Speaker B:And maybe it's.
Speaker B:Maybe it's a free show, maybe it's a free outdoor spectacle type performance, but please, filter out to a show that you've never heard of before.
Speaker B:Take a chance on something, because that might be the next big thing.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And also, like, you don't know.
Speaker A:You don't always know what you're going to enjoy.
Speaker B:Oh, for sure.
Speaker A:And I think being open to saying, yeah, I was really glad I went, I didn't love it.
Speaker A:That's an amazing thing to do.
Speaker A:Like, you don't know.
Speaker A:Maybe you're not going to like it.
Speaker A:Maybe it's going to be the thing that changes your mind about an entire genre of performing arts.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Absolutely.
Speaker A:Speaking of which, the ESL Rochester Fringe Festival, running from September 9th to 20th, headquartered right in downtown Rochester.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker B:We have 39 venues in and around downtown.
Speaker B:Our festival hub is right at the corner of Main street and Gibb Street.
Speaker B:We call it One Fringe Place.
Speaker B:It is a parking lot, but I do think that calling it One Fringe Place is a lot more exciting.
Speaker A:I think so.
Speaker B:And we've called it that for years, but we really transform it.
Speaker B:It has a very different feeling.
Speaker B:It absolutely does not feel like a parking lot during the Fringe.
Speaker A:No, I mean with the, you know, with the.
Speaker A:With the phenomenal, you know, the Spiegel Tent that is there, you know, it defines the vibes of the whole thing.
Speaker A:But it's not like that parking, you know, that parking lot isn't programmed.
Speaker A:And there's something interesting going on all the time.
Speaker A:This is.
Speaker A:It is the central hub because you can go watch a movie, you can go have free performances outside.
Speaker A:This is the place where you just want to run into somebody.
Speaker A:You want to show up there.
Speaker B:Absolutely.
Speaker B:And so, yeah.
Speaker B:So let's first talk about the Spiegel 10.
Speaker B:So the Spiegel Tent, for those who don't know, is an Imported Belgian music hall.
Speaker B: ecame popular around the year: Speaker B:Hundred.
Speaker B:If you've never been inside, it's like you're walking into another era.
Speaker B:And the term tent is a bit of a misnomer.
Speaker B:It's really a temporary venue with inlaid oak floors and stained glass windows and mirrors.
Speaker B:Because that's what Spiegel means.
Speaker A:It's stunning.
Speaker B:It's absolutely stunning.
Speaker B:And we are buying it.
Speaker B:We're buying Spiegel.
Speaker B:That's our big.
Speaker B:That's our big thing this year.
Speaker A:So that's so cool.
Speaker B:We'll own the Spiegel tent.
Speaker B:We'll be able to tour the Spiegel tent with shows in it.
Speaker B:We program nightly entertainment in it and on the weekends, of course, during the days.
Speaker B:So we have a wide variety of shows that are going in there.
Speaker B:But we also have outside in what we call the Spiegel Garden, now renamed Dawn Spiegel Garden due to a generous, generous gift from Dr.
Speaker B:Dawn Lipson.
Speaker A:Nothing wrong with that.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker B:And we have entertainment there too.
Speaker B:So we have free movies every night.
Speaker B:We have a trivia night.
Speaker B:We also have some shows that are in parked cars.
Speaker B:That's called Dashboard Dramas.
Speaker B:Totally sold out.
Speaker A:Every year it sells out so fast.
Speaker B:It sells out in a New York minute.
Speaker B:So you've got to be ready to pounce on Dashboard Dramas.
Speaker B:We have Bushwhacked.
Speaker B:They will be doing.
Speaker B:That's an improv duo of Carrie Young and Abby Device.
Speaker B:And they will be doing a few different shows, one of which will involve alcohol.
Speaker B:That is Bushwhack Boozy the Roadie Experience live.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:You get two drinks.
Speaker A:Well, I saw.
Speaker A:I saw preview pictures and I know they've done performances most of the years, but I love that there's consistency.
Speaker A:But they do something different every year.
Speaker B:Totally different.
Speaker B:This year we have a hot tub coming in that's called Bushwhack Hot and sweaty, obviously.
Speaker B:And that's pop up performances.
Speaker B:That one will be free.
Speaker B:I mean, obviously, as you have a hot tub.
Speaker B:And it shouldn't surprise anyone.
Speaker B:This is the fourth time we've had a hot tub.
Speaker A:Of course.
Speaker B:I mean, it's de rigueur.
Speaker B:What else do we have?
Speaker B:We.
Speaker B:Oh, we have a great show called Traces that's going to be going into the Spiegel Garden.
Speaker B:That is from a company called Teatre Interverte.
Speaker B:It's from France.
Speaker B:And the artist is incredible artist called Elise Fignerone and she works in ice.
Speaker B:The first time I heard of this, I thought, no, this is crazy.
Speaker B:And then I met Her.
Speaker B:And I saw her show in New York.
Speaker B:Not this show, another show was totally sold out.
Speaker B:And it was so breathtakingly beautiful and poignant and moving.
Speaker B:I thought, okay, we've got a booker.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So she's going to be taking.
Speaker B:Stick with me here.
Speaker B:She's going to be taking molds of the feet of 25 community members, of course, and she's going to be interviewing them about their trajectory in life, where they've been, where they're going.
Speaker B:And of course, she's using feet because they carry you through.
Speaker B:And she will teach them a basic choreographic dance.
Speaker B:And at the end of this performance, which will occur on Saturday, September 13, in the Spiegel Garden at 4pm Free, they will take their frozen feet out of coolers and place them around this big garden, which will become an immersive art event.
Speaker B:And so the audience can now walk in amongst these actually beautifully frozen feet as they melt.
Speaker B:And Elise doesn't want to do the show in the cold.
Speaker B:She wants to do it in warmer temperatures because she wants them to melt.
Speaker B:And within each foot will have been written and taken a sentence from their interview about where they've been or where they're going.
Speaker B:It's going to be frozen into the middle of the foot, so it will come out their message.
Speaker B:It's going to be really beautiful.
Speaker A:So, I mean, that, that's.
Speaker A:I mean, that description, right?
Speaker A:If you, if you took that description and you took it out of context of this, you're like, what in the hell are you talking about?
Speaker A:But that, that ephemeral.
Speaker A:That, that, that thing that has to be then, right?
Speaker A:There's this.
Speaker A:There's this necessity to be present, that if you're not there, you're going to miss this thing that is a singular experience.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker A:And that vision to come up with something like that is.
Speaker A:Those are things that make you excited about, about creativity, about, you know, the spirit of somebody trying to try to express something.
Speaker A:And it can be simple, it can be fun and light, but something like that is like.
Speaker A:I was.
Speaker A:While you were talking, I was like, man, how can I make a wikifeet joke?
Speaker A:And then you get to the end, I'm like, God damn, that was really poignant.
Speaker B:I know.
Speaker B:Well, so the first time I told Gary Craig, which, you know, Rochester's own.
Speaker A:Gary Craig, he's a great curmudgeonly guy.
Speaker B:And I'm very, very good friends with Gary Craig.
Speaker B:Personal friends.
Speaker B:But I, you know, he's done all these mafia, you know, stories and whatnot amazing writing.
Speaker B:So I told him, I said, gary, we've got this show with frozen feet.
Speaker B:And, you know, of course your response is like, not again, the frozen feet.
Speaker B:Like, no, no, it's not a hit.
Speaker B:It's not.
Speaker B:Oh, man.
Speaker B:So I had to show him some photos of it.
Speaker B:Like, it's.
Speaker B:This is actually an art piece.
Speaker B:So he understands now.
Speaker A:That's awesome.
Speaker A:So what year is this for Rochester Fringe?
Speaker A:We just went through so many different things, but what year is this for Rochester Fringe?
Speaker B:What year does it feel like to you, Chris?
Speaker A:Oh, God.
Speaker A:It's gotta.
Speaker A:I know.
Speaker A:It's well over 10.
Speaker B:Like, it's either like 5 or it's 25.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Like, you can't figure it out.
Speaker B:It's 14.
Speaker B:It's the 14th year.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Cause this is.
Speaker A:You know, and something I was remarking on when we were talking about, you know, doing this, you know, doing some partnership and doing some work with Fringe was how much I love that Fringe feels like it doesn't happen to the city.
Speaker A:It feels like it exists in partnership with the city of Rochester.
Speaker B:Totally.
Speaker A:And I say that specifically because it's in the city and that there's events all over.
Speaker A:And it's not just.
Speaker A:It's not just in the East End.
Speaker A:Like, it's in many different locations.
Speaker A:That forces you to get out and about and learn about the city that you live in.
Speaker A:And not just Main street and not just East Ave. Yeah.
Speaker A:Like, it really forces you to go out and check out these fantastic venues and in different areas.
Speaker A:But it feels like now, correct me if I feel like it's very purposeful, that it's part of the city of Rochester.
Speaker A:It doesn't happen to the city.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:And that was on purpose that we held it downtown.
Speaker B:The other thing that I think makes it feel that way is because of the way that the Fringe is structured.
Speaker B:First of all, we are a nonprofit organization.
Speaker B:Most festivals in Rochester are for profit.
Speaker B:We are not for profit.
Speaker B:And what is interesting about Fringe is that it's a bifurcated event, meaning that it's got two halves.
Speaker B:So it has the half that we program, which we just discussed about the Spiegel tent.
Speaker B:We haven't talked about what we're doing at Parcel five yet this year, but we'll talk about that.
Speaker B:We have Chelsea Handler coming into Eastman Theatre.
Speaker A:You gotta talk about the spectacles.
Speaker B:We have to talk about the spectacle.
Speaker B:But that's all stuff that we program.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:But the rest of the shows, which is the majority of the shows at the.
Speaker B:In the festival are programmed by the venues themselves.
Speaker B:So that allows for incredible diversity.
Speaker B:You don't have, you know, one committee going around booking this, this, this, this, this.
Speaker B:We feel that the venues, I don't know, they might know their spaces better than we do because that's their venues.
Speaker B:Absolutely.
Speaker B:So they know their audiences, they know it works.
Speaker B:And it's an open access platform whereby anybody in the world can apply.
Speaker B:And starting in February, but the venues will curate them.
Speaker B:So if you're a very popular show, you may receive more than one offer and then you decide which venue you're going to go for.
Speaker B:But that's what leads to, I think, this fantastic community connection because these venues have skin in the game.
Speaker B:And the other thing that we love about it and the, one of the reasons that we have the festival is really to drive new audiences into these venues.
Speaker B:They need some fresh blood, as it were.
Speaker B:And you know, it's happened in so many cities where these sorts of venues, especially theaters have closed, they've been turned into condos or this, that and the other.
Speaker B:And we don't want that to happen because that is the, that's one of our core components here as a city.
Speaker B:And once a theater closes, nobody's building a new theater.
Speaker B:They're very expensive to build.
Speaker B:So we really have to preserve them.
Speaker B:So we really call on Rochesterians.
Speaker B:Do your duty and go out and see a few shows, try out something new.
Speaker A:Yeah, especially these mid, mid to small size venues.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:That if you're, especially as you're breaking in and you're, hey, I've done some small stuff and I want to step up to that 100 seat, 150 seat, 200 seat, you know that, that small, small plus size thing, that is a stretch for a new performer.
Speaker A:Having that opportunity to go and try that out at Fringe and then maybe you can book it later on as you know, as a solo performer.
Speaker A:But that opportunity to go do that and that these, these places like to do some of these performances, you can't do it at, you can't do it at the big venues.
Speaker A:You can't do it at the, you know, 4,000 seat venue.
Speaker A:You can't do it at, you know, you know, the Blue Cross.
Speaker A:No, you have to do it at these, yeah, you know, small plus size venues.
Speaker A:And without that you lose that, you lose the base, you lose that undercurrent of creativity that makes a city.
Speaker A:You know, we purport ourselves as an arts city, but those, those are the things that make it.
Speaker A:It's the, it's from the ground up.
Speaker A:It's not.
Speaker A:It's not just the big theaters that make that happen.
Speaker A:It's the ground up that makes it stable.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker B:And for many of these shows, this is the time of year where they're finally being given a platform.
Speaker B:If we didn't have this festival, we wouldn't have platforms for these artists.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:But the other exciting thing is these aren't all just emerging artists.
Speaker B:We have professional artists coming in from here, there, and everywhere.
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker B:To put on their shows and to be able to take part as an audience member in intimate theater that is like up close and immersive.
Speaker B:Oh, my gosh.
Speaker B:It's just fantastic.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And I'm trying to remember the place we went.
Speaker A:It was, you know, maybe a year or two ago.
Speaker A:It was this fantastic solo performance that Penny Sterling did.
Speaker B:Oh, yes.
Speaker A:Just at this.
Speaker A:At this, you know, theater.
Speaker A:Just almost like risers inside.
Speaker A:But it was so.
Speaker A:It was so intimate and you felt every moment.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And it was.
Speaker A:You had no choice but to be present.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:And going into other.
Speaker A:Other venues like that where you went in and there's not that many.
Speaker A:There's 40 people there.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:You can't.
Speaker A:You can't just sit on your phone.
Speaker A:You have to.
Speaker A:You have to be present.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker B:And I.
Speaker B:Apparently, from what I've.
Speaker B:What I've learned recently is that in the age of AI, one thing that's actually going to flourish is theater.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Because you cannot replace live theater or live performing arts with AI.
Speaker B:You can't.
Speaker A:So when you're.
Speaker A:So when you're looking at.
Speaker A:When you're looking at all the venues and looking at what they're doing, you know, it has to be really fascinating thing for somebody who is, you know, is programming and the CEO of a festival to see how they're programming.
Speaker A:Have you seen that change over the 14 years?
Speaker A:How this.
Speaker A:How the venues have programmed for it as it's become more established here?
Speaker B:I think that the venues have become what I love about it.
Speaker B:We had a venue managers meeting today.
Speaker B:We had one yesterday too.
Speaker B:And they've.
Speaker B:They're becoming future thinking.
Speaker B:And everybody, of course, everybody was knocked back big time with COVID of course.
Speaker B:And the performing hours were closed the longest and we couldn't even perform outdoors and etc.
Speaker B:Etc.
Speaker B:But what I'm loving are the conversations that I heard today about next year.
Speaker B:They're already thinking, what can we do that's different?
Speaker B:And that is thrilling because they're really thinking outside the box.
Speaker B:They're thinking beyond.
Speaker B:Okay, let's put everybody in an auditorium and throw some performers on stage.
Speaker B:They're thinking, what can we do that's immersive?
Speaker B:What can we do that's different?
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:This is going to take us.
Speaker B:Maybe we can help create it too.
Speaker B:Maybe this can be a new show.
Speaker B:Maybe this is, you know, maybe this is a world premiere or, or who's touring around that might need X, Y, Z. I think that that's really interesting when venues start really thinking differently.
Speaker A:Well, I think that's also part of the consistency too.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:They know, they know that you're going to bring it.
Speaker A:They know that the festival is going to be there.
Speaker A:They know that you're going to be there next year.
Speaker A:They know that you're going to be producing this and that the opportunity is there.
Speaker A:And knowing that something's going to be there the next year lets you, lets you think about that, you know, stability.
Speaker A:Stability offers that opportunity for creativity.
Speaker A:And it is a box.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:You do have a box, but it lets you, it lets you not worry about, oh, is this going to happen next year?
Speaker B:Right, right.
Speaker A:Huge.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And I love that.
Speaker B:And, but you know, but every year it feels like, oh, is this gonna happen?
Speaker B:Because it's so, it's so precarious.
Speaker B:I mean, you know, and it's, it's a non profit, so it's balancing the, the grants and the government funding, which everyone knows about, and the, the sponsorships and individual donors and gosh, the ticket sales and will people drink enough?
Speaker B:Yeah, you know, it's all of that.
Speaker B:It's all of that.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And all those things do change, right?
Speaker B:They totally change.
Speaker A:And you know, from one, from one year to the next, I mean, I mean we just, we just saw our biggest distillery close its doors after 10 years.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And that's, that's a kick in the teeth, you know, to, to people who are, you know, who love those things and love those things.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:When we mentioned ephemeral earlier, we mentioned those moments that are.
Speaker A:We don't know what's gonna be there forever.
Speaker A:So having the opportunity to go out and it really, really embrace something cool.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:When, when it's around.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And it's.
Speaker A:This isn't about like, oh, the fringe has a ETA on or anything, but for the things you do love about the city you're in, go out and embrace them.
Speaker A:Don't.
Speaker A:You can't just sit and hope.
Speaker A:I'll go next year.
Speaker A:I'll go with another time.
Speaker A:Yeah, go now.
Speaker A:Go take these, take those moments to really enjoy Something.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Live for today.
Speaker B: way from pancreatic cancer in: Speaker B:She was a very fit person, worked out all the time.
Speaker B:But as we all know, pancreatic cancer is very challenging diagnosis.
Speaker B:You know, we all hope for a breakthrough on that.
Speaker B:But she timed her chemotherapy to fringe.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And she asked them at.
Speaker B:At.
Speaker B:At strong, how can I time this for fringe?
Speaker B:And she came out every single day a fringe.
Speaker B:Yeah, she fringed hard.
Speaker A:But that's.
Speaker A:I think that's, like, what a testament to.
Speaker A:You have a time.
Speaker A:Yeah, we all have a time.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:We all have it.
Speaker A:We all have an expiration date, like, and we all get caught in routines.
Speaker A:This is.
Speaker A:This isn't about castigating people for, like, being in routines.
Speaker A:I'm a routine person.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:I. I don't go out as much as I should, but when these things come in, it does spur that.
Speaker A:Like, right now, it's Rochester Tiki Week.
Speaker A:I'm going to be out more this week than I have in a while.
Speaker A:You're.
Speaker A:You get so in your own head.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:I don't know about you.
Speaker A:Like, it's.
Speaker A:It's tough sometimes to pull yourself out and not just do.
Speaker A:Not just do the needed activities.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And having that opportunity is.
Speaker A:Makes.
Speaker A:It makes you love where you are.
Speaker B:It also allows for communities to have difficult conversations with each other without forcing the conversation, because it allows us time to come together.
Speaker B:We see this at our spectacle performances at Parcel five.
Speaker B:We have such a diverse collection of people who attend these shows, which are sometimes the only time they're being done in the United States.
Speaker B:I mean, we're certainly the only fringe festival in the world putting on spectacle performance.
Speaker B:This year we have Eventi Verticali putting out a show called Sphere, which involves a crane lifting up a giant sphere with acrobats in it.
Speaker B:Yeah, of course, as you do, like, typical Friday, Saturday night.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Well, I think that's, you know, that's sometimes what people know most about fringe is, you know, the spectacles.
Speaker A:Because it does bring up these amazing crowds, Right?
Speaker B:It does.
Speaker A:They're vibrant crowds.
Speaker A:They're excited to see something that you can't see every day.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And I remember seeing some of these, you know, some of these huge performances with, you know, crazy visuals and all these things.
Speaker A:Let's talk about.
Speaker A:Let's talk about that one.
Speaker A:So that's like, you got performers there, but I'm sure there's other stuff, too.
Speaker A:It's all the.
Speaker A:It's never just one thing.
Speaker B:No, so we call it, we brand our final weekend as Fringe finale weekend.
Speaker B:So we have these incredible performances, Sphere, which will be at 7pm and 9pm on the final Friday and Saturday, the Fringe.
Speaker B:That's September 19th and 20th.
Speaker A:And no, they didn't bring in the Sphere from Las Vegas for this.
Speaker A:Maybe next year.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker B:Yeah, we couldn't get it.
Speaker B:It was booked.
Speaker A:Come on, James Dolan, bring it to Rochester.
Speaker B:But this one's going to be, I think, actually a lot more interesting.
Speaker B:But we have pop up performances from the RPO that night.
Speaker A:Oh, awesome.
Speaker B:Right there at Parcel five, we have the Keef Keefe sisters who are going to be doing a show on the Spiegel 10 the first weekend.
Speaker B:But they are from Montreal, they are identical twins and they're clowns, of course.
Speaker B:And they're going to be doing a show called Jam side Up and that will be at Parcel five, totally free.
Speaker B:We have some other pop up performances too.
Speaker B:We have food trucks, we have beer.
Speaker B:We are launching our own Fringe beer this year, which is very exciting.
Speaker A:Let's, let's talk about that before we go to break.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:So how did that come about?
Speaker A:Because if I remember correctly, I know who's making it.
Speaker A:But let's talk about it because I'm super excited to hear about how that process went.
Speaker B:Well, I'll tell you how it came about.
Speaker B:It was actually my idea.
Speaker A:Love it.
Speaker B:So I come from, as some people might know, kind of a bit of a bevy background at being a Fee here in Rochester.
Speaker A:Shout out to Fee Brothers.
Speaker A:Anywhere you go that has cocktails, anywhere around the country, you'll see it and say, I know where that's from.
Speaker A:I can drive there in 10 minutes and be at the factory.
Speaker B:1864 is when fee Brothers was founded here in Rochester by James Fee.
Speaker B:And then his brothers came on board, John, Owen and Joseph.
Speaker B:John was my great, great grandfather and they formed Fee Brothers.
Speaker B:Later on they rebranded, but of course they used to sell whiskey and rye.
Speaker A:Sure.
Speaker B:And the Prohibition, a lot of ultra wine, I think a suspicious amount of ultra wine.
Speaker B:We can say that at this point.
Speaker A:I'm sure it was well within regulation.
Speaker B:Well within regulation to sell that much ultra wine to D Diocese up and down the Eastern Seaboard, 100%.
Speaker B:But obviously with Prohibition, they needed to pivot.
Speaker B:And so they got into cocktail mixes, which they still sell, of course.
Speaker B:Bitters, they've been selling for a long time.
Speaker B:And then bitters became very trendy.
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker B:So they, they, they kind of landed on their feet with that one.
Speaker B:But yes.
Speaker B:So It's a family business.
Speaker B:So we were talking to our beer distribution company and we were really challenged by our pumpkin beer.
Speaker B:We really wanted a cool local pumpkin beer or at least a New York made pumpkin beer.
Speaker B:And we couldn't really find one that was within our requirements.
Speaker B:One of which was that it didn't have such a high ABV that, you know, resulted in, you know, sheer drunkenness from all of our attendees.
Speaker B:Like that was just not something we were looking for.
Speaker B:Yeah, that's not something we're ever looking for in a beer personally as a festival.
Speaker B:And we were just going through the ABV and the tastes, et cetera and that there really weren't as many pumpkin beers as you think.
Speaker B:And I said, why don't we call Three Heads and see if they might make us a pumpkin beer?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And Lake called Three Heads right there on the spot.
Speaker B:In this meeting we talked to Dan and we've made a pumpkin beer.
Speaker B:So it's a pumpkin spice latte ale and it's delicious.
Speaker B:It's absolutely delicious.
Speaker A:So I'm gonna, I'm gonna tell you a little anecdote about Three Heads because I might get emotional for a second because I really adore the team.
Speaker A:There we were, we were running our.
Speaker A:For everybody listening, this isn't food about towns.
Speaker A:And everybody knows I ran a restaurant service called Nominate for three years where we, you know, did events at places that didn't have food and, and we bought from small minority owned restaurants and made sure that they made money that day.
Speaker A:So this was very personal project for me.
Speaker A:And we had been hosting the events over at the historic German House.
Speaker A:And my friend Chris Grocki, one of the best hospitality people in Rochester now at Tony D's, go visit him over there.
Speaker A:It's really cool stuff.
Speaker A:But we couldn't do it over there anymore and we needed a place.
Speaker A:The following Friday we had a TV crew coming in and we didn't know where we were going to do the event.
Speaker B:You're scrambling.
Speaker A:And I walked in to three heads at 4 o' clock on a Friday, the week before we were going to have the event.
Speaker A:And I asked who ended up being, you know, one of the, you know, the bar manager.
Speaker A:And I said, hey, I'm in a bit of a bind.
Speaker A:I have an event I need to run next Wednesday and I don't have a place.
Speaker A:And this is the first place I thought of and it's a place I wanted to do this.
Speaker A:And the only question he asked is, is it good for Rochester?
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker A:And I said, yes.
Speaker A:He's like, yes.
Speaker A:See you then.
Speaker A:What do you need?
Speaker A:That was it.
Speaker A:And then we just developed this relationship between him and then Jeff and these and they.
Speaker A:That ethos of is it good for Rochester, being the driving force for everything they do, that meant a lot to me.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And then we got to do their anniversary event at Love and Cup.
Speaker B:That's great.
Speaker A:And to feel that.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:That this is good for Rochester is the thing that matters most.
Speaker A:And when I saw it was three heads who made it, I'm like, that seems like a great.
Speaker A:Seems like the right partner for what you're doing.
Speaker A:Where this is about.
Speaker A:This is good for Rochester.
Speaker A:That's what Fringe is.
Speaker A:It's good for Rochester.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:So on that note, I'm going to read, I'm going to recompose myself, and we're going to come back with the second half of our conversation, talk about Rochester Fringe from September 9th to 20th, right in downtown Rochester.
Speaker A:And we'll be right back.
Speaker A:All right, we're back with the second half, our conversation with Erica Fee from the Rochester Fringe Festival, September 9th, the 20th, Downtown Rochester, rochesterfringe.org.com To get all, you know, check out the whole schedule, buy your tickets for specific events, and it'll be links to all the venues because really a lot of the stuff goes through the venues.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:So we sell the tickets for the entire festival.
Speaker A:So easy.
Speaker B:And so, yeah, you can buy online@rochesterfringe.com you can also download our app.
Speaker B:We have a new app.
Speaker A:Awesome.
Speaker B:Yeah, you can search.
Speaker B:Just search Rochester Fringe Festival and it'll come up and it's very, very handy.
Speaker B:Of course, the other thing that is very useful for a festival our size is picking up one of the physical festival guides, 120 page guide.
Speaker B:They're all around town.
Speaker B:If you go onto our website, you'll be able to see where they are.
Speaker A:Yeah, I think that's a great thing too, is having the options for everybody to be able to access that information where, hey, you went to an early thing and you're like, man, I want more.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, go find something that night.
Speaker A:You're always going to run into something.
Speaker B:Absolutely.
Speaker B:Most of our shows are about an hour in length and that's on purpose.
Speaker B:Fringe festivals worldwide tend to have about an hour in length for their shows.
Speaker B:So that really encourages audiences to get out and see another show.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So before we dive into some of the other events, kind of wanted to tell everybody a little bit about lunch at our podcast network.
Speaker A:We are doing a fringe event, which is Something that we are all really excited about because we have a lot of performing people as part of the network from different sides of the arts world, whether it be role playing games where they do podcasts on that stuff.
Speaker A:People who are used to being on stage, like Pauly Guglielmo and people who've done hundreds of hours of podcast recording, like myself and others.
Speaker A:So we're going to be doing a show at the downtown branch of the public library where we're going to have hosts with very little idea of what the topics are going to be.
Speaker A:And then we're hoping the audience will participate and chime in and tell us if we're doing a good job or not as we go.
Speaker A:Because it's all going to be on the fly and recorded and published after so people can hear how good or bad we've done.
Speaker B:So fantastic.
Speaker B:I can't wait.
Speaker A:And I figured if we're going to do it, we should record it and actually publish it too.
Speaker A:Because, you know, I think there's.
Speaker A:There's something about that little record of that.
Speaker A:Oh, we have to live with how we did this, not just with the audience that night.
Speaker A:We have to be okay with people knowing, yeah, and if it was bad, I'm publishing it anyways.
Speaker A:I don't care.
Speaker B:You're going to capture lightning in a bottle.
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker A:So we're super excited about that.
Speaker A:And we'll have a link to that show in the notes and make sure everybody knows where to go, when to go see that.
Speaker A:But I want to talk about now.
Speaker A:There's not like repeat shows, but there's repeat performers that come back year after year.
Speaker A:Which one is a testament to Rochester Fringe that people come out to these events that the performers want to come back from outside of Rochester.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker B:So we have performers from all over the world.
Speaker B:One thing that we have a lot of the venues find is boomerangs.
Speaker B:We have a lot of people who are originally from the area who've gone on to New York or LA or London or Chicago, Toronto, and have careers there as professional performing artists and come back for Rochester Fringe.
Speaker B:One of them.
Speaker B:One example is the show Misery Loves Company that's starring Joe Liss, that will be at School of the Arts and Joel's in Second City.
Speaker B:For those of you who are Curb youb Enthusiasm fans.
Speaker B:He was the shoe thief.
Speaker B:He wrote SpongeBob SquarePants and he's doing.
Speaker B:And he's originally from Clifton Springs.
Speaker A:Really.
Speaker B:So he's coming back and that's the reason why, because he's from the area.
Speaker B:So yeah, someone like that.
Speaker B:But we also have.
Speaker B:And he's performed at Rochester Fringe before.
Speaker B:But you know, two people that that are have become festival favorites are Matt and Heidi.
Speaker B:Matt and Heidi Morgan who are going to be in Cirque du Fringe Clause out this year.
Speaker B:All new show.
Speaker B:Matt and Heidi are married.
Speaker B:They're also comedic partners and they perform regularly in Las Vegas.
Speaker B:That's where they're based.
Speaker B:They've been in, you know, all the big shows in Vegas and they're absolutely hysterical and they come back every year.
Speaker B:We love them so much.
Speaker B:I mean I think Rochester has really embraced them as their own.
Speaker B:We just adore them.
Speaker B:And so it's.
Speaker B:Cirque du Fringe is just such a fun event because it's all new performers every year.
Speaker B:Aerialists, jugglers.
Speaker B:Gosh, what do we have this year?
Speaker B:A swordsman.
Speaker B:We have this year.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's just going to be incredible.
Speaker B:And then it's all connected with a through line which you never see in a certain show.
Speaker B:And I'm saying that somebody who sees a lot of these shows and suffers through them and I'm like, Matt and Heidi are still the best.
Speaker B:They're just absolutely brilliant and they pull this through line through and make it into a story.
Speaker B:And it's just such a great night out.
Speaker B:The Spiegel 10, I mean you can't go wrong, you know.
Speaker A:And having seen them a couple times, it's such a, such an engaging performance because they are hilarious performers too.
Speaker A:Well, they're technically proficient.
Speaker A:Yes, they are funny performers.
Speaker A:Like they are so vibrant on, you know, while they're performing.
Speaker A:It's, it's an engaging show.
Speaker A:And if you're going to one of those, you know, one of those Spiegel 10 shows, you're never going to go wrong with that.
Speaker B:Absolutely not.
Speaker B:And we have on the final Saturday at 2:30pm we have a kids day matinee.
Speaker B:So that is that show in particular is appropriate for kids age 5 and up.
Speaker B:So the young to the young at heart at that one.
Speaker B:But yeah, their crowd play is just absolutely masterful.
Speaker B:And of course no two shows are the same.
Speaker A:Absolutely not.
Speaker A:And also now I have to, I have to internalize this.
Speaker A:September 13th at the Rochester the Central Library Kate Gleason auditorium is our, is the lunchador event.
Speaker A:So Saturday the 13th at 3pm I also wanted to mention one of my buddies, Matt Rogers, who's doing a performance out and about which, you know, I love that you can have informative stuff.
Speaker A:You can have, you know, the silent disco which is always like always a big attended thing.
Speaker A:But then you can have something that is, you know, historical about Rochester and people want to walk around and learn about an area.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So Matt is doing a site specific show called the Sights and Sounds District and what site specific shows are for those who don't know, site specific shows are shows that are not held in traditional performing arts settings.
Speaker B:So they're not in a traditional venue.
Speaker B:So you're not going to be sitting in an auditorium and looking at a stage.
Speaker B:Oh no.
Speaker B:It's a show that has to occur on that site for it to, for it to exist.
Speaker B:So that will be a great show that will be at Austin Stewart Plaza and you'll be walking and learning and immersing yourself where history happened.
Speaker B:Another really exciting site specific show that I'm very excited about is Forest Music that will be in the old growth forest of Washington Grove.
Speaker B:And that's going to be again an immersive event where you can literally walk through the forest and listen to music.
Speaker B:Now that's not your typical, typical show, but it's, gosh, that's so memorable.
Speaker B:So I love, love shows like that.
Speaker B:We already talked about dashboard drama switches and the four parked cars and a show that's on a hot tub.
Speaker B:But those sorts of very different immersive, site specific events, I think they really make the festival.
Speaker A:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker A:And then I know there's always a good amount of comedy coming in from the headliner, you know, Chelsea Handler to you know, locals like, you know, you know, the five bushes running their, you know.
Speaker B:Oh yes.
Speaker A:Comedy on a, you know, comedy on the back deck.
Speaker A:Which like also they're just really cool people.
Speaker A:I had them on last year, the year before, talking about Fringe and you know, people that just want to create something really cool.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:For the comedy community and just have people have just amazing intimate experience.
Speaker A:And then I see like, you know, Glenn Tickle coming to, you know and all.
Speaker A:There's so many different like comedy related things from improv to stand up to, you know, to drag shows which, you know, it's, it's also what a great addition, you know, what a great part of Fringe 2.
Speaker A:I remember going with my wife to seeing one of the, I think was a duo or trio version of that.
Speaker A:And you know, the crowds are just so engaged.
Speaker B:Yes, yes.
Speaker A:Like they're expert level performers that just so happen to be Rochester natives.
Speaker B:Well, some of them are and some of them aren't.
Speaker B:That's the beauty of the fringe.
Speaker B:People are coming in from all over the place.
Speaker B:And we have.
Speaker B:I mean, if you can't find anything that you like, then there's probably something wrong with you at this point because there's nearly 650 performance, so there's gotta be something that tickles your fancy.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And I'm hoping, you know, while we're.
Speaker A:While we're prepping for the preview, I know we put on our list of ones we want to talk to.
Speaker A:I see that there's, like, now some role playing game shows that are coming out this year, which, like, it's exploded in the last five years of popularity, I think buoyed by the pandemic where people wanted that connection online.
Speaker A:And now, like, the resurgence of, you know, role playing games have exploded.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:And to see that now as part of Fringe is really cool.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:And I mean, and we even have a show that's.
Speaker B:That's about game shows.
Speaker A:I saw that.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I mean, there's really something for everyone.
Speaker B:And you've really just, you know, grab a guide or download the app and just dive right in.
Speaker B:There is.
Speaker B:There's so much in this festival.
Speaker B:You know, the producer of Pittsburgh Fringe.
Speaker B:I'm sorry, the producer of Philadelphia Fringe used to say, you can't confuse the western east side.
Speaker B:I know.
Speaker B:That was.
Speaker B:I can't even believe I did that.
Speaker A:My wife would be very.
Speaker B:We're gonna cut this part out.
Speaker B:This is on the cutting room floor.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker B:But the producer of Philadelphia Fringe used to say that he didn't know the theme of that year's Fringe until it was over.
Speaker B:And I feel the same way, because you never know what's going to resonate with people.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:But you do find these themes kind of bubbling up.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And there's like, when I see.
Speaker A:On one page, I'm on the.
Speaker A:I'm on one of the theater pages.
Speaker A:So on page 99.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:On this one page, we've got, you know, we've got something around, you know, classic theater performance.
Speaker A:We've got, you know, a creative performance about I'm gonna Die.
Speaker A:We have an evening with Robert Frost.
Speaker A:We have, you know, a sexy, surreal clown cabaret called Good Girl.
Speaker A:And at the bottom, we have ground zero wrestling.
Speaker A:That's all in one page of the Fringe.
Speaker A:It's the Fringe that encapsulates so much.
Speaker B:It's a good example.
Speaker A:And I want to talk about ground zero for a second because I love what they're doing.
Speaker A:I'm a, you know, my co founder.
Speaker A:I are big professional wrestling fans.
Speaker A:And to have an organization that's one training.
Speaker A:They're Training their performers here in Rochester, trying to treat them like they're respected performers.
Speaker A:And to see them now doing an event at the Fringe, both hosting ground zero events in Webster and, you know, helping other ones around, around the area.
Speaker A:But to see them there at the School of the Arts.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:May I add, it's been booked by School of the Arts.
Speaker B:School of the Arts knows their stuff.
Speaker A:I am so excited.
Speaker B:Yeah, they really, they get a ton of applications every year.
Speaker B:Yeah, they really dive right into those.
Speaker B:They have a whole committee reviewing everything.
Speaker B:Their programming is always on point and I expect nothing less from them this year.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And shout out to Matic.
Speaker A:What, what a.
Speaker A:What a tremendous one, wrestler and two, somebody who is representing, you know, the craft well.
Speaker A:And I did want to mention.
Speaker A:So I went, I think it was last year I went to a theater performance, a professional wrestling musical theater performance that actually came to Rochester for a weekend.
Speaker A:I'm going to look up the name of it right now.
Speaker A:So this, this.
Speaker A:And that is the apt description of it.
Speaker A:It is a musical theater production with wrestling, about wrestling.
Speaker A:And many of the performers are former national level, like, professional wrestlers that like, had matches in the W. Longtime WWE and AEW and TNA wrestlers were part of the cast doing sung like musical theater productions while wrestling was going on.
Speaker A:It was one of the singular performances I have ever seen.
Speaker A:I'm like, wow, this is super fringe.
Speaker A:If I've ever seen something.
Speaker B:I just saw a fantastic show at the Edinburgh Fringe.
Speaker B:I'm not going to reveal the name because I'm looking to book it, but it also involved professional wrestling.
Speaker B:And I mean, it's just, it's not something that you'd see really every day.
Speaker B:You know, that's, that's really what Fringe is all about.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And this was called the Last Match, which was a pro wrestling rock experience.
Speaker A:It was just such a.
Speaker A:Again, somebody had this idea and I think they were originally from Rochester and they had this idea and they made it happen with like, wrestlers I've watched when I was younger.
Speaker A:And to see it all happen just live in front of us was such a blast.
Speaker B:They went for it.
Speaker A:Yeah, you gotta, you gotta go for it.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Good for them.
Speaker A:I'm kind of intrigued.
Speaker A:So as we're, as we're, you know, edging towards, you know, the end of our conversation, I'm wondering now when you're, when you're looking back at some of the performers that you saw here earlier on that have, you know, popped a little bit more, are there any that come to mind that were like you recall, like, vibrantly from when you saw them here.
Speaker B:Well, we booked Nate Bargazzi as an opener.
Speaker A:Oh, my God.
Speaker B:Right now we can't get Nate Bargazzi.
Speaker A:That's crazy.
Speaker B:Full stop.
Speaker B:We can't get Nate Bargazzi, so.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:Because now, like, you know, the smallest venues he's doing are, like, hockey stadiums.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B: we had Nate borgazzi here in: Speaker A:Shout out to Marc Maron, like, completely tearing apart the entire comedy industry right now.
Speaker A:Absolutely amazing, the work he's doing right now.
Speaker A:It's so great.
Speaker B:I know.
Speaker B:So that's one small example.
Speaker B:But we've seen a number of shows start off here in tour.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And that's something that we try to do in terms of educating artists.
Speaker B:What are your opportunities beyond this fringe?
Speaker B:Okay, you've performed here.
Speaker B:What's next?
Speaker B:And so we do have workshops for our artists.
Speaker A:Oh, interesting.
Speaker B:Which will be a little bit about.
Speaker B:So we have workshops for our artists.
Speaker B:One, we do a workshop that's just on the Edinburgh fringe because there's so much to talk about that the world's largest arts festival.
Speaker B:And the second thing is that we do a workshop on what fringe next.
Speaker B:So beyond the Edinburgh fringe, there are so many others.
Speaker B:Adelaide Fringe, that's the second biggest arts festival in the world, for instance.
Speaker B:We've got a bunch of us fringes.
Speaker B:They're all booked a little bit differently, so you kind of have to get your head around that.
Speaker B:So you do need to have a little bit of education.
Speaker B:But, yeah, we've seen Push Physical theater, for instance.
Speaker B:Everybody knows them in Rochester.
Speaker B:They've gone down to Orlando Fringe.
Speaker B:They've won best show at Orlando Fringe now more than once.
Speaker B:How awesome on the audience choice.
Speaker B:So, yeah, we really encourage artists to think as independent producers.
Speaker B:We do what we can to train them as independent producers, because that's the way that you have to do it these days.
Speaker B:You can't just sit back and relax and wait for somebody to book you.
Speaker B:You've got to, you know, let's think as a producer and see where you can take that show.
Speaker A:So how do you take that responsibility as the producer and CEO to be a good steward of, you know, of the.
Speaker A:Of the performers and giving them, you know, not giving them an opportunity, but maybe showing them the door?
Speaker B:Yeah, well, we have a number of workshops that we provide, again, totally for free, whether it be on marketing or pr, but also these other professional opportunities beyond our fringe.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:But we'll also talk to performers if Performers reach out to us.
Speaker B:And we hold those workshops year round, too.
Speaker B:It's not just cause especially Edinburgh Fringe, you need to apply really, by the end of the year.
Speaker B:So we'll hold a Zoom.
Speaker B:You know, we've had a great attendance on Zoom, and why wouldn't we?
Speaker B:We've got artists from all over the world, so we'll hold those on Zoom.
Speaker B:We'll hold some in person, but we really.
Speaker B:And we'll also answer questions year round.
Speaker B:Year round.
Speaker B:I get questions from artists.
Speaker B:I know our team does as well, and we're always very happy to answer those because quite frankly, we all.
Speaker B:I believe that we all move up the ladder together.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I think that makes.
Speaker A:Again, I didn't even know about.
Speaker A:I didn't know about that side of things, but it makes so much sense.
Speaker A:It makes so much sense because if the performers feel like they're being taken care of and it feels like they have opportunity, why wouldn't they want to come back?
Speaker A:Why wouldn't they want to do that again?
Speaker A:And, yeah, maybe it gives them that opportunity to grow and try something different.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker B:So, I mean, we think that that's very important and that's an important component of a fringe festival worldwide that you are maybe trying out something new.
Speaker B:They're really remarkable platforms for professional to emerging artists often to try out something new.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And Rochester audiences are hungry for something new.
Speaker B:Rochester gets such a bad rap.
Speaker B:It drives me nuts, you know, And I lived in.
Speaker B:I lived in London for 10 years.
Speaker B:So I'm going to say this as someone who's a bit of a boomerang.
Speaker B:I think we get a terrible rap.
Speaker B:And there's this whole perception that Rochester is very conservative and this won't work in Rochester and that won't work in Rochester.
Speaker B:And I don't find any of it to be true.
Speaker B:I have not found that in my experience with Rochester audiences at all.
Speaker B:I don't know where these conservative audiences are, but we're certainly not finding them because we've got people.
Speaker B:And I'm not talking about your political point of view.
Speaker B:I'm saying you've got their audiences here that are really willing to take risks.
Speaker B:I did a show called Totally Looped, which is an.
Speaker B:It's a film improv show, and it's toured the US And I did the UK tour.
Speaker B:We did very big venues.
Speaker B:And the person who pitched the show to me, who I am friends with, because I did a show called the Bicycle Men, with which involved Joe Liss from Clifton Springs callback to my previous Misery Loves Company was Dan Castellaneta, and he is the voice of Homer Simpson.
Speaker A:Yeah, just maybe, you know, the most notable, like, singular voice.
Speaker A:Like, singular voice actor of, you know, my entire life.
Speaker B:Yeah, Dan's a great guy.
Speaker B:And he said that his favorite place when he was on tour with Second City to perform was Rochester.
Speaker A:Really?
Speaker B:Because the audiences were so enthusiastic and they were so willing to try new things.
Speaker B:And I remember when he said that to me, and I thought, huh.
Speaker B:I think we were in.
Speaker B:I don't know where we were at the time when he said that to me, but I thought, that's really interesting.
Speaker B:And that.
Speaker B:That one little comment changed my mind.
Speaker B:This was before I started the festival.
Speaker B:It changed my mind about Rochester audiences.
Speaker B:And, you know, Matt Morgan will tell you he lives in Las Vegas.
Speaker B:He performs in Las Vegas, but there's nothing wilder than a Monday night in Rochester.
Speaker A:You know what?
Speaker A:I absolutely love that because people want.
Speaker A:I think it's something that you go through that time in your life where you're like.
Speaker A:You get that itch where you have to get out, you have to see everything, and at some point you have the realization that you can be miserable anywhere and you can be satisfied anywhere.
Speaker A:You have to make your own opportunities.
Speaker A:You have to make the best of wherever you are.
Speaker A:And Rochester does have this enthusiasm and I think a positivity that has been growing, I'd say, over the last five years in a way that feels appreciable, that I think for a long time we were a very pessimistic city.
Speaker B:Mm.
Speaker A:Yeah, we had, you know, we had gone down our downturn later.
Speaker A:Later than Buffalo.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And I think we were a very, very negative place.
Speaker A:And I think it's.
Speaker A:It's come around.
Speaker A:And I think you can.
Speaker A:I know I can feel it.
Speaker A:I don't know about you.
Speaker A:I think it.
Speaker A:I think people are excited about Rochester more than they have been in a long time.
Speaker B:Well, we definitely feel it during the fringe.
Speaker B:100% absolutely palpable.
Speaker B:You can cut the atmosphere with a knife.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:We have people.
Speaker B:I remember when we were start the festival, people saying, oh, but this is Rochester.
Speaker B:Why would they want to do a world premiere here?
Speaker B:And I thought, that is so depressing.
Speaker B:Who says that about where they live?
Speaker B:This is absolutely terrible.
Speaker B:But by the end of that very festival, that very festival wasn't like years later.
Speaker B:It was like within a few days, people were saying, well, this is how we do it.
Speaker B:You know, this is how we do things here.
Speaker B:This is like a typical Saturday night out.
Speaker B:Like, no, like last Saturday you were complaining about it.
Speaker B:This Saturday you're saying it's a typical night out.
Speaker B:What's going on here?
Speaker A:Last Saturday you said you had nothing to do in Rochester.
Speaker B:But that's what I love about the Fringe because it is so electric and it feeds off of each other.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I just think it's.
Speaker B:I think it's the best 12, 12 nights of the year in Rochester.
Speaker A:And those 12 nights are September 9th through 20th, the ESL Rochester Fringe Festival.
Speaker A:Rochesterfringe.com to check out the website for all of the shows, including Lunchador show on September 13th, 13th at 3pm The Downtown Branch of the library.
Speaker A:Erica, throughout the rest of the things where they can find the info or where they can learn about to get the paper guide, the app and what else they need to know real quick.
Speaker B:Well, there are about 650 performances.
Speaker B:About a quarter of them are free.
Speaker B:So that's exciting.
Speaker B:You can buy tickets in advance.
Speaker B:It's all E tickets, but you can also buy the door of any venue an hour before curtain up.
Speaker B:Starting an hour before curtain up.
Speaker B:So there a wide variety of ways that you can buy tickets through the website, in person, through the app, even on the phone.
Speaker B:So, you know, get downtown, you know, try out a show, maybe come to something that you've heard of that you've been dying to see.
Speaker B:But then, you know, please try out a new space show, an artist from out of town that you can turn up as a good audience member.
Speaker B:It's just so important, I think, for the health of our city and indeed our region.
Speaker A:Well, Erica, thank you so much for coming over.
Speaker A:We're so thrilled to be doing a whole bunch of preview stuff for Fringe this year.
Speaker A:And I hope it's a relationship we can keep going because this is.
Speaker A:It's an event that we feel really strongly about and we're excited to see everybody out at our event and all over the Rochester Fringe Festival.
Speaker A:So we'll be back with more on the Lunchadore Podcast Network and make sure you come out to the Fringe Festival.
Speaker A:This has been a presentation of the Lunchadore Podcast Network.
