September 2016

Escape the Ordinary

Have you been enjoying your summer itinerary of lovely, ordinary, warm-weather happenings? If you’ve been in Upstate New York for very long, you know that the performing arts provide a haven during the long, cold winter months. One might consider September’s Fringe Festival to be the crashing takeover of the city’s performance spaces by an exuberant, cooped-up, and profoundly quirky theater scene. During this particular festival, creators eviscerate the boundaries of the spectrum of peculiarity usually occupied by Rochester performance art. The result is an uncensored smorgasbord of spectacle that’s free to include bizarre settings, nudity, profanity, and nonsense. You might call it a crash course in conquering your comfort zone. What could be more fun?

A Hirsute History

The first Fringe Fest gave rise to its very literal name when unaffiliated groups of performers rode the coattails of an organized festival to gain visibility for their work. Their shows could be found on the fringe of the legitimate event. Since then, the fringe has come into its own as a unique genre, and Fringe Festivals have sprung up around the world. The Rochester version is now in its fifth year and has doubled its original size. This year, you can expect 60,000 spectators attending more than 500 performances – 170 of them free – in 25 diverse venues throughout the city. Setting our local event apart from others is its bifurcated nature. The headliners and some other shows are presented by Rochester Fringe itself, while most are curated by independent venues.

2016 First Niagara Rochester Fringe Festival

Thursday, September 15th through Saturday, September 24th
Vital Information can be found here.
City Newspaper’s (very helpful) daily blogs can be found here.
For Tickets, visit the Rochester Fringe website.

• The abundance of original (and out-of-this-world) music doesn’t imply a lack of homage to established favorites. Musical tributes during Fringe will celebrate Stevie Wonder, Frank Sinatra, Fleetwood Mac, Peggy Lee, and Marvin Gaye.
• Voices will be raised to the heavens Sunday, September 18^th in Kilbourn Hall at Eastman Theatre. At 2 pm, join the jubilee at Gospel Sunday, a free non-ticketed afternoon of sacred song.
• Fans of “Little House on the Prairie” shouldn’t miss Alison Arngrim (Nellie Oleson) in her one-woman show, “Confessions of a Prairie B*tch” at RAPA @ SOTA. Tickets are $20, and there are four show times to choose from.
• Parcel 5 will be a flurry of entertainment with a series of free headlining shows Saturday, September 16^th and Sunday, September 17^th. If the live action gets overwhelming, you can always skip over to the Pedestrian Drive In, where free films will be screened each day of the festival.