Happy Hour On The Fringe

During the global coronavirus pandemic, FringeArts is pivoting the focus of our podcast to checking in with our artists, our audiences, and our community partners during these unprecedented times. Since we can't gather, we'll chat remotely about how we respond to this crisis, and how the role of art during a pandemic shifts. In this episode, FringeArts Community Engagement Manager Tenara Calem and Artistic Producer Zach Blackwood chat with Eric Jaffe, full-time drag performer and organizer of queer communities in Philadelphia. They delve into their corona-catalyzed consolidation effort to gather information about digital performances by other queer artists into an accessible weekly list, as well as ways for you to help and get involved. Check out their Facebook page, website and YouTube channel for more information - and be sure to tune in to Digital Drag Brunch every Saturday at 12pm EST.

During the global coronavirus pandemic, FringeArts is pivoting the focus of our podcast to checking in with our artists, our audiences, and our community partners during these unprecedented times. Since we can't gather, we'll chat remotely about how we respond to this crisis, and how the role of art during a pandemic shifts. In this episode, FringeArts Community Engagement Manager Tenara Calem chats with Nancy Hill, museum manager at the Mütter Museum, and Beth Uzwiak, research director at Ethnologica about their collaboration with Blast Theory for the pandemic exhibit Spit Spreads Death last summer. In Spit Spreads Death, the team organized a processional to commemorate the victims of the 1918 Flu Pandemic in Philadelphia. Tune in to hear about the intersection of public health and art, and learn about what we have to be optimistic about during this dark time. 

During the global coronavirus pandemic, FringeArts is pivoting the focus of our podcast to checking in with our artists, our audiences, and our community partners during these unprecedented times. Since we can't gather, we'll chat remotely about how we respond to this crisis, and how the role of art during a pandemic shifts. In this episode, FringeArts Community Engagement Manager Tenara Calem chats with Blast Theory, a performance company based in the United Kingdom that creates interactive art to explore social and political questions. Blast Theory was in Philadelphia last summer in 2019 for the opening of the Mutter Museum's pandemic exhibit Spit Spreads Death, in which they organized a processional to commemorate the victims of the 1918 Flu Pandemic in Philadelphia. Tenara chats with Blast Theory artists Matt Adams and Nick Tandavanitj about the prophetic nature of their project and how art can imagine a different future. Plus - look out for a special Part 2 episode on April 8th with two of the brains beh

Health and safety are our number one priorities here at FringeArts, and in compliance with CDC recommendations for staying safe during the Covid-19 pandemic, we will be postponing our 2020 High Pressure Fire Service presentations, including BOY PROJECT. More information will be available soon about when HPFS will take place. Happy Hour on the Fringe will continue to come out with podcast episodes about our artists and community partners, so don’t fear — FringeArts is still kicking! Community is crucial in this time of crisis, so please do not hesitate to reach out. In this episode, artist Nell Bang-Jensen and student Samiha Hadeed-Moore sit down to talk about their upcoming piece, BOY PROJECT. Supported by a professional team of theater artists and designers, youth from a variety of backgrounds perform a playful and revelatory new work, the culmination of months of outreach, story circles, and workshops. Through games, fantasies, original songs, and in-the-moment contemplation of questions of desire and power

In this episode of Happy Hour on the Fringe, you'll listen to a conversation about the themes and questions in our upcoming High Pressure Fire Service presentation Legal Tender by Antigravity Performance Project. For our HPFS episodes, we like to connect our artists to community members and advocates who are thinking about the same questions the artists explore in their HPFS pieces. This episode features a conversation between Legal Tender lead artist Kyle Dacuyan, Executive Director of The Poetry Project, and Vanessa Maria Graber, the WPPM Radio Station Manager at PhillyCAM, Philadelphia’s community access media center. Tune in and don’t forget to check out Legal Tender at FringeArts April 16-18.

In this episode of Happy Hour on the Fringe, the artist and brain behind our upcoming High Pressure Fire Service show, [SIGN FELT]: Sad Boys in Harpy Land Alexandra Tatarsky sits down with University of Pennsylvania Professor and PhD candidate Mario Sassi. They talk about the running through-line of Dante Alighieri's The Divine Comedies in Alex's April 2-4th piece, and the contemporary relevance of Dante's world view today. For tickets and information about [SIGN FELT], visit our website at www.fringearts.com, or call our Box Office at 215-413-1318.

On this episode of Happy Hour on the Fringe, Raina is back with Artistic Producers Katy and Zach to continue to talk about what audiences can look forward to in our upcoming High Pressure Fire Service, a presentation series of new works from Philadelphia’s leading performers, including delving into the curation process and the artistic journeys we've travelled with the selected artists. Come see the HPFS performances April-May 2020!

On this episode of Happy Hour on the Fringe, hosts Raina and Tenara chat with Artistic Producers Katy and Zach about what audiences can look forward to in our upcoming High Pressure Fire Service, a presentation series of new works from Philadelphia’s leading performers. Come see the HPFS performances April-May 2020!

Happy Hour on the Fringe hosts Raina and Tenara sit down with Georgia Schlessman, Technical Director, and Evelyn Swift Shuker, Master Electrician, to talk about the upcoming Theater Technician Job Fair at FringeArts (Monday, February 10th!), the relationship between technicians and artists, and the role of design in an audience's experience. To RSVP for the Job Fair, visit our website at www.FringeArts.com.

On this episode of Happy Hour on the Fringe, we hopped on the phone with Megan Stalter, actress, comedian, writer, FreakFest curator, and performer in our 2020 Blue Heaven Comedy Festival this February. Meg shares her introduction to comedy, the woes of a high school thespian society, and what she's working on now.

On this episode of Happy Hour on the Fringe, hosts Tenara Calem and Zach Blackwood give you the inside information on the Blue Heaven 2020 lineup, who's who, where you've seen them, what to look out for, and what even is "going blue"? Blue Heaven Comedy Festival runs February 7 & 8, 2020 at FringeArts with acts starting at 7pm.

On this episode of Happy Hour on the Fringe, we sat down with Anthony Martinez-Briggs of ILL DOOTS to talk about how ILL DOOTS was formed, their musical influences and inspirations and New Year's Funkin' Eve!  Follow @illdoots on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Music available to stream on Spotify, Tidal, Apple Music, Bandcamp, and more.

On this episode of Happy Hour on the Fringe, we sipped tea and spilled the tea with Dito van Reigersberg AKA THE Martha Graham Cracker, Drag Queen King of Philadelphia. As one of the founders of Pig Iron, Dito shares his experiences with the very first Fringe Festival, his artistic journey since, and the development  of Martha Graham Cracker as we know her today. No two performances are ever the same, which is good because you can see Martha twice in a row at FringeArts this December 19–20, 2019! Thursday, December 19 features a Choral Extravaganza, and Friday, December 20th will be the final Martha Graham Cracker performance of 2019 AND of the decade...make sure you don't miss out! Tickets at FringeArts.com. Intro features "Let Me Sit On It" from Martha Graham Cracker's newest album out December 12, Lashed But Not Leashed. Available to stream on Bandcamp.

On this episode of Happy Hour on the Fringe we talked with John Jarboe, creator of Get Pegged and founder of the Bearded Ladies Cabaret about the  Get Pegged performance at FringeArts on November 15, and the curatorial process behind Get Pegged. Listen as we talk about the people who have inspired him, along with the origins of the Bearded Ladies Cabaret. 

On this episode of Happy Hour on the Fringe, we sat down with some of the people who help give life to the arts in Philadelphia and FringeArts as an organization. Jane Pepper and Christie Hartwell are longtime Fringe fans who are also a part of the FringeArts Producers Circle, a cohort of dedicated supporters who help us present the most ambitious performances while expanding our audience and accessibility to the broader community. Jane and Christie share their introductions to FringeArts, back when we were just the Fringe Festival, their favorite experiences over the years, and the importance of supporting the arts.

On this episode of Happy Hour on the Fringe we recorded musical artist DJ Dame Luz before her upcoming Halloqweens event taking place at FringeArts October 26. Listen as she talks about the people who have inspired her,  along with the origins of the Halloqweens event.

On this episode of Happy Hour on the Fringe, we recorded live during the 2019 Fringe Festival at our pop up Bookstore at Cherry Street Pier. We sat down with Luciano Rosso and Nicolás Poggi of Un Poyo Rojo, which ran Sept 19–21 at Christ Church Neighborhood House. They share the origins of their relationship to each other and the work and how they prepared for this dynamic physical piece.

In this episode of Happy Hour on the Fringe, April Rose, FringeArts’ Fringe Festival Coordinator, talks to Tara Lake, Terry Brennan, Jarrod Markman, and Joseph Ahmed about their independent show offerings for this year’s Fringe Festival and their experiences as newbies and seasoned veterans of Fringe. I Know It Was the Blood: The Totally True Adventures of a Newfangled Black Woman will play September 20-22, 2019 at The Whole Shebang. Operation: Wawa Road Trip will play  at the Proscenium Theatre at The Drake on September 5–9, 12–16, and 19–21, 2019.  Dissonance and Generations are visual art exhibitions that will be showing at Da Vinci Art Alliance during the 2019 Fringe Festival. Free / Gallery hours: Wednesdays–Sundays, 12–5pm. DVAA is also presenting Composition in Concert, displayed at International House Philadelphia daily from 8am–10pm during the Fringe Festival.

We hope you’re all getting ready for art to blossom throughout the city of Philadelphia in September!  Speaking of blossoming, three events will be sprouting up in LOVE Park.  We share a drink with Marc Wilken from Parks and Recreation and three independent Fringe Festival artists: Dana Suleymanova (Dear qupid), Eric Thayer (Give Your Heart), and Leah Stein with Asimina Chremos (RISE: Relationship is Self Existing).  All of the performances are participatory and engage with the City of Brotherly Love as they explore love, the beating heart, and how human bodies share space in LOVE Park this September. Dear qupid will run September 9, 15 + 22nd. Give Your Heart will run September 9, 11 + 14th. RISE: Relationship is Self Existing will run September 14th. Fringe Festival tickets are on sale now!  To purchase tickets, visit www.fringearts.com or call 215.413.1318.  Tickets and also be purchased through the FringeArts app available on App store and Google store.

The FringeArts Ambassador Program is a cohort of volunteers, artistic participants, long-time fans of FringeArts, and community stakeholders from all professional and personal backgrounds who serve as connectors between FringeArts and new audiences. Ambassadors work with the Audience Engagement Coordinator, Tenara Calem, to bring new audiences to FringeArts. Ambassadors are active volunteers in the organization, filling a variety of roles and representing a wide range of Philadelphia communities.  In this week's episode, Tenara clinks glasses with two Ambassadors to celebrate another year of the Fringe Festival and what they're looking forward to seeing this year. If you are interested in learning more about the Ambassador Program, please reach out to Tenara at tenara@fringearts.com. Fringe Festival tickets are on sale now!  To purchase tickets, visit www.fringearts.com or call 215.413.1318.  Tickets and also be purchased through the FringeArts app.