The 10th anniversary KeyBank Rochester Fringe Festival runs Tuesday, September 14 through Saturday, September 25 with more than 425 in-person and online performances and events ranging from comedy, dance, kids’ fringe, and multidisciplinary shows, to music, spoken word, theatre, and visual art & film. Tickets and a complete schedule are available at rochesterfringe.com.
“After 18 months of closure that have devastated the performing arts, we’re thrilled to play our part in getting them back on their feet,” says Founding Festival Producer Erica Fee. “Nearly 90% of our shows are live and in-person, which wouldn’t be possible without our absolute commitment to keeping performers and attendees safe.” (See the festival’s COVID-19 protocols.)
The 2021 festival will feature more than 120 free shows, including a special Fringe Finale at “The Five,” the City’s now-grassy, empty lot formerly known as Parcel 5. Fringe will present SMOKESTACKS, a mini music festival headlined and curated by nationally renowned Rochester band, Joywave. Performing from 4 – 10:30 PM on Saturday, September 25 will be: Cammy Enaharo, Mikaela Davis, Kopps, Spencer., Cannons, and Joywave.
The fifth, free Fringe Street Beat will take place on Saturday, September 18 at Martin Luther King, Jr. Park, with prelims from 1-3:30 and finals from 4-5:30 PM. This all-out dance battle features top talent from across the Northeast, along with MC ha-MEEN (Ithaca), DJ SC One (Nyack), and three NYC competition judges. Teams of three compete for a cash prize of $1,200.
Three free, signature outdoor events return to One Fringe Place (corner of Main & Gibbs Streets, across from Eastman Theatre) this year:
· Pedestrian Drive-In, nightly films – including In the Heights and Harriet – on the big screen
· Kids Day, featuring Disco Kids, Chalk Art, and Pumpkin Painting on Saturday, September 18 from noon – 3 PM
· Gospel Sunday, an afternoon of sacred song with the Zion Hill Mass Choir and host Reverend Rickey Harvey and Truly Committed, on Sunday, September 19 at 2 PM
In addition to an outdoor lounge called The Garden, One Fringe Place is also home to the Theatre Bar, Fringe Box Office, food trucks, and a beautiful Italian Circus Tent called “The Charlotte.” Inside, a Fringe-commissioned comedy and variety show created and directed by festival favorite Matt Morgan will make its World Premiere for 14 performances: Cirque du Fringe: AfterParty.
With a wedding-reception-gone-wild theme, AfterParty features Morgan and co-hosts Mark Gindick and Ambrose Martos, all of whom met at Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College and performed in the acclaimed off-Broadway show, Comedy Trio Happy Hour. Rounding out the cast are five very talented women: Ethiopian hula hoop artist Zenebech Kassa, Russian juggler Gena Cristiani, and Americans: acrobat Shenea Stiletto and pole dancer Donna Carnow, with live music by NYC’s sought-after DJ A-Ball.
In and around the Italian Circus Tent: Silent Disco – a total sell-out since the festival introduced it to Rochester in 2013 – will return for all four, weekend late-nights.
The vast majority of Fringe shows, however, were submitted in June by artists to festival venues, which then curated their own spaces. New venues include: Centerstage Theatre at the JCC (Dawn Lipson Canalside Stage & Hart Theatre); Made on State; The Spirit Room; The International Plaza; the new Sloan Performing Arts Center at the University of Rochester; and the Theatre at Innovation Square, the newly renovated Xerox Auditorium that will make its debut at Fringe. Returning venues are: Central Library, Eastman School of Music, Garth Fagan Dance, Java’s, Joseph Avenue Arts & Culture Alliance, MuCCC, RIT City Art Space, Rochester Contemporary, Rochester Music Hall of Fame, Salena’s, and The Little. A Virtual Fringe also returns this year, with 55 productions available on-demand as well as live-streamed.
“Not only are we providing a platform for artists to share their ideas and develop their skills, which is our nonprofit’s overarching mission,” adds Fee, “but arts and culture provide healthy community cohesion as a result of shared experiences – something we all really need right now.”
