CONTACT: Ian Hoch, Media Coordinator, ian@nofringe.org, 504-258-8706
(December 9, 2014) Today, New Orleans Fringe announced that in 2015, the popular New Orleans Fringe Theater Festival will evolve into faux/real [a chain of events]. The new event will be a celebration of performing arts, food & drink, and literature in New Orleans staged over three weeks in November. NOLA Defender will produce faux/real with NoDef publisher B.E. Mintz serving as Executive Producer. New Orleans Fringe will provide support to transition and launch the new effort.
Fringe Executive Director Kristen Evans said, "The environment in New Orleans for theater has evolved significantly since we started the Fringe Fest in 2008. Over seven years, the Fringe has presented over 500 theater productions with 1500 performances to tens of thousands of audience members. Artists and audience are ready to take things to the next level. So we're making a chain of events that is even easier to participate in, easier to manage, and even more fun to attend."
Faux/real will feed the roots of creativity, community, and cooperation fostered by the Fringe. Theater will be at the core of the schedule, with an expanded offering of wild, weird, fresh original performances just like those that festival-goers have enjoyed at the Fringe Fest. But this time, organizers plan for three consecutive weeks of events, including over 80 theater productions plus literature and food offerings with the same spirit of experimental, off-the-wall, innovative artistic fearlessness. Literature, a proud tradition in NOLA, will find a natural home with her artistic cousin from the stage. The cuisine and beverages that are also so vital to the soul of the City will be represented through a series of events including pop-ups and food parks.
Mintz said, "Everyone at NoDef is thrilled by the opportunity to create such a culturally significant event. Fringe has provided a wonderful foundation, infrastructure, staff, and tradition. We can't wait to build upon this bedrock by recruiting other avant-garde elements of the arts community and providing a platform for them to strut their stuff. Faux/real will provide a spotlight for creativity in NOLA, both literally and metaphorically."
Evans, Fringe Development Coordinator Swamp Deville, and Fringe Technical Coordinator Leah Farrelly will all sit on an advisory board for faux/real. Additionally, several key Fringe coordinators will join the new endeavor -- Fringe Volunteer Coordinator Selena Poznak will serve as Managing Director, Fringe BYOV Coordinator Joe Furnari will continue on as Venue Liaison, and Ian Hoch will remain onboard as Media Coordinator.
Additional details will be released in the following weeks.
NOLA Defender is a hyper-local publication covering the arts, culture, crime, politics, and personalities of the Crescent City. Published daily since 2009, NoDef reaches over 50,000 unique readers weekly.
The Fringe Festival nurtures emerging and established performing artists by presenting fun, fearless and affordable theater to the community and creating ties between artists, audiences, businesses and local organizations. We bring fearless performers to fearless audiences.
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