Fringe Focus
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While I am pleased that Chicago is going for this, the focus is off the mark. Chicago is a fringe CITY, that’s what makes us unique to a city like New York where, while there is much fringe theater to be had, the focus is on big-budget spectacle work with more of a wow factor than risk. The artists who gravitate to Chicago over New York or the West Coast are drawn here for the fringey type environment it offers with less focus on vanity. To have a Fringe Fest in Chicago where, I might add, few staple Chicago fringe companies aren’t even so much as mentioned and performance venues are restricted to the uber trendy Pilsen ‘hood, is polarizing and disingenuous to a festival implying a celebration of offbeat work in Chicago. This is the first year, I know, and God knows this is one hell of an endeavor that went from submission to production relatively quickly. I don’t mean to poo-poo it, but as a member of a fringey local company, I would love to see CFF reach out more to the Chicago fringe community in the future as it already exists. Celebrate THAT, and foray such a celebration into an open invitation to bring in new work that we would love to see join the existing fringe community in Chicago. Otherwise, what’s the perk to coming here? If you want visiting artists to truly benefit from bringing their work here, look to unite them with local foster companies who are a good fit and venue to showcase their pieces, not to mention come with a built in marketing for specific participants to a local audience. This might mean reviewing submissions rather than pulling them out of a hat, but at least in the end you’ve attempted to enrich the fringe community at large and provide these hopeful artists with a guaranteed connection rather than just a possible eclipse with interest. —megan m.
Re: “Where in the World Is Sam Prekop? With a radical left turn of a solo album on the way, the Sea and Cake front man draws nine Xs on his musical map” by Jessica Hopper, August 26
Deltoid. —MrJM
Re “Ticketmaster’s Non-Solution to Its Service Fee Problem” by Miles Raymer on the blog, August 23
