FringeNYC 2011 - Your Personal Guide to The 15th Annual New York International Fringe Festival

Hy on the Fringe: Your Personal Guide to the

2011 New York International Fringe Festival

This Page Was Most Recently Updated: Monday September 26th 2011

The productions listed under the Show Rankings and Show Reviews sections are ones I've seen from beginning to end.
In contrast, this News & Buzz section provides recommendations of shows I haven't yet seen but are receiving good buzz.
This section also provides news and various tips to make your time at shows as much fun as possible.

Two Extensions Extended (9/26/11): Two Encore shows, Cobu and Felony Friday, were popular enough to receive an added performance on the final day of the Encore Series. For details, please visit the FringeNYC 2011 Encore Series page and read the descriptions of these two shows.

18 Shows in Encores (8/30/11): Eighteen FringeNYC 2011 shows have been selected for the festival's Encore Series. For complete details—including show descriptions, running times, showtimes, locations, photos, reviews, and helpful links—please visit the FringeNYC 2011 Encore Series page, which is updated frequently.

FringeNYC 2011 Awards (8/28/11): The FringeNYC 2011 Awards for Overall Excellence were announced today via email and the Web. You can find complete information, plus links to my reviews of the shows I've written up, on the FringeNYC 2011 Award Winners page.

Beyond the FringeNYC Encores (8/28/11): The FringeNYC 2011 Encore Series hosts additional performances for around 20 shows. But what about the other 170+ productions? Some of them have found alternative avenues for continuing their runs—even if it's for just one more performance. To learn about such extensions, please visit the FringeNYC 2011 Performances Beyond the Encores page, which is updated daily.

FringeNYC 2011 Encore Series (8/28/11): Around 20 FringeNYC shows will be extended to run September 9th-26th, with the performances taking place at the West Village's The Players Theatre and The Soho Playhouse. For details—and daily updates—please frequently visit this site's FringeNYC 2011 Encore Series page.

Final Two Days of FringeNYC Canceled Due to Hurricane Irene (8/27/11): This year's FringeNYC Festival was supposed to run through Sunday August 28th, but it's ended two days early—on Friday August 26th—due to severe weather and the loss of mass transit. For details, please click here.

Shows Getting Buzz in Final Days of Festival (8/26/11): There are only three days left to the festival. You can see my ratings & rankings of the shows I've seen to date by clicking here. In addition, it's worth noting that shows that have been receiving good buzz and for which tickets are still available include Bongani, The Panic Diaries, Leonard Cohen Koans, The Big "A," The Women Of Tu-Na House, Heroes and Other Strangers, and Poe-Dunk. I can't personally vouch for any of these because I haven't yet seen them; but I've heard enough positive comments to try to catch most of these shows before the festival's over.

Performance added for Yeast Nation (8/22/11): To try to accommodate demand, a performance for the sold-out Yeast Nation was recently added for Tuesday August 23rd at 8:00 pm. This is expected to quickly sell out too, though, so if you're interested please grab tickets ASAP. (Postscript: It did indeed quickly sell out.)

Record 4-Star Festival (8/19/11): For the first time in the history of this site, I've given a **** rating to three FringeNYC productions at the same festival. They are Yeast Nation, PigPen Presents: The Mountain Song, and The Bardy Bunch. Click the underlined titles to read my reviews of these shows, and/or visit the Notable Musicals page (replacing the Apple Panel page, since that event is now over).

Apple Panel (8/17/11): I'll be moderating a panel on August 17th at 7:00 pm about FringeNYC shows using Apple technology. The productions represented will be The Legend of Julie-Taymor, Theatre of the Arcade, When the Sky Breaks 3D, and Technodoulia Dot Com. This fun event will take place at the Apple Store by Lincoln Center at Broadway and 67th Street. To learn more, please click here.

Favorite Shows of Opening Weekend (8/15/11): During FringeNYC 2011's first weekend I saw 11 productions from beginning to end. I rarely give shows four stars, so was delighted to be able to do so twice on Saturday—to Yeast Nation and The Bardy Bunch. Yeast Nation's run is sold out, but please stay tuned here for news of any added performances. As for The Bardy Bunch, tickets are selling briskly but it's not too late to nab seats for 8/21 and 8/24 by clicking here.

I also greatly enjoyed COBU: Dance Like Drumming, Drum Like Dancing, Wallstories, and All Atheists Are Muslim. To read my reviews of these shows, please simply click their titles.

Religion-Themed and Poetry-Themed FringeNYC Shows (8/12/11): I moderated two hour-long sessions of Fringe Teasers—consisting of FringeNYC show excerpts followed by discussions and audience Q&A—on Thursday August 11th from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm at FringeCentral (45 Bleecker Street).

The first block of shows had religious themes: All Atheists are Muslim (an entertaining one-woman show about a Muslim dating an atheist that writer/performer Zahra Noorbakhsh says is "90% autobiographical"), Back to the Garden (a play about religion written by an atheist that turned out more spiritual than he'd expected), The Fundamentalist (an award-winning play from Scandinavia about extremism), Moshe Feldstein: Icon of Self-Realization (a one-man show by Alexander Nemser parodying oddball religious figures), and The Town of No One (a parallel universe in which a town that's banned religion considers what it's both gained and lost).

The second block of shows were related to poetry: Before Placing Me On Your Shelf (adapted from the poems of 1992 Pulitzer Prize winner James Tate), In the Summer Pavilion (an exploration of time and multiple possible futures), and Leonard Cohen Koans (a charming cabaret-style mix of poetry and music from Australians Ali Hughes & Daryl Wallis).

All the participants were delights, and I sincerely thank them for making the sessions lively and entertaining.

Yeast Nation Entirely Sold Out (8/9/11): Three days before the festival has even begun, Yeast Nation has sold out its entire run.

Other shows may well sell out their runs as well over the next week. Productions currently getting buzz include The Legend of Julie-Taymor, The Bardy Bunch, COBU: Dance like Drumming, Drum like Dancing, and Theatre of the Arcade. Again, if you're interested in a show, grab your tickets now. To learn more about what's selling out, please click here. To learn how to buy tickets in advance, please click here.

Shows Are Starting to Sell Out Performances (8/5/11): Yeast Nation sold out a performance on August 3rd, a full nine days before the opening of the festival, making it the fastest sell-out in FringeNYC's 15-year history. It was followed on August 4th by a performance sell-out of Bella and the Pool Boy—and by a second performance sell-out of Yeast Nation. My advice: If you're interested in a show, grab your tickets now. To learn more about what's selling out, please click here. To learn how to buy tickets in advance, please click here.

First (and Hopefully Only) Canceled Show (8/4/11): A show listed in the FringeNYC program guide has canceled its entire run: The Meanest Guy That Ever Lived, about legendary movie tough guy Jack Palance performed as a one-woman show by Lily Spottiswood, his granddaughter. (Too bad; I really wanted to see this...) If you purchased tickets, go to FringeCentral to obtain a refund—or better yet, to nab tickets for a different show.

Apple Panel on August 17th at 7:00 pm (8/3/11): I'll be moderating a discussion about FringeNYC shows using Apple technology at the Apple Store by Lincoln Center on Wednesday, August 17th at 7:00 pm. FringeNYC shows on the panel will be Theatre of the Arcade, When the Sky Breaks 3D, The Legend of Julie-Taymor, and Technodoulia Dot Com. For full details, please click here.

Unique FringeNYC venue-to-venue travel time guide, courtesy of Dale Davidson (8/1/11): Just added to this site's Key Info page is a unique guide to travel times from venue to venue, prepared by treasured FringeNYC fan & actress Dale Davidson. This is potentially very handy if you're trying to create a schedule allowing to you catch as many shows as possible back to back. To see the guide, and optionally download a PDF version and/or editable Excel spreadsheet version, please click here.

John Amos added to cast of Felony Friday (7/29/11): John Amos, a TV star who was a cast member of Good Times, the weatherman on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, a recurring character on Two and a Half Men, and an older Kunta Kinte on Roots, was just added to the cast of FringeNYC show Felony Friday. This is a last-minute triumph for the production, which had already printed its promotional postcards but is dumping them to create new postcards include Amos as co-star. Amos will be one of the most prominent celebrities at this year's festival. For more on stars at FringeNYC, please click here.

For key info, including where to find show descriptions, how to catch live sneak peeks of shows, where to see free outdoor shows, how to buy tickets, and much more, please click here.

Navigating this Site's FringeNYC 2011 Coverage (7/15/11): There are a number of sections in this site to help you get the most enjoyment out of this year's festival.

For key info, including where to find show descriptions, how to catch live sneak peeks of shows, where to see free outdoor shows, how to buy tickets, and much more, please click here.

For video sneak peeks at shows, please click here.

For notable comedic shows, please click here.

For notable gay-themed shows, please click here.

For shows with movie, TV, and/or Broadway veterans, please click here.

For rising stars to look for, please click here.

For shows with the most interesting titles, please click here.

After the festival's begun, to jump to a list of the FringeNYC 2011 shows I've seen from beginning to end, rated and ranked in rough order of preference, please click here.

After the festival's begun, to read reviews of shows I've seen, please click here.

For a list of shows that have sold out one or more performances via advance sales, please click here.

And to learn about great places to grab food in the neighborhoods that host the shows, please click here.

Location of FringeCentral (7/13/11): The location of FringeCentral—the key spot for both ticket buying and Fringe info—is 45 Bleecker Street (off Lafayette Street)t. This East Village spot is just a few feet away from the #6 subway's Bleecker Street stop, and within easy walking distance of the majority of this year's FringeNYC venues. To learn more, please click here.

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Introduction to FringeNYC 2011

FringeNYC 2011 Encore Series

Beyond the Encore Series

Show Ratings & Rankings

Show Reviews

News & Buzz

Best Video Promos & Sneak Peeks

What's In A Name?