This blog has a tremendous amount of potential. Unfortunately, to achieve it, a sizable contribution of time has to be made and we have simply not had it. I think we also need to fully familiarize ourselves with the lay of the land in Palm Beach County arts, and it is not easy, especially on a limited budget.

I still think this site, or one like it, could be a tremendous resource for artists from all disciplines, and the public at-large and I would like to see it develop. I just am not sure where to begin focusing first. However, expect further updates and observations as this entire thing continues to take form in our heads.

There was an interesting post on Elizabeth Maupin’s blog the other day about the role of audience as critic. She’d cited an article about when/why/how to give feedback to artists; the article indicated that few audience members feel comfortable sharing their ideas with the creative team.

It occurred to me that our site could be a place for that. We’re a few people who know what we like and don’t like, and happen to be sitting on some quality education. We’re not functioning here as formal critics (though we have a former professional theater reviewer in our mix), just as an audience with thoughts to share.

The bigger question, I think, is whether or not the artists we may be discussing WANT to be critiqued, or if they’ll give a hoot about it. Could be a mixed bag? Maybe they want whatever feedback they can get? Or maybe they don’t care what some random people have to say. I guess we’ll just try to be respectful, and let our readers (if we have any yet?) do what they will with it.

We got an awesome shout-out from Ryan Price the other day on his blog. Thanks!

I guess we are ambitious, but better to go strong than not at all. I don’t think we have any idea of what we’re actually trying to do yet (well, maybe some of my partners do). I just want a place where I can talk about theater. The thing about South Florida is that a lot of the theater seems to be for… more mature audiences. No, I don’t mean it’s all smutty. Just that the companies are doing stuff like Funny Girl or Twelve Angry Men. There’s nothing wrong with either of those shows (I love me a good legal play). Just that there aren’t a lot of fresh voices being heard down there. 

Clearly, there’s no way we’re going to be all things to all people. And I don’t even know if there’s anyone in our area in the under 55 age group who’s interested in anything creative. So we’re just putting the word out… and we don’t want to exclude anyone in any other part of the state. We like to hear from everyone!

And that’s what’s so inspirational about Orlando. There’s so much activity! So many voices! It’s definitely been exciting to be up here and explore. Seriously, before I moved to Florida, I figured the only thing going on in Orlando was theme parks and tourist traps. It is very cool to learn otherwise. Plus, everyone here seems to know each other and all work together. For a place that seems so sprawling on a map, it’s definitely got a small town feel.

I will be up in Orlando for the Fringe Festival again this weekend. I am looking forward to seeing a number of additional shows and to sampling some more local eateries. Hopefully, more commentary when I return.

This is my first year attending the Orlando Fringe Festival. Before moving here, I was vaguely aware of it. I think I was on the CAFF mailing list, but I recall signing up to get info about Toronto, which wasn’t too far from where I was living. I was familiar with Edinburgh, naturally, but never had any real hopes of getting there, and some friends of mine had done a show in the San Francisco Fringe Festival. Beyond that, the only Fringe festival I knew really well was FringeNYC, the New York International Fringe Festival. Because it’s a juried festival, some members of the CAFF circuit don’t consider it one of theirs, and look upon it with mild derision.

Even when something is juried, there are some hits and some misses. It’s just as true with an unjuried festival, though I don’t know that it’s necessarily more true. So far, Orlando Fringe seems to have some pieces of incredibly high quality, and some things that could use some more polish. What’s interesting about this festival is the attitude of openness and equality… everyone seems excited to work together. Because everything is all held in one place, there’s a strong sense of community. There’s also that slightly crazed carnival sense, what with the sandwich boards and the wacky marketing gimmicks.

I hadn’t expected the festival to feature pieces that I wouldn’t normally consider to be “theater” — like storytelling, improv, and a Neil Diamond show. By the very nature of being unjuried, it’s open to all kinds of performance, which I think is incredibly open-minded. It provides an outlet for whatever you want to do (I think there’s a show this year about poop).

I also read a comment by a regular Fringe-goer about the lottery system, how companies that have an established Fringe presence might get shut out, while a newbie gets an opportunity. I believe she meant this as a caveat, but I think that’s the beauty of the thing. How great that we hear from new artists! Someone with an established Fringe presence should now have the resources and following to go off and produce in new venues, taking their work to another level. I would hate to see the festival turn into the same old thing every year. Guess I’ll have to attend next year to see what’s happening!

We were discussing it and came to the conclusion that there are a limited number of blogs focusing on the arts in Florida, especially where we live in Palm Beach County. Most recently, we went to the Orlando Fringe Festival and when we went to look for coverage, there seemed to be only one person covering it. One person covering the longest running Fringe Festival in the country? It just did not feel right.

We decided there needed to be more outlets for artists to both share their work and to advertise their wares and we were hoping that perhaps we could help to create a space to facilitate this objective. That is the goal of this blog. For the time being, much of our commentary coverage will be limited to the Palm Beach County area, but only because that is where we live. However, we will try to give exposure to artists throughout Florida and perhaps develop subpages for the various geographic locations of the state.

Please feel free to continue checking out our About Us page for additional information, and submit any writing, reviews, or suggestions you may have.