Derrick Chua, president of the Toronto Fringe, came to our show last night. After the curtain came down for the last time, our Gargantuesque set has moved to somebody's basement in Etobicoke, goodbye to the aquariums.
Two more shows today The Flying Avro Arrow, The Silent City, maybe three Tightrope (again)in the evening and maybe I'll skip the partying tonight. It's been fun but the laundry is piled up and my apartment looks like the Black Bloc have been through it.
This modest vid (my last Fringe vid this year unless I decide to cover Best of Fringe) is a thank you to volunteers who make this event happen. It's a small tribute but a heartfelt one.
Last show of The Aquarium tonight Factory Mainspace. Being an A.D. has been an interesting experience. My input wasn't really creative nor technical. I have learned so very much and I'm immensely grateful for that, thank you to Regan Macaulay.
I can't say I felt like any of the praise the show has received has anything to do with me. Again, odd... I feel a bit like the show's trophy wife. My biggest worry about tonight's last show is whether I really have the guts to wear that green dress.
Since all my work happened before the premiere, my impromptu idea about making vids turned out to be a stroke of genius. I met loads of Fringe artists and experienced the Fringe as a community of artists coming together. I wouldn't have had that without my blog as an excuse. Next year, if I were to do it, I would be better prepared. But next year I will my own Fringe show (lottery gods allowing) and the year after I will be at the Tony's. Surely. No matter, I will come back to the Fringe in whatever capacity.
I shall be partying at the tent tonight and then maybe tomorrow night. I haven't decided yet whether I will cover Best of the Fringe since many of my readers are American and British, readership has gone down during the Fringe. Do blogs get media passes?
Thanks again to Regan Macaulay for giving me this chance to learn and allowing me so much input. Thank you Maureen Bell for all your hard work on the props and costumes and your eternal good humour. Jason Reilly, it's always a pleasure to work with you. Anthony Palmer, thanks for being prepared (he knew his lines very early on and raised the bar for the slackers (kidding!), and as an AD, I really, really, really like that). Kristen Corvers brought a new sensibility to Triple Take and she really knows the cheap watering holes around town. Allie Price, you make me jealous, for I wish I'd been so wise at your age. Nate Callens, you want to play villains and I do hope your wish is fulfilled, but you're just not one in real life and that's a good thing. Bit of the same with R.J. Downes, our stage manager and emotional designated driver. Sandra Krstin, getting to know you has been such a blessing. We shall go to Body Blitz and have those bottles of Veuve come Winter. Scott Moore, I could work with you on every job. Not the same can be said of Andrea Lyons. Only joking, anybody who knows Andrea is a fan and an admirer. She and I socialise on occasion and I do sell her autographs from under her so let me know if you need one. Thanks to Allison McWood, Kevin Risk and Kelsey Matheson. Oh, and Kevin Robinson, I only ever want to be an actor when I see Hamlet but I wanted to be one when I saw the fight training. Amazing how you turned novices into convincing stage "fighters".
The penultimate vid asks artists what their first experience at the theatre was like. And tomorrow, a small tribute to Fringe volunteers.
Between The Aquarium and Comrade Bingo, I haven't had a chance to see many shows at the Fringe so far. I do, however, live right around the corner from Factory and was able to pop in to see Bosco and Jones today. Although I was perplexed by the exclusively American entertainment frame-of-reference, as our friend to the south would say, at the end of the day, funny is funny. And good entertainment is always pure joy.
I have seen a few Fringe shows and can I just sound like an old fart and echo Sir Anthony Hopkins who moans about (screen) actors mumbling? This is NOT the case with (the play) Bosco and Jones but it's a sad state of affairs when THEATRE actors can't be bothered to enunciated and project. Although the cast members of Bosco and Jones are middle-aged, this isn't a generational thing. The Spring chickens in The Waves step up to the plate. As the Americans would say.
So beyond my "go see Bosco & Jones: they can speak!" spiel, I recommend it for its irreverent humour, expert directing and excellent, moving cast.
I haven't yet had a chance to see Kendra Hughes' Eternal Eclipse but as someone who grew up in Montréal under the cultural reign of La la la Human Steps and Carbonne 14, I was looking forward to hearing what she had to say about her contemporary dance show.
