Hi all!
I spent the afternoon at the Calgary Fringe Festival. We saw Dr. Horrible, the Joss Whedon musical comedy/drama and it was great! I highly recommend it to everyone.
However, it was rather a sad day, in that - for someone who is used to the huge crowds and incredible success of the Edmonton Fringe Festival - there was hardly anyone around. Yes, Dr. Horrible was full, but that's because it's an extremely popular show in its own right, without the Fringe. Joss Whedon has many fans. I mean, we were at the main ticket tent at 4pm on a holiday Monday, and there were 10 people there. We bought tickets to Dr. Horrible less than an hour before show time? In Edmonton, it would have been sold out already - ok, good for us, but... bad for Calgary Fringe Festival. We talked to some performers from another show ("Crossover") who were waiting for the same bus as we were - and they were sad to say that other shows are not getting the same response as Dr. Horrible.
Why is this so? this is the 5th or 6th Calgary Fringe Festival, yet nobody in Calgary seems to know it's happening. The Media doesn't mention it. I haven't heard about it on TV, or Radio, or in the main newspapers. Only FFWD magazine had info, and a single-fold pullout of Festival information. If Calgarians want their festivals to be successful, they need to talk to their newspapers and TV and radio stations, and get them to provide the information, because they sure as hell arent' doing it now.
To Calgary Media: shame on you! You aren't doing your jobs. Especially TV. You keep trumpeting that we need local TV so people will know what's going on, but - I've lived in Calgary for 14 years now, and the only reason I know about stuff like this is word of mouth. The Media doesn't care about it. If it isn't Stampede, it isn't important to them.
Stolen from Oorgo
Your Deadly Sins |
Sloth: 60% Greed: 20% Wrath: 20% Gluttony: 0% Lust: 0% Pride: 0% Chance You'll Go to Hell: 23% You will die at the hands of a jealous lover. How ironic. |
Thanks to my friend oorgo I have discovered a new personalized internet radio service called Pandora.
It is a creation of the Music Genome Project, a project to analyze the "genes" of the world's music:
"Over the past 6 years, we've carefully listened to the songs of over 10,000 different artists - ranging from popular to obscure - and analyzed the musical qualities of each song one attribute at a time. This work continues each and every day as we endeavor to include all the great new stuff coming out of studios, clubs and garages around the world."
As a way of helping us find music we might like - they created the Pandora Radio system. I think you'll like it. Give it a try.
I thought I'd be a limerick or something...
WARNING: Pop-Up Hell...
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Hi,
Just discovered your post about how Calgary's media doesn't care about the fringe.
Here's a Herald blog that posted 18 reviews of 2010 Calgary Fringe shows.
http://communities.canada.com/calgaryherald/blogs/onthescene/default.aspx
Here's the front of our entertainment section the day the Fringe kicked off:
http://www.calgaryherald.com/entertainment/Theatrical+misfits+find+their+place+fringe+circuit/3335423/story.html
Here's 12 Shows We Picked Before the Fringe Started:
http://www.calgaryherald.com/entertainment/Raunchy+witty+hilarious+Calgary+Fringe+Festival+even+kids/3335428/story.html?cid=megadrop_story
Here's a feature I did on Antoine Feval star Chris Gibbs that ran in last Thursday's (Aug 5) Herald.
http://www.calgaryherald.com/entertainment/Turning+failure+into+funny/3361459/story.html
Here'sa feature I did on Gemma Wilcox, star of The Honeymoon Period is Officially Over, which won Best of the Fest, which appeared last Saturday (July 31)
http://www2.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/entertainment/story.html?id=d676ca5b-71e8-4f21-b9f0-5149444bf9a1
So while I agree with the broader aspects of what you say here -- that our Fringe is woefully under-covered and under-attended as well -- I will sleep well knowing that we did our bit to put some bums in seats!
Any thoughts as to how to get TV cameras out?
Posted by stephen hunt at August 8, 2010 04:02 PM