Day One got off to a pretty good start.
I stopped by Fringe Central (in the Distillery). I was there to try to get the artist lanyards, but they still weren't ready! They will have some temporary lanyards, apparently on Thurs. Then I will need to stop by one last time when the real ones come in. Sigh. I was able to pick up the artist rush passes, so I'll bring those to the show on Thurs.
I also talked to someone about upping the number of comp. tickets I can request for each show, which I do need to fix before I book the next round of comps.
I saw our poster has a decent position on wall of posters in Fringe Central in Distillery. It has decent but not amazing positioning on the wall.
I was also able to leave a decent amount of postcards inside the Soulpepper atrium.
Then I swung by Equity, which has an office on Victoria St. I was pretty late on the paperwork, and I really wanted to get it in before the first show. I had to call someone, since you can't just go up to their floor. Then I got a voice mail saying they had closed early. I was a bit miffed, but I saw a security guard and asked him if they had a drop box or something. He actually agreed to drop off the envelope to the floor, which I thought was great. Then he came back down and said the receptionist was still there, and she wanted to talk to me. This was pretty baffling to me, but I quickly realized she had thought I was Eric Peterson (whom she knew), but she then told me twice that she wasn't disappointed I wasn't him... Anyway, she had my cheque and said it would be processed on Thurs. At any rate, she said she knew Mark Terene, who is playing one of the leads in At Home with the Bards, and that she and a few others were coming to see the show.
I had a very short stint at work after this, mostly coming in for Book Club, where we were discussing Murata's Convenience Store Woman. I didn't really care for it, as I am just not feeling up to reading books about autistic characters. It was a quick read, however. And Nermean brought in rice cakes as a snack.
On the way up to Tarragon to see You Choose (an improvised murder mystery by the Howland Company), I was able to stop by Robarts and return the book. It wasn't a bad ride up there, though it was hot. I was wearing the cast t-shirt and passed out a ton of postcards. My 5 second pitch is "Stratford bed and breakfast comedy" and hand over a postcard, which worked pretty well. In general, I think Fringe audiences really respect the hustle more than anything. One couple I talked to already had tickets, which is a pretty great feeling! Inside the theatre, I was sitting close to the actor who was in King Gilgamesh. We didn't really talk about it, but I said I liked it, and then handed over a postcards. I definitely convinced the woman sitting next to me at the show to come to see our show.
You Choose is quite good, though it doesn't quite hit the same heights as Entrances and Exits, which was truly next level improv. I'm actually seeing it two more times, so we'll see how it goes the other times.
I thought the next show was at 9 at Tarragon, so I would go around the corner to grab some pizza and get back in line (as I had almost no postcards left!). However, it turns out Whose Lineage is It Anyway? is at Factory, so I biked straight down Bathurst to see that (and didn't eat after all). Because they have added red paint and made the central lanes streetcar only, the cars are in the right lane, and it truly feels like a deathtrap for cyclists. I certainly hope I don't have any other days I need to go straight from Factory to Tarragon or vice versa! I'll have to investigate some other routes, as I really want to avoid Bathurst from here on out.
I ran into our stage manager, Victoria, at Factory. We were both going to the show. I told a few people in the line about our show (and displayed a smaller poster I had with me). One woman is going to be at opening.
Whose Lineage is It Anyway? was outstanding. They do an improvised show in the style of a Shakespeare history play (using Victoria's prompt no less!), and often manage to speak in rhyming couplets. It really is impressive. I'd like to see it again, but I think the only time I could go is late on the last Sunday. I'll forebear from booking that time slot for a little bit longer, even though I just realized we are up against a ringer for Critic's Choice at Alumnae. Every Fringe Show You've Ever Seen All At Once is almost certainly going to be the show at Alumnae that gets the extra show on Sunday, and we'll likely come in second. (Which means I might go see Whose Lineage is It Anyway after all, though I won't book just yet...)
We're still doing quite well. When I checked on the numbers, we had jumped from 150 to 190 in a single day. I know I can't take credit for all of that...
Canada Day is a more low-key day, as there are very few shows going on, not least because it is super hard to convince the main venues to open up, so it is mostly stuff happening at Fringe Central and the unconventional venues.
I had certainly considered going to see Such Ado, but it was sold out today! And I might still have run up and tried to use my rush pass, but I was actually proctoring my daughter taking a math test at that time!
I did get to the gym a bit later than I hoped, and it was so very crowded. I put in about half a workout (and I still need to make up for skipping the gym last Saturday!). Then I biked straight over to Fringe Central and participated in the Fringe parade. Brian (the actor playing Robin Bard) was there, along with the director. I'm glad I turned up, as they didn't have any posters to promote the show.
Our first performance is tomorrow after work. I'm excited and yet still nervous all at the same time. I guess at this point, I just have to let it all go and let the actors do their thing.
No comments:
Post a Comment