5th Annual Cincinnati Fringe Festival May 27 – June 7, 2008

5th ANNUAL CINCINNATI FRINGE
2008 CINCINNATI FRINGE FESTIVAL
SET TO TAKE CITY BY STORM
May 27 – June 7, 2008

Cincinnati, OH – Beginning Tuesday, May 27th; the award-winning Cincinnati Fringe Festival opens its 5th Anniversary Festival in Downtown/Over-the-Rhine Cincinnati. The 2008 Cincinnati Fringe Festival is thrilled to present over 175 performances of more than 35 productions throughout the 12-day festival.

The 5th Anniversary also marks Eric Vosmeier’s first season as Producing Director. In 2007 Know Theatre of Cincinnati merged forces with the Cincinnati Fringe Festival, solidifying their positions as the true alternative theatre in Cincinnati. With the growing responsibilities of leading the quickly emerging Theatre and Festival, Founder of Festival and Producing Artistic Director of Know Theatre, Jason Bruffy brought Vosmeier on-board as Associate Artistic Director, with a primary focus of helming the ever expanding Festival.

“There is no better cross section of this city’s arts scene than the Cincinnati Fringe Festival. The energy and excitement that the festival generates for its organizers, participants and patrons is unparalleled by any other event in the region,” states new Producing Director Eric Vosmeier. “The Fringe Festival is a time when all artists, regardless of medium, can come together as a community to teach, to learn, and to mingle with like-minded artists who want to push the boundaries of their art form and the minds of our audience. That kind of energy is unique to the Cincinnati Fringe Festival and is truly a pleasure to witness and to be a part of.”

This year the Fringe increases its number of performance venues, yet again, to over a dozen, which are predominately spread across the 12th St Corridor, between Race and Sycamore. These venues include: Media Bridges, Know Theatre of Cincinnati, Art Academy of Cincinnati, Below Zero (second floor), Coffee Emporium, and New Stage Collective and the School for Creative and Performing Arts (3 venues). In addition, the Contemporary Arts Center’s Performance Space (a collaborator since 2004) will host the dance component of this year’s festival.

The 2008 Cincinnati Fringe Festival received a record number of submissions for the Performance Fringe, topping out at 76 total, a combination of 49 local, 5 regional, 19 national, and 3 international entries. Vosmeier explains, “This year’s Performance Fringe line up promises to be the best to date. With more applications than ever before, the Selection Committee had some very difficult decisions to make. But they chose wisely and have given us a line up of incredibly high quality, unique, and thrilling performances that will challenge, entertain and engage our existing audience as well as reach out to new audiences.”

This year’s Performance Fringe committee included: Jason Bruffy – Producing Artistic Director, Know Theatre of Cincinnati, Ken Jones – Chair, Northern Kentucky University Department of Theatre, Victoria Morgan – Artistic Director, Cincinnati Ballet, D. Lynn Myers – Producing Artistic Director, Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati, and Eric Vosmeier – Producing Director, 2008 Cincinnati Fringe Festival.

This year’s Fringe will also feature more programming for its Bar Series, and brings back the Celluloid Fringe component in the new name Film Fringe as well as Visual Fringe.

As before, artists come from across the country to participate in the Cincinnati Fringe Festival. Notable this year is that as the Cincinnati Fringe Festival’s reputation grows, it draws performers not only from larger cities such as Los Angeles and Houston, but also smaller arts incubators such as Ann Arbor and Indianapolis.

2008 Festival Passes and Tickets:
Fringe Passes are now on sale at www.cincyfringe.com or through the Cincinnati Arts Association box office at (513) 621-ARTS. The passes and price structure remain unchanged from last year: the “Full Frontal,” unlimited access pass is $150 giving you unlimited access to all events in the festival, the 10-show “Swinger Pass” is $75 and the 6-show “Voyeur Pass” is $50. Single tickets to Fringe shows are just $10. Single tickets will go on sale online or at the CAA May 17th, except for Pass Holders who will have an additional week to reserve seats beginning on May 10th. The Visual Fringe is free of charge, though donations will be accepted at the door. The Film Fringe will consist of two 90 minute screenings which will each be screened twice and will be scheduled at performance venues and will carry a $10 price as well.

CityBeat Fringe Kick-Off Party:
The CityBeat Fringe Kick-Off Party will take place following the opening of the Visual Fringe (details below) and will occur at Know Theatre’s Underground (a.k.a. Fringe HQ) from 9:00 pm to 1:00 am. The CityBeat Fringe Kick-Off Party will feature two great Cincinnati bands. From 9:30 pm to 11:00 pm Eclipse will take the stage. Eclipse is a band that breaks boundaries. This talented group of musicians creates a sound that explores elements of rock, funk, latin, hip-hop and jazz. Eclipse was formed by a group of CCM jazz students in 2007. Following Eclipse, and headlining the Kick-Off party will be a Cincinnati favorite The Hiders. The Hiders have achieved national acclaim landing them on National Public Radio’s World Café. CityBeat says about The Hiders, “There is a natural hypnotic glaze to most of their tracks, as the acoustic and electric guitars and the sweeping rhythms combine to create a billow of irresistible ethereality.” They release their new album on May 9, 2008, and the Fringe Festival is proud to have them headline the CityBeat Kick-Off Party.

http://www.cincyfringe.com