Pittsburgh Fringe Festival Selects Participants at Launch Party

Media Contact:

Daniel Stiker
Executive/Artistic Director
press@pghfringe.org
412-259-3721

Image:  Dan Stiker and Dan Gilman draw the names of the local acts
[click image for larger view]

Pittsburgh, PA (PittsburghNewsWire.com) — Pittsburgh Fringe Festival held its launch party at 5801 Video Lounge and Café in Shadyside on Thursday, January 16th with appetizers, a performance, and a drawing of participant names for the first annual un-juried Fringe Festival in May.  Lori Howsare, one of the Fringe organizers and also a festival participant, gave a sneak peak of her Mad Muse character to a crowd of Fringe staff, theatre fans, artists, and local supporters/funders, including Councilman Dan Gilman.  Fringe Director of Donor Relations Courtney Kaezyk rallied the crowd for fundraising support, mentioning the Fringe’s partnership with local company: Crowdasaurus (tinyurl.com/pghfringe).

Executive Director Dan Stiker utilized a sorting hat to select festival participants.  He rattled off the names of the few pre-selected artists and then announced the names of the remaining artists, pulled at random by audience volunteers, who represent primarily local (as well as several national) playwrights, musicians, dancers, and/or comedians.  Pittsburgh Fringe received over 40 applications online from July 2013 to January 1, 2014 for its seated reading series and its mainstage productions, geared towards both children and adult audiences.

The final list of participants includes the following companies/individuals:

Pittsburgh Fringe Festival takes place May 2-4 & May 9-11, 2014

The list: http://pghfringe.org/fringe-2014/

Pittsburgh Fringe’s first fundraiser: Wigle Whiskey on February 10th, 2014.

More information can be found on our website: www.pittsburghfringe.org

Seated Readings

• Michael McGovern-The Man Who Stopped Loving Women
• Pittsburgh Lab Project-Women Say F—k, Too
• Panglossian Productions-Truth Dare Double Dare Kiss Love or Torture

KidFringe! (Family friendly)

• Tasty monster Productions-Ferdinand
• Co(lab)trix-
• Footlight Players NEXT GEN Shakespeare- A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Mainstage

• Edd Fairman, Wizard of Sorts- Drinking with Dads
• Tasty monster Productions- SINGLEMARRIEDGIRL
• Serotonin Syndrome Productions- Serotonin Syndrome
• Anthony Joseph Giunta- Skin in the Game
• The Artery Playwrights Projects-The Beast of Skitter Creek
• Jennifer Schaupp-If There Were Such a Thing as Happiness
• Cup-a-jo – Once Upon Your Time
• Platform Theatre- Deepwater Horizon
• Murphy/Smith Dance Collective- I am Woman
• Stephen Pelligrino- Accordion Stories
• Brawling Bard Theater- The Compleat Guide to Murder and Mayhem by Will Shakespeare
• Caravan Theatre of Pittsburgh-Trapped
• ComedySportz-ComedySportz
• E.L.C.O. and Shana Simmons Dance- We Sing the Body Eclectic
• Thoreau, NM – – A Production Company- Hell With The Lid Taken Off
• GeeksDanz-Up To Chance (working title, aka “The D&D Dance”)
• Raman Noodles Comedy-Fork Full of Noodles-Live

Waitlist

• Filthy Liars, LLC – David and Leeman: A Cleverly Titled Magic Show
• No Name Players – best imitation
• Joe Medina of MERCH – This Betrayal Will Be Our End–The Monologue
• The Vintage Theater – Curse of the Teenage Sleuth
• Michelle Freed – Come Dance With Me (but first can I borrow your pants?)
• Tanya O’Debra – Radio Star
• Storyteller Alan Irvine- Tain bo Cuailgne (The Cattle Raid of Cooley)
• Microscopic Opera- The Monkey’s Paw
• Shadows and Flames Productions- A Pirates Tale
• Blue Scarf Collective-The Hoarder’s Child
• Theatre San Serif-Let Me Lie to You
• FESTIVAL INTERNAZIONALE VALLE CHRISTI, KIPA-Clytemnestra
• T & B Productions – SHERIFF/OUTLAW
• Antonia Lazzar- The God Box
• Amiche- Shakespeare’s Women

Fringe Central Acts

• The Allegheny Bilge Rats Shanty Choir

About Pittsburgh Fringe
Pittsburgh Fringe Festival supports adventurous and exploratory performing artists by showcasing their uncensored artistic expression in a professional environment to equally as adventurous audiences and opportunities. We further seek to enhance this connection through performances, continuing education, workshops, discussions, and forums.

Modeled after the original Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the largest arts festival in the world, Pittsburgh Fringe Festival promises to be the most engaging, electric, and exciting arts festival in Western Pennsylvania.

For more information, visit www.pittsburghfringe.org, www.facebook.com/pghfringe, and https://twitter.com/pghfringe.

To schedule an interview with artists, organizers, or any other Fringers, please contact Dan Stiker via e-mail at press@pghfringe.org

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