Chicago Student Rush Offer

Students, take advantage of this offer through the League of Chicago Theatre's SmarTix program.  Sign up to receive other SmarTix offers here.

Free Student Rush Tickets

Wednesday, September 1 - Shows starting from 4pm to 5:30pm

Thursday, September 2 - Shows starting from 4pm to 5:30pm

Friday, September 3 - Shows starting from 4pm to 5:30pm

Reserve your FREE tickets by heading to the venues 1 hour prior to the start of a show and mentioning  SmarTix. Must bring a student ID.

There are a limited number of SmarTix available for each show. A valid student I.D. must be presented at the box office when picking up your ticket. 

Check out showtimes here, and don't forget to stop by Fringe Central before and after the shows!

Fringe Dance Productions featured on WBEZ

 

 Chicago Fringe Festival Includes Dance in Eclectic Roster

Despite its second-city status, Chicago has been a great incubator for all kinds of art, from theatre to dance. In keeping with that spirit of experimentation, the inaugural Chicago Fringe Festival kicks off tomorrow in Pilsen. Over the next five days you’ll have the chance to see more than 200 local and international avant-garde performers. In addition to all the theater, music and visual arts, there’ll be a substantial dance presence. Eight Forty-Eight’s Dance Critic Lucia Mauro brings us this preview.

Three emerging Chicago dance companies take an adventurous approach to the physical and emotional aspects of dance. Rooted in a no-holds-barred post-modernism, these groups meticulously deconstruct matters of the head and the heart.

Read the full article here. 

Patchwork Woman

Check out the video preview for Bridges by Patchwork Woman Performance. Tickets on sale here.

Read Performink's Feature on Chicago Fringe

Chicago Fringe Steps Into High Gear
by Carrie L. Kaufmann

The trickles of talk about the first annual Chicago Fringe Festival exploded this week, and Sarah Mikayla Brown is a little blown away by it.

Brown, the executive producer who conceived of the Chicago version of a fringe fest last year after performing at the Minnesota Fringe Fest, thinks that the combination of 45 performance groups sending out press releases and e-mails to their constituents has coalesced into a “fervor and energy” that has created a groundswell of curiousity.

But she thinks her fest will live up to the hype. And, she adds, while it’s modeled on other U.S. and Canadian festivals, there is something about this one that is uniquely Chicago.
“It really reminds me of a neighborhood festival, translated through the lens of a performance festival,” says Brown.

The Chicago Fringe Festival will run September 1-5 at eight different venues in Pilsen. Brown says they’re all walkable, though it might take up to 20 minutes to go between the two most distant spots. And it’s not just about theatre. It’s about the atmosphere. It’s about community. She stressed that theatre people are welcome to party at “Fringe Central” at 1714 S. Racine anytime after 10 p.m., whether or not they’ve seen a show.

Read the rest of the article here. 

Chicago Industry Offer

For the September 1st, 2nd, and 3rd 4:00 pm and 5:30 pm showings of the Chicago Fringe Festival, we are happy to offer an industry rush! Industry need only bring a headshot and resume to the door, and, given room, will be allowed in for free! Line up early for your favorite show, as seating may be limited. A full schedule is available at http://www.chicagofringe.org/showtimes.html.

Did you get your Chicago Reader today?

Pick up a copy all week long, or check out the article online here!

Read Kris Vire's Time Out Preview of the Chicago Fringe Festival

"When I spoke to Sarah Mikayla Brown a year ago, she laid out a vision for an annual event that would join the burgeoning network of fringe fests across the U.S. and Canada. The Chicago Fringe Festival would bring in performers from around the country to interact with our homegrown artists and audiences; an uncurated selection process would bolster the sense of discovery she’d found at fringe fests in other cities. I liked the idea but was a bit skeptical that it could be pulled together in a year’s time.

I shouldn’t have doubted Brown. Assembling a staff of 16 (all working pro bono), she fielded 156 applicants and secured eight Pilsen venues. Beginning Wednesday 1, theater, dance, sketch comedy and other performance pieces will take over EP Theater and Dream Theatre, art galleries Chicago Art Department and Temple Gallery, salvage-chic bar and grill Simone’s, the Casa Aztlán community center and a pair of empty storefronts dubbed the Edinburgh Stage and Adelaide Stage (after the world’s two largest fringe fests). An open-air lot at 1714 South Racine Avenue will serve as Fringe Central, where festgoers can mingle over drinks and live music; after 10pm each night, the party moves inside to Honky Tonk Barbecue (1213 W 18th St).

The inaugural Chicago Fringe features 46 lottery-selected entries: 25 by Chicago-area performers and 21 from across the U.S. and Canada. With each coming in under an hour and at ten bucks a pop (five for $45, ten for $80 or an unlimited pass for $175), the idea is to take in as many as possible. Here are a few that caught our eye."

Read more: http://chicago.timeout.com/articles/theater/88384/chicago-fringe-festival-2010-preview#ixzz0xjtkQOgI