Exchange ring-a-ding-dings at Chapel of Love
Kristen Andrews says "I do" to creating a wedding chapel for fringers who spontaneously want to tie the knot.
What's a Vegas-themed fringe festival without a chapel of love?
Las Vegas is annually the No. 1 destination for lovebirds, and the likes of Elvis, Frank Sinatra and Britney Spears have exchanged vows there.
Andrews, who runs the vintage clothing store Ragpickers on McDermot Avenue, has set up Viva Lost Wages Chapel of Love in Old Market Square. It's a little gazebo structure festooned with flowers and neon lights. She has laid in a rack of wedding dresses and tuxes for fringers seeking a $10 photo or for anyone intent on taking the marital plunge.
"We're looking to do multiple marriages or same-sex marriages or to marry someone to their pet," said the fringe festival-loving Andrews the other day while she strung plastic flowers to go with some real ones.
"We're hoping that this year someone gets married backstage at the fringe festival."
Today and tomorrow, an ordained minister will be on site just in case a couple wants to make it official.
Can it be long before someone else sets up a booth nearby where newlyweds wanting to pull a Spears can get a quickie divorce?
The Nick of time off
For the first time in 15 years, Nick Kowalchuk is not working the Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival.
After a four-year run as executive producer, Kowalchuk resigned last year and took the helm of the Gas Station Theatre, which is being used a BYOV (Bring Your Own Venue).
"Absolutely, I miss it," he says. "Am I glad I left? Yeah. I still want to pitch in, but at the same time I have to be respectful to Chuck (McEwen, his successor).
Kowalchuk is planning on seeing a dozen indoor shows, which is more than the number he's caught in the last 15 years combined.
His prediction for 2008 indoor attendance? He is projecting a record 74,751 in ticket sales.
Second day sets record
The fringe festival saw a record Day 2 turnout Thursday.
The indoor attendance total of 6,399 was 10 per cent higher than last year's record ticket sales total of 5,822. The two-day total now sits at 9,165, up about 500 tickets from 2007.
"It's a great sign," says festival executive producer Chuck McEwen. "It makes up for the day before, and now we have some momentum."
Thursday's sellout list featured included Killing Kevin Spacey, Remember the Night, It's a Gay, Gay, Gay World, The Further Adventures of Antoine Feval and Jem Rolls. The Kids Fringe also enjoyed its most successful day ever, drawing 4,723 to its outdoor shows on the square.
-- Kevin Prokosh
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