Curtain rises on Best of the Fest

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This article was published 22/07/2010 (5925 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THE top-selling acts at each of the 11 regular fringe venues were announced Wednesday. Each gains an extra Best of the Fest performance slot on Sunday afternoon.

All tickets for these bonus shows are available in advance, priced at $10 (children at the Kids Venue, $5). Frequent Fringer and Buddy Passes are accepted.

Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Thursday at 942-6537, online at www.winnipegfringe.com or in person at the MTC box office. Remaining tickets will be sold at the door Sunday.

Kids Venue: A Fish’s Wish at 12:15 p.m.

Venue 1: 7 (x1) Samurai at 12:30 p.m.; DieRoten Punkte at 2:30 p.m.

Venue 2: When Harry Met Harry at 12:45 p.m; F***ing Stephen Harper at 3 p.m.

Venue 3: The Secondhandpants at 12:30 p.m.; Gilgamesh at 2:30 p.m.

Venue 4: Padre X at noon; Taking Out the White Trash at 2:15 p.m.

Venue 5: Tazzy’s Angels at 1 p.m.; Pitch Blond at 3 p.m.

Venue 6: Cactus: The Seduction at 12:15 p.m.; The Wild Things at 2:45 p.m.

Venue 7: Screw You Revue at 12:30 p.m.; UnADULTeRATED Me at 2:15 p.m.

Venue 8: Devil Next Door at noon; Rouge at 2:15 p.m.

Venue 9: D’n’D; Third Edition at 12:15 p.m.; Look Ma, No Hands! at 2:30 p.m.

Venue 10: One Good Marriage at 1:30 p.m.; Cabaret Terrarium at 3:15 p.m.

Venue 11: A Day in the Life of Miss Hiccup at 12:45 p.m.; Smartarse at 2:45 p.m.

It’s hard to act that badly

SATAN (George McRobb of ImproVision) has been out prowling the fringe site to promote the show Macabre Tales of Horror and Macabreness!

Though the horned Prince of Darkness is a bitter lush when he hosts the “sinisterly schlocky” sendup of B movies and EC comics, he seemed sober as he mentioned that the biggest challenge for the creative team has been coaching the talented cast to act really, really badly.

“We’re giving direction like, ‘Your character is a very attractive woman who has never been in a movie before. You have no idea how to deliver lines or act in front of a camera. You’re just pretty,'” he says. “It took (the actress) a while to get it. Now there’s a lot of staring off into space, and very stilted dialogue. We’re going to ruin some good careers with this show.”

Attendance record set

THE festival set a new indoor attendance record Tuesday.

The announced attendance was 8,379, one ticket more than the ticket sales high set only last Saturday. Total ticket sales through Tuesday stands at 47,935, up almost 3,000 over 2009. There were 19 sellouts Tuesday.

Best new play finalists

THE finalists for the Harry S. Rintoul Memorial Award for Best New Manitoban Play are: Marc Moir’s Padre X, Muriel Hogue’s Scar Tissue, Gordon Wiseman’s Comfort and the Cory Wojcik/Angus Kohm musical The Weirdest One in the World. The winner will be announced from the outdoor stage Sunday night.

Talent runs in the family

A pair of time-travelling scripts are launching a new fringe theatre dynasty.

When Ashern actor-writer Patricia Cochrane wanted to mount a one-woman show, she didn’t have to look to a galaxy far far away for material. Mom Linda Fletcher – mentored by the late Winnipeg playwright Harry Rintoul — stashed away a couple of monologues when Patricia was a babe in arms.

Flash forward 20 years and amateur actor John Cochrane — yes Luke, he’s Patricia’s father — got onboard, voicing offstage roles in drama Three Snapshots of Death at Red River College (Venue 11). A graduate of the U of W’s Theatre Arts program, Patricia hopes her fringe earnings will propel her on the road to stardom — or at least to Toronto.