20 years of Fringe

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/07/2007 (6940 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

YEAR: 1988

SHOWS: 47

VENUES: 5

TICKET SALES: 14,000

BOX OFFICE TAKE: $64,000

HITS: Fool’s Edge, Mind of the Iguana and Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie

INTRODUCING: Puppeteer Ronnie Burkett

DO YOU REMEMBER?:?: After taking in the fringe show Something Strange, Tanya Niitschmann and Al Ashton got married in Old Market Square.

YEAR: 1989

SHOWS: 65

VENUES: 7

TICKET SALES: 26,000

BOX OFFICE TAKE: $115,000

HITS: Jumping Off the CN Tower, Hess and The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus.

INTRODUCING: English Suitcase Theatre and Anna Barry

DO YOU REMEMBER?:?: CKY weather forecaster Sylvia Kuzyk made her fringe debut in The Prettiest Girl in Lafayette County.

YEAR: 1990

SHOWS: 75

VENUES: 8

ATTENDANCE::

36,000

BOX OFFICE TAKE: $180,000

HITS: Trial by Bus, Blade and No Place Like Home

INTRODUCING: The first BYOV was aboard a moving Winnipeg Transit bus whereTrial by Bus offered a journey into rolling dementia.

DO YOU REMEMBER?:?: The festival lost money for the first time — $13,700 — just when MTC was carrying a $270,000 accumulated deficit.

YEAR: 1991

SHOWS: 80

VENUES: 11

ATTENDANCE:: 31,654

BOX OFFICE TAKE: $170,500

HITS: Pink Smoke in the Vatican, Eureka!, Kevin Costner’s Naked Butt

INTRODUCING: The Walker Theatre as a venue.

DO YOU REMEMBER?:? A play called Stage Fright is cancelled after the cast took the script literally and became unable to perform.

YEAR: 1992

SHOWS: 87

VENUES: 11

ATTENDANCE::

37,234

BOX OFFICE TAKE: $220,000

HITS: Star Trek Live, Steel Kiss, Animal Farm

INTRODUCING: New fringe boss Craig Walls

DO YOU REMEMBER?:?: Russia’s Theatre Igroky made news when the troupe ran out of money in Kingston and took to the streets to solicit money for an old school bus to get them to Winnipeg.

YEAR: 1993

SHOWS: 91

VENUES: 10

ATTENDANCE:: 40,538

BOX OFFICE TAKE: $233,000

HITS: The Lorraine Bowen Experience, Bloody Mary and the Virgin, Ghosts

INTRODUCING: Free Press pullout coverage of the festival.

DO YOU REMEMBER?:: Winnipeg Police are flooded with complaints that fluorescent posters advertising The F**K Machine show are obscene.

YEAR: 1994

SHOWS: 95

VENUES: 10

ATTENDANCE:: 35,034

BOX OFFICE TAKE: $197,000

HITS: Mother Courage, Our Daily Bread, Three Young Hitlers in a Baggie

INTRODUCING: Debbie Patterson debuts as Winnipeg’s favourite topless accordion player.

DO YOU REMEMBER?:: The festival is again embroiled in a censorship question over the show title The Happy C**T.

YEAR: 1995

SHOWS: 87

VENUES: 8

ATTENDANCE:: 33,442

BOX OFFICE TAKE: $204,000

HITS: Boadicea — The Red Bellied Queen, The Last Words of Duct Schultz, The S Files

INTRODUCING: Rainer Hersch in Was God British?

DO YOU REMEMBER?:: A trepidatious Bruce McManus makes his acting debut in his drama Ordinary Days and afterward promises to leave the stage to real actors.

YEAR: 1996

SHOWS: 97

VENUES: 13

ATTENDANCE:: 35,902

BOX OFFICE TAKE: $209,074

HITS: MacHomer, All Classical Music Explained, Whale Nation

INTRODUCING: New fringe boss Bertram Schneider and the frequent fringer pass

DO YOU REMEMBER?:: Part one of the Leith Clark’s spoof soap opera The Spice of Life.

YEAR: 1997

SHOWS: 103

VENUES: 15

ATTENDANCE:: 42,284

BOX OFFICE TAKE: $241,944

HITS: Jonestown (The Musical), Lysistrata, Sorority Girls Slumber Party Massacre: The Musical.

INTRODUCING: The King’s Head as a bring-your-own-venue.

DO YOU REMEMBER?:: Duelling Simpsons spoofs: Return of the Homer and Art?

YEAR: 1998

SHOWS: 106

VENUES: 16

ATTENDANCE:: 45,107

BOX OFFICE TAKE: $254,000

HITS: A Midsummer Night’s Fever, Greek and Tired Cliches

INTRODUCING: Screwed and Clued from Wolverhampton, England.

DO YOU REMEMBER?:: One of the fringiest shows ever, Mind of the Iguana, was revived.

YEAR: 1999

SHOWS: 103

VENUES: 17

ATTENDANCE:: 44,709

BOX OFFICE TAKE: 251,600

HITS: Piledriver!, Black & White Pictures and Shack Out on 101.

INTRODUCING: Shannon Calcutt as heart-breaking clown Izzy.

DO YOU REMEMBER?:: Fringe maniac Rob Schuppel took in his 500th fringe show.

YEAR: 2000

SHOWS: 115

VENUES: 20

ATTENDANCE:: 52,549

BOX OFFICE TAKE: $312,629

HITS: The Black Rider, The Wave and Sabotage.

INTRODUCING: The Kid’s Fringe

DO YOU REMEMBER?:: Conspiracy Network stages Foreplay in City Hall’s courtyard.

YEAR: 2001

SHOWS: 129

VENUES: 23

ATTENDANCE:: 61,555

BOX OFFICE TAKE: $381,459

HITS: Tornado Magnet, Out of My Skin and Labrador.

INTRODUCING: Three venues located in the former Eatons building on Portage

DO YOU REMEMBER?:: English Suitcase Theatre bolts Eatons for the quieter venue at the Site Gallery.

YEAR: 2002

SHOWS: 123

VENUES: 22

ATTENDANCE:: 62,791

BOX OFFICE TAKE: $397,000

HITS: Job: The Hip Hop Musical, The Condom, the Cucumber and the Girl from Ipanena and The Slip-Knot

INTRODUCING: The Harry S. Rintoul Memorial Award for best new Manitoba play.

DO YOU REMEMBER?:: Best of the Fest is offered on the final Sunday for the first time.

YEAR: 2003

SHOWS: 129

VENUES: 22

ATTENDANCE:: 67,002

BOX OFFICE TAKE: $433,854

HITS: Boy Groove, Jem Rolls and The One Man Star Wars Trilogy

INTRODUCING: An extra day of fringing to accommodate increasing ticket demand.

DO YOU REMEMBER?:: The festival website received 592,096 hits from 35 countries including Armenia, Uruguay, Iceland and 67 from the United States military.

YEAR: 2004

SHOWS: 135

VENUES: 24

ATTENDANCE:: 68,470

BOX OFFICE TAKE: $439,972

HITS: Man 1, Bank 0, Pith and P.S. 69.

INTRODUCING: Nick Kowalchuk as festival executive producer.

DO YOU REMEMBER?:: Winnipeg sells more tickets than any other North American fringe festival.

YEAR: 2005

SHOWS: 136

VENUES: 21

ATTENDANCE:: 66,315

BOX OFFICE TAKE: $412,728

HITS: Bitchslap!, Cleopatrick and pornStar.

INTRODUCING: A University of Winnipeg graduate theology course studies fringe shows.

DO YOU REMEMBER?:: Flin Flon came to town with Three Brides for Kasos, a two hour, two-act musicals with 26 performers and seven musicians.

YEAR: 2006

SHOWS: 127

VENUES: 20

ATTENDANCE:: 69,320

BOX OFFICE TAKE: $430,903

HITS: Tornado Magnet, Candy from a Baby and Dishpig.

INTRODUCING: Chris Gibbs releases book version of his sell-out show The Power of Ignorance.

DO YOU REMEMBER?:: Nine companies dropped out and another cancelled after a single performance.

YEAR: 2007

SHOWS: 139

VENUES: 23

POSSIBLE HITS: Fringe fave TJ Dawe’s Maxim and Cosmo will undoubtedly draw a crowd, while Royal Liechensteiner Tricia Cooper’s Homely Woman #2, the latest offering from the talented comedic actress could do boffo box office.

INTRODUCING:The Gas Station Theatre as a venue.

DO YOU REMEMBER?:: The 20th edition of the festival, with its 20 Years To Life prison theme, is sure to create its own memorable moments.