Fringe Voluntear

The inner workings of the Fringe -

As a Fringe volunteer, i am learning the many exciting inner workings of the theater. On my first shift at the Connelly theater on East 4th near ave. A, i met the box office manager, Flor. She is in charge of ticket sales and my job was will call: distributing tickets to patrons who have already purchased them. Although not complicated, it's amazing how something simple can become not so simple.

The font -

I was handed a list with names with a font size of about 1. Minuscule would be an understatement. Flor had to write them out for me. Next, i was introduced to the venue director (in charge of the venue) and the ACR who is the one who hands out the playbill as you walk in to the theater. I kept referring to the ACR as the CPR.

Flor and i talked and i learnt that she is an actress and she said that it is difficult to land roles because she is a latina with an accent and if you're not equity, it is difficult. I asked if she was performing in the fringe and she said no but she was performing in the Strawberry festival in a play called Business or Pleasure at the St Clemens on 423 46 th between 9 th and 10 th avenue on monday, aug. 17 at 7 pm. She plays a spanish teacher. I would love to go and see it but i will probably be fringing. I enjoyed talking to Flor.

The theater critic from Time Out New York did not pick up his tickets and i got a little excited as i thought, maybe i could use the ticket and review the play for my blog but i did not. The will call was pretty relaxed as the house did not sell out.

The venue director, Nicole, asked me if this was my first time volunteering for the Fringe and i said yes and she responded with a : "fun for everyone" which i thought was funny.

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My next shift was at the Milagro theater on saturday morning and although i left early, i still found myself scrambling to find Suffolk street. I let out a few curse words but i managed to still get myself there early. I met Kathleen, the show's ACR. She said she worked for Universal and i bit my lip. She fed me Munchkins but i really wanted a coffee and i still hope a coffee purveyor is going to donate coffee for the hard working volunteers.

Krystal, the box office manager then showed up, and i learnt that she also is an actress ( not being gender neutral). I told her i studied journalism along with women studies and liberal arts and she said she also studied women studies at Smith and is concerned with feminist post colonial narratives. I perked up as i think that is interesting. I asked her what her upcoming plays were and she said she was assistant directing a play called Post No Bills written by a friend (Mando Alvarado) put on by raddlestick playwrights. She said she was concerned with multicultural, asian american and hispanic theater. In the Spring, she will be involved in All american gender fuck cabaret.

When the house lights went down, both the venue director, Jenny and the ACR, Kathleen said i could watch the play if i wanted. Home is the Sailor, Home from the Sea was the show and as i had had only 2 hours sleep the night before, paying attention was a real challenge. I kept nodding off and i thought, i hope it doesn't give the actors a complex. As i came in 10 minutes late and was drifting off, i am not sure what this play is about. It is a drama. 3 characters hit a deer and they are quite traumatized (i'm thinking, Peta must be in the picture somewhere as i don't think any normal person would spend that much time agonizing over a deer but some of the dramatic delivery was engaging and one actress gave a fairly believable emotional crying scene. There were some funny moments and then the deer seem to be a catalyst for something else but i really can't tell you what this play is about. I will have to get a full night sleep for that. But i do appreciate having seen it. It was my first play at the NYC Fringe.

My volunteer voucher allowed me to see a play so i chose to see The Green Manifesto, a very green musical written by Anne Berlin and Andy Cohen(lyrics).

I loved it. From the moment i heard the actor sing (at the fringe teaser) What does it mean to be adam green..." i knew i was different, use tom" s of maine toothpaste, eat organic"... i was hooked. A couple Adam and Madison, eco conscious, sing each other love serenades about meeting in Whole Foods and eating DDT free and pesticide free lettuce while working to save rainforest everywhere and gazing into each other:s eyes (while serenading). The whole foods song is hilarious and catchy and the musical follows the conventional musical path to conflict ( madison meets patrick, a conervationist which makes her question her relationship to adam) , they sing more songs ( some sad), they gaze into each other:s eyes, they get through it and then they get energized again pushing to the climactic song of loving the earth.

Nice work!

to be continued...