The 29th Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival running Aug. 12 to 22 is heating up.
This year organizers are leading with the provocative theme We’ll Show You Ours and they are determined to display all.
The Festival Program Guide went on sale Wednesday and lists about 160 production companies performing more than 1,000 shows on 40 stages scattered across the city. It’s the biggest hodgepodge of local, national and international talent to date.
There are an additional 200 outdoor performances, 50 busking acts, forums, a KidsFringe, a late night cabaret, vendors and refreshment tents.
The momentum is gathering. Frequent Fringer passes sold out in a record-breaking one day and organizers are encouraging Fringers to book tickets early. The program guides are available at all Safeway stores for $6.
Single tickets range from $6 to $14 and can be purchased by phone at 780-409-1910 or online at www.fringetheatre.ca and can be picked up at the central box office. After Thursday, Aug. 12, they can be collected at any festival site box office.
The festival also needs volunteers for a variety of teams. The minimum commitment is a four-hour shift. Online applications are available at www.fringetheatre.ca/volunteer.
This coming week, Mark Ammar’s Tuesday night jam is veering off into a different path with special guests Rick and Jay LeBlanc. This St. Albert father-son duo have long inspired each other and feed off each other’s interest in funk and fusion.
Jay, the more prominent musician, is a member of Rule of Nines and is described by Ammar as a studied bassist who is really into funk/fusion styles. “He’s travelled all over the world going to different bass clinics.”
Rick, a vocalist/keyboardist, instead has more of “Steely Dan kind of style,” Ammar adds. Rick and Jay, along with his band, are prepping a wide spectrum of well-known tunes.
“It’s gonna be a good mixture of decades. Rick will do the early sixties and seventies and Jay is into the eighties and nineties.”
The jam starts at 9 p.m. at LB’s, 23 Akins Drive. No cover.
