Growing Up Linda, Orlando Fringe

2010, Photo: K. Basta
2010, Photo: K. Basta

In May, 2010,  I performed Fudgie’s Death, a section of Growing Up Linda at the Orlando Fringe Festival. 

GROWING UP LINDA
FUDGIE’S DEATH

Fudgie's Death, 2008, Photo: Steve Gunther
Fudgie’s Death, 2008, Photo: Steve Gunther

Fudgie’s Death was a segment from Growing Up Linda in which a woman who believes she’s the daughter of a famous ice cream mogul must come to terms with her troubled past.  In Fudgie’s Death, table-top pop-up books transform into full-screen cinema for this neo-noir tale of depravity.

CREATIVE TEAM

I wrote Fudgie’s Death with PJ McWhiskers, and Joel Egger. Korean paper engineer, Eugean Seo designed the pop-up books, while Kari Rae Seekons created a sound design I could trigger from the stage. Costumes were fashioned by Rachel Weir with specialty corseting by Lee Vargas and Hunter Wells.  Heather Henson provided on stage live video feed for this performance.

PERFORMANCE

Monday, May 24, 2010
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Friday, May 28, 2010

Orlando Fringe
812 E Rollins Street
Orlando, Florida 32803

The Orlando Fringe provides an accessible, affordable outlet that draws diverse elements of the Orlando, national and international theatrical and performance community together and inspires creative excellence through the arts.

PRESS + MEDIA

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PRESENTER

Ibex  Puppetry, which presented this run of Fudgie’s Death, is an entertainment company dedicated to promoting the fine art of puppetry in all of its mediums. Founded in 2000 and receiving multiple UNIMA (Union Internationale de la Marionette) awards, Ibex Puppetry supports puppet art in the mediums of film, stage, gallery exhibits, workshops and artist presentations.

While in Orlando Fringe, also I performed the role of Jared (David Bowie) in Goblin Party Interactive – a theatrical screening of Jim Henson’s film, Labyrinth. The format of   Goblin Party Interactive was similar to the Rocky Horror Picture Show with live actors performing in front of the screen with puppetry, and props .

FRINGE HISTORY

The history of Fringe Festivals began in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1947. There, a number of performing artists who were not official participants of the Edinburgh International Festival (whose participants are invited by its General Director) decided to produce their own work in empty stores and church basements. Thus, their work was staged literally “on the fringe” of the established festival. The concept was an immediate success and the Fringe soon became as – if not more – popular as the “official” Edinburgh Festival.  The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, as of 2012 is the largest festival in the world and Europe’s #1 tourist destination.

Following the example of the Edinburgh Fringe, other Fringe Festivals sprang up in Europe, North America, Australia and Asia in the following decades, many of which follow the true Fringe philosophy – to provide artists with the opportunity to show their work in an uncensored and unjuried environment and to give 100% of ticket sales back to them.

The Orlando International Fringe Theatre Festival was created in 1991 by Terry Olson (now Director of the Orange County Division of Arts and Cultural Affairs), Andy Anthony and Rick Kunst. The first festival was held in 1992 in downtown Orlando, with most venues being created in empty storefronts specifically for the festival. This continued until 2004, when the festival was split between downtown Orlando and Loch Haven Park.  The move to Loch Haven proved a success and so, from 2005 on, the festival has been entirely in Loch Haven Park and the beautiful Ivanhoe Village neighborhood.

Orlando Fringe website