By Jeffery Kin
I REALLY looked forward to visiting Orlando Fringe despite the fact that they were the only organization that would not return my emails—even when I reached out on social media I was ‘brushed off.’ Fortunately, through our local Arts and Cultural Alliance, I met Terry, who was one of the original founders, and he met with me to talk through the many years of success and stumbles.
Obviously, these folks are fortunate to have an amazing collection of theater spaces in a quadrant that is grassed and perfect for a festival. The spaces are awesome and the green space between excellent. However, the fringe festival is NOT ALLOWED to preview or choose the works based on quality. It has to be random. So, the most telling lack of an audience for any of the shows reads to me that a lack of quality control has really harmed this event.
I interviewed everyone from ushers to board members and they are all wonderful people who like the vibe and enjoy the free-wheeling style, but the lack of attracting an audience tells me there is something missing. So, takeaways? Uncooperative leadership perhaps isn’t listening to their audience. A fringe festival is built to welcome all, but one of the longest running festivals in our back yard doesn’t seem to have the juice to engage people living right in the same area. Perhaps my unresponsive plight is a telling tale of out of touch leadership?
Ticket sales talk volumes. I hope someone, somewhere is listening.