Thanks.
Well hello there faithful fringe-ites! A belated happy new year to you all and a massive thank you from me personally to everyone who made my 2013 such an amazing year. I don't normally go in for New Years resolutions but if I'm going to resolve to do anything this year, it has to be making The Whitstable Fringe
bigger and better! Not possible I hear you cry! Oh, you are too kind...
More to come on that note in a little while but before I talk about plans for the year to come I wanted to add a bit more about just how grateful we all are at the fringe for everyone who has helped us get our organisation off the ground. We really wouldn't have got anywhere without your help. This goes especially to all the amazing acts who have performed at any of our shows including Lucy Fennell-Knowles, Missy Maybe, David Jones, Philip Moss, El Baldinho, Liam Brennan, Chris Lawrence, The Glowing Embers, Inez Munsch, Andrea Hernandez, The Tuttie Fruities, Ukulele Eric, Melzebra, Silvia Bellucci, Rosalind Palmer, Daniel Harvey, Play it by Ear, The Lindley Players and everyone else who hasn't been mentioned but we are no less grateful for their help!
Our Co-founder Chris Guy also had this to say regarding our Bluebeard cast and crew:
Where to start? So many people to thank for helping launch Bluebeard. Cast, band, burlesquers, technical and front of house came together so brilliantly and everyone pulled together. Thanks go to Nichola Rivers whose direction turned a pile of paper into a work of theatre, I never really get how people do that! In fact it was partly due to her encouragement that the pile of paper got finished at all.
Also a big shout out to Ren whose tireless juggling with tables, chairs, websites, phones and laptops, lights and
mountains of electrical connections meant that we had an environment to run the show. Oh yes, and "Bluebeard" was his idea, I was stuck on traditional pantos and might well have rewritten puss in boots for the millionth time.
Bill was our muse, chipping in with well timed suggestions for everything from the poster to emergency lyric rewrites and snippets of dialogue. He also put in time and muscle on shifting stuff and setting up/breaking down, manning the bar and background planning including the website, posters, flyers, program and loads more.
I was trying to work out if that was a ton of chairs we moved, certainly must have been the equivalent weight to a small car.
And the cast! What a wonderful team you all turned into. Again, under the leadership of Nichola whose direction really defined the show, but also everyone just got on and played their parts... which is why we had a show. Natasha, Paul, Silvia, Andrea, John and Mick (and Nichola again) I'm proud to have worked on
this with you, you were all brilliant.
And our burlesque crew Janet, Leah and Lyndsey with help also from Belinda, all helped to add a touch of
morbid, faded glamour to Bluebeard. Ladies, that was the creepiest burlesque ever! You stamped our show with your images and shaped the publicity and showed the way forward on dealing with the story.
The band too were magnificent: Simon, Cyril, Stephen and Maurice all put their thinking caps on and decoded my hurriedly written score into beautiful music, even when I'd written the wrong numbers at the top!
Props were mostly provided by Nichola and Jon, big thanks, but everyone chipped in and helped with costume,
props, makeup and equipment (including PA from Andrea and microphones from Stephen)
Front of house included Bill, Fran, Ben, Mel and others whose names have just temporarily flown out of the window. Get in touch with me if I've missed you off the list so that I can name-check you again.
The Umbrella team were great too, big thanks to everyone involved from their end. I'm looking forward to new developments in the pipeline at St Mary's hall.
There is so much to say thanks for, and I will go on saying thanks for the next couple of months in case I forget anything else. To everyone who took photos, posted online or helped in any way. To everyone who put out flyers or news feed, everyone who spread word of mouth. It's all help and I'm grateful for it.
And a big shout to Tizi at Deco5 for the rehearsal space.
Hopefully I'll see a load of you at the next fringe night on the 25th of Jan, but stay in touch anyway... Bluebeard is still out there!
At Deco5
afterwards Ren leant over and said to me "what we need is a project, something bigger... maybe over a weekend or three days in the summer, over a load of different venues" and yes I think he meant BIGGER. Come along to the Thursday evening meetings and help shape it.
I'm glad everyone had fun with the show, it was a load of hard work but in the end we created something new and unique.
So that really just leaves me to thank everyone and anyone else who has helped us in anyway!
Chris.
Festival and shows
Right! So that leads me onto our plans for the coming year. Firstly we'll be continuing our monthly variety fringe shows showcasing fantastic up and coming local talent with a few seasoned performers trying new material out for your enjoyment. Dates for these shows will be on the upcoming events page as soon as I have more
details but the next couple will take place on the 25th January and 22nd February at St Mary's hall. Tickets as ever will be available through
www.wegottickets.com.
We will also be bringing you a few theme nights this year so keep a eye on the website for info on those. The first will be a Cotton Club swing night in April so get practicing your Lindy Hops!
Our final announcement is the biggest of all! Clear you diaries for the last weekend of June (27th 28th and 29th) because our first Fringe festival will be taking place! We're going to be bringing you all sorts of great stuff including poetry, comedy, music and writing workshops, Fringe preview shows, showcase variety evenings and plenty for the kids too!
So keep those peepers peeled for more news but as ever please do get in touch if you'd like to get involved in any way!
Thanks again and Happy new year!
Ren.
Well hello there faithful fringe-ites! A belated happy new year to you all and a massive thank you from me personally to everyone who made my 2013 such an amazing year. I don't normally go in for New Years resolutions but if I'm going to resolve to do anything this year, it has to be making The Whitstable Fringe
bigger and better! Not possible I hear you cry! Oh, you are too kind...
More to come on that note in a little while but before I talk about plans for the year to come I wanted to add a bit more about just how grateful we all are at the fringe for everyone who has helped us get our organisation off the ground. We really wouldn't have got anywhere without your help. This goes especially to all the amazing acts who have performed at any of our shows including Lucy Fennell-Knowles, Missy Maybe, David Jones, Philip Moss, El Baldinho, Liam Brennan, Chris Lawrence, The Glowing Embers, Inez Munsch, Andrea Hernandez, The Tuttie Fruities, Ukulele Eric, Melzebra, Silvia Bellucci, Rosalind Palmer, Daniel Harvey, Play it by Ear, The Lindley Players and everyone else who hasn't been mentioned but we are no less grateful for their help!
Our Co-founder Chris Guy also had this to say regarding our Bluebeard cast and crew:
Where to start? So many people to thank for helping launch Bluebeard. Cast, band, burlesquers, technical and front of house came together so brilliantly and everyone pulled together. Thanks go to Nichola Rivers whose direction turned a pile of paper into a work of theatre, I never really get how people do that! In fact it was partly due to her encouragement that the pile of paper got finished at all.
Also a big shout out to Ren whose tireless juggling with tables, chairs, websites, phones and laptops, lights and
mountains of electrical connections meant that we had an environment to run the show. Oh yes, and "Bluebeard" was his idea, I was stuck on traditional pantos and might well have rewritten puss in boots for the millionth time.
Bill was our muse, chipping in with well timed suggestions for everything from the poster to emergency lyric rewrites and snippets of dialogue. He also put in time and muscle on shifting stuff and setting up/breaking down, manning the bar and background planning including the website, posters, flyers, program and loads more.
I was trying to work out if that was a ton of chairs we moved, certainly must have been the equivalent weight to a small car.
And the cast! What a wonderful team you all turned into. Again, under the leadership of Nichola whose direction really defined the show, but also everyone just got on and played their parts... which is why we had a show. Natasha, Paul, Silvia, Andrea, John and Mick (and Nichola again) I'm proud to have worked on
this with you, you were all brilliant.
And our burlesque crew Janet, Leah and Lyndsey with help also from Belinda, all helped to add a touch of
morbid, faded glamour to Bluebeard. Ladies, that was the creepiest burlesque ever! You stamped our show with your images and shaped the publicity and showed the way forward on dealing with the story.
The band too were magnificent: Simon, Cyril, Stephen and Maurice all put their thinking caps on and decoded my hurriedly written score into beautiful music, even when I'd written the wrong numbers at the top!
Props were mostly provided by Nichola and Jon, big thanks, but everyone chipped in and helped with costume,
props, makeup and equipment (including PA from Andrea and microphones from Stephen)
Front of house included Bill, Fran, Ben, Mel and others whose names have just temporarily flown out of the window. Get in touch with me if I've missed you off the list so that I can name-check you again.
The Umbrella team were great too, big thanks to everyone involved from their end. I'm looking forward to new developments in the pipeline at St Mary's hall.
There is so much to say thanks for, and I will go on saying thanks for the next couple of months in case I forget anything else. To everyone who took photos, posted online or helped in any way. To everyone who put out flyers or news feed, everyone who spread word of mouth. It's all help and I'm grateful for it.
And a big shout to Tizi at Deco5 for the rehearsal space.
Hopefully I'll see a load of you at the next fringe night on the 25th of Jan, but stay in touch anyway... Bluebeard is still out there!
At Deco5
afterwards Ren leant over and said to me "what we need is a project, something bigger... maybe over a weekend or three days in the summer, over a load of different venues" and yes I think he meant BIGGER. Come along to the Thursday evening meetings and help shape it.
I'm glad everyone had fun with the show, it was a load of hard work but in the end we created something new and unique.
So that really just leaves me to thank everyone and anyone else who has helped us in anyway!
Chris.
Festival and shows
Right! So that leads me onto our plans for the coming year. Firstly we'll be continuing our monthly variety fringe shows showcasing fantastic up and coming local talent with a few seasoned performers trying new material out for your enjoyment. Dates for these shows will be on the upcoming events page as soon as I have more
details but the next couple will take place on the 25th January and 22nd February at St Mary's hall. Tickets as ever will be available through
www.wegottickets.com.
We will also be bringing you a few theme nights this year so keep a eye on the website for info on those. The first will be a Cotton Club swing night in April so get practicing your Lindy Hops!
Our final announcement is the biggest of all! Clear you diaries for the last weekend of June (27th 28th and 29th) because our first Fringe festival will be taking place! We're going to be bringing you all sorts of great stuff including poetry, comedy, music and writing workshops, Fringe preview shows, showcase variety evenings and plenty for the kids too!
So keep those peepers peeled for more news but as ever please do get in touch if you'd like to get involved in any way!
Thanks again and Happy new year!
Ren.
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