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Summer's the time for a FRINGE festival

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Most people watch the calendar turn from June to July and think about summer activities like going to the lake, vacations, barbecues and having the kids home from school.

For a performing artist, summer means one thing and one thing only...Fringe festivals.

If you've never been to a fringe festival, you're missing out on the biggest gathering of performing artists in one place at one time in one city at a time. From the street performers buskerskers to the outdoor stages and live music to the numerous shows, there's more to see and do at a Fringe festival than you can possibly imagine.

Fringe show acts from all over the world converge on cities lucky enough to have these festivals. Local productions are always found but for some performers, summer means travelling from one fringe festival to another to present their show. A company or performer can chart a route and tour for the entire summer and even into the early fall with the same show.

Families will find an abundance of performances suitable for children and adults including theatrical productions (like fairy tales and storytellers), dance productions and musical acts.

A typical fringe festival will have shows of several different ratings including G (general/family), PG (some mature content), and A (adults only). Most shominrun 45 min. to one hour and include stand up comedy and comedy troupes, musical cabaret, dance companies, performance artists, one person shows, plays and mini musicals. There's really no limit to the types of performances you might find at any given fringe festival.

Tickets are quite reasonable and often there are passes available for a block of shows (like a 6 pack, for example) with a built in discount for buying a multiple number of shows all at once. Shows are usually offered several times throughout the festivals which are often about a week long.

This year, my business partner and I are participating in our local fringe festival for the first time. Long time supporters who attended numerous productions, we decided to get in on the excitement and mounted our own show.

"What a Character" is our song and dance, cabaret/revue. Our audience is taken on a musical journey, meeting some of musical theatres most memorable characters and introduced to other characters who may not be all that familiar. With a few simple costume changes and props, we create scenes and numbers from many different shows.

This year's show includes numbeMamerom "Gypsy", "Mame", "AnnMaurytYeston'sn"Phantom Yeston's "Phamton", "Cats", "13 Days to Broadway", and "My Fair Lady".