Ottawa Fringe 2009, Day 1: Seeds Sown For A Good Country And Western Song

Good times had last night at the opening party for the Ottawa Fringe. Team Oreo was definitely the life of the party with some good dance (grass) floor support from the likes of team No Exit Upstage and Publicity Diva (is that better than “publicity monster”?) Jessica of the OAB. For a photo of the action, click here.

JoOAB, The Ex (the role he plays in Oreo), Brother of the Ex (not appearing in Oreo), the Wife Who Shall Peg (as in Oreo), and the Husband Who Shall Be Pegged (me in Oreo) closed the tent but it must be admitted they closed early at 1AM as opposed to the 2AM it should be in the future.

Party Highlights:

1) I did not see all of the little preview performances but the one that most impressed me and convinced me to attend their show was Catgut Strung Violin. Which is good because I might have skipped this one, based on their Fringe guide material. These guys are clearly talented and skilled performers and their photo and blurb do not convey that to me. I am hopeful based on their preview performance.

2) I had a nice beer tent conversation with H to the M who promised to create a Fringe show itinerary. Perhaps, she will also blog it. She became evasive when she realized some of my questions might allow me to triangulate her age. She ducked and weaved and in the end I got enough information for a great country and western song, which I may yet write (much to her horror I am sure), but no definite answer on age. We decided to play it safe and go with forty-eight.

3) Great free sushi from Kinki! And tons of it too! Remember, we are talking about an event filled with hungry and broke theatre folks. I ate all that I could and there seemed to be plenty left. Way to go team Kinki!

4) The Apricot beer. I didn’t ask the name and I will try to remember to source it next time I am at the tent.

5) A post rehearsal visit from Ray, captain of team Satanic Panic and designer of our framed and mind-blowing poster. We had the show locked down and ready for a scheduled tech rehearsal on Tuesday. At the last minute, we ended-up taking a Friday morning slot and a round of beer tickets instead. The talented and hard-working cast decided to keep working hard to be sure they are ready to knock your socks off on Sunday. The hard work of acting is keeping it real and fresh every night. This bunch can do it and when they do it, you will be impressed.

After the remains of the tent party piled into the Ex’s car at closing, I took advantage of the early closing to go in search of another pint. John Carroll had shut down at the Laff, so I headed to Chez Lucien for a pint and had a nice talk with the barman about the old movie cinemas we used to have in Ottawa.

On the way home, in search of pizza, I witnessed what appeared to be an act of brutal violence. Way down at the end of Cumberland street, a fight erupted and one of the guys seemed to be hit pretty hard and repeatedly while he was already on the ground. The assailants jumped into a car and — quite literally — squealed away. As I continued to approach, getting ready to call an ambulance or whatever, the beaten guy got up, brushed himself off, and walked away with a friend — like nothing happened! And the damn pizza place wasn’t even open.

It was a bit of a downer for the evening. So much so, I am almost forgot to write about it and this is a post-publication addition! Hello Freud!

When I got back to the flat, the EBs were still up, had added one to their company, also had had a good time at the opening, and were inflating a mattress. I said hello and hit the hay.

The morning began with the usual absolutions: coffee, dark chocolate, social media-ing and, eventually, the previously-mentioned reheated mound of food over whole grain pasta. The EBs are early get-at types, which is convenient because it might be a bit cramped otherwise.

I had a meeting with the Communications Coordinator at CARFAC, who I met at the Mag North Beer tent. The reason for the meeting is that I have aspirations to involve visual artists in this little enterprise I am boiling up. If you are a visual artist, they are definitely the go-to organization to get a better understanding of your rights and the legal issues about displaying your work.

This is for PBP: I wore (recently) tailored grey pants, a light blue, lightly checked shirt, a flashy black and grey tie, and a dark blue blazer. Oh, blacks shoes and a black belt with silver grey bits. And, no, I won’t Polyvore it. 🙂 Now, I am back in my blogging uniform of shorts and a T-shirt.

Later today / tonight : rehearsal prep, rehearsal, and perhaps a late night Fringe show. I probably won’t close the tent tonight because tomorrow I have two tech rehearsals and an opening night with Oreo. Fear not, I can make up for it on Friday.

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