See you in 2010…
The 2009 Ottawa Fringe Festival is officially over. A big thank you to all the artists, volunteers, sponsors, and of course the audience members who helped make the 2009 festival the most successful Ottawa Fringe ever. We sold out of 5 and 10-show passes, and broke ticket sales records for the fourth year in a row.
The Fringe would like to congratulate – in alphabetical order – the top three selling shows of 2009 (which is calculated by percentage of seats sold to all performances): Catgut Strung Violin, Countries Shaped Like Stars, and INCLEMENT WEATHER.
Other big hits this year included, in no particular order: Pirate Jenny’s Circus, This is a Recording, Oreo, …Comes Around, Heebs and Dweebs, Enter Screaming, No Exit Upstage, Like a Virgin, House, Uncalled For presents Today is all your Birthdays, PornSTar, and On Second Thought.
As is Ottawa Fringe tradition on the final night of the festival, we announced the winners of our Peer Awards during the closing ceremonies. A committee of accomplished professionals and dedicated Fringe patrons from Ottawa’s arts community saw every show in the festival and chose the winners in the following categories:
OUTSTANDING COMEDY
Jimmy Hogg (Plymouth, UK):
Like a Virgin
OUTSTANDING DRAMA
THEATrePUBLIC (Edmonton, AB):
Spiral Dive: Episode One
OUTSTANDING SOLO PERFORMANCE
Jonno Katz – Epicworlds (Melbourne, Australia):
The Accident
OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE
Uncalled For (Montreal, QC):
Uncalled For Presents: Today is all your Birthdays
OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL WORK
Tricklock Company (Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA):
Catgut Strung Violin
OUTSTANDING CONCEPT
Ditto Productions (Ottawa, ON):
This is a Recording
OUTSTANDING OVERALL PRODUCTION
¡Mi Casa! (Ottawa, ON):
Countries Shaped Like Stars
Congratulations to the winning companies and artists!
Last night we also said goodbye to outgoing Executive Producer Kevin Waghorn, who is leaving after four years to take on a greater role at the Great Canadian Theatre Company. Thanks, Kevin!
Still can’t get enough of Fringe? The Piggyback Fringe Festival in Wakefield, Quebec (just a short drive from Ottawa) runs until June 30, and features 2009 Ottawa Fringe artists Jonno Katz (The Accident), Laura Ann Harris (Pitch Blond), Lana Schwarcz (Grandpa Sol & Grandma Rosie), Kurt Fitzpatrick (Hooray for Speech Therapy), Jem Rolls (LEASTEST FLOPS), Christel Bartelse (Chaotica), Major Payne Productions (Save Point), and Peanut Fish Productions (Dante), and the Ottawa Stilt Union (The Girl Who was Eaten by the Dark) among other shows.
And you still have time to fill out our online survey and a chance to win dinner for 2 a The Works. Tell us about your Fringe experience, and how we may be able to improve the festival.
Applications for next year’s Fringe will be available in the fall. 2010 is closer than you think…
