Milwaukee Fringe Festival Is a Love Letter to the City’s Performing Artists

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PHOTO CREDIT: MKE Fringe Fest

Selena and Karl

The concept of a “fringe festival” was born in 1947 in Edinburgh, Scotland, when eight theater companies showed up uninvited to the Edinburgh International Festival, which featured traditionally acclaimed art performances. As the International Festival occupied the city’s main venues, these companies performed in smaller, alternative venues—literally on the fringe of the bigger festival—to take advantage of the crowd and showcase more diverse forms of artistic expression. Late-night events, unconventional venues and eclectic performances became the staples of what, in hindsight, turned out to be the world’s first fringe festival.

Nowadays, Edinburgh’s fringe festival is the world’s largest arts festival, with more than 50,000 performances in about 300 venues in recent years, largely overshadowing the Edinburgh International Festival, which, of course, was the “main attraction” back in the Fringe’s infancy. This awe-inspiring success story shows that, when art is left to its own devices, without any attempt to give it respectability or make it fit into some kind of box, it can give birth to the most beautiful things.

Milwaukee’s Fringe

All art-minded cities need a fringe festival of some sort to give local artists a chance to showcase their talents, and Milwaukee is nothing if not an art-minded city. Following in the steps of cities like New York, London, England, and Sydney, Australia, and always up to the task, the Milwaukee Fringe Festival is back again for its fourth consecutive year, bigger than ever.

“Milwaukee is an art city because the art scene here has depth,” says theater professor and Shepherd Express arts and entertainment editor John Schneider. Along with marketeer Eric Engelbart, Milwaukee Comedy Festival’s Matt Kemple and dancers Karen Raymond and Katie Rhyme, Schneider founded the Milwaukee Fringe Festival as a love letter to this city. “There are many, many artists in all disciplines making wonderful work here both in and beyond our well-known institutions.” To put it another way, the Milwaukee Fringe is a playground for artists whose only commonality is that they have nothing in common.

Dance, theater, music and visual art will be at the center of the event, but festivalgoers will also enjoy puppetry, storytelling, fight choreography and even a Shakespearean Scavenger Hunt. No less than 36 different acts, including six out-of-town ones, will congregate at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday, Aug. 24, and Sunday, Aug. 25.

“The dreamy pleasure of the Milwaukee Fringe Festival is that you can spend a whole day—or better, two days—going from show to show, discovering artists and groups you’ve never seen and might have trouble finding during the regular season,” Schneider adds. “You’ll see professional-quality plays, dances, music performances and experimental work, each an hour long or less, all beautifully presented on the stages and grounds of the Marcus Center. There’s no other way to experience the range, depth, variety, vitality, courage and heart of Milwaukee’s art scene.”

‘The Best Lineup So Far’

Anyone who experienced the Milwaukee Fringe Festival in previous years can only be excited to hear Schneider’s assertion that this year’s program is “the best lineup so far.” He promises “lots of exciting newcomers and new works by a kind of Fringe Fest family who’ve appeared since year one—about 30 performances in all.”

Each of the Fringe’s four scenes—Todd Wehr Theater, Vogel Hall, Peck Pavilion and the “Fringe Stage”—will host up to five performances each per day; in addition, visual artists will take advantage of Marcus Center spaces to display their creations.

It’s impossible to list them all, but numerous highlights stand out.

Milwaukee Fringe’s first round of performances starts strong with Makin’ Cake, the story of American exceptionalism, class and race told through the history of cake by spoken-word artist Dasha Kelly Hamilton, complete with live bakers on stage! It’s also the occasion to see Cooperative Performance’s Don Russell perform Ziggy the Clown, a homeless Ziggy Stardust impersonator exploring themes of identity and choices through music, movement and poetry.

Ever heard of Harry Warren, one of the most prolific songwriters in Hollywood history? Singer-actor Bob Balderson and pianist Connie Grauer will chronicle Warren’s life and songs, so Milwaukee audiences can understand why he won three Oscars and was nominated for Academy Awards 11 times.

Numerous other treats await festivalgoers, such as the unique mix of cello and percussion of musical duo NINETEEN THIRTEEN, the “French-ish” charming music of mime and accordionist Kathryn Cesarz and the visual art on canvas, linen, wood and metal made by anonymous creator The Ox.

If you prefer to participate in the fun, you can do so in a public artistic workshop with The Field Milwaukee and should keep an eye out for the Mad Rogues’ Shakespearean scavenger hunt. “Watch as Juliet meets Macbeth or Petruchio tries his hand at Ophelia,” they promise. “It is up to you, the audience, to find our roving hero’s perfect match. All you have to do is lead one of our professional actors through the grounds.”

Theater lovers will be delighted to hear about Theatre Gigante’s 32nd season, which will start with a bang as co-artistic director Mark Anderson takes over Todd Wehr Theater with one of his “loopy, spiraling” monologues. There are also treats in store for dance aficionados; for instance,  with “So You Think You Can Dance” finalist Cedric Gardner’s performance with The Valentine 5 on variations on the theme of “Death be not proud.” The young and talented actors of Voices Found Repertory will offer previews of their past and upcoming productions, as well as a fight choreography demonstration.

This barely scratches the surface of all the unique performances assembled under the banner of the 2019 Milwaukee Fringe Festival. If anything struck your fancy, follow Schneider’s advice: “The best thing to do is to purchase a one- or two-day pass and bask in it!”

For more information, visit mkefringe.com.