| MNTALENT Q & A: WITH...LEAH COOPER, THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE MINNESOTA FRINGE FESTIVAL |
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Q: How did you become the Executive Director of the MN Fringe Festival?
A: I came to the Fringe as a fan when I moved here six years ago. I was one of
those Fringe Fanatics keeping notches in my belt to measure the number of
shows I saw. I'm also a writer, director and performer, so the next step was
to produce a show of my own in the Fringe. Through that process I got more
interested and more involved. I eventually joined the board of directors,
became the board chair, did lots of volunteering and when Dean J. Seal
stepped down the board asked me to take his place.
Q: Is planning and organizing the Fringe Festival something that you work on year
round?
A: It is a year-round, full-time job. Lots of work, little pay, but very
satisfying. There are two other year-round staff members. Kittie Fahey is
the Development Director and Joe Holladay is the Community Relations
Director.
Q: How many shows, do you attend each year? Are you required to attend other
Fringe Festivals either in the U. S. or outside the U. S.? If so, how does
the MN Fringe Festival stand up against theirs?
A: I attend about 30-35 shows at the Fringe each year. I also attend probably
100 shows per year outside the Fringe. I am not required to attend other
Fringes, and in fact, haven't been able to do so yet. I'd like to very much,
but the job has been 50-70 hours per week year-round thus far so it hasn't
been possible. I hear from many of the out-of-town companies traveling the
Fringe circuit that we are the best Fringe in the U.S. But maybe they just
say that to me to make me feel good!
Q: In what ways has the Fringe changed since it started 10 yrs ago?
A: It has grown dramatically. It has moved from the West Bank where it started
to the Loring Park area. It has expanded geographically and increased in
number of shows and in attendance. Our attendance has grown 425% in the last
four years. The growth has been hard keep up with administratively, but in
the last two years we've been working hard to get the management stabilized.
Q: During the 10 years of its existence, has their ever been an instance in
which a performer(s) has/have been denied admittance into the MN Fringe
Festival because of their material or any other reason?
A: Not that I know of. We do not censor; in fact, we do not even see scripts.
Opening night is the first time we see the work too, just like the audience.
We try to keep the Fringe printed program suitable for all ages, but we
leave the content of the shows and the promotional material that individual
artists and companies create entirely up to their discretion. We do ask
artists to let us know if a show has nudity, adult language or adult
content, and we print that in the program so that audiences know what to
expect.
Q: What obstacles do you and the rest of the Fringe staff have to overcome when
putting the festival together?
A: The single biggest challenge is inadequate funding and resources. Each year
we get more support and this is beginning to get better. The Fringe has had
a long history of people making tremendous personal sacrifice to make the
show go on. It's worn out a lot of people's spirits.
Another obstacle is communicating the benefits to the community of
non-juried, non-censored artistic expression. But that's our mission, so we
welcome that challenge and keep working on it.
Q: In what ways do you go about promoting the MN Fringe Festival to people who
have never attended?
A: We talk to press - TV, radio, print, Web. We do sneak preview events all
over town. We visit organizations and make speeches. We insert our program
in the City Pages so it reaches a wide audience. We try to make people aware
that the Fringe is a unique opportunity to sample a wide variety of artists,
ideas, theaters with very little risk or commitment. Because the tickets are
inexpensive and the shows are short, their is very little risk to trying
something new. It's more approachable and accessible than standard theater
can be for newcomers.
Q: Are their any special plans in the works for the Fringe's 10 year
anniversary?
A: For the first time in our history, we are accepting votes from audiences,
press and artists for Best of the Fest. The results will be published in the
August 20th issue of City Pages. We are also considering doing a Best of the
Fest weekend highlighting the best shows of the Fringe.
Q: What can we expect from next years Fringe Festival? Are there any changes
that will occur?
A: One big change is that we will have to switch to a lottery application
system. Our current system is to take the applications in the order they are
submitted until we are full. This year we were overwhelmed with
applications. The deadline was March 15th, but by February 1st we had a
waiting list of 50 shows. When many applications arrive all at once it's a
bit hard to decide who came first. So we will have to switch to a lottery
approach to keep it fair.
Thank you for your time, Leah! |
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