Tent Talk

The artists make it Fringe. But the audiences make it fun.

That’s why we’re starting Tent Talk — a special Fringe series profiling the fun people you meet at the Baldacchino Gypsy Tent Bar, Fringe’s food-and-drink HQ.

These brief, casual articles are written by EVERYONE, including you! Find yourself chatting with an interesting individual, or a group of them? Take the opportunity to interview them for Tent Talk and have the chance to win a valuable prize!

   Interested? Click here.

————————————————————-

Talk around the Baldaccino Tent:

Matt Ward
by Michael Beeman

To see Matt Ward enjoying a microbrew and casual conversation under the Baldacchino Gypsy Bar’s tent on Saturday night, you might not guess he was fighting for his life less than an hour before.    A transplant from Mississippi who recently performed in Synetic Theater’s Home of the Soldier, Matt spent the evening as part of Raising Cane where, covered in dirt, he wrestled and punched his fellow cast members …[read more]

 
Ryan Sellers
by Michael Beeman

Ryan is sitting at the corner table of the Baldacchino Tent’s outdoor patio, sipping from a blackberry Izze soda, when his animated conversation allows.  He’s making a pit-stop in the middle of an already busy day. He had an audition in the morning, saw the Fringe show ECCE in the afternoon, and, in twenty minutes …   [read more]

 
Sarah Taurchini
by Michael Beeman

Sarah Taurchini aptly describes her visit to the Fringe Festival’s Baldacchino Gypsy Tent Bar tent on Saturday afternoon as “a social call.”  Enjoying a beer at one of the oversized picnic table on the Baldacchino’s patio, Sarah often puts her conversation on hold to call out to friends she recognizes in the crowd.  [read more]

Jason Schlafstein
by Hunter Styles

Jason is nursing a carbonated beverage when I approach him. A light rain is starting to fall, but it hasn’t dampened his spirits. “I feel really good,” he says. “We had a nice turnout tonight, and people really seem to like it.”

Jason directed Me and the Devil Blues, which has just opened.  [read more]

Melissa Hmelnicky
by Hunter Styles

Melissa is riding a post-show high when I bump into her at the Tent. She’s just gotten done with a performance of We Tiresias. “This is my third Fringe in a row, and my second Fringe working with the wonderful Stephen Spotswood, the playwright of our piece,” she explains. Melissa and Stephen met when they both students at Catholic, and she worked with him last summer as an actress in his play The Sisters of Ellery Hollow.  [read more]

Chris Schwartz
by Hunter Styles

It’s unclear whether Chris Schwartz’s hat is keeping him cool in this hot weather, but he wears it well. He’s standing on the main deck of the Fort Fringe bar, chatting and enjoying a drink between shows.

“I’m seeing a lot,” he says. “I saw ten shows in the first three days of the festival.” [read more]

Maya Jackson
by Hunter Styles

I bump into the Antichrist on the sidewalk patio. She’s trying out the new table service at Fringe. “I’m the devil’s daughter, to be exact,” says Maya. “It’s my first time playing the Antichrist. Some would say it’s not a stretch.”

She’s referring to her role in Me and the Devil Blues, the new show by Flying V. Staged as a live talk show in Hell, the show is hosted by the Devil and features legendary blues musician Robert Johnson as the main guest.   [read more]

David Frantz
by Rebekah Nettekoven Tello

I met first-time Fringe goer David Frantz under the tent at Fort Fringe as a brief shower scooted overhead early Saturday evening, July 14th.  He had just come from seeing We Tiresias, which featured his college roommate. He explained to me how the three-man show was a constructed from a series of flashbacks. [read more]

TD Smith
by Hunter Styles

TD Smith doesn’t do any juggling in his role as Capitano in this year’s Faction of Fools Fringe show, Tales of Marriage and Mozzarella, but he’s still got multiple balls in the air. TD is one of many Fringe artists who perform in more than one show simultaneously; he also plays the lead role in John Krizel’s new play In This Economy. [read more]

Katie Nigsch-Fairfax
by Hunter Styles

As I chat with Katie at the Tent, she’s putting stickers on people. The image for her show, a musical comedy called Where In The World? The Untold Story of Camilla Sanfrancisco, works well in sticker form — a red silhouette of the play’s globetrotting agent. Sticker duty is only the beginning; Katie performs in the show as well, beginning July 12. [read more]

Cyle Durkee

Cyle Durkee couldn’t be more excited. “The crop of shows this year seems especially good!” he says.

“It looks like all of them are going to be worth seeing. I can’t wait to see the Preview tonight and get a taste of what will be on stage.”  [read more]