Orlando Fringe 2012 cleared a quarter million dollars in ticket sales, smashing last year's sales of $194,000.
â┚¬Å”Attendance was just under 29,000 this year, which is a 25% increase over last year,â┚¬Â said George Wallace, the festival's General Manager. â┚¬Å”It was a record-breaking year.â┚¬ÂÂ
Attendance was measured by button sales, which are required to attend any Fringe shows. The buttons are a one-time purchase, then festival attendees usually must purchase a ticket for individual shows which are priced a maximum $11 and all proceeds go to the artists. Wallace said they sold just under 29,000 tickets, with a total artist payout of $250,867.
â┚¬Å”We'd leveled off and we didn't see much growth the last couple of years,â┚¬Â he said. â┚¬Å”This year, it just went through the roof.â┚¬ÂÂ
Doug Ba'aser co-wrote, produced and starred in his show Joan Crawford's House Party. He said he sold out 6 of his 8 shows. Wallace said festival-wide, they had 60 sell-out shows, nearly double 32 sell-outs last year. Ba'aser said shows sold out 3-4 days in advance, which is unusual.
â┚¬Å”They told me Wednesday night that my Thursday, Friday and Saturday night shows were already sold out,â┚¬Â he said. â┚¬Å”It was such a relief to be able to just enjoy the fringe and not feel like I had to market my show every second I was there.â┚¬ÂÂ
Ba'aser said he's used to a larger venue but he still â┚¬Å”made great money.â┚¬ÂÂ
Beer sales were up 25% and the festival saw major growth in Kids' Fringe, which was moved across the street from Menello Museum of Art this year. Last year 1,750 children attended. This year the kid-focused activity center attracted more than 10,000 children.
Wallace credits good weather and new marketing strategies for much of the festival's success.
â┚¬Å”We certainly marketed differently this year,â┚¬Â Wallace said. â┚¬Å”Through a sponsorship with Clear Channel, we had 30 billboards all over Central Florida.â┚¬ÂÂ
Ba'aser said in addition to the billboards, Fringe got good radio coverage this year.
â┚¬Å”And then there were so damn many high quality shows this year that word of mouth got out and the 2nd week sales were just off the charts,â┚¬Â he said.
Fringe also had a change in leadership, with Wallace taking over for Beth Marshall, who ran the festival for 8 years and managed its move from downtown to Loch Haven Park.
â┚¬Å”I think people were interested because we had new leadership and I think they were curious as to see if the festival was going to be different,â┚¬Â Wallace said.
The big crowds do bring with them some problems. Sold-out shows means some Fringe fans might not get to see every show they want, and some attendees complained of parking hassles.
However, Wallace said he doesn't plan to move the festival, even though organizers plan to make it even larger next year.
â┚¬Å”I don't think we've quite outgrown Loch Haven Park,â┚¬Â he said. â┚¬Å”There are other venues in that area and we're exploring those options now. If we're going to expand, we'll make those announcements before we have our lottery in November.â┚¬ÂÂ
Fringe producer Michael Marinaccio and other Fringe organizers honored the people who made the festival possible in their annual awards ceremony May 27. (See sidebar.)
The two largest awards of the evening were given to Terry Olson, who will have an annual Terry Olson Lifetime Achievement Award named after him. Wallace accepted the Beth Marshall Spirit of the Fringe Award.
Here is the rundown of the 2012 Orlando Fringe Patron's Picks:
- Patron’s Room Pick-The Worst Show In The Fringe
- Silver Pick-Little Shop of Horrors
- Green Pick-Blue and Tod…Too Drunk to Fringe
- Pink Pick-Joan Crawford’s House Party
- Brown Pick-Fosgate: Feret Loan Officer
- Red Pick-My Exploding Family
- Yellow Pick-Cannibal! The Musical
- Orange Pick-Celebrity Squares
- Blue Pick-Red Light-The Bad Girls of Broadway
Patron's Picks are the show in each venue which sells the most tickets and gets an encore performance on the festival's final day.
