The Fringe is Upon Us

Chat about Delaware’s arts and entertainment scene.

Welcome to Delaware Today’s arts blog, the spot to dish on the many cultural opportunities available to Delaware audiences. We’ll cover as many genres as possible, and note cool events offered by organizations large and small, in all three counties.

Get ready.  Lots of musical and theatrical performances in the weeks ahead. And October is National Arts and Humanities Month. Stay tuned.

Wilmington Fringe Festival Starts Thursday

Wilmington is packed with cultural venues.  But nothing could be more exciting than the highly anticipated, much advertised Wilmington Fringe Festival October 1-4.

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Downtown streets should pop with interesting performing, visual and cinematic art at various locations, including The Baby Grand, OperaDelaware Studios, the Delaware Center for Contemporary Art, and other venues along Market Street. But what you’ll see in those places is not what you’d normally see in those places.

Highlights include Robin Gelfenbien’s “My Salvation Has a First Name, a Wienermobile Journey,” OperaDelaware’s performances of “Black Horses” and “The Stronger,” and Project Capoeira’s Afro-Brazilian dances. That’s just a sample. There’s an expansive list of performances and venues.

And most of them will be unusual, which is the underlying theme of a Fringe event.

So what’s a Fringe fest? The concept started in 1947 in Edinburgh, Scotland, when a few alternative theater companies performed on the “fringe” of the Edinburgh International Festival. In other words, while performances and performers were good, they were also different. These round pegs didn’t fit into the square holes of traditional art.

What was different eventually became innovative. And artists dedicated to alternative themes gained acceptance. Fringe Fests are big events now, of course. Entire blocks come alive in places like New York City, Philadelphia, Cincinnati and Houston. And now Wilmington. Finally.

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Thank City of Wilmington employees and Fringe co-directors Rich Neumann and Tina Betz for daring to try something new.  We should commend those who take risks, and always, always welcome new ideas. Neumann and Betz hope to attract the type of intergenerational crowds (Read: young, cool, hip) that would not normally spend their weekends in Wilmington. But boomers can have some fun at the Fringe, too.

Tickets for individual performances are $10 or less, and all-access packages are available starting September 1.

Contact info: brandywinetreasures.org

Page 2: Take 10

 

Take 10

You can’t beat autumn in the Brandywine Valley, and as it happens, you can’t beat a deal the museums are offering to get out and enjoy it.

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The Brandywine Museums and Gardens Alliance is celebrating its 10th month in existence with “10-themed” offers. Go to www.brandywinetreasures.org and click on a button to download the Take 10 voucher. Print out the voucher and take it to the museums for special discounts. Easy as that.

The offer includes discounted admission to the Brandywine River Museum, but it’ll get you free admittance to the Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts, plus a 10 percent discount on store purchases. Other participating venues include the Delaware Historical Society, Delaware Museum of Art, Delaware Museum of Natural History, Hagley Museum & Library, Longwood Gardens, Rockwood Museum and Winterthur Museum & Country Estate.

The alliance is offering this deal thru October 31. If you happen to be entertaining family or out-of-state visitors, you’d be crazy not to take advantage of this.

Contact info: brandywinetreasures.org
 

 

 

 

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