See the list of coverage from 2007

I don't yet know how to deal with it, but Pat Donnelly is back doing the Gazette's theatre beat, having "retired" to run for Westmount City Council at the time of the mergers. I'm glad she's back, but it's not looking like we'll see that much content in the actual paper. Instead, they are using the internet to cut costs, so she has a blog. Posting online is not a blog, and I tend to think "blogging" should be about working around old media, not trying to take over the internet. So for the moment, I'm just going to point to the blog and decide later whether to treat it differently. Later: I am not paying attention to the blog, but the coverage in The Gazette is fair, including the regular reviews of dance by a dance writer.

Take Note. "News" includes internet only and people's individual commentary but they have to say something significant. "I'm going to the Fringe later" doesn't qualify as a Fringe reference. The more an individual tries to emulate Old Media, the less I'll be inclined to include it here.

My friend Leslie will be doing at least one Fringe interview on his radio show, Jewish Digest on Radio Centre-Ville; it airs Saturday mornings at 8:30am, 102.3 FM.
On June 14th he will Elison Zasko will be on to talk about her show The Sputniks.
He later tells me that on the same show, he'll be talking to Jason McCullough, director of Even Steven.
Last year he said the show remains online until the next Saturday, but he didn't know the details of it. I think I'll poke around after the show airs to find the specific URL. (Leslie is also selling tickets for the Radio Centre-ville raffle, if you see him around.)
I finally checked the website, and there's a note up about how the archives aren't working. I'm not downloading it, but the pertinent link to download this week's Jewish DIgest would see to be www.radiocentreville.com/grille/502/502.m3u. I may have had internet access since 1996, but I don't do high speed.

Last year, a couple of acts got media hits on CKUT. One likely program is Upstage that is at 6pm on Thursdays. I checked the associated webpage, but there have been no updates about upcoming shows since February, so it's not helpful. I sure wasn't around to listen.

Note: Vinny tells me that Without Annette will be on the show this coming Thursday (June 19) though he can't say exactly at what point in the show.

The archive page is ckut.ca/archives.php if anyone wants to check if there was content last Thursday. Set the date (June 12 or after this week, June 19) and the time (18:00 to 19:00) and pick the datarate and format.

June 22

Nothing in The Gazette, but I had sort of expected that. It's kind of late, and everyone is tired. Pat Donnelly does have another entry up on the blog (see above).

Without Annette have another slew of reviews up, and increasing as I write. They've got Review: Dishpig, Review: Three Old Bags, Review: Barry Smith's baby book, Review: Balls! and Review: Degrassi! The Musical.

Poutine has another post up, Fringe Festival Part 5 - 3 Plays, One Night covering Barry Smith's Baby Book, A Leave of Absynth, and The 13th Hour.

There's a blog post about Peg-Ass-Us, Thank you, Dan Savage!.

Big Smoke has left Montreal for the Ottawa Fringe, leaving a farewell message on their blog, Au Revoir Montreal.

June 21

Not much this morning. The Gazette has a piece on page E2, Bad or good, it's life on the Fringe that is basically a wrapup, a list of 25 "shows to see" and a review of I Don't Know Where Here Is. I think that's it for the paper, I can't imagine them running more reviews tomorrow, though there may be a further wrapup piece.

Poutine has another review up, Fringe Festival Part 4: Peg-Ass-Us. And then Fringe reviews: 88 Years, Absinthe, Babyzap that covers This Hour Has 88 Years, A Leave of Absinthe, and Blastback Babyzap

I'm not the only one who doesn't get things up immediately. I kept checking one site and nothing new, and when I thought I was ready to turn off the computer (because I need to get out now), I see that Without Annette has another review up, Review: Hondomania. I should say something more, but that's what the internet is about, "nobodies" who write something of value, and they do what is needed, act as intermediaries so we have a better idea of what's in a show, which is more important than rating shows as if authority is all that matters. It is noteworthy that they have now done it for a number of years, which puts them in the "long running" ranking. Lots are good for one Fringe, but few seem to keep at it year after year. The landscape has changed from two years ago, and even last year, though they are still reviewing Fringe shows.

At the Ottawa Fringe there is Interview with the Absinthe Collective and Interview with Peter Hayes and Greg Landucci that I took note of because they have a show here in Montreal, but at the moment I don't know which one.

Sharman Yarnell (I may have spelled that wrong) is talking as I type (Saturday just after noon) about the Fringe Festival, and is asking callers about what they've seen. It was she who was doing the bit about St. Lawrence Blvd being closed for the Fringe yesterday. I know I've emailed her in the past to remind her about the Fringe, but either I miss any Fringe hits or nobody is trying to get on her entertainment show. She's going to have Michael Walsh from Between Takeoff and Landing later in the hour, and then Hour's restaurant writer will be on to suggest eating spots in the area. Here is someone who actually likes theatre, likes the Fringe, yet I'm not sure we've made best use of it.

I have been routinely checking blogs and sites that have posts/articles about the Fringe in the past, and most of them have been inactive (not just Fringe-wise, but everything). But obviously I missed at least once, since just like last year, there is a blog, . line up the dots . where again the poster over the course of multiple days gives a few words to each of the shows they've seen. Sorry for forgetting it earlier, it was obviously lost in too many attempts at checking old sites.

June 20

Bill Brownstein has another column out, That must be the worst theatrical work ever. Bravo!. I actually couldn't find it in the paper. (Don't read the paper at 6am after being up all night, after a few hours sleep I see it's on page D2 at the bottom.) Don't worry, it's not about a show, but about the Dramaturkey event that took place on Wednesday.

Something calling itself The Montreal Tribune (is that a real newspaper? Their website is on angelfire) has a bit up about Time to Put My Socks On, you'll have to scroll down here.

Poutine has two posts up. Fringe Festival Part 3: First Hand Woman and Montreal Fringe Festival: Balls!.

Someone, I think I met her but I'm not sure, posts at the San Francisco Bay Guardian blog about the Montreal Fringe in Montreal Fringe Festival: on y va le Fringe!.

Someone has blogged about Degrassi! The Musical and Robin Hood Redux: There Will be Tights here.

June 19

Don't Forget. Without Annette will be on CKUT tonight at 6pm. No word on whether any other Fringe acts will be on the show.

The Fringe is on the front page, D1, of the entertainment section of The Gazette today. Most of the page is about the music, Summer on the Fringe, but there is also Bill Brownstein's column about Peggy Ashton aka Busty Rhymes, 'Poetrix' had ballerina ambitions, but then .... Then on page D4, there is Riding the burlesque wave, covering Shoshinz and Cherry Typhoon, The Dragpiper, The Cody Rivers Show Presents: Stick to Glue, Boom, Even Steven, and Three Old Bags. And then On dance stages, Traces worth a repeat viewing and Coffee for One hits spot, covering Traces and Coffee for One both of which are classified as dance but not at Tangente. The former is at the venue a couple of blocks west of the Beer Tent, the latter is over at the Portuguese Association over on St. Urbain.

At the Ottawa Fringe site there is Interview with Peggy Ashton who's doing Busty Rhymes.

Hour is out with one piece about the Fringe, albeit long, Fringevaganza. It covers The Cody Rivers Show presents: Stick to Glue, Degrassi! The Musical, The Diaries of Adam and Eve, The Dragpiper, Throwing Gnomes, See Bob Run, Find Me a Primitive Man, Transcendental Masturbation, Between Takeoff and Landing, Blastback Babyzap, Nile Séguin Is Hondomania, The Sputniks, Dishpig, The Beekeepers, Identity Crisis, Fonction Phatique, The Gate, and The Alley Project. It's a shame they are a weekly, time was they made great internet inroads, with Gaetan Charlebois posting online daily to compensate for being a weekly with only one issue during the actual Fringe.

Just when I thought it was safe to shut down the computer, I see Without Annette has a slew of reviews up, I did check earlier today. They've got Review: The Particulars, Review: Die Roten Punkte (SUPER MUSIKANT), Review: Totem Figures, Review: Trauma-Kit, and Review: Genesis, or The Art of Writing.

The Mirror hadn't updated their webpage by 14:17, but obviously when I get home it is. They have various writers reviewing in Fringe and purge on page 56, covering This Hour Has 88 Years, The Cody Rivers Show Presents: Stick to Glue, I Dont Know Where Here Is, The Beekeepers, Degrassi: The Musical, The Handy Man Can, Mating Rituals of an Urban Cougar, Jem Rolls: How I Learnt to Stop Worrying and Love the Mall, Robin Hood ReduxThere Will Be Tights, Macho Man vs. Predator, Blastback Babyzap, Crude Love, and Traces. Then on page 57, they have More Fringe! by Neil Boyce who just took over the theatre chair a few months ago. He covers Die Roten Punkte: Super Musikant, Totem Figures, Cobra II: Cobra Christ Superstar, and Barry Smiths Baby Book.

There's a brief post about Macho Man VS Predator.

And that leads to the reminder that some people will post blog entries about the Fringe without specifying "Montreal", not really a surprise since they aren't talking to the search engines, they are talking to an audience that presumably knows who is posting. Anyway, a blog search on "fringe festival" turns up a few missed hits, though nothing of great significance. It also obviously turns up a lot of hits about other Fringes, including some Big Problem with the ticketing at the Edinburgh Fringe. So there is bee_york: FRINGE! that sort of talks about a couple of shows. And there will be some Fringe coverage on CKUT today at 2pm according to this: Emission radio 19 juin 2008. I really should listen to CKUT, but generally any time I think of it they've got some music on that I have no interest in, and I always forget about specific programs that might be of interest. There's a brief review/commentary about Blastback Babyzap in Notes About Town. There's also a brief review/commentary about Between Takeoff and Landing in Fringe fest.

I somehow didn't notice until it came on, but lastnight/this morning someone from Leave Out Violence was on Peter Anthony Holder's show on CJAD. A coincidence, or maybe not, since it's their day at the Fringe on Friday (from noon until I thought he said 6pm), and they did talk about the Fringe appearance for a bit.

June 18

The Gazette has some reviews (I guess by one of those interns) on page D7, Filling in the gaps in his baby book, covering Barry Smith's Baby Book, Degrassi! The Musical, First Hand Woman, Greed, Mojo, Scenes de lits, Teaching the Fringe, and This Hour Has 88 Years.

The Suburban has Fringe reviews: Lots of laughs and talent at the Fringe covering Dishpig, This Hour has 88 Years, Die Roten Punkte's Super Musikant, Argument with a Dolphin, and The Particulars.

Without Annette has a review up for Greed.

Poutine has Fringe Festival Part 2: Shoshinz and Cherry Typhoon about the show of the same name.

Davyn Ryall finally has some sort of reviews up, really just a rating and a sentence of two, Fringe #18 My 2 cents...are they worth 5 cents?. He doesn't like some of the acts.

There's Interview with Keir Cutler at the Ottawa Fringe site.

The troupe doing Balls has a bit up on their blog about a mystery reviewer Ten Foot Pole Productions: A Leisurely Start. I actually bothered to reply, but then hit one of those complicated schemes to keep out the spam and I can't be bothered.

A press release about the St. Lawrence Blvd. Sidewalk Sale that starts on Thursday is here.

It looks like Barry Smith's column from the Aspen Times gets republished in the Vail Daily, Colorado comedian feels the pressure of performance. I didn't compare the two to see if there are any differences.

June 17

There are two pieces in The Gazette this morning, both on page d5, Diverge brings artists together obviously about dance and covering Diverge, The Gate and Lancer de Nain/Throwing Gnomes and then More than the usual song and dance covering Mating Rituals of the Urban Cougar, Between Takeoff and Landing, Dishpig, The Beekeeper and Find Me a Primitive Man.

MIdnight Poutine has a piece up about Jem Rolls.

There's an Interview with Celeste Sansregret up at the Ottawa Fringe website.

Last night/this morning (depending on how you count half an hour after midnight) Lynsey Billing was on Peter Anthony Holder's show on CJAD to talk about Barbie World. Surprisingly, little was said of the pop culture reference in the title, but it did sort of morph into a discussion of dance in Montreal, which was interesting in itself. He hadn't updated his website before I left, so I didn't find out about the bit until very close to the airing time.

Nobody told me, but Radio Noon on CBC Radio One had the Fringe on today. A few artists plus Geoff and while I usually miss these things, it seemed to say more about the Fringe than all the gloss and other things that substitute for working the crowd.

There's a photo of Patrick Goddard on page A7 in a piece Mastering the Medium about a program at CUTV to help people learn about using video technology. Nothing in the actual text about the Fringe.

I've had a couple of stories from a few months back bookmarked, so I'll toss them in here for Jeremy. There's WILLIAM SHATNER - SHATNER: 'I WON'T BE REMEMBERED' and from the Globe and Mail (but other than a snippet you have to pay to read it) Shatner beams himself up. Obviously, we should rename it the William Shatner Fringe Festival so he'll be remembered permanently.

June 16

There's a piece in the Gazette on page D4, Pancakes pay off for Boston troupe. She obviously discusses the Pancake Lunch (it did start at noon) on Sunday, and then some comments about Totem Figures, Sixty-Four and No More Lies, Jem Rolls and Busty Rhymes

Without Annette have started posting reviews already, Review: Blastback Babyzap (including an argument over actors versus improv), Review: The Cody Rivers Show presents: Stick to Glue and Review: The Beekeepers.

Barry Smith's weekly column for the The Aspen Times is out, I say, all hail the summer of Fringe! where he talks about van breakdowns on the way to the out of town Fringe For All.

Someone has posted some comments about Crude Love here: On the Fringe.

There's an Interview with Jem Rolls up at the Ottawa Fringe website.

The troupe doing Balls has a blog Ten Foot Pole Productions and a couple of entries up about the Fringe.. Apparently a glitch meant their press package didn't go out. The good news is there isn't much beyond The Gazette, the bad news is the weeklies are about to hit their deadline, so I'm sure if Hour and The Mirror haven't finished seeing shows to review, they are about to later today.

rysmiel has Weekend Mostly Fringe where he writes about Beth (and in good terms, Angela will be pleased) and Hanging by a Branch and Hondomania.

June 15

Midnight Poutine has their first set of reviews up, Montreal Fringe Festival: Night #1, where they cover The Tricky Part, Scenes de lits, and Trauma Kit.

Katharyn Greenaway at the Gazette is back (she used to be dance writer with the paper, then moved to another beat, I think she might like to hear about shows that children might enjoy) with reviews of Identity Crisis, The Alley Project, Fonction Phatique and Barbie World in Dance program mixes it up. It's on page A21 in the paper version.

June 14

The Gazette has two pieces, on page E2 there is Crude Love and No More Lies about Crude Love and Sixty-Four and No More Lies and on page E3 Victor Swoboda returns with a sort of preview of dance, Hit-and-miss steps can overload the senses. I think I see one problem here, he seems to be judging shows by the Fringe For All, so he spends a fair amount of space on The Dragpiper while not giving a good overview of the actual dance at the Fringe. Why are we reading about the Fringe circuit with no mention of the dance acts that have come to Montreal for this Fringe? Maybe if dance was treated properly by the newspapers, dance at the Fringe would have a less hard time.

rysmiel (that's all I know him by, he seems to internet incognito), has this about trying to decipher shows and the program, and then has a review of The Tricky Part.

It's from June 11th, but the Press Republican out of New York state had a piece, Montreal alive with theater this month that's a preview of the Fringe

Dfdanse has a brief intro to dance at the Fringe, En route vers l'inconnu, though not much.

A couple of people from the Ottawa Fringe were here on Thursday, Reconnaissance mission to Montreal Fringe a success! acting like it was a big thing but I know I met someone from there a few years back, and I almost got drafted to Ottawa.

A few days old, but Brent/Miss Gina writes about being on the cover of Hour last week, HOW did Miss Gina end up on the cover of Montreal's HOUR.

Davyn Ryall has a blog now (at this point, isn't the question really, "who doesn't?") and plans to issue reviews of the shows this year. He already has an announcement of the Fringe For All FRINGE FOR ALL FOR ONE June 2 Café Campus (I immediately caught one error, can you?) and then he decides there aren't enough Top Ten lists around so he sort of issues his own, Fringe For All with my eye on the ball....

June 13

I see nothing in The Gazette, not really a surprise since none of the shows have started yet.

There's already Best Picks up at the Without Annette site, Fringe Preview: Circle these.

There is a sort of profile about TJ Dawe here, by his sister. So everyone bring TJ an exotic paperback book.

There is a thread, montreal: Fringe Festival someone started to talk about Fringe shows.

One blogger has posted about the Fringe in the past, and has an entry already that briefly mentions the Fringe website, here, and says the only show that jumps out so far is Nile Seguine's, but adds that the interesting show titles seem to be for genre he's not interested in.

Tim and Mike were just on CNIW to briefly talk about the Fringe, just after Albert Nerenber was on to talk about the station switching from talk to music (Albert did a morning show for the rest of us on CKGM back in 1996 when it was Talk With Attitude, and did a show live from the Fringe one day that year). And I didn't hear it, but apparently Rick Miller had been on earlier to talk about Machomer at the comedy festival.

Spacings list of today's free shows is here. I'm not sure if I'm going to bother with these in the future since they are basically announcements.

The Concordia Link has their Summer Issue out (I'm sure I looked earlier in the week) and it has an overall article about the Fringe, That Time of Year and then Lady of Men about Find Me a Primitive Man. I always wonder how people score that sort of article. Both are on page 14 of the paper edition.June 12

The only thing I see in The Gazette is German siblings' bickering is part of act where Bill Brownstein devotes a column to Die Roten Punkte. It's on Page D1 of the real paper.

The weeklies are out (though I forget to pick up the French weeklies). Returning sponsor Hour has nothing Fringe related. Wait, Laura Roberts has apparently gotten married, V for Vixen unlike last year when she wrote a number of times about the fake Fringe wedding. Though the next day, I see they have a web exclusive, Fringe Festival : It's better to give AND receive about the donations. (I honestly can't tell if this is altruistic or mercenary.) So it is a chance to get rid of all those pennies, I know I did that about 2000 or 2001.

The Mirror no longer a sponsor and with a rookie (at least to the paper) theatre writer/critic (Amy Barratt retired from the role some months back after 10 or 11 years), has reasonable coverage, with Degrassi! The Musical on the cover.. They've got an intro piece on page 80, Run for Cover and then a feature piece on Degrassi! The Musical on page 81, Never Give Up. The Gate gets a brief hit in the Artsweek on page 79, readable here.

Rick Miller was on CJAD at about 8:30am, to talk about the restaging of Machomer at the comedy festival, but of course it's impossible to mention that show without some Fringe reference. Since he seems to be in town right now, maybe we'll see him around the Fringe.

Midnight Poutine has decided to review Fringe shows this year, so they already have an intro piece complete with their Top Ten list, Montreal Fringe Festival Picks 2008".

June 11

The Suburban is out. Beth gets an entry in the Events Listings, though obviously because they submitted a notice. Every so often a Fringe show does get listed, it's sporadic and often seems like the troupes just don't bother. But, there is also a real article, an overview, Anything goes at the Fringe, on page 32. One interesting development, they have some photos, including one from Beth which are not in the print edition. And then underneath it are two previews here, for Degrassi! The Musical and Sixty-Four and No More Lies.

Spacings free list for Thursday is here.

June 10

Spacing Montreal has decided that the free shows don't get enough attention (funny, my feeling is they are being pushed, and then those getting the press releases just copy), so they are planning to have a daily entry about the free shows. The intro is Fringe for Free. Noteworthy, there are some negative comments about this year's finger.

June 9

Barry Smith continues to write a column for the Aspen Times, appearing every Monday. This week's isn't really about the Fringe, but it is about travelling to the Fringe, I miss my homeland and the jokes.

Tristan was on Peter Anthony Holder's show on CJAD just after midnight of the 9th, talking about the Fringe and the show he's producing.

June 7

While the days of being on the front page of the entertainment section is now in the past, there are three Fringe articles in The Gazette, all on page E3. An overview, This year's action: 700 performances, the seemingly obligatory Top Ten, The best of the fest? It comes in stages, and a bit about dance, Dig around to mine some precious gems in the dance program.

Without Annette has a brief recap of the Fringe For All here. Take Note: with no judging duties, they plan to return to reviewing this year.

The Senior Times usually has an article or so about the Fringe, usually by Fringe Oldtimer Byron Toben. I've not seen the latest issue as paper, and it turns out the website, theseniortimes.com which has been lousy in the past, has now morphed into a blogish sort of thing. I don't know if that translates to the material in the paper Times, or something else. Anyway, two Fringe articles show up there already, It's all in the bag at the Fringe about Three Old Bags and The physical stuff, the kids, and relationships at 64... or is it 66? about Sixty Four and No More Lies. Both pieces are on page 15 of the actual paper. On page 25 is Byron's Picks, but I don't find it on the website.

June 5

Brent makes June 5th the cover of Hour, about how he'll fill his Fringe slot won last year as his prize for the Spirit of the Fringe award. Read it, Miss Gina whets our appetite for the Fringe.

The Mirror has their Hot Summer Guide so the Fringe gets tacked on there. Dance gets previewed on page 23, "hot steps" and theatre on page 27 "stage presence"

So somewhere out there is an article Fun, fierce, free-for-all Fringe!. It first showed up as a hit at the The Westmount Examiner, but it's nowhere to be found in the actual paper. I think the author is actually at The Monitor in NDG, but it's hard to tell and finding an issue of that paper is sporadic. It may show up in other papers in the chain. I almost had a shock, since it is a given that if you can pull a Westmount connection you get a Fringe story in the Westmount Examiner, but this is the first time they've even come close to running an article that's not about a specific act. They never even published my letter some some years back.