OMG It's Over

Hit the finish line and collapse. I shot maybe twenty shows, including the opening and closing events. Even Fringe friend DDare Bionic can't believe we got through it. Now more of the long slog of editing. 

This was a challenge for an old guy. I learned more about theatrical photography and what my Fujifilm X-T2 camera can and cannot do. I'm not the best theater photographer around but my virtue is that I show up. It's what I want to do.

The Fringe big shots asked me to skip ahead to the closing ceremony for their press releases. We'll get to some of that in time. Back to the individual shows in the days to come.        

Closing Ceremonies

I have photos from one last Fringe show still to edit Shakespeare's Women, but today is a travel day and I'll have to squeeze it in when I can. For now, a few shots from the festival's closing ceremonies in the Grandel Theater. Executive director Matthew Kerns and technical boss Kevin Bowman first,  followed by stars of this year's productions and, in the last two, what's to come next year.

I'm writing this during a layover at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport. Flying on soon to Grand Junction, Colorado, and driving to Moab, Utah, late this afternoon. Arches National Park tomorrow. No steel versions there.        

I'm In?

The St. Louis Fringe had a kick off party for the 2017 season Tuesday night. It was held at The Dark Room, a wine bar-restaurant-photography gallery in Grand Center.

Didn't know it before, but most of the performers in the festival are chosen by lottery (illustration below). The policy was that the first five entries got in automatically. Someone, um, screwed up the spreadsheet this year so the first seven entries got a bye. A change for this season is that there was a "curated" selection, with several performers chosen by fringe management and consultants. The remaining entries were left to chance.

This is DDare Bionic, a DJ and rapper (some music here), at the moment he learned he was in. Happy happy joy joy. I'll be sure to catch his show during the festival in August.