WaterTower Announces Artists, Schedule for 2012 Out of the Loop Fringe Fest

WaterTower Theatre Producing Artistic Director Terry Martin today announced the line-up for the 2012 Out of the Loop Fringe Festival, March 1-11 at the Addison Theatre Centre. Several changes highlight this year’s Festival including more performances of each show and several new artists, as well as many returning companies. Charles Ross (One Man Lord of the Rings), returning to the Festival this year following his hit performance two years ago, and Colleen Ballinger (Miranda Sings) headline the Festival this year.

Twenty-two local and national artists and performing arts organizations will participate in this year’s Festival. They are: Audacity Theatre Lab, Colleen Ballinger, Bill Bowers, Charles Ross, Dead White Zombies, Diana Sheehan, Ellendanceworks Dance Company, FTP Comedy, Greyman Theatre Company, Haven Productions, Heavenly Muse Players, Kevin J. Thornton, Muscle Memory Dance Theatre, Outcry Theatre, Plus One Jazz Group, Purple Crayon of Yale, QLive!, SceneShop, Screw You Entertainment, Stellar Productions, Amy Stevenson, and W.B. Spotlight Productions.

“One of the driving forces behind WTT’s Out of the Loop Fringe Festival has always been to provide performance opportunities for existing and emerging theatre, dance and music companies as well as artists in our region,” said Martin. “The Festival offers them the opportunity to present works that often vary in form and presentation from their typical content. Most importantly, the Festival is a valuable way to develop new audiences who may not be aware of the participating companies and artists and their work.”

“This season, I wanted to acknowledge the hard work of the Loop Festival participants by providing them with more performances, which would hopefully reach more patrons,” said Martin. “More performances of each show would allow for a bit more word-of-mouth audience building than we have been able to have in the past. This would, of course, benefit WaterTower Theatre as well as the individual companies.”

A 10?day celebration of theatre, dance, music and art, the Out of the Loop Fringe Festival features performances by arts organizations and artists from across the nation. Performances are held at the Addison Theatre Centre, in four performance venues: the Festival Main Stage, the Studio Theatre, the Stone Cottage and the main lobby.

On the final day of the Festival, WaterTower Theatre will invite back for a special performance the Best of the Main Stage, Studio Theatre and Stone Cottage performers as chosen by our Loop passholders. Passholders will have an opportunity to cast ballots for their Best Of choice after each performance.

The Out of the Loop Fringe Festival media sponsors are TheaterJones.com and the Dallas Observer. The Festival is produced by WaterTower Theatre – Terry Martin (Executive Producer); David Denson, Matt Tolbert and Heidi Shen (Associate Producers).

Single tickets to all events go on sale February 14. Festival Passes, now on sale, include one admission to each festival event and are $65. WaterTower Theatre subscribers receive $10 off each festival pass. Individual ticket prices vary for each event and range in price from $10 - $15.

Performance Notes and Descriptions:

Amy Stevenson
Dallas entertainer Amy Stevenson, one of the country’s leading cabaret artists, will perform selections from her cabaret act in the lobby. Stevenson places her indelible stamp on every song she sings from "Glory of Love" to "I Dreamed a Dream."

Audacity Theatre Lab
Ellson has been at the stair stoop for five days straight. He has a very important question for Samantha. The anticipation has culminated to this very day. Who is the strange man with the strange carnival bally on the street corner? Brad McEntire's play Raspberry Fizz is a heart-warming exploration of expectations and the potentialities of the unmapped future tied up in a slice-of-life, coming-of-age encounter between two young adolescents in 1949 small town America.

Bill Bowers

Bill Bowers will perform his new solo show Beyond Words, which had a critically acclaimed Off-Broadway run in NYC last fall. Set against a backdrop of small-town America, Bowers (one of the most acclaimed mimes of our time) takes the audience on a funny and poignant journey of sound and silence. Combining mime, music and monologues, Beyond Words investigates what it means to be a boy, and the messages we receive on our way to becoming men.

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