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ARTS & CULTURE
KANSAN.COM
Fringe Festival sees largest turnout ever
Heilman, portrayed by Mike Ott, waits impatiently for Janie Turner, portrayed by Melody Butler, during "Bird in the Hand." The play, written and directed by Dave Hanson, only gives the audience one piece of an entire story and requires the audience to convene after the play to figure out the entire story.
AARON GROENE/KANSAN
SAMANTHA SEXTON @SamBiscuit
The 10-day extravaganza that is the Fringe Festival just wrapped up its last shows Sunday with a larger turnout than ever before.
This year's festival brought more than 485 productions to 20 different venues ranging from ballet combined with jazz to a puppet remake of the Star Wars saga.
"We have dance, theatre, arts, performing arts, puppetry, spoken word, film — you name it," said Rick Duplessie, this year's market chair for the Fringe.
As it entered its 11th year, the
Fringe was the biggest it's ever been, which has made a lot of work for Cheryl Kimmi, the CEO of the festival. However, she said she couldn't be more excited to see what will happen next.
"I'm thrilled that the second decade of Fringe is upon us and that I can be a part of it," Kimmi said.
Duplessie, as well as volunteering for the Kansas City Repertory The
"It's absolutely amazing," Duplessie said. "We all get to see as many shows as we can. So far, I've managed to see 16 shows, and I hope to pack another half dozen in before it's done. The record last year someone
atre, has spent the last couple years working as the "Twitter guy" for the Fringe. This year is his first time directly contributing to coordinating the massive culmination of the arts.
Duplessie admitted the plays were his favorite but said there was plenty of variety to suit anyone's needs. He also enjoyed an improv group's performance, a sequel to last year's "Bad Auditions," called "Badder Auditions."
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held was 42 shows."
"It's retained its original idea and jocularity and really translated well as a sequel," Duplessie said. "It's a
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bunch of people who take actors from other performances and they improv a show with these people that they barely know and you just
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