Tucson Fringe is back this year as a 'full festival'

Posted Jan 15, 2023, 2:12 pm

Bianca Morales
TucsonSentinel.com

courtesy of Tucson Fringe

The 11th Tucson Fringe Festival is back with 18 events running from Thursday, Jan. 19 to Sunday, Jan. 22.

The options will be one live event via Zoom, two free pre-recorded shows available to watch on the Tucson Fringe YouTube channel, and 15 live events.

"I personally am excited to have a full festival this year," Tucson Fringe treasurer James Pack said. "We tried to return to a full festival in January 2022, but that was when the omicron variant almost sent us into another lockdown."

Pack said they saw themselves having to cancel shows that were part of their lineup and only had about 10 performances instead of the 50 they had scheduled.

"It was not the great big comeback we had hoped for," Pack said. "This year feels like things are going back to normal — knock on wood."

Some of the live performers are coming from different states such as Minnesota, Florida, California, Kansas and Colorado.

One local troupe will be performing a thrilling acrobatic show. "The Singularity of the Machine" is a show by the performers from the Spider Silk Circus based in Tucson. It tells the story of a group of travelers "trapped in a mysterious machine."

The live Zoom performance will stream on Thursday, Jan. 19 at 7 p.m. It will be a one-woman show titled "Mafia Anonymous: The Women Speak" by artist PINA. It tells the story of a character named Nella, who leads a Women's Mafia Anonymous group. The show is dedicated to Laura Peralta, who was murdered in 2012 and to her father.

Pack said they are encouraging attendees to wear face masks in precaution against COVID-19 as well as the flu, to keep each other healthy and safe.

Tickets are on sale through Tucson Fringe. Attendees must wear their buttons they receive with their tickets as it will be their admission to the shows. Multi-ticket passes are also available. This year's venues are ATC Temple of Music and Art Cabaret Theater, the Steinfeld Warehouse, The Screening Room and the Circus Academy of Tucson.

Bianca Morales is TucsonSentinel.com’s Cultural Expression and Community Values reporter, and a Report for America corps member supported by readers like you.