See the list of coverage from 2005

Note: The URLs for the alternative weeklies change when the next issue comes out, and the old articles are archived. I'll update as needed, but anyone else linking to online versions will have to update their links. (Actually, this may no longer be the case.)

Last year I put here a notice that my friend Leslie Lutsky (who was a volunteer at the Fringe in the very first few years, before I arrived, though I've known him for a quarter century or so) was going to interview a couple of the acts on his radio show. He later thanked me, but I wasn't plugging his show, I was trying to keep in one place all the reviews. When acts are in need of an intermediary to tell the people at home about the shows, an obscure review won't help much if the general readership can't easily find it. Keeping links to all the reviews, or reasonably so, means people can find the reviews without searching, or by chance. I've done this for years, the Fringe has gotten better at it, yet there is inevitably a list at Fringe HQ of radio and tv hits that doesn't make it into public view. A shame, because if you know an act will be on, you can always wait for it. I try to keep the page numbers of the newspaper pieces too, because in the case of the Gazette some material will be subscriber only, and things like the expected piece in Senior Times don't get online.

Last year, the blogs seemed to spurt up, when it used to be only Blork who kept reviews. Since I'm interested in information, trying to build up a body of reviews rather than caring who says what, I made no difference between old media reviews and an individual. But seeing some of the hits, I'm going to say that I won't bother pointing to a simple reference to the Fringe, or if someone merely mimics what's said elsewhere. I'm not real pleased about the way the Beer Tent story propagated, because it proved once again that old media news travels better than original news. And, it would be nice if people wanting to play reviewer got interested in some of the unknown shows rather than going after the usual suspects. I can simply look at a list of who's coming, and it's fairly easy to decide which shows will land on such lists, and of course those same shows will get the most reviews.

Take Note I checked one Gazette that I thought had been subscriber only, and it wasn't, so either they let them loose a day or so later, or I lost track. So if I mark Gazette articles as "subscriber only", try the link anyway.

June 20
I'm just going to lump all last minute additions here.
The Gazette had a final article in the Monday edition, on page A7, readable online as Fringe Festival ends on high note despite double whammy, and readable by all (until the article expires, I can remember when they'd keep things online for months).

June 19
I just noticed that montreal.com has added some reviews to their existing article. I was simply checking to see if there was a new article, and I have no idea how long more reviews have been up. Sorry. Anyway, 97 plays in 10 days now has reviews for The Sum of All Cheers, Big Spender, Living Shadows: A story of Mary Pickford, Crossroads, My Little Rant, The Chinese Clown Cabaret, and It's Not You...It's Me in addition to the previous reviews. I do notice, and maybe just missed it before, that each review has initials at the end, so you can figure out who is writing which one if you know who's writing for the website. Odd, I never saw Janis Kirshner once this year.
Jesus in Montreal in the morning is a short piece for the Aspen Times by Barry SMith of Jesus in Montana.

June 18
This is obviously the last day of reviews, though we're bound to see followup articles, in The Gazette and on Thursday in the weeklies.
The Gazette reviews are on page A19, readable online if you're aq subscriber as And for dessert, I'll have .... The reviews are for You Like It, Biunivok Rating, My German Father, With the Coat of His Own Skin, Stand Up and Sit, and Publi-Cite.
Without Annette has been busy, even after I left yesterday, they added reviews for Stand Up and Sit, Terrain de Jeux Pour Marionnettes, . Never Surrender in: Centaur! Centaur! Centaur!, From Under The Umbrella.

June 17
THe Gazette reviews are on page E15, and online for all, In the tight clutch of love. The reviews are for La Libellule sur mon epaule, This fairytale is not working out, The Sum of All Cheers, Au bout du wrench (tragédie de cour à scrap en quatre morceaux), Big Spender, and The Forgotten Warrior. This may be the last of the reviews for the paper.
Josh Freed uses his column, on page A6, today to discuss Not in my parking spot, buddy, ie the matter of people complaining because something is right next door, and the Fringe Beer Tent Issue is part of it (and he's among those who think the neighbors should lighten up). Subscriber Only.
Nothing in the Gazette from the actual dance writer, given this week and last week's articles, I think he's out of town.
I don't notice it until the next day, but there is a letter in support of the Fringe in today's Gazette, in response to the anti-Fringe letter of the other day. Read it Fringe is a benefit of life in the Plateau.
Without Annette adds a review for Pentecostal Wisconsin and an entry about Vinnie being part of the Uncalled For show where they invite others to participate.
Nobody will believe this, but the other day I caught the brief reviews of a lot of shows on a blog, bookmarked, and then promptly left it out. So Without Annette got it up first. The brief reviews are here: cpirate: Fringe Notes To Date and of course, I put a link to his blog before, when he put up some comments about shows he'd seen at the Fringe For All and wanted to see. And now I see that he had put up some reviews last year, but a quick search on an obvious search term does not show him listed in last year's list.
One last addition before I leave. Without Annette has a review up for Sunny-Side Up.
By now, Leslie Lutsky's interview with Marty Green of The Ballad of Monish this morning on his radio show, Jewish Digest on Radio Centre-Ville, (8:30am at 102.3 on Saturdays). must have come and gone.

June 16
The Gazette has reviews on page D4, complete with a photo of Barry Smith of Jesus in Montana and online here: Please Forgive Us Lord, For We Have Fringed and readable by all. The intro points out that this year's trend is religion, but the reviews are for Jesus in Montana, Immaculates, Desperate Housepets, and Joe/River.
On page D10, The Calendar there's no best bet for the Fringe in the Theatre section, but there is an entry for Dance, mentioning Solid State, Joe and Shakti. Once again, we aren't likely to see reviews of the dance shows by the actual dance writer. And Never Surrender gets a mention in the comedy section.
Via J. Kelly Nestruck, there's a piece in the National Post, Dancing around the weight issue about Big Moves though it's a subscriber only article. He didn't mention when they published it in the paper.
One I almost missed was Montreal.com. Some years, they've had great coverage, and early, other years, none at all, and this is apparently one year where they have only a few reviews, and relatively late (I'm sure I checked overnight Wednesday into Thursday and nothing was there). It's readable (online only, because it's just a website), 97 plays in 10 days and they (the reviews are unsigned, but I think I know who wrote them) review Drumheller, Word Infirmia, Jesus in Montana, and Backstage at Da Fonky B.
Without Annette has added a review of This fairytale isn't working out Vinny certainly seems to enjoy reviewing dance more than some who are supposed to be doing it.
New sponsor Maisonneuve Magazine has a piece, Fringe Benefits which is more a background piece to Fringe Festivals, and sure isn't relevant to relevant to our Fringe this week. They actually cover dance, but when I checked the archive last year, no sign of much (or maybe it was none) Fringe coverage.

June 15
At 4:30am, the sun is up and Hour has this week's edition online, Fringe off. Various reviewers (but not theatre writer Jodi Essery, who directs a Fringe show this year) cover Ben Hur, Big Spender, Dances of India, Desperate Housepets, Dork: One Woman's Sexual Journey, Fresh Meat, I Love New York, It's Okay, Jesus Will Forgive Us, Joe/River, Le Sixieme s'est envole, Love Paid in Kind, Never Surrender in: Centaur! Centaur! Centaur, Terence Bowman's Happy Fun Fringe Show!!!, The Black Roses Foundation Tour 2006, The Chinese Clown Cabaret, The Girl With No Hands, Uncalled For 4: For Forever!, and You Like It.
The Gazette has various reviews, it doesn't seem to be subscriber-only, Even the seasoned can be surprised. Covered are Hanakengo, Je suis un homard, Journey the Transformation, Fresh Off the Boat, The Sketchersons - Sunday Night Live: On Tour!, and Nevil. The piece also includes a list of five 5-star and eight 4-star shows they've reviewed that they consider the top of this year's Fringe. No sense in listing them here, since the piece is readable by all.
On the letter page, A20, there's a letter "Fringe Bad, Tour Good" comparing the Fringe with the Tour de l'Ile, and the writer can't believe the Fringe is allowed to operate for ten days in a residential area, while the bike tour always gets flack even though it's a one day event.
The Mirror has two articles. The first is by Amy Barratt, Fringe reviews, and she reviews Better Parts, Departure Lounge, Living Shadows: A Story of Mary Pickford, Teaching As You Like It, Dork: One Womans Sexual Journey, and The Chicken Kerfuffel.
The other article, More Fringe reviews... by various reviewers (that is a great way to cover a lot of shows before their deadline, which must be Monday or at the very latest Tuesday) with brief reviews of Evil Is the New Good, Fresh Meat, Ben Hur, Hanakengo, Crossroads, This Fairytale is not working out, Immaculates, The Sketchersons Sunday Night Live: On Tour!, From Under the Umbrella, Terrain de jeux pour marionnettes, and Journey the Transformation.
I still haven't got a paper copy of Voir but checking online didn't show anything obviously about the Fringe.
I finally had a chance to look at the copy of ICI that I got the other day. A quick check shows only one Fringe reference, a review of With the Coat of His Own Skin on page 39. They seem to have a website, www.icimontreal.com but they don't seem to put things online, or else I'm missing something.

According to Leslie Lutsky there is a brief bit (I saw them) in today's issue of the Canadian Jewish News on page 22 for The Ballad of Monish and he says there was a bit about Fresh Off the Boat too. I was looking at their website just the other day (he once told me there had been a piece about Jeremy in it), but some searches show nothing, which means either they don't put everything online (likely), or their search engine works as well as the one at The Suburban.
Here's a novelty I almost missed. Someone has posted a blog entry of shows he's seen with a single word to describe each. joenotcharles: Fringe Fest reviews in one word or less!
And then someone else blogs about the Fringe For All, with some comments about the ones excerpted there that he's thinking about seeing. cpirate: Fringe Preview Review I'm not sure why I include that and not someone else's where he lists shows "not to be missed" but likely because he is judging based on the preview bits, and the other guy was basing it on who knows what.
With the Ottawa Fringe starting up today, we can start to see articles about it in the Ottawa papers, like Fringe rules are few.

June 14
The Gazette has on page D6, Over the top, as you'd expect, online for subscribers, covering Jem Rolls Off The Tongue, La Grosse, Teaching As You Like It, Radio Daze, The Chicken Kerfuffle, Ladies Room, It's Not You ... It's Me, Portes, comedie criminelle, Never Surrender in: Centaur! Centaur! Centaur!, The Black Roses Foundation Tour 2006, L'insaisissable Mandarin, The Rainbow Letter, Les Femmes savantes, The Girl With No Hands. and Pooperella.

Without Annette has a review of Ladies Room (And I must say, they've now made it easy to track the reviews, puttying a box at the top of the page with links to the specific reviews.).
The West End Chronicle suddenly shows up in a search, providing Renaissance man's organization bridges business and artists in a win-win way about the Interactive Arts Showcase that happens on the weekend.

The Suburban releases a new issue today, so perhaps we'll see a Fringe piece. I still can't find the article from last week about Crossroads, indeed doing two consecutive searchs at their webpage on "montreal Fringe" gave two differing sets of results. And at nearly 1pm on Wednesday, the new issue isn't online.

June 13
The Gazette has Fading critics get their groove back (subscriber only) on page D6. reviewing Flamenco Con Fusion 2, Paillettes, compassion et autre balivernes, How's It Going, Departure Lounge, Le coeur a retrouve son souffle and Dork: One Woman's Sexual Journey, and a promise of a whole bunch of reviews tomorrow.

Without Annette has added reviews for The Black Roses Foundation Tour 2006, Waiting for Godo in Abu Ghraib and Ben Hur

Just when I remember to check, Simon Law has just put up some reviews on his blog. Someone at Without Annette, I forget who, found some reviews on his blog last year. (It would be nice if Simon brought some Linux cdroms to hand out at the Fringe. A few years back, there was a penguin guarding the Beer Tent with a Linux button, but he disappeared pretty fast.) Anyway, in Montréal Fringe Festival 2006 he gives short reviews of Evil is the New Good, The Wonders of the World, Pentacostal Wisconsin, Word Infirmia, My Little Rant, Jem Rolls Off the Tongue, and This Fairytale is Not Working Out

June 12
I guess the Beer Tent Issue hasn't gone away, because there's an article today in The Gazette on page A7 Fringe leaves residents on edge, readable online by all.

Then on page D4 are the actual reviews, readable online for subscribers only, What the Fringe was meant to be, which covers Terrain de jeux pour marionnettes, The 13th Hour, Mae Day, Les Boxeuses (Laboratoire), In The Beginning and dis+graced: Medea/Josephine.

He also lists some shows that are selling out, which I can't be bothered typing in. Once upon a time, the Fringe kept a Top-Ten List, and at the time it just seemed like hype, while now it would be downright useful, given that the shows that sell out really sell out and people get disappointed when they can't get in. I don't know why the list disappeared (at one point, I would copy it down and post it on the internet, one from 1997 is readable here) but I well recall the one year it was going to be on the website, I suspect it was 2001. There was a space for it, but it never happened, I assume because the Monday CAM internet was not responding, and after that they dropped the updating of the website.

J. Kelly Nestruck got out into the rain to review some shows, but the wording suggests this is his full output. Read it: Notes from the Montreal Fringe 2006

Without Annette has a review up for Fresh Meat

I just checked, and there are now some comments up about Hour;s Fringe article, read them at the Hour site here

June 11
Bill Brownstein writes about meeting some of the comedy acts, Terence Bowman, Never Surrender and the Desperate Housepets on page A18, readable The lines are drawn - and they keep crossing them though only if you're a subscriber.
Then on page A18, there are various reviews, which I'm too tired to list here but online if you're a subscriber at Tiny budget can't hold back Belzebrute
Without Annette continues with their plan to review more shows than anyone else, putting up reviews about dis+graced: Medea/Josephine, Uncalled For 4: For Forever, Better Parts and In Jim's Image.
Leslie Lutsky interviewed Yvette Ghattas of Fresh Off the Boat on his radio show, Jewish Digest on Radio Centre-Ville, (8:30am at 102.3 on Saturdays).

June 10
Gaetan Charlebois (and his assistants) has some reviews of the OFF shows on page E2. Ben Hur, Nuns' Farts, Les Goubeens and Chronos which certainly is an epic. He also mentions some cancellations and shifting of venues, something I don't see up at the Fringe site. It's readable online, if you're a Gazette subscriber, Les Goubeens well worth the deplacement.
No dance article, but then it's really way too early to see any reviews (the problem being that the Gazette may not allocate space to dance reviews during the week, even if someone does attend the shows. So much for the move back into the Entertainment section, one might think prompted by my unpublished letter of last year.

June 9
There's a piece in The Gazette, where Gaetan gives an introduction to his squad of volunteer reviewers for this year, on page D7, readable online (even for non-subscribers), Fringe reporters reporting for duty. It's two neices now?
Again, there is the Today at the Fringe, where he mentions The 13th Hour as the "Best Bet".
Then on page D10, the list of selected things to see, Victor Swoboda mentions the Fringe (not a complete surprise) but specifically mentions Big Moves and Solid State. Readable online if you're a Gazette subscriber, The Calendar, but hardly of much use.

June 8
Without Annette already has a review up, for Les Goubéens, but then, it's an OFF-show and started a day earlier. They intend to review shows again this year, using their blog and yes, they did have a significant number last year.
Gaetan Charlebois has a piece on page D4, It's all good, even the bad. Among other things, he mentions Mari Osanai who came for years to perform dance, finally stopping because she couldn't afford it (at least, that's what Shakti told me). Gaetan was the one who championed her, when I'm sure there was never an English review by a dance writer of her work.
THere's also sidebar, that I dismissed at first given that it's mostly a list of the venues, but it will be something to watch. There's "Best Bets", which is the opening night party today, and "Hot Buzz",which mentions that sketch or improv group from France that was a last minute addition (so what got cut?), Les Goubeens. That too is on page D4, and online at Today at the Fringe.
Bill Brownstein covers the The Montreal All-Star Cheerleaders in his column on page D1, readable by all online, Cheerleaders get ready to shake a leg.

The weeklies are out, but all I saw in paper was Hour briefly at the Beer Tent. I never had a chance to look for the rest.
As almost always, the Fringe is on the cover of the Mirror, with the article readable online, The Fringe turns Sweet 16 Oddly, it's not by theatre writer Amy Barratt, but by Matthew Hays, and a sidebar (on the same webpage) about Hanakengo coming from Japan.
No dance preview this year (I thought we were going to get lucky this year, especially given that Marites said hi to me at the Fringe For All, I somehow read that as maybe the Mirror would improve it's dance coverage (though there is still hope that they'll review), but dance at the Fringe does get mentioned in the Summer Guide section on dance Choreography at the Fringe, the circus, the park and beyond
Amy Barratt does do the Summer Guide piece on theatre, but makes only an allusion to the Fringe, instead talking about some other festival that I know nothing about.

Hour has Uncalled For kick off the Fringe, which is mostly about Uncalled For but somehow they become spokesmen for the Festival. I always find Hour's site hard to navigate, and so I'll wait for the paper version to see if there's a mention of dance at the Fringe.

The CJAD surprise continues, since Peter Anthony Holder, back in his after midnight timeslot, comes on and says he'll have Ryan Paulson of Pentacostal Wisconsin will be on. He's giving him a fair amount of time. I can't remember so much coverage of the Fringe on CJAD, though it makes sense since it moves the Fringe away from the "alternative" label. I wonder if my email about the wild internet and how the acts are so often fighting for an audience had an effect last August, after Andy Nullman and son were on and mentioned a comment I made about Wetlabel.

June 7
The Suburban has a piece on page E1 about the show Crossroads. A fairly long piece, too. Mentions that Barbara Lewis (am I the only one who thinks of Hello Stranger when I see that name?) called the Fringe, only to discover that the deadline was the next day. Can we say "Call For Submissions"? The paper's website seems to go to sleep at night, because the other day I couldn't do a search there, and tonight it's not connecting, so I can't give the specific URL at the moment.
I turn on the radio, to CJAD, and hear Ernie Butler talking about the Fringe. It takes a bit, but he had Never Surrender in the studio. What a surprise, I can remember when Karen of The Free Fall Iguanas would to a listing bit on the comedy show, but would forget the Fringe. Usually by now, Ernie is talking about the comedy festival, having skipped over the Fringe. I didn't actually hear the bit, tuning in as it ended at 11:20pm

June 3
Here the Gazette's real preview articles are. I can remember when we always got the front page of the entertainment section the Saturday before the Fringe, but like last year, we are stuffed inside the entertainment section. I think this might be a bad thing, though at least now we get a bit right after the Fringe For All. All three articles today are subscriber only online. Gaetan Charlebois uses the hook of difficulties to write about the Beer Tent matter, and acts putting on the shows, in Opening night, closing time, then Victor Swoboda does his preview of dance at the Fringe, Dance The kind of moves you don't see elsewhere and I know I shouldn't but in at least two places he makes errors, because he writes litterally from the press material rather than from Fringe experience. My nearly annual letter to the Gazette about dance coverage at the Fringe has already been sent. And on the same page, there is Fringe facts

June 2
The Fringe gets mentioned in The Gazette's Summer Scene section. It's readable online, but just barely because it's in the form of jpegs, and I had to dig around to find it (and can no longer recall the URL). We get mentioned in the Dance page, though not much more than a listing of some of the dance acts (and which one is being put on by Con-U grads?). And then a brief mention in the theatre section (but no specific acts mentioned there).

June 1
The only Fringe mention I see in The Mirror was on the Artsweek page, where they mention the publicity gimick used by Facheuse Posture for their show dance show. Readable here.

May 31
Just like last year, the first Fringe piece in the Gazette is on a weekday, and again Gaetan Charlebois is running the coverage (with the help of some unpaid reviewers). This is mainly a bit of background. Readable by everyone: Countdown to the Fringe
No mention of the Fringe, but The Suburban runs a piece on page E7 about the Dynamic Theatre Factory, that happens to have a show in this year's Fringe. It's readable online (though I couldn't find it with the paper's search function), Factory puts games to the test I sort of expect them to appear on Peter Anthony Holder's show on CJAD, given that he's had the company on at least twice before.

May 25
Keir Cutler gets his obligatory Westmount Examiner piece that seems to have been in the May 25th edition. I don't recall seeing it, and the free delivery can be sporadic. Or, since they say there is now web-only content, maybe this was a piece that didn't make it into the paper, and that's why I don't remember it. It's readable online at Cutler takes another jab at the Bard and includes a cameo by TJ Dawe, who is directing Cutler's show this year.

May 24
The Suburban has a piece about the Fringe, on page E2 and readable online, The right Fringe for you. More of an overview, of the Festival's problems this year and the difficulty of putting on a show, though some specific shows get mentioned in passing.

May 20
Completely unrelated, I think, there's a piece in The Gazette today about The Academy. Sort of timely, though, since then we know what it's like. It's on page E8. You can read it online, Academy dances to its own beat.

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