Making The Plays Run On Time

To many of Southwest's theater-goers, the Minnesota Fringe Festival is many things: awesome, comical, interesting, praiseworthy. But for some members of the local theater community, Fringe season is synonymous with mayhem.

During the Fringe, 18 of Minneapolis' theaters stop normal operation. Many theater staffs are even whisked away and replaced with Fringe house managers and volunteers.  

Yesterday, Patch caught up with Abby Free, house manager at HUGE Improv Theater. Since August 4, he and his trusty Fringe volunteers have been running the show. Sitting behind the front desk, Free excitedly played host to a buzzing crowd waiting to see the 7pm show.

“The HUGE Theater is new to the Fringe so I think it’s kind of fun. People are excited to see the new space,” he said. “There are a lot of Fringe goers that tend to be repeats and come year after year.”

Last night, “The Problem” with “Your Mother’s Butt” were the main attractions. Two one-act comedies smashed into one performance seemed to be the source of some much-needed attention for HUGE, highlighting the way venues try to attract new regular-season fans during the Fringe.

“HUGE is one of the smaller venues, so they have to build word of mouth," said Free. "We’ve [only] had two shows here that have sold out, 'Mimi’s last Rehearsal' and 'Sousepaw: a Baseball Story.'"

An Army of Volunteers

“This show may be the busiest I’ve done," said Kassie Church, a volunteer working alongside Free.

Apart from running the box office, Church is the theater’s lobby-meister. Other volunteers act as ushers and concierge representatives.

"I stay until the last show is over to make sure nobody comes in or has questions. Saturday I volunteered all day and today I’m volunteering all night,” she said.

“I started by going to a couple of shows, because my friends were in them, “ said Church. “The next year I got the Ultra Pass (granting her unlimited show entry to the festival's 168 productions) and went to all the shows I could."

This year she planned to do the same, but as a state employee, — and victim of the government shutdown — she didn’t have the freedom to purchase the pricey admission pass. Church's solution? Volunteering, in exchange for free tickets.

Long Days, Long Nights

Unusual for the average Fringe staffer, HUGE's house manager Free will work ten out of the 11 festival days. While supervising volunteers and running around is fun, he said he prefers not to attend shows on his day off.

“That’s not because I don’t like it,” he exclaimed.

Free’s Fringe experience began in 2005 when he moved to Minneapolis and volunteered to get familiar with the city. Last year, he volunteered at the Mixed Blood Theater where there was even more commotion and bustle.

“It’s cool because it’s so spread out over town. There are comedies, musicals and dance programs for kids and adults. There’s all kinds of things involved with the Fringe,” he said. 

Free works the Fringe all day on the weekends. On Saturday, his behind-the-scenes work starts around 10 a.m. and wraps up at 11 p.m. Luckily, he said, yesterday was a short day.

“I picked up all of my materials at 4:20 (p.m.) and biked over here from home,” he said. “I get here and arrange all of my paperwork so that I’m ready when the volunteers get here.”

Buttons, tickets, punch cards and box office materials covered the front desk while fliers for shows at HUGE and other venues were scattered on nearly every available surface in the lobby.

“It’s just a lot of cycling through the same thing. Open the box office, sell tickets, close the box office and recon all of that,” Free said. “As a way to stay organized, each show has its own box office so each artist gets the money that’s coming to them.”

Up until show time, people filed into the theater presenting passes and inquiring about fliers and shows. Free punched cards in between repeating “Yes we can take your gold pass here, enjoy the show,” or “Of course I can help you!”

If things get a bit too hectic, house managers can call Fringe volunteers that are stationed in various neighborhoods waiting to step in if venues get too busy or run out of supplies.

“I think it’s been fun.  All of the volunteers are really great. All of the people are really great,” added Church, the volunteer. “You rarely get yelled at. Everyone’s just happy to be here.”