New York International Fringe Festival 2008 Breaks Records

New York International Fringe Festival (FringeNYC), the largest multi-arts festival in North America, will present the 12th annual festival from August 8th - 24th, 2008.  The festival offers works covering a wide range of disciplines including theater, dance, performance art, children's theater, spoken word, puppetry, comedy, improv and multimedia. This year, the Festival will present nearly 1200 performances by 202 of the world's best emerging theatre companies representing 7 countries (including Spain, Australia, Canada, England, Switzerland, and Mexico) and 16 US states (including Oregon, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Texas, Ohio, California, Florida and Illinois).

Several shows have already sold out  individual performances including: The Sounds of on Hanna Clapping (directed by Ana Gasteyer), I Love You, Petty & Favre, A Sagacious Hunch, and Kaboom! Other best-selling shows include:  Perez Hilton Saves the Universe, The Alice Complex, KNB- The Musical, be Brave Anna!, See How Beautiful I Am, Paper Dolls, The Grecian Formula, Nudists in Love, Hidden Fees, and The Permanent Night.

This year, 20 of New York City's most prominent downtown performance venues will host productions from around the globe as part of FringeNYC 2008. Participating venues, ranging in size from 50 to 700 seats, include Pace University's Schimmel Center & Schaberle Studio, Soho Playhouse, Theatre 80, The Deluxe at Spiegelworld, Cherry Lane Theatre,  Players Theater, The Connelly Theater, The Theatres at 45 Bleecker Street, Barrow Street Theatre and The CSV Cultural and Educational Center. FringeNYC is a production of The Present Company, under the leadership of Producing Artistic Director Elena K. Holy.  In November 2007, Michael Bloomberg presented FringeNYC with the prestigious Mayor's Award for Arts and Culture.

In 1997, New York City became the seventh US city to host a fringe festival, joining Seattle, Chicago, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Houston, Orlando and San Francisco.  In its first eleven years, FringeNYC has presented over 2000 performing groups from the U.K., Canada, Poland, Ireland, Japan, Singapore, Germany, the Czech Republic and across the U.S., prompting Switzerland's national daily, The New Zurich Zeitung, to declare, "FringeNYC has become the premiere meeting ground for alternative artists." The festival has also been the launching pad for numerous Off-Broadway and Broadway transfers, long-running downtown hits, and regional theater productions including Urinetown, Never Swim Alone, Debbie Does Dallas, Dog Sees God, 21 Dog Years, Joys of Sex, Dixie's Tupperware Party, Matt & Ben, Walmartopia,  Bash'd and Tom Crean: Antarctic Explorer.

Tickets are $15 each, available at www.fringenyc.org or  866-468-7619. Discount passes for multiple shows are also available. Tickets and additional information on the Festival are available in-person at FringeCENTRAL at Openhouse (201 Mulberry Street between Spring and Kenmare Streets) and is open from noon - 8pm daily. For more information visit www.FringeNYC.org.

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