An update from the T-dot

The Toronto Fringe is doing exceptionally well this year. Many shows are selling out or getting very full houses despite the muggy awkward heat that even air-conditioning can't beat. I saw "Patti Fedy in... Lover's Rock", a clown show, with my sister Carolyn yesterday. It served as our break between shopping at the Eaton's Centre and having dinner at a quaint Vietnamese restaurant on Bloor. I was amazed at the energy of this petite, adorable woman. She gave us her 110% even though it must have been over 40 degrees Celsius in that hell-hole of a theatre. She grabbed our attention, took us on a journey and I was thoroughly captivated by her character… even when I was so hot that the fan I was holding flew out of my hands because of the sweat factor.

I’ve been doing a lot of reading since I’ve been in Toronto… which is good considering how far behind I am on that front. The 30 minute subway journey into downtown just flies by thanks to my little black book on directing. That’s not what it’s called, but it’s what it looks like.

Hip-Hop 4 Dummeez is really going well. The only small-ish house we had was on a Monday at 6:30. Otherwise, we’ve had packed and enthusiastic houses. I’m even succeeding in selling merch in this city… and lots of it. Well, if you consider 5 CDs a night “lots”… which I do, compared to other cities. The Poor Alex Cabaret is a small theatre with an oddly shaped and sized stage. The lighting board looks like it’s from the 1950s, with knobs to turn that make clicking noises. We had two CD players… now we only have one that functions properly. Oh, and they’re not CD players. They are super-old DVD players… therefore there isn’t a “single cue” option on them, nor can I see what track I’m on unless I push the forward or backward buttons. The mics are semi-unreliable… the vocals are often accompanied by odd crackling sounds mid-way through the show. The sound levels also seem to be unpredictable. I have them pretty much at the same level each night, but sometimes they sound WAY louder or WAY softer than the previous night. All in all, I really shouldn’t complain. All this low-level tech equipment keeps me much busier during the show than usual… which makes the time fly by. And at least we have air conditioning!!!