2010 Minnesota Fringe website maps out mini-universe of 169 shows

By Quinton Skinner Mon., Jul. 12 2010 at 8:00 AM

Categories: Theater

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In the jaws of comedy: "Fartosaurus Rex" at the 2010 Minnesota Fringe

The Minnesota Fringe Festival will be upon us before we know it (August 5 is go-day), and already the official website is up and loaded. And it is very, very good--take it from someone who has logged an inordinate number of hours over the years navigating the Fringe site. It's not that the site is previous years has been lacking, but this year there are all sorts of nifty functions you can use for selecting your itinerary (a task which, every summer, I am obligated to declare the equivalent of planning an invasion of Russia).

The shows page is fiendishly well organized. You can peruse a list of all shows, or search by genre (Sci-fi mystery or Clowning/mime, anyone?). You can search by subjects such as Multicultural or Political, or by venue (the Jungle is back, and Theatre in the Round is a destination this year). You can also view all titles, companies, and cast members as single pages.

There's ample info about Fringe Central at Bedlam, a flexible scheduling tool, and friendly online ticketing. With 169 shows to choose from this year, the Fringe website is impressive, and helpful. And if none of this makes any sense to you at all, start here.

Here at CP, we're beginning to marshal our ace team of writers (under my wise and stalwart leadership, naturally), and plan to descend on the Fringe opening weekend and offer up our annual package of reviews and various goodies the following Wednesday. Better start planning now--good judgment gets thrown to the wind during the Fringe, which is part of what makes it a highlight of the year.