Tickets & Shows

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Why you love the Fringe.

Scheherazade .2

September 19th at 7:30pm

This exciting Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra concert features four living composers. Mason Bates’ Mothership is an energetic piece that imagines the orchestra as a mothership, “docked” by visiting soloists. Einstein’s Dream by Cindy McTee reads like a diary, recording the dreams of Einstein as he worked on his theory of relativity. Reich’s Three Movement for Orchestra will engage audiences with its unexpected layout. This RPO program concludes with world-renowned violinist Leila Josefowicz in Adams’ Scheherazade.2, a piece written for her.

Length: 120 Minutes
Tickets: Required
Venue: Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre
Genre: Music

this is us trying: a collective

September 19th at 7:30pm

This immersive dance work investigates our need to express the human experience. Utilizing different media to stimulate a more engaging experience makes collaboration the center focus of the work. From live comedy to abstract visual projection, "this is us trying" strives to dig closer to the root of what it means to experience life. Audience members will feel fully immersed in this physical work due to the inviting proximity of the gallery space.

Length: 60 Minutes
Tickets: Required
Venue: UUU Art Collective
Genre: Multidisciplinary

This Year's Models

September 19th at 7:30pm

The freshest comedy show at Fringe! Comedian and broadcaster Woody Battaglia curates and hosts a hilarious showcase featuring the best of Rochester’s up-and-coming comedy talent. Each night spotlights a different group of funny folks guaranteed to keep the laughs coming. Don’t miss your chance to catch these talented newcomers. See one, then come back for more!

Length: 55 Minutes
Tickets: Required
Venue: School of the Arts: Club SOTA
Genre: Comedy

The Big Sick

September 19th at 7:45pm

Academy Award Nominee for Best Original Screenplay and Winner of the SXSW Film Festival Audience Award. Based on a true story, Pakistani-American comedian Kumail Nanjiani (playing himself) and white grad student Emily Gardner (Zoe Kazan) fall in love, but struggle as their cultures clash. When Emily contracts a serious mystery illness, Kumail finds himself forced to face her feisty parents, his disapproving family, and his true feelings. Written by Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon.

Length: 119 Minutes
Tickets: Not Required
Venue: Spiegelgarden
Genre: Visual Arts & Film

Elegant Belly Dance: Celebrating American Cabaret

September 19th at 7:45pm

BEAUTIFUL! ENERGETIC! PLAYFUL! This family-friendly belly dance show features fast-paced finger cymbals, flowing veils and impressive balancing acts. Dancers will delight audiences of all ages as they present a show in the classic style of American belly dance that flourished in Middle Eastern restaurants in the 1960s and 70s. Join us as we travel across time and cultures to celebrate "Elegant Belly Dance!"

Length: 50 Minutes
Tickets: Required
Venue: The Avyarium
Genre: Dance

Good Joke/Bad Joke Bingo

September 19th at 8:00pm

Returning to Rochester Fringe! Random bingo numbers determine which joke or story NYC's Shawn Wickens tells. Some are great. Some are not. The audience plays along on bingo cards to win PRIZES. Some are great. Some are not.

Length: 60 Minutes
Tickets: Required
Venue: Lyric Theatre: Main Stage
Genre: Comedy

Bushwhacked Backyard BONFIRE

September 19th at 8:30pm

Back by popular demand, those madcap ladies of Bushwhacked have brushed off their hats, aired out the tent, and gone back to their roots. Join them to give summer the send-off it deserves with a night of campfire revelry under the moonlit sky. With your sassy input, this show will surely be filled with laughter, ridiculous bonding activities, and "s'more". Nothing says Fringe like open flames and two irresponsible improvisers!

Length: 60 Minutes
Tickets: Required
Venue: Spiegelgarden
Genre: Comedy

Charming Disaster: A Musical Tarot Reading

September 19th at 8:30pm

Playfully macabre musical duo Charming Disaster (Brooklyn’s Ellia Bisker and Jeff Morris) perform an interactive musical tarot reading, with audience members selecting cards that not only determine the set list but also predict the future. Featuring original songs inspired by death, crime, folklore, fairy tales, ancient mythology and the occult, performed with ukulele, guitar, vocal harmonies, virtuosic foot percussion and theatrical flair. “Gothic tongue and cheek narratives ... comparable to something Tim Burton and Danny Elfman would have dreamed up." (CITY Newspaper)

Length: 60 Minutes
Tickets: Required
Venue: Nox
Genre: Music

The Phil Shakespeare Show

September 19th at 8:30pm

Will Shakespeare's cousin Phil has escaped plague-filled London and descended upon your town with his particular brand of Jacobean silliness. There will be acting! There will be puppetry! There will be music! There may even be entertainment! (No promises, though.)

Length: 50 Minutes
Tickets: Required
Venue: MuCCC
Genre: Comedy

Brave Space

September 19th at 9:00pm

"Brave Space" is the building of a blanket fort, sneaking under a hoop skirt, an impulsive congregation in the tiniest of tents. Together with an all-female cast of bold acrobats, we will build a better world – if only for a few shared moments. Starting as a puddle of fabric on the floor, "Brave Space" grows to envelop us in a world that includes awe-inspiring feats of balance, strength and ultimate trust between artist and audience.

Length: 60 Minutes
Tickets: Required
Venue: School of the Arts: Gym
Genre: Multidisciplinary

Crazy for Dick Tricks: A Dirk Darrow Investigation

September 19th at 9:00pm

It’s an all-new Dirk Darrow investigation, from the creator of “2 Ruby Knockers, 1 Jaded Dick," WINNER of 14 fringe festival awards! “A side-splitter, rip snorter, rapid fire hipster that had the sold-out Geva crowd digging his jive.” (CITY Newspaper) " ★★★★★." (Australian Stage, Vancouver Sun) Help this hilarious psychic detective as he hunts down a murderer in a 1930’s mental hospital, interrogating the colorful new characters trapped inside along the way. 5 different characters, 5 mind-blowing magic tricks!

Length: 60 Minutes
Tickets: Required
Venue: Geva Theatre Center: Fielding Stage
Genre: Comedy

Delirium

September 19th at 9:00pm

World-traveling storyteller Martin Dockery spins a wild, hilarious and ridiculous true story about love and death. And monarch butterflies! You’ll bust a gut one moment and secretly grab for a tissue the next. “5 STARS: Renowned as one of the finest storytellers on the circuit, Dockery is a verbal magician.” (NOW Magazine, Toronto) “Best storyteller in the U.S.” (Orlando Sentinel) “Shout-it-from-the-rooftop acclaim for 'Delirium.' Sophisticated humor and a strong emotional punch.” (Fresno Bee)

Length: 70 Minutes
Tickets: Required
Venue: School of the Arts: Club SOTA
Genre: Comedy

Frogpig

September 19th at 9:00pm

His father is a frog. His mother is a pig. He was confused, abused and destined for stardom. From New York to LA and back, the cultural phenomenon we have all come to know and love finally steps forward to tell his story. In song, naturally. Imagine Liza Minnelli in "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" on "Avenue Q." It's the most sensational, inspirational, celebrational love letter to cabaret divas! This is "Frogpig."

Length: 60 Minutes
Tickets: Required
Venue: School of the Arts: Ensemble Theatre
Genre: Theatre

Josephine, a burlesque cabaret dream play

September 19th at 9:00pm

The critically acclaimed off-Broadway show based on the life of Josephine Baker returns! This six-time "Best of Fest" winner is a one-woman biographical musical that combines cabaret, theatre and dance to tell the story of the iconic Josephine Baker, the first African-American international superstar and one of the most remarkable figures of the 20th Century. "It’s is a perfect piece of theatre for the time we are currently in." ★★★★★ (Plays To See NYC) "riveting ... a beautiful celebration" (CITY Newspaper)

Length: 75 Minutes
Tickets: Required
Venue: School of the Arts: Allen Main Stage Theatre
Genre: Theatre

Let the Chips Fall: Improvised Stand-Up

September 19th at 9:00pm

Stand-up comedy off the cuff! Can Rochester’s best comedians be just as funny if they’re unprepared? Let’s find out! With improvised stand-up, audience members text in topics. These stand-up comedians must then – on the fly – improvise comedy inspired by YOUR submitted topics. We never know what’s going to be said, until it’s too late. Presented by Hilary Bluestein-Lyons and Chris Thompson.

Length: 60 Minutes
Tickets: Required
Venue: Blackfriars Theatre
Genre: Comedy

Ripple

September 19th at 9:00pm

A collaboration between the creator of "The Immersive Igloo" and Rochester Dance Theatre, "Ripple" is an exploration into the expressive and innovative combination of art and technology that merges the movement of sound and light with the movement of bodies. For this intimate performance, eight speakers are positioned in a circle, producing a 3D soundscape. Columns of light standing between each seat flow and emote with the music and dance to create a dream-like exploration of cause and effect.

Length: 60 Minutes
Tickets: Required
Venue: Rochester Dance Theatre
Genre: Dance

Tiramisu

September 19th at 9:00pm

After a completely sold-out run at the 2016 and 2017 Rochester Fringes, Michael Burgos returns with his second show, "Tiramisu." Several years after their relationship ends, Tony – a washed-up American musician – realizes that Teresa – an Italian pastry chef –was the one who got away. Not knowing what else to do, Tony writes a musical about tiramisu and tours it globally, in the hopes that Teresa will see the show and fall in love with him again.

Length: 60 Minutes
Tickets: Required
Venue: Writers & Books
Genre: Theatre

Shotspeare

September 19th at 9:15pm

The sell-out hit returns! Five sword wielding actors, one lucky audience member, a ton of booze, the Wheel of Soliloquy, and an entire work of Shakespeare – all in 90 minutes. Equal parts bacchanal and classical theater, Shotspeare’s adaptation of MACBETH takes the world's most beloved playwright, soaks him in beer, and flips him on his head. You may know the Bard, but you’ve never experienced him like THIS, Rochester!

Length: 90 Minutes
Tickets: Required
Venue: Spiegeltent
Genre: Comedy

The Memory Palace On-Site Listening Experience at High Falls

September 20th at 11:30am

Master storyteller Nate DiMeo creates a specially commissioned episode of the popular history podcast The Memory Palace, transporting the listener to an event of local lore at High Falls. Using wireless headphones available on-site, audience members can experience the 10-minute podcast while in the story’s exact location, beginning on the hour and half-hour. Following Fringe, it will be released and available for download from anywhere in the world.

Length: 30 Minutes
Tickets: Not Required
Venue: High Falls
Genre: Spoken Word

The Memory Palace On-Site Listening Experience at High Falls

September 20th at 12:00pm

Master storyteller Nate DiMeo creates a specially commissioned episode of the popular history podcast The Memory Palace, transporting the listener to an event of local lore at High Falls. Using wireless headphones available on-site, audience members can experience the 10-minute podcast while in the story’s exact location, beginning on the hour and half-hour. Following Fringe, it will be released and available for download from anywhere in the world.

Length: 30 Minutes
Tickets: Not Required
Venue: High Falls
Genre: Spoken Word

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Dates

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Genres

Comedy
Dance
Kids Fringe
Multidisciplinary
Music
Spoken Word
Theatre
Visual Arts & Film

Accessibility

ASL Interpreted
Closed Captioned

Free Shows

Only Free Shows

Ages

All Ages
5 and Over
13 and Over
18 and Over
Mature Audiences
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