FringeArts Kicks Off Today: A Recommendation Roundup

The festival formerly known as the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival/Philly Fringe, now thankfully just “FringeArts,” kicks off today with a blaze of stellar local talent. The whole shebang wraps up Sept. 22, so you’ve got plenty of time to take in some premium local arts performance. If one were to miss it, one would undoubtedly be considered a chump.

So, dear readers, that’s why we’re here with all the FringeArts info you all need to avoid abject chump-dom.

Right here on The Philly Post, my artsy colleague Victor Fiorillo has put together a list of 10 can’t-miss performers at this year’s event. His top picks? Martha Stuckey in Pig Iron Theatre Company’s Pay Up, who plays opposite Martha Graham Cracker (aka Dito van Reigersberg), and Gunnar Montana, the up-and-coming local LGBT star starring in Basement, a serial killered-out version of a real-life breakup. (And check Victor’s picks for family-friendly shows.)

As LGBT goes, G-Philly of course has it covered. Check out their Complete Gay Guide to FringeArts starting now, with gay-centric recommendations running the gamut from uproarious comedy in the R.L. Stein spoof Paperback Dreadful to the smoky drama of Tennessee Williams’ And Tell Sad Stories of the Deaths of Queens. Make no mistake, though: gay or straight, these are shows to see.

But, then, if you asked FringeArts founder Nick Stuccio, he’d likely tell you all of them are.