The 2023 Milwaukee Fringe Festival Schedule is now available! Plan your Fringe Experience today.
Shows in the Todd Wehr Theater are ticketed events– individual show tickets and All Access Passes will be made available. All performances at the Peck Pavilion and surrounding outdoor areas are free to attend, including art, artisan, and food vendors.
*Schedule is subject to change*
FRIDAY, AUGUST 18th
Todd Wehr Theater
6:30pm Songs Without Words — Unaffiliated Group
A new solo play about the lives, times, and talents of sibling-composers Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn.
8:00pm Studio K Flamenco
Studio K Flamenco presents an evening of traditional dance showcasing the dynamic rhythmic elements of both Flamenco and Kathak.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 19th
Todd Wehr Theater
1:30pm Beautiful Ruins — Azucena Reyes | Katie Lindgren // Reconciliation — Goodesmith
Beautiful Ruins is a look into the journey and path one takes while leaving an abusive relationship and emerging from the beautiful ruins it creates.
Reconciliation is a musical duo Goodesmith perform four original songs (and one cover!) chronicling the spiritual deconstruction of a pious holy man.
3:00pm Orígenes — Ballet Folklorico Xanharati
Be part of an extraordinary journey through the colors and rhythms of Mexico… magical place that transcends for its traditions and customs, where life and death are celebrated. Walk hand in hand with the Ballet Folklorico Xanharati, that will take you to the depths of traditional music and dance through its program… Orígenes. “What comes from the heart, carries the nuance and warmth of its place of origins”.
5:00pm Valentine 9: poetry + love = song? — Valentine & Friends
This episode explores the number 9 – as a theme of fulfillment of a cycle. Featuring musicians, poets, and a few clowns. This year Valentine tries to conduct a DIY chamber orchestra…featuring original compositions by local artists. The music is balanced by poetry and reflective movement. Over the years, the Valentine collage series imagines what can happen on stage when local artists connect and collaborate during the summer. This year’s collaborators include the Valentine Orchestra with Josh Backes, Steve Peplin, Neil Davis, Axel Roman, Eli Piechocki, and others. And the poetry of Dash Kelly Hamilton among other local poets.
Special Thanks to Chris Stawski for sponsoring the show and Brian Rott for helping devise the theatre parts.
6:30pm REALIZATIONS — Catey Ott Dance Collective
Catey Ott Dance Collective and collaborating guest artists have joined forces in the creation of REALIZATIONS, an evening-length work that explores life’s journey by moving through and making connections with love, loss, and milestones, all while making commitments to self-realizations along the way.
8:00pm Chekhov: Half-Baked! — Angry Young Men w/ Boozy Bard
What happens when you combine Milwaukee’s Coolest Classic Lit Drinkin’ Party with Milwaukee’s Meisters of Gonzo Puppet Mayhem? A Beer-Fueled Voltron of Smartassery, that’s what!
Here’s what we’re gonna do – We’ll take the collected works of Chekov, throw them in a blender, season it with a pinch of Henson, a splatter of Romero, liberal heapings of every Anarchic Comedy Instinct we can pull out of our belabored Metaphorical Spice Rack, flip the switch to “Frappe” and let ‘er rip.
We’ll pour whatever congeals into The Hat. The Hat randomly assigns the roles to our band of Rude Mechanicals & Ruder Zombiteers, and we’re off to the races!
You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll buy a lot of beer. Not for the faint of heart, brain, liver, or humor.
Warning: This show may contain Course Language, Graphic Violence, Drug References, Casual Blasphemy, Sexual Situations, Corny Puns, Musical Numbers, Liberal Bellyaching & Obscure References.
Rated PG-13 for Puppet Gore & an adolescent sense of humor.
Peck Pavilion Stage
1:00pm MONARCH MIGRATIONS — DanceCircus
Ms Glacier of 150,000,000,000 Year BCE sambas down the memory lane of climate change with songs, poems and dances of the life and times of milkweed and its arch enemy–monarchs. Original performance developed by DanceCircus Director Betty Salamun flies into the myths, stories and epic migration of the endangered monarch butterfly and its primary food source milkweed.
2:00pm HOUR 22
Hour 22 is a 3 piece hard rock band from MKE. Greg Cooper lead sings and plays bass, Bruce Bowen plays guitar and background sings, John Dorsey plays drums. Hour 22 plays original songs with a mix of covers, but mostly originals. Music can be heard on Amazon Music and Apple Music.
3:00pm Let’s Party: Communication Style — WingSpan Dance // Will You Wait For Me? — Jaxy Emmel Dance Theatre
Let’s Party: Communication Style will be exploring communication styles at a party. There is always more going on than just music and social engagement. This dance will bring the underlying tones to the surface.
Will You Wait For Me? is an exploration of anticipation, mystery, and the overall agitation one feels while waiting for someone or something. Waiting (an essential part of life) although causes these heavy emotions it can also give way for deep reflection and spectation on past experiences. So how can we shift our mindsets to understanding that this inevitability can help us live more understanding lives rather than a negative connotation?
5:00pm CHICAGO 69 — Nineteen Thirteen
NINETEEN THIRTEEN is a cello and drum duo from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In NINETEEN THIRTEEN Janet Schiff performs on a 1913 Romanian cello, technology, amplification and Renee Bebeau performs on percussion for their chamber rock sound.
6:00pm Xposed 4heads
Fun, quirky original new wave synth pop musical performance that is out of this world.
Roving Artists
1:30pm Loosely Organized
A group of musicians from the Jazz Gallery Center for the Arts.
2:30pm Doc Plain Magic Show
Doc Plain has amazed audiences with his feats of prestidigitation at Milwaukee’s Bastille Days, Green Bay’s Buskers Festival, Seattle’s Pike Place, as well fairs and festivals across the country. His family friendly show is suitable for all ages. Make sure to see his performance of “The World’s Most Dangerous Card Trick!”
4:30pm Zach Allen
5:30pm What’s the 414? — Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s Summer Youth Ensemble
Collaboratively devised by Milwaukee Rep’s 2023 Summer Youth Ensemble, What’s the 414? is an episodic short play that follows a traveling theatre troupe set to perform for Milwaukee, WI.
Tensions arise when they are disrupted by an unexpected member of the community who takes them on a journey to discover what truly lies behind the “414”. The play’s title references the Milwaukee area code, allegorical to the often ambivalent pride residents can experience for the mid-western city.
6:30pm Jonah Denae
A live music performance along with original poetry acapellas.