Arts & Life

The words of Black Lives Matter has shared the stage with many of the shows at the ninth annual KeyBank Rochester Fringe Festival. People should be allowed to live freely, rather than be players in a larger game, dancer Jason Nious said in the first edition of FringeTalk. “We should be allowed to just exist. And still matter.” 

Twenty-four hours later, in a similar FringeTalk forum for comics, former “Saturday Night Live” cast member and writer Tim Meadows said, “This country is in a weird place, people don’t trust each other, people are afraid of each other.”

This is the season for slapstick, the motorcycle globe of death and slurred soliloquies. The KeyBank Rochester Fringe Festival unveils one of its marquee shows, “Cirque du Fringe: Quarantini,” previewed here along with its Shakespearean sideshow, “Shotspeare.” Plus, we have reviews of “Milkdrunk,” “The Nightmare” and “A Spy in the House of Men.”

You’ll find the complete schedule and ticket information at rochesterfringe.com.

Quarantinis and Shakespearean shots in the summer of coronavirus

It’s Day Three of the ninth KeyBank Rochester Fringe Festival continues online, due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

You’ll find the Fringe schedule and ticket information at rochesterfringe.com.

The ghosts of Memory Palace

In a brief 10 minutes, Nate DiMeo pulls together a century and a half of history, making the connection between Frederick Douglass and Daniel Prude. And confirming the old adage, once again, that “past is prologue.”

It’s Day Two of the ninth KeyBank Rochester Fringe Festival. And due to the coronavirus pandemic, it’s entirely online. 

Of the arts, dance has been hit hard. All of that heavy breathing and tossing of fellow dancers. COVID-19 and social distancing forced Garth Fagan Dance to bring an early end to this season, which was to be a celebration of Fagan’s 50th year in the Rochester area.

But Rochester’s BIODANCE has embraced the virtual performance. There was no other choice. Read on for more on that, as well as a look at a few shows from Day One of Rochester Fringe.

It’s opening day of the ninth KeyBank Rochester Fringe Festival. But after eight years of growth -- more than 100,000 people attended last year’s event -- the coronavirus pandemic dictates that this one will be presented entirely online. 

Coming up over the next two days are shows with smart people fretting over the future, lost legends and film critics who drink too much. Or maybe not enough. 

You’ll find the Fringe schedule and ticket information at rochesterfringe.com.

Sally Louise originally moved to Rochester to study at the Eastman School of Music, but as the spring term wound down and the COVID-19 pandemic ramped up, she decided it was time for a change.

The classically trained soprano is now a full time singer/songwriter, and her single "Bodily Exile" is now available on digital platforms.

One year ago, the giant fantasy undersea visions of Plasticiens Volants’ French inflatables bobbed and weaved in the crisp fall air over the heads of thousands of people on Rochester’s Parcel 5. London’s Massaoke karaoke singalong of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” echoed off the sides of downtown buildings. 

Big-name comedians, mainly at Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre, have been a major part of the KeyBank Rochester Fringe Festival though its first eight years. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, that kind of show is not in the plans this year when the event opens next week.