The New York International Fringe Festival (FringeNYC) kicks off its 20th anniversary August 12. The festival, running through August 28, offers nearly 1,000 performances by 194 dance and theatre companies from around the world.
Fringe shows are performed in 16 venues in Lower Manhattan, featuring drama, comedy, dance, performance art, musical theatre, children’s theatre, puppetry and multimedia. Attendance at last year’s festival topped 75,000 people—making it New York’s fifth largest event after the New York International Auto Show, Tribeca Film Festival, the Marathon, and Comic Con.
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FringeNYC has been the launching pad for numerous Off-Broadway and Broadway transfers, and regional theatre productions, including Urinetown, Matt & Ben, Debbie Does Dallas, Dog Sees God, Brandon Teena, Dixie’s Tupperware Party, The Irish Curse, Jurassic Parq and Silence! The Musical. Festival alumni include Bradley Cooper, Melissa Rauch, Morgan Spurlock, Mindy Kaling, Tony Award winner Diane Paulus, Leigh Silverman, W. Kamau Bell, Michael Urie, David Anders and Kristen Schall.
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For the 2016 FringeNYC line-up and to purchase tickets, visit fringenyc.org.