Up at the Beer Tent last night, the Frankie Nominations were up. So is the press release up at the Fringe website? If not, then fifteen years of internet strategy hasn't gone anywhere. Internet doctrine since 1996 is that press releases should be released to all, it's an easy way of providing informationg (since it's already done) and you don't know what someone might do with it.
The list is odd, since it was up at the Beer Tent while the first Piss in the Pool show was going on, yet the show was on the list, twice. How can you nominate something before you've seen it? Also, the 303 prize has tended to be about a specific piece rather than show, so listing Wants & Needs is premature.
Tantalizing too is that suddenly out of town shows are on the 303 prize list. The specifics have always been vague, but in the past it's been about local shows, so if that's changed, we should see details (or someone like me questioning the change). It was also oddly about "up and coming" (I forget the exact wording); "oddly" because so many of the dance shows have either been at Studio 303 or come through there in some way, so the prize is a return rather than a step up. How can an out of town act justify coming back to do a show at Studio 303, where fewer people will see it than at the Fringe? Tangente isn't that much bigger.
One year, when Studio 303 was having some problems, Tangente stepped in, and that too was a vague prize. It seemed to be about all the dance acts, or maybe even just the out of town acts, and then when the winner was announced, the prize had morphed and the winners (there was a runner up) were local acts. That likely had to do with logistics/cost, getting someone here, the cost of travel and even getting together the participants, is likely too high for many.
Another thing to consider. Once upon a time, the Fringe did issue a list of the Top Ten shows that were selling well. I even copied the list once or twice and posted it to the internet. The Fringe was all set to put the list on their webpage about 2000, but never did. CAM was acting up that week, so I think the list got lost to flakey access. And then the Top Ten list disappeared.
Do we want a return to those days? Showing the nominees, especially this early, is tantamount to saying "go see these shows, the others aren't worth it". "Festival of Discovery", like "community", is not a cute marketing phrase, it's an action. What's to discover when the various juries for the prizes have now announced what they consider the important shows?
At least the Top Ten list had the value of showing what shows might be sold out, so if you wanted to see them, you'd need to get to the venue early.
