Friday 5th August 2011 by Will Langdale
A quick pick of what’s hot in the TicketTree.com office
Fringe benefits
It’s that time of year again – today the Edinburgh Fringe Festival kicks off, and the hundreds upon hundreds of shows by artists, comedians, actors and other theatre riff-raff finally open to the public. But what about those of us who don’t have the time or money for the yearly pilgrimage? With hotel prices often astronomically high, and each show typically raising thousands of pounds to run and accommodate everyone in it, the Fringe can be exciting and exhausting in equal amounts.
Luckily, a couple of intrepid ex-Edinburgh producers felt that enough was enough, and in 2004 decided to market a season of shows in Camden, London, as an alternative to Edinburgh. Camden Fringe Festival is now in its sixth year, and with attendance growing exponentially, it looks like it’s only going to get bigger and better. This year sees 18 venues hosting performances from August 1st-28th, so go take a look at their website and see if anything piques your interest.
The coolest part of Camden Fringe has to be, as reported by The Stage, that this year you don’t even need to travel to London to get your fringey fix. Camden Theatres’ website will be streaming performances from 15 minutes beforehand so you can watch it all live, or even download the show up to a month afterwards for £2.99 a pop. A couple of quid to watch some fantastic performances from the comfort of your own home? Bargain.
Gala benefits
Legendary Covent Garden-based theatre and showbiz shop Dress Circle, which was reported to be struggling back in May, is having a benefit gala on Sunday night (August 7th) which looks like it’s going to be absolutely fantastic. Dress Circle’s been running for a staggering 33 years now, and Aled Jones will host a show with some huge names from some of the West End’s top musicals, all at Her Majesty’s Theatre from 7.30pm. Click for tickets to Dress Circle's concert.
Coming soon, being for the benefit of you
Transferring to The Duke of York’s Theatre on October 10th is Backbeat, an adaptation of Ian Softley’s 1994 film about the birth of The Beatles. The play premiered at Glasgow’s Citizen’s Theatre last year, and features many of The Beatles’ earlier hits such as Twist & Shout and Money. We’ll have tickets on sale as soon as we can, so keep an eye on our News page, or subscribe to our RSS feed.
Deal of the week
The end of this month sees the opening of Rock of Ages, starring X-Factor winner Shayne Ward and TV presenter Justin Lee-Collins. To whet your collective appetites, we’re offering 5% off packages to all blog readers with the code ROCKBLOG! Just like every week, you have until next Friday to take advantage. Happy booking!