On the final evening at Orlando Fringe the outdoor stage is set up for the Fabby awards which honor the best shows of the year. A live band opened the festivities but the volume was so loud that no one sat inside the tent. Most people kept their distance scattered across the fringe lawn. The top selling show at the fringe was Animatronicans: Under New Management. I had an opportunity to sketch that show but was pulled away on another assignment. I bumped into one member of the cast, Janine Klein, that I had sketched before and she said that any Disney themed show always tends to sell hard. Every show in the run was sold out.
The critics choice awards are highly anticipated. With 75 awards being presented it seemed like there was an award for just about any show. Actually I take that back, there are over 200 shows which makes it impossible for any one critic to see every show over the 14 days of Fringe. Word of mouth and the Fringe Buzz however clearly swing towards favorites. The award for the best show went to Dandy Darkly’s All Aboard! He was beside himself going up to accept the award and some Fringe artists on the lawn like Paul Strickland were just as excited for him. It is that kind of enthusiasm of artists supporting each other that I find heart warming.