Remember that time I was in the Fringe?

I can't believe Fringe ended over a week ago. Between seeing 13 shows, performing in 7 of my own and spending a whole lot of time frolicking in the sunshine and mingling in the beer tent, I was one busy gal. While I may not have been posting on my blog, I was popping up in various places on the internet, including a piece on Fringe on Photojunkie's blog

and my beautiful & creative friend Stefne’s tumblr

(unrelated -- I've been reading lots of fashionista blogs lately and I want to add a weekly outfit post to my blog. Stay tuned!)

I feel so lucky to have seen some pretty fantastic shows and performances. Standouts included Kim's Convenience, Tiki Bikini Beach Paradise Party-a-go-go, 5th Element, Mickey & Judy, Ellamentary, Infinitum and Hypnogogic Logic. I saw 3 shows on both Fridays and managed to squeeze the others in amid the craziness. Between 2 performer passes, some advance purchases and some comps, I was a very happy theatre-goer. It was really amazing to see so much talent and ended up feeling very inspired by the fantastic work around me. If you missed Fringe or didn’t get to see all the shows you wanted, The Best of Fringe Uptown is happening until August 5th.

Cellar Hotel went well. We had a sold out show on the first Saturday and a nearly sold out house for closing. I received some sweet compliments on my performance and it was an honour to be onstage with such a talented group of people.

But to be honest, I was really thankful when it was over.

Working 2 jobs and doing 2 shows was really taking a toll on me. I developed a cold just before opening and I just found myself exhausted. As per usual when I'm doing a show, I didn't have much time for myself or groceries or sleep or working out. It was really nice to get back to all of those things once the show had its final curtain call.

I'm now only working 2 jobs and rehearsing for ONE show.

From August 18-21 I'll be playing Rapunzel in Into the Woods. I would love for you to come out and see this show, it is absolutely one of my favourites. And playing Rapunzel means I basically stand in a tower and scream as a blonde for much of the show. Why would you want to miss that!? You can get tickets here.

Summer seems to be about seeing shows, which is totally fine by me. I was lucky enough to see Next to Normal last week as it opened at the Four Seasons. What an incredible show with some ridiculously talented performers. I knew a few tunes from the show and the basic plotline before going in, but had no idea how close to home it was really going to be. I did a lot of crying and was lucky enough to be sitting between two of my best friends. It runs until Saturday and I would highly recommend nabbing tickets if you can. I was also really thrilled to see Ashley in A Chorus Line out in Brampton, have been trying to map out some plans to catch some Summerworks shows and need to get to Stratford ASAP.

That should tide me over till I'm seeing Bernadette Peters onstage on August 25?

Oh yes, I'm back in New York City in less than a month. The squeals have already begun...

Coming up on the bloggy -- my final NYC post and some fun summertime frolicking! Also really excited to have a new digital camera (mine died in NYC), which means there will be some foodie goodness pictures coming up.

How is your summer? Did you Fringe? Have you seen any good shows of late?

Fringe 2011 - Join me at Cellar Hotel

Oh Toronto Fringe, I love you Last year was my first time doing Fringe and I had so much fun with my cast performing our show, promoting, mingling and networking in the beer tent and seeing lots of other great shows (11 in total!) This year I'm performing in Cellar Hotel with 20 other incredibly talented performers. Last night we had our final dress rehearsal and everyone was on their game, the energy was high and all that was missing was an audienceWe open on Thursday and have shows on the following dates at the Bathurst Street Theatre (736 Bathurst)

Thursday July 7, 8:45pm
Saturday July 9, 5:15pm
Monday July 11, 12:45pm
Tuesday July 12, 6:45pm
Wednesday July 13, 3:30pm
Thursday July 14, 5:15pm
Saturday July 16, 11:00pm

Tickets are $10 and can be purchased in advance on the Fringe site or by coming to the box office one hour before each showtime.

I'm being optimistic and aiming to beat last year's record by seeing 15 shows - yikes! Wanna see some shows (other than mine) but don't know where to start?

• Pick up a Fringe program or check out the website and read the descriptions for the shows. With 145 shows in the Fringe, there's bound to be something to interest everyone


• Check out Derrick Chua's list of recommendations. Derrick is a superstar at seeing pretty much every show in the Fringe and is a huge supporter of the Toronto theatre community


• Check out Now Magazine, BlogTO, Torontoist, Mooney on Theatre or some of the other local newspapers/websites for their picks and reviews


• Follow the #FringeTO hashtag on Twitter. It's been really awesome to see how much more engaged the theatre community has been this year and I'm sure it will just continue as more people see shows and check in along the way


• Take a risk and just see something! Fringe is meant to be an exciting, fun avenue for people to perform their work. Don't be like this grumpy-pants and start judging shows before you get there. You never know what you might miss if you take on that kind of bad attitude.

I'm going to try and blog about the shows that I see throughout the week and hopefully that will be of some assistance as well! And if you're hanging around the Fringe tent or catching a show, chances are I'll be somewhere in the vicinity so send me a message on Twitter (@ashleydtl) and let's hang out!