#418 – Laura Paduch & Rachel Kennedy

This week on Stageworthy, host Phil Rickaby welcomes Rachel Kennedy and Laura Paduch, the co-leads of the Toronto Fringe Festival. With the 2024 edition just days away, Rachel and Laura share insights into what makes this year’s festival unique, including the exciting new partnership with Soulpepper Theatre, the return of beloved venues, and the community-building magic that Fringe fosters year after year. They also reflect on their personal journeys with Fringe, the evolution of self-producing in theatre, and the vital role that Fringe plays in launching careers.

This episode explores:

• What a Fringe Festival is and how the Toronto Fringe operates
• The 2024 move to a central hub at Soulpepper in the Distillery District
• The return and growth of unconventional venues across the city
• The evolution and merging of the Next Stage Festival into Fringe
• Peer mentorship and producer pods supporting first-time creators
• Why Fringe is vital for risk-taking, experimentation, and community-building

Guests: 🎭 Rachel Kennedy – Executive Director, Toronto Fringe Rachel Kennedy (she/they) is the Executive Director & Co-Lead at the Toronto Fringe Festival. For the last decade, they have had the pleasure of supporting local indie theatre and dance productions as a producer, director and stage manager and arts administrator. Rachel’s love for the arts centres around a passion for advocacy, equity, and bringing communities together through storytelling. Thanks to wonderful collaborators throughout her career, Rachel has learned much about the unique needs of Toronto’s artists and how essential their impact is across the City and beyond. Rachel is thrilled to serve the Toronto Fringe community and can't wait for this summer's Festival (join us July 2-13th!).

🎭 Laura Paduch – Managing Director, Toronto Fringe Laura Paduch (she/her) is the Managing Director & Co-Lead of the Toronto Fringe Festival, a mid-size arts organization that has been a platform for independent performing arts for over 35 years. She is a producer, arts administrator, and advocate, and has had the privilege of serving the Toronto Fringe Festival community since 2018.  Before that, Laura was the General Manager of fu-GEN Theatre Company, and ARC, where she advanced the inaugural joint management initiative. Laura's additional professional experience has included extensive stage and production management, event production, theatre producing, and performance creation. The Toronto Fringe offers a community conduit that enables her to champion mentorship and resource sharing, and re-casting new norms and standards for arts sector workplace practices. She has sat on the TAPA Advocacy Committee, is on the ArtsVote Steering Committee, and the board of directors of the Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals.

Connect with Toronto Fringe: 📸 Instagram: @toronto_fringe 🌐 Website: fringetoronto.com

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