I left Missoula at 7 a.m. on Friday to begin my journey to the 2016 Hollywood Fringe Festival. After fuel stops in Dillon, Montana and Plymouth, Utah, I ran into bumper-to-bumper traffic outside Ogden, Utah due to construction and a small brush fire. I finally arrived in Salt Lake City about 3:30, where I met up with my old Riverside Community Theatre partner-in-crime, Erin Michael Finney. He moved to SLC about 12 years ago, and we had not seen each other since. We headed out for the Natural History Museum where he gave me a private tour of the amazing paleontology exhibits. Afterwards, we headed over to the Sugar House section of town, where we had dinner at the Salt Lake Pizza and Pasta restaurant. After a too short visit, I was back on the road towards Vegas around 7 p.m.
I arrived in Vegas just before midnight local time (having crossed over to Pacific time) where I was supposed to spend the night with a friend. Unfortunately, our wires got crossed and the promise of a bed and some sleep failed to materialize. I spent about an hour on Fremont Street, where I listened to the music of Spandex Nation (an 80’s hair band tribute act) and gambled a bit at the Golden Gate Casino. With nowhere to stay for the night, I decided to just keep on driving, and got out of Vegas just before a massive rainstorm hit.
Having already driven more than 13 hours, I only made it as far as Baker, California before having to pull over and catch a couple hours of sleep. I woke up about 5:30 a.m. on Saturday, just as the dawn was breaking.
My journey continued and I arrived at my AirBnB location in Burbank about 8 a.m. My hostess, Sun, could not have been nicer. I settled in for a few more hours sleep before making my way to my first day of the Fringe.
The Fringe is headquartered this year at the Dragonfly, a long-time musical venue located on Santa Monica Boulevard. Since they did not open until 2 p.m. on the weekend, I stopped and chatted with several of my old fringeships (fringe friendships), include Monica Miklas at the Complex and Matt Quinn of Combined Artform aka Asylum.
Finally, 2 p.m. arrived and I headed over to Fringe Central to check in and receive my press credentials. I had a wonderful chat with my old friend Ben Hill, the Executive Director of the Fringe, as well as with Lois, one of the bartenders at Bryan’s Bar, located within the venue. Having secured my credentials, it was time to start Fringing. Follow what happens next in my next post.