Taken from Facebook, local public radio personality, and author of Any Cool Music? has written a blog post on Facebook about several Fringe shows that "require no introduction".

Update: Elizabeth Maupin has launched an independent Orlando theatre blog.

After almost 26 years on the staff of the Orlando Sentinel, Elizabeth Maupin has been writing and creating community togetherness. For my part in this game, I'd like to congratulate her and wish her the best.

Above: Maupin with Boris the Robot at the Orlando Fringe. Boris is a retired robot. As of this post, Maupin is a retired Journalist.

Viual Fringe has already sold 12 pieces! Congrats to all the artists who were so awesome that someone bought their work so fast! There are 156 pieces in Visual Fringe this year, so take some time to check out all the unjuried art at the 2009 festival.

Back in April, a bunch of local theatre folks got together to have dinner and meet up. Tonight was the second installment in what seems to be a 3-or-4-times-a-year event, held in local theatre spaces. The April 6th pot-luck was hosted by Mad Cow Theatre downtown, and today’s was held in the lobby of the Orlando REP.

From the Wikipedia page on Potluck:

Folk etymology has derived the term “potluck” from the Native American custom of potlatch; the word “potluck”, however, is actually of English origin. It is a portmanteau word formed from (cooking) pot and lucke. The earliest written citation is from 1592: “That that pure sanguine complexion of yours may never be famisht with pot lucke,” Thomas Nashe. As this shows, the original meaning was “food given away to guests”, probably derived from “whatever food one is lucky enough to find in the pot”, i.e. whatever food happens to be available, especially when offered to a guest. By extension, a more general meaning is “whatever is available in a particular circumstance or at a particular time.”

Potlatch is actually a good custom from which to derive this kind of dinner - the potlatch is often celebrated at special events, like births, celebrations of the harvest, and weddings. It is a show of wealth and prosperity, where the person holding the potlatch holds a feast, and trades some prized commodity for things they might need.

The tech community’s BarCamp and the PR and Media community’s BlogOrlando could be seen as a kind of potlatch - we’re trading ideas and experience.

The idea for the Theatre Pot-Luck was originally spawned by local actor John Baker via Elizabeth Maupin’s Orlando Sentinel theatre blog, which is also the best place see announcements for other upcoming events. The Orlando Arts Blog is another good place to check. Apparently, the Orlando Shakes has volunteered to hold the next one in a few months. Right now there is no organizer, it just sort of happens as someone steps up to offer space - which is, in my opinion, as it should be.