By Taras Berezowsky
Tommy Nugent is one of a handful of Michiganders who is performing at the 2009 Windsor International Fringe Festival. Photo: The Torii Institute
Never has it been easier for a Michigan-based performer to earn the treasured label of "international artist" than for a week this July. The proximity of our Canadian sister city gives Detroit-area actors, artists and musicians the chance to showcase their talents in the 2nd annual Windsor International Fringe Festival, taking place throughout the city center, with only a bridge crossing, tunnel trip or swim standing in their way.
Various Michiganders will mingle with Windsor's arts-loving audiences, including Danny Marderosian and the Fiddle and Friends Band, and noted stunt comedian Brett Copes. But none are stranger – and therefore more fascinating – than Tommy Nugent. A self-professed preacher-turned-gambler-turned-law school dropout-turned-magician-turned-motivational speaker-turned-Fringe artist, Nugent brings his solo opus "Burning Man and The Reverend Nuge" to the Joy Family Theatre for six shows beginning July 17.
"In the late 90s, I wanted to travel the country and live only on tips I would make while busking as a street magician," Nugent recalls. "I would collect people's stories of magical moments in their lives."
Part of his scheduled travels took him to Burning Man, a yearly event in the Nevada desert, of which he had only read about in a short story. Upon reveling in what he describes as "part Woodstock, part rave, part Mad Max movie" with 30,000 other open-minded people, Nugent knew his experience was excellent fodder for a solo performance.
Recently returned from the London Fringe Festival in southern Ontario, Nugent is happy to share his work in Windsor. He ran a youth ministry in Detroit after college, and continues to book motivational speaking tours at area schools, but has not fully exposed his theater work to local audiences.
"It's a constant struggle to be away from your family when you're Fringing," Nugent mentions, employing the increasingly popular gerund form of the term to describe working on the festival circuit. "So I'm thrilled to just pop back and forth across the river, even though I'm on the Canadian search list." (He brought pepper spray across the border five years ago, and remains on the Border Patrol's computer system to this day.)
Thanks to Section 105G of the Canadian government's Immigration Act, it is now easier to allow Michigan artists to work across the border without a visa, according to Mona el Baroudi, the artistic director of the Actors Theatre of Windsor, the producing organization of the Fringe. In only its second year, the festival has exceeded its expectations for ticket sales.
"Windsor's received much more attention in the past few years, especially in a cultural point of view," el Baroudi says.
Certain Canadian government grants, a major source of funding for the festival, stipulate the need to benefit mostly local artists. Indeed, el Baroudi intimates that the Michigan actors, directors, costume designers and producers involved in this year's Fringe are a testament to a very strong artistic cross-border relationship.
"You still have to be mindful that you're entering another country and another culture," Nugent says. "But I'm sure the audience response will be positive."
'2009 Windsor International Fringe'
The Fringe features 176 performances in five venues over 10 days amidst a series of outdoor arts & family events at multiple venues throughout downtown Windsor, Ontario. July 17-26. $9-$10 per performance. 1-877-446-4500. http://www.windsorfringe.com
