July 1, 2024

It is now only a couple weeks until the 2024 Winnipeg Fringe starts up, and things are starting to ramp up. We will be in the process of preparing the Jenny website for the upcoming Fringe, so things may occasionally look out of place. The online program guide is already up over at WinnipegFringe.com so you can start planning your Fringe experience. We will be creating our own online program in the coming weeks.

In Memorium—Earlier this year we learned of the passing of two of the Jenny’s founders, Coral McKendrick and Stephen Eric McIntyre. Coral was the long-time Editor of the Jenny and was often seen in her straw hat at a table in or outside of the King’s Head Pub collecting and collating reviews and composing her Editorial columns. Steve was a huge force in the Winnipeg Theatre scene, and in addition to co-founding the Jenny Revue also started the city’s Improv scene. Additionally, last year we also lost Erik de Waal very suddenly not long after the Winnipeg Fringe. He was a great friend to the Jenny and his storytelling performances and kid’s shows were legendary. We will miss them all and offer condolences to their families and friends.

What is Going on Here?—You really have to ask? OK, here we go, The Jenny Revue is an independent place for everyone to share their Winnipeg Fringe experience. While the Jenny will mostly be an E-Jenny, we do plan on releasing a number of “Best of the Jenny” print issues. That means we are not constrained to the limited space of the print version and we will also be able to have the reviews/ssps/letters on the site in a more timely fashion. Once the Fringe is up and running, while we do have an excellent little herd of Jenny Staff that help fill our web pages with reviews, we want to hear from you. You can contact us via email at jennyrevue@gmail.com. Please follow us on X/Twitter @jennyrevue, Instagram jennyrevue, and/or Facebook for updates on when the site is updated and other Fringe news.

Are you performing in a Fringe Show?— Welcome to our lovely festival. Please send us your Shameless Self Promotions (see below for an explanation) before the Fringe to try and convince the Fringe-going public to see your shows.

FAQ—The key parts of the Jenny are the following:

• Reviews—We do a few things differently at the Jenny, one of the biggest differences is we do not use a star or number rating system. Yes that means you actually have to read a review to see what the person reviewing the show thought about it. We have always done it this way, and think that it is a better way to do things. We accept reviews from anyone, with only one condition: You must provide your real name, and some form of contact info (so you can be reached in case we need clarification). Not all the reviews we receive may get published but in general as long as the review was well written it will be published on the website.
• Shameless Self-Promotion—If you are in a Fringe play and haven’t shamelessly promoted your show, put together 80 words (or less)—different from your program blurb—and send them to us. Clearly mark them as SSPs since it’s difficult to tell the difference between an unqualified rave by a satisfied patron, and a bombastic bit of self-promotion by a company scribe.
• Letters—Got an opinion on something at the Fringe? It is always better to get it off your chest. Send us your thoughts with your name and contact info and if it catches our eye we’ll spread the word.
• News—We are always looking for interesting or wacky things that have happened during the Fringe. If you have a tale to tell, let us know.

Last, but certainly not least are the Jenny Awards. This is our end of Festival party that will be held Sunday July 28th. The Jenny’s will be back for our third year at Across the Board Game Cafe a fully accessible licensed venue at 211 Bannatyne Avenue.

See you at the Fringe!

Murray Hunter

Correction—In my original version of this article in the “In Memorium” section I had misremembered that Steve was in a performance of the Raven. While Steve was in a lot of shows, apparently that was not one of them. It was from 2002 and was actually performed by George Falconer. Thanks to Kevin Campbell for the correction.