About the Fringe folks
New Orleans Fringe is a grassroots community effort and 501(c)3 non-profit.
Hundreds of people have put their ideas, resources, creativity and hard work into the Fringe, including volunteers, organizers, venue technicians, sponsors, local businesses, arts organizations and of course the performers. Here are just a few of the people who work behind the scenes:
Kristen Evans, Executive Director
Kristen has a passion for launching grassroots projects and convincing people to join the cause. She started her first business in Atlanta -- a graphic design and internet company -- and grew it within six years to a profitable company of 20 employees. She then joined the Peace Corps, where she helped indigenous people in the Bolivian Amazon start businesses to save their forests. In 2005, she moved to the Bywater in New Orleans to dedicate herself to theater production. In 2007 she co-founded the Backyard Ballroom on St. Claude Ave and in 2008 co-founded the New Orleans Fringe with Dennis Monn and Ben Moren. The New Orleans Fringe Festival is everything she loves doing: startups, theater and community development. She is involved in Festival business management, marketing, promotion, and dedicated to getting everyone – volunteers, performers, audience, community and press – crazy about the Festival.
Ben Moren, Volunteer Coordinator, Board President
Ben has been involved in grassroots arts initiatives for a several years, first as an organizer with the Women's Press Collective, a free press in Brooklyn. In 2004 he moved to New Orleans to continue his studies at the University of New Orleans and jumped into the theater scene. Since then he been involved in a number of productions as stage manager or performer, including Hot Dogs, Corncobs and Other Dirty Secrets, which traveled to the Minnesota Fringe Festival. He currently owns and manages the AllWays Lounge and the Marigny Theatre, which hosts avant-garde performances and music. Ben has been putting his organization, creative and writing skills to work in many ways -- planning and coordinating volunteers -- with the New Orleans Fringe Festival.
Damon Rosenzweig, Development Coordinator
Damon was born and raised in New Orleans and spent most of his professional career in leadership of international humanitarian assistance programs delivered in conflict areas. Damon was among the professional leadership of Doctors Without Borders in 1999 when the staff and volunteers of that organization were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. He has worked in Haiti, China, Afghanistan, Pakistan, South Sudan, Burundi, Congo, the Balkans, Uzbekistan and Uganda among other remote locations. He has a Masters in Public Health from Tulane and has worked in public health and community development in New Orleans and around the US, where he has been involved in the planning, organization and development of non-profits -- the scrappier and more grassroots, the better. So he joined the Fringe, where he is dedicated to the Fringe's organizational development and building a community-oriented effort that nurtures risky and innovative artistic expression. Damon is also a sculptor; he organized the acclaimed multi-disciplinary large-scale sculpture installation On Piety, which was a Prospect.1 satellite venue and BYOV Fringe venue in 2008. He also participated in the development of the set elements for the ArtSpot/Mondo Bizarro original production Loup Garou in 2009.
Jeff Zielinski, Technical Director
When he was 16 years old, Jeff began gigging as a drummer in central Massachusetts, and he made it his goal to make his living in the arts. Throughout the years, Jeff played in bands in North Carolina, where he lived from 1994-1999 and eventually made a move to New Orleans in late 1999 to expand his musical and cultural perspectives. Jeff became the technical director of the Contemporary Arts Center of New Orleans where he served from 2002-2008. During his tenure at the CAC Jeff worked with artists from all disciplines including theater, dance, music, and film; facilitating and producing their works. Other venues and organizations with which Jeff has been involved include Loyola University, New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts, The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, and Le Petit Theater. He has worked with numerous local, regional, national, and international artists. Jeff is delighted to be part of the New Orleans Fringe Festival and acting as their technical director and will work diligently to ensure its success.
Todd Giese, Box Office Manager
Kathy Connelly, Goodchildren Parade Organizer
Stacey Balkun, Tent Manager
Charlie Brown, Vendor Manager
Kaitlin Greetham, Catering Coordinator
Kaitlin loves theater, theatrical lighting, and volunteering for community events almost as much as she loves food. After two years as lighting designer at the Backyard Ballroom, she went on a temporary hiatus this past August in order to attend the culinary arts program at Delgado Community College and spend evenings with her three year old. In her free time, Kaitlin works full time as a candymaker at Southern Candymakers and plans delicious things for Fringe Fest participants to eat.
Dennis Monn, Co-Founder
Dennis co-founded the New Orleans Fringe and served as Fringe Artistic Director from 2008-09. He has been actively involved in the New Orleans theater scene for the past several years performing, directing and producing shows at various venues throughout the city. His own work has been featured at DRAMARAMA, Artspot’s State of the Nation series, One Eyed Jacks, Sidearm Gallery and Ashe Cultural Center. He has directed shows for NORD and ToDo Productions. In 2006 he traveled with a troupe of New Orleans performers to the Minnesota Fringe Festival, where they presented his original play, Corncobs, Hotdogs and Other Dirty Secrets, and he first began to dream of creating a Fringe here in NOLA. Currently he serves as Artistic Director for the Marigny Theatre. He loathes Annie, Fiddler on the Roof, The Music Man and every other show that’s been produced more than once within the last three years in the same city. Dennis enjoys DIY theater and aims to give exposure to artists who fly under the radar of the mainstream media.
