About the Fringe folks
Dennis Monn, Artistic Director
Dennis 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 teaches after school theater classes at McDonogh 15 and serves as Creative Director for the Backyard Ballroom. 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.
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: “People live their lives like theater in this city.” In 2007 she co-founded the Backyard Ballroom on St. Claude Ave and produced The Palanquin Diaries: Confessions of a Mardi Gras Queen, an underground hit that sold out and received rave reviews. 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, Resource Manager
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 lives and works at the Sidearm Gallery, which hosts gallery exhibitions and avant-garde performances. Ben has been putting his organization, creative and writing skills to work in many ways -- planning, coordinating volunteers and recruiting festival sponsors -- with the New Orleans Fringe Festival.
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 first New Orleans Fringe Festival and acting as their technical director and will work diligently to ensure its success.