THEATRE NEWS:
Next Stage Fest sets record

JOHN COULBOURN,
QMI Agency
16 JAN 2012


TORONTO - A full two and a half  days before it became history, the 2012 edition of the Next Stage Festival, which wrapped up its fifth edition Sunday at the Factory Theatre, made some history.

At midday Friday, the winter spin-off of Toronto's summer Fringe Festival, broke all box-office records, finishing the 12 days of its run with a 22.5% increase in box office over previous year and a 132% increase over the first ever edition of the indie theatre extravaganza.

In hard numbers, that reflects some $78,552.40 in box-office revenue, which in turn translates to a total of 7,200 patrons who flocked to see the 10 shows that made up the festival. Organizers are now hard at work on this summer's Fringe Festival, slated to run July 4 through 15.