[NoHo Arts District, CA] – In this month’s Soaring Solo blog, Jessica Lynn Johnson sits down with Santa Monica Playhouse Artistic Director Evelyn Rudie to discuss the ongoing effort of making theatre FREE in Los Angeles through the Binge Fringe Festival of Free Theatre.
“I regard the theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being.” – Oscar Wilde
Being in the world of solo theatre for over two decades now, I know that writing, producing, and performing one’s own solo show can be a big financial investment. It can also feel daunting to try to discern which theatres or festivals are worth submitting to. That’s why I deeply value the collaboration I have enjoyed with the Santa Monica Playhouse for over 10 years now, as many of my clients have had the privilege of performing in their Annual Binge Fringe Festival of FREE Theatre (BFF).
Unlike many other festivals, there are no fees to submit or to participate in the BFF. They also provide PR and production support, which is a huge benefit as hiring a publicist or buying ads can be quite pricey. Not only that, but if you are selected to perform your solo show in BFF, you get $100 for participating!
What I also find especially cool about BFF, is that if you have a special class or workshop that you teach, they consider those submissions as well. On several occasions, I have taught my class “The Art of Creating the One-Person Show” in collaboration with Santa Monica Playhouse for BFF. I find it especially endearing that they seek out classes or workshops that are geared to engage with the general public. This is because the festival is meant for people of all backgrounds and occupations, not just performers or those in the industry. It truly is a community building event.
Previous BFF’s have had 58 events with 125 artists, and around 3,500 people coming in and out of their theatre doors throughout the festival. A strong mission of BFF is to celebrate the range and depth of the human condition and the idea that theatre arts experiences are vital, transformative, and must be accessible to all. To make that goal a reality, they offer all tickets to the shows and participation in the workshops for FREE!
This year’s festival is slated to run Tuesday, October 13 through Thursday, November 12, 2026, and submissions are currently open through May 31, with the selections being announced on July 10th.
In today’s blog on “making theatre free in Los Angeles,” I will be highlighting one of the wonderful individuals who helps to make this inspiring festival possible every year, Evelyn Rudie. Evelyn is one of the artistic directors of the Santa Monica Playhouse and curators of the BFF. I was honored to catch up with her and facilitate this interview.
Let’s dive right in!
JESSICA: Hi Evelyn! I am so stoked that you agreed to talk with me today. I just know the readers of my blog will find it immensely valuable to get to know you a little better throughout today’s conversation. Let’s rewind back a little bit to get us started. Now, I know that you have a long history in theatre and entertainment. Can you share with my readers some highlights of your theatrical career?
EVELYN: Sure! Love to participate! I worked with and got advice from such greats as Robert Stack and Lauren Bacall, Fred Astaire, Red Skelton, George Gobel, Dinah Shore, all of the Marx Brothers and then later on Harpo’s son, Bill Marx, Lauren Greene, Robert Culp, Robert Horton (boy, did I have a crush on him!). I was given the key to the city of Washington DC and made an honorary member of the Secret Service (at age 7), was the youngest performer ever to receive an Emmy Nomination (at age 6 for “Eloise” on Playhouse 90). I have a star placed in the original Hollywood Boulevard’s “Walk of Fame.” I learned from the best and, together with my husband and partner Chris DeCarlo, have created and performed in over 600 productions, learning through the years that Theatre and the Arts are a necessity, not a luxury, for the health and well-being of our local and global communities, and that theatre above all else can make a difference in the world.
JESSICA: Wow! That is an impressive background, and I can only imagine what it must have been like to learn from and work with such a highly esteemed group of talented people! Not to mention that your own personal achievements are truly outstanding. And you literally took the words right out of my own mouth when you said: “Theatre and the arts are a necessity, not a luxury, for the health and wellbeing.” Because of this belief that the arts are crucial, when the fires happened, my students and I did fundraising performances as part of the Soaring Solo STARS Series for various organizations involved with rescue, repair and restoration. Speaking of the vital need for theatre, what inspired you to create the Binge Fringe Festival and what can you tell my readers about why it’s such a special festival?
EVELYN: Seeing the smile on a child’s face when they see a play for the first time…seeing a 75-year-old Japanese man cry when he saw one of our American Youth Ambassadors’ productions and say, “I only wish there had been something like this when I was young,” seeing a man of 30 knock on the theatre door and say, “I remember you from when I took classes here as a child – you gave me a scholarship and that introduction to theatre changed my life,” following the career of one of our scholarship students as she became Superintendent of School in Newark and become one of Time’s “100 most influential people in the world,” these special moments made us realize that giving back was essential to the life of our theatre and our paradigm. The BFF Binge Fringe Festival of Free Theatre gives audiences, especially from low-income and socio-economically disadvantaged communities, the opportunity to become involved as play-goers (and even play-makers). At the same time, the BFF gives emerging artists a platform to share their experiences, their art, their passions, with those audiences – an opportunity that can change lives, broaden horizons, and invigorate us all. All admissions are free, and artists receive a full production also for free and receive a stipend for their work. It’s a win-win-win.
JESSICA: Thank you for saying all of that and for your massive contributions to theatre in Los Angeles. You captured beautifully how deeply theatrical art matters and why. With that in mind, what do you feel makes an excellent solo show? Any particular favorites you’ve seen in the past?
EVELYN: I believe that the single most important element of a solo show is truth. I don’t mean truth as in “facts.” I mean honesty on the part of the performer. There is a question that every show needs to answer and that question is, “Why do you want to do this show?” Is it to show off? Is it to tell a cool story? Is it for the applause (well, we all want the applause). But why? How do we want to affect our audiences? What do we want them to come away with? How do we want to change them, to help, or tickle, or challenge? Once that question is answered, if the artist stays true to that answer, the show will always be powerful.
Hard to pick favorites – there are so many, I’ve probably seen over a thousand. Way back a gazillion years ago, it would have to be Lily Tomlin’s Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe and The Whoopi Monologues – nowadays, Carla Delaney’s VOICES, Jon Gentry’s Black Bastard, Paul Linke’s Time trilogy, Shelley Fisher’s The Hebrew Hillbilly, Jannica Olin’s (IM)Perfekt, Sonia Jackson’s Conversation’s ‘Bout the Girls, Anzu Lawson’s The Rub, Rahvaunia Johnson’s tHis Is Very IMPORTANT, Wendy Hammer’s I Broke Up with Cancer, Tanya Thomas’s Naturally Tan, Stogie Kenyatta’s The World is My Home: the Life of Paul Robeson, Bob Dubac’s Stand-up Jesus, and Barbara Minkus’s Almost Famous…
JESSICA: That is an excellent list. And, believe me, doing what I do for a living, I know how hard it is to pick favorites 😉 I am honored to see that several Soaring Solo Studios’ Productions made the list! I really want to ensure that Santa Monica Playhouse continues to have such an incredible impact on the LA theatre scene, so how can people support the work of the Santa Monica Playhouse to keep its legacy going strong?
EVELYN: All theatres need supporters, donors, patrons, especially as we all recuperate from the closures of the pandemic, and simultaneously do all we can to keep the arts alive. The Playhouse was just beginning to recover when a water damage disaster completely destroyed our Main Stage. It was down for a year and a half and just got open again in time for last October’s BFF festival, but we are still fundraising for that space as well as for our Student Scholarship Fund and our School Field Trip Program, and most especially for the BFF Binge Fringe Festival of Free Theatre!
JESSICA: Great! Thanks, Evelyn. I encourage everyone reading today to consider making a donation to the meaningful mission of the Santa Monica Playhouse. Donate here. Thank you so very much for your time today, Evelyn. I have received such a gift through this exchange with you. As we wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to tell the readers of Soaring Solo?
EVELYN: If you are an artist, keep doing the work. No matter what happens, follow your passion and keep creating, keep sharing, keep lighting the fire in people’s hearts and minds and souls. If you are a play-goer, bring your friends. Share your love of theatre with everyone you meet. And why not dip your toe into the play-making process? Everyone has a story to tell, a story that can change someone’s life. Be the person to tell that story.
And with those powerful closing words, Evelyn and I concluded the interview. I hope you will take her wise words to heart along your own solo theatre journey.
As always, remember that solo theatre may not be easy, but it is so worth it!
Jessica Lynn Johnson
Founder & CEO of Soaring Solo LLC
SoaringSoloArtist@gmail.com
www.SoaringSoloStudios.com
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