Naz at Rochester Fringe Festival 2026

Check out Nazareth professionals’ work during the 12-day Rochester Fringe Festival:

  • Emily Stork, director of the Naz theatre design & technology program and an associate professor in professional practice of lighting, sound, and design, has been the festival’s lighting designer since its inception in 2012, including all headliners at Parcel 5, in the Spiegeltent, and even on the side of a building downtown. This year’s work includes the Spiegeltent shows and collaborating with Cat Olson, Naz visiting assistant professor of dance, on Dandelion at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 16, and 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 24, at School of the Arts' Black Box Theatre. Tickets: $12, or $10 for students with ID.
  • Patricia Brown, acting faculty, is part of an improv troupe that hilariously improvises their interpretations of other people’s Rochester Fringe Festival shows — based on Fringe Guide descriptions. Unleashed! is at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 16, at Blackfriars Theatre. Tickets: $15
  • Eugene Bisdikian, music faculty, plays drums in 21: A Tribute to Adele at 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 17, at CenterStage Theatre at the Jewish Community Center, and plays bass in Sound Signal at 8 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 20, at Bop Shop Records. Tickets to each: $20.
  • Cheryl Johnson, dance faculty, performs in Miles Davis Animated at 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 19, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 20, both at Hochstein Performance Hall. The show is a moving soundscape of live jazz music and tap dance with cartoon illustrations. Tickets: $20, $15 for seniors and students with ID, $10 kids 12 and under.
  • Darren Stevenson, who is teaching a physical theatre class at Naz this fall, is co-founder of PUSH Physical Theatre, which is featured in a Fringe documentary at 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 19, at The Little Theatre: Theatre 1. (Free; no tickets.)
  • Fen Kennedy, dance faculty, is in Wander & Wonder VI at noon Sunday, Sept. 20, at Rochester Museum and Science Center's Garden of Fragrance. (Free; no tickets.)
  • Ted Baumhauer, Ed.D., who teaches juggling during the spring semester, is presenting A Magic Problem at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 19, and 1 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 20 at The Harley School (tickets: $12; all profits go to C.U.R.E. Childhood Cancer Association). He and a partner present Freeze Frame: A Juggling Experience at 6 p.m. on both Friday, Sept. 18, and Saturday, Sept. 19, on Gibbs Street (between Main & East) as part of the Circus in the City program (free; no tickets). And Cirque 101 is a free juggling workshop at 1 p.m. on both Saturday, Sept. 19, and Saturday, Sept. 26, at the Lincoln Library (Joseph Ave Arts).

If we’ve missed any Naz connections, alert Chris Farnum, cfarnum5@naz.edu.

Fringe has 715+ performances at 45+ venues in Rochester from Sept. 15-26, 2026. Attending the festival is a fun way to get to know Rochester better.