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The Philadelphia Fringe Festival broke its own record for ticket sales in 2025, selling at least 33,000 seats during the monthlong festival of emerging and experimental theater.

“We’re still tabulating final walk-up sales. We don’t have all of those yet, but at least 33,000,” CEO and Producing Director Nell Bang-Jensen said Wednesday. “Last year, it was around 30,000.”

But Fringe did not go off without a hitch this year. Federal changes to travel visa requirements prevented some international artists from participating, and the city’s Department of Licenses and Inspections shut down a series of cabaret performances planned for the former Macy’s department store.

Wanamaker inspections

“The Layaway,” a cabaret series staged inside the empty Wanamaker building, was meant to be part of Opera Philadelphia’s takeover of the space this fall. The opera launched the program with a concert on the famous Wanamaker pipe organ in Macy’s Grand Court. Then, the Bearded Ladies Cabaret planned a three-weekend run of cabaret performances in Greek Hall on the third floor.

After the first weekend, L&I shut down the remaining program due to a lack of updated building certifications regarding the elevator and sprinkler systems.

“We had been issued the permit to do the show, and then it was revoked when the inspection happened,” Bang-Jensen said. “It turned out Macy’s certificates were more than two years out of date. They kept failing the inspections, but no one had taken action.”

The problems with building certifications predated the involvement of the Bearded Ladies Cabaret.

“To fill it with art is such a beautiful idea,” said Rose Jarboe, formerly John Jarboe, founding artistic director of the cabaret. “With ideas like that, that are super-ambitious, you discover a lot of things. It just so happens that the Beards were invited to be the first people as part of that experiment.”

“The Beards are often on the front line of ambitious artistic experiments in the city of Philadelphia,” she said. “When you’re on the front line, sometimes you go down first.”

Shutting down the cabaret resulted in a significant financial loss for the Bearded Ladies company, from equipment rentals to paying performers and crew. Jarboe is asking ticketholders to donate the cost to the Bearded Ladies. Jarboe said she personally called about 100 individuals to thank them for being a friend, by singing the theme song to “The Golden Girls” over the phone.

“We are serious about love for our audiences,” Jarboe said. “If anyone wants to be sung to because they feel they didn’t get the experience they wanted, just let the Bearded Ladies know on Instagram or whatever. I’ll give you a call.”