By Sam Mooney

As I started looking at what’s on in theatre for Toronto kids this March break I found myself wishing that I was a kid – or that my grandson was older so I could do some of these things with him.  You don’t actually have to be a grandparent to enjoy the various activities and performances. 

We’re looking at activities that fall into two broad categories – day camps and workshops, and performances. Some are free, some are cheap, and some aren’t.

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Although not strictly theatre, I think this is a kinda cool thing.  I also suspect it could be very useful in a theatre way if you were doing puppet shows and stuff.  And, well, honestly, I’m always interested in stuff that gives you a peek behind how things work.  If you are too, you might want to check this workshop out.

From press release

With over 15 years working in the professional voice industry, Melissa Altro is now offering a cartoon voice workshop for actors who are new to the voice biz and want to book roles in cartoons.

Melissa has played the voice of Muffy on the 4-time-Emmy award winning show Arthur (PBS) since it started in 1995. She is about to begin recording her 13th season!

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So, stay tuned to Mooney on Theatre for tickets to free theatre in Toronto.  We’re going to start a feature where we give away tickets to a different show each week.  Contest will be posted on Monday, for a show on the Thursday of the same week.

If all goes according to plans, it will start tomorrow.

Spread the word! 

And, if you have a show that you’d like to be included in the contest give-aways then just email contests@mooneyontheatre.com.

By Megan Mooney

Exciting news!  I’m joining forces with Sweat Equity Productions to teach a one-day seminar at Second City in Toronto this weekend.  It’s on how to effectively publicize yourself and your events.

I’m able to offer a discounted price for folks who book through Mooney on Theatre today (Thursday) and Friday, and would love to get lots of takers on the offer.  So, I’m looking for your help, hoping you might be willing to spread the word to folks you think might be interested in the seminar.

The teaser blurb is:

The Second City presents a revolutionary new seminar from the award-winning publicists of the 2008 SCTV reunion and the Canadian Comedy Awards…   Personal Publicity

The Shehori Brothers teach everything you’ll need to know about promoting your shows, events,– and most of all, your career –  like a professional publicist.  Full money-back guarantee if you are not satisfied with the value of this seminar.

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By Megan Mooney (and a Press Release after the break)

The Canadian Comedy Awards are in a different place every year.  This year, their 10th anniversary the awards are in Saint John, NB.  So, guess where I’m heading in October? 

All the nominees have been announced (the ‘public’ nominees, the ones anyone can vote on, were announced a week later than the ‘industry’ nominees) and voting has begun. 

General public can vote in the Radio, Internet and Canadian Comedy Person of the Year awards.  You can register as a member of the public and vote on these categories until 5pm (not sure which time zone) on Friday July 31, 2009.

Voting for the other awards is limited to industry folks, and the registering to vote for industry folks has closed.  So, if you didn’t know about this before, well, it’s not going to help you just now.  Oh, and in these other categories, Young People Fucking would seem to be a big favourite, it got 8 nominations.  Which is just fine with me, it was a great movie – I highly recommend seeing it.

Something else that’s worth noting is that One Woman Show – one of my favourite (and most surprising) Fringe shows ever, has been nominated.

Two other shows that were nominated have been positively reviewed on Mooney on Theatre – Barack To The Future and It’s Just a Phase.

The press release with the list of nominees is below:

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In case you missed my *ahem* scintillating live twitter coverage of the Dora’s last night through @mooneyontheatre (complete with spelling mistakes and incomplete names – apparently it’s hard to type quickly on a blackberry) you can find the full list of recipients below.

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From Press Release

The stage musical The Harder They Come is written by Perry Henzell and is based on his famous film that took the world by storm back in the 1970s.  A screening of this movie is taking place this Saturday.

THE HARDER THEY COME
SATURDAY JUNE 27 9:30PM
BLOOR CINEMA

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Hot on the heels of my post about Tips for Putting on a Fringe Show – which has a healthy dose of publicity suggestions, here’s an opportunity to dig into publicity a bit more heavily. 

This is a one-day seminar on how to be your own publicist.

I’ll be checking it out, and I’d love some company, so come hang out with me and teach yourself how to publicize yourself effectively at the same time.  Particularly handy is the money-back guarantee if you don’t find the seminar valuable.

Here’s the information from the press release:

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We’re giving away tons of free tickets for 2009 Toronto Fringe.

There are also full press releases for many shows in the Coming to Toronto Fringe 2009 section.

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From the press release:

The Fringe, Toronto’s largest theatre festival, is geared up and ready to provide the most accessible, exciting and affordable entertainment in town.  There isn’t another place in the city to catch rising stars from around the world, all for under $10, and with 150 productions at 30 venues to choose from, this year there’s something for everyone. 

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