From Press Release
Living with Henry – Toronto Next Stage 2012 Press Release
By Sonia Borkar
From Press Release
As part of The Next Stage Theatre Festival, Beyond Boundaries presents Living with Henry
Featured as part of the Best of Fringe Uptown 2011, Living With Henry is a new musical drama that explores the fear, complications and realities of living with HIV/AIDS today. Though it is no longer a death sentence, the once carefree Michael must learn to come to terms with living with his chronic condition to gain a much deeper understanding of self and the complex world around him.
Acclaimed for its honesty, boldness and inventiveness, NOW Magazine gives Living With Henry 5 N’s and states, “This fully staged chamber musical, imaginatively directed by Donna Marie Baratta, seems already primed for a professional run. Told through songs – sometimes comic, sometimes heartbreaking - the show has the ring of authenticity and the six-person cast gives passionate, committed performances.” Read the rest of this entry »
Announcement: Call for Submissions to Fresh Ground new works
By Sonia Borkar
From Press Release
Harbourfront Centre’s national commissioning prizes
Harbourfront Centre is pleased to issue the fifth Call for Submissions for Fresh Ground new works. Prize-winners will receive funding of up to $20,000 toward the creation and presentation of their projects during Harbourfront Centre’s 2013-2014 season.
A key facet of Harbourfront Centre’s mandate is championing the creation of new artistic works, providing a forum for originality, invention and inspiration. Recognizing that some of the most original and intriguing work being produced across the country today results from artists experimenting across genres and collaborating in untraditional ways, in 2004 Harbourfront Centre launched its national commissioning prize, Fresh Ground new works.
Through this legacy programme, Harbourfront Centre has awarded over $400,000 in prizes toward 19 new interdisciplinary Canadian works created by artists and companies from across the country.
Press Release: NIGHTWOOD THEATRE announces The New Groundswell Festival – A National Festival of Contemporary Women’s Theatre
By Sonia Borkar
From Press Release
Toronto, ON – Nightwood Theatre announces an exciting new beginning for its annual play development festival. For 26 years, Nightwood’s Groundswell Festival has been bringing audiences provocative new works in development. The re-envisioned New Groundswell Festival – A National Festival of Contemporary Women’s Theatre, happens over 11 days starting on November 30th and features 3 premiere workshop productions including Governor General’s Award nominee Lisa Codrington’s new play The Aftermath, Jordi Mand’s Between the Sheets and Zuppa Theatre’s acclaimed new work The Debacle (Halifax).
The Festival will also feature a national industry series including an exciting array of masterclasses led by theatre luminaries such as Linda Griffiths, Jillian Keiley, Judith Thompson and d.bi young, as well as provocative dialogues and public readings with national and international artists and creators.
Announcement: Artists Mentoring Youth Now Recruiting!
The AMY Project (Artists Mentoring Youth) is now accepting 2012 applications from Toronto women ages 14 to 21.
AMY builds the leadership, confidence, and unique voice of young women in Toronto by providing them with performance training, connections to artistic mentors, and access to a professional venue for their final performance. The AMY Project mentorship roster includes some of the top female artists in Toronto who specialize in a variety of disciplines: from dub poetry to opera, from theatrical design to breakdancing.
The AMY Project is a FREE program offered to a diverse range of participants from the greater Toronto area. It runs from January-April 2012. Once a week to start, then twice a week as we get closer to show dates. Participants are provided with TTC tickets, given the opportunity to attend live theatrical performances, share in a weekly meal and earn volunteer hours and cash honorariums for performing.
Most importantly, they are given the opportunity to speak out and share their stories with a public audience.
Read more to find out how to apply before the deadline December 9, 2011:
Press Release: $100,000 Siminovitch Prize in Theatre Awarded to Playwright Joan MacLeod. MacLeod chooses Anusree Roy to receive $25,000 as protégé.
By Sonia Borkar
From Press Release
TORONTO, November 7, 2011 – BMO Financial Group today announced that Victoria-based playwright Joan MacLeod has been selected as the recipient of the 2011 Elinore & Lou Siminovitch Prize in Theatre, the largest theatre award in the country. This is the 11th year the Siminovitch Prize has been awarded, with $1.1 million in prizes awarded to enhance the Canadian theatre industry.
Ms. MacLeod was chosen from a short list of six finalists including Robert Chafe (Newfoundland), Jasmine Dubé (Quebec), Greg MacArthur (Alberta/Quebec), Mansel Robinson (Saskatchewan) and Larry Tremblay (Quebec).
“In choosing Joan MacLeod as the winner of the Siminovitch Prize for 2011, the jury wanted to recognize Joan’s unique voice, her masterful storytelling, and the impact that her work has had among audiences in Canada and beyond,” said Maureen Labonté, Jury Chair. “Joan is a master of expressing the profoundest human emotions, putting to paper the vulnerability, the compassion, the weaknesses and strengths of the human spirit. Moreover, as a teacher, mentor, and role model, she has no doubt inspired a generation of new Canadian theatre artists.” Read the rest of this entry »
Announcement: Little Pea’s Revolution to Premiere in Toronto in November Before Heading to NYC
Little Pea’s Revolution set to premiere in Toronto on November 4th and 5th at The Hub
From Press Release
See it before its run at the United Solo Theatre Festival in New York City!
Little Pea has just turned twelve and is terrified of what she is to become - who she is. So terrified, in fact, that she locks herself in Gramma’s in-law suite during her birthday party, and imagines an escape route where she doesn’t have to face the next chapter of her life: facing the death of her grandmother, and becoming a woman.
Press Release: Soulpepper Announces 15th Anniversary Season
By Sonia Borkar
From Press Release
Toronto, ON – October 25, 2011: Albert Schultz, Founding Artistic Director of Soulpepper Theatre Company, today announced the 12 plays comprising Soulpepper’s 15th anniversary season, including ten new productions, two remounts, and a revisit, to run in repertory from January to December, 2012. The season includes plays from Canada, Ireland, England, the United States and Russia, and brings Soulpepper to 107 original productions over 15 seasons. The season opens with Soulpepper’s very first original full-length play, continuing the company’s commitment to new works about the city of Toronto as seen in this year’s Window on Toronto and 2009′s Civil Elegies.
“When we initiated the Soulpepper Academy in 2008, the goal was two-fold. Of course we were aiming to equip a new generation of artists with the skill and rigour to approach the world’s great plays, but at the same time we were looking for a younger generation to tell us how we could, should and would define our company’s future. One of the great discoveries of these last few years is the fascination our young artists have had with the city in which they live. It is this energy and passion that we celebrate with our 15th anniversary season opener, Ins Choi’s Kim’s Convenience, directed and designed by three of Ins’ fellow Soulpepper Academy alumni. This very funny, insightful and touching play was written during Ins’ time here at the Academy and marks an astonishing debut for this multi-talented Canadian artist,” said Albert Schultz, Artistic Director. Read the rest of this entry »
Announcement: The 25th Anniversary Production of Les Miserables Coming To Toronto
Mirvish announces a new all-Canadian cast production of Les Miserables beginning July 20th, 2012 at Toronto’s Royal Alexandra Theatre
From Press Release
Toronto – David Mirvish and Cameron Mackintosh announced the Canadian Premiere of Cameron Mackintosh’s highly acclaimed new 25th-anniversary production of Les Misérables. The all-new production of Les Misérables features new staging and spectacular re-imagined scenery inspired by the paintings of Victor Hugo. An all-Canadian cast will play the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto. Performances begin July 20, 2012. The search for the cast for the new Canadian production will begin immediately.
Press Release: Sex, Religion & Other Hang-Ups
From Press Release
James Gangl is remounting this smash hit show from the Toronto Fringe Festival so he can find a girlfriend… seriously.
Sex, Religion & Other Hang-ups, is about a guy with a ravenous sexual libido (Gangl) battling it out against a guy with a staunch Catholic upbringing (also Gangl) over the heart of a sexy, insightful underwear model (not Gangl) that he meets at his first professional acting gig, a commercial shoot for Coors Light. Gangl tells the story in the hopes that the right lady will date him after the show. Fringe sensation and solo-show veteran, Chris Gibbs directs, mining the universal truths in Gangl’s twisted and touching true story.
Press Release: Canadians Can Nominate Favourites for Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards
By Sonia Borkar
From press release
NOMINATION DEADLINE: SEPTEMBER 23
Ottawa, September 14, 2011 – Canadians are encouraged to nominate their favourite Canadian performing artists for the prestigious Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards (GGPAA). Nominations for these Awards – presented for lifetime artistic achievement in the fields of broadcasting, classical music, dance, film, popular music, and theatre as well as for voluntarism in the performing arts – can be made online at http://www.ggpaa.ca/en/nomination.html until September 23, 2011. Read the rest of this entry »