Ontario Off Stage

by Brandon Moore, Community Theatre and Communications Manager

Conversation Starters

• “While lack of meaningful engagement in the arts is indeed troubling, I would offer that a larger problem is that the nonprofit, professional arts have become, by-and-large, as commodified, homogeneous, transactional, and subject to market forces as every other aspect of ... society. From where I sit, the most important issue in the arts field these days may be that the different value system that art represents no longer seems to be widely recognized or upheld — by society-at-large, or even within the arts field itself.”  More from Diane Ragsdale on Jumper.
• A freelance designer shares her experience transitioning from student to practitioner on HowlRound.
• Welcome to a new voice in Ontario theatre podcasting: “Just Another Gala: Your Ottawa Theatre Podcast” from Jessica Ruano and Kat Fournier.
• From Talent Bank Adjudicator Trevor Smith-Diggins’s new blog “Show Folks—Notes on Community Theatre”, Trevor shares the story of how a set designer spun his set for Noises Off into five different shows.
• Andrew Taylor shares “Four Rules of Money” on the Artful Manager—financial principles for non-profit arts organizations adapted from the work of You Need a Budget.
• Exploring the Feasibility: 10 tips from Jini Stolk (Creative Trust Research Fellow at the Toronto Arts Foundation) on feasibility studies in the arts.

Behind the Scenes at Ontario’s Theatres

• The Lee Jourard Memorial Theatre Collection is launching on Saturday, February 27 at the Belleville Public Library. Lee was a long-time member and supporter of Theatre Ontario and Theatre Ontario Festival, and donated his personal collection of theatre papers to the library.
• The Western Ontario Drama League has chosen the five productions for their Festival in Woodstock: Congratulations to Elmira Theatre Company (bringing a world premiere of a new work by a Grassroots alum), London Community Players, Elora Community Theatre, Simcoe Little Theatre, and Theatre Sarnia.

Migrations

• Joël Beddows is the new Artistic Director of Théâtre français de Toronto.
• Audrey Dwyer is the new Artistic Director of Cow Over Moon Children’s Theatre.

TO Toasts

• … to Philip McKee, who received the Urjo Kareda Residency Grant at Tarragon Theatre.

In Case You Missed It

• Stories from the Professional Theatre Training Program, featuring Dan Watson training with Franco Boni and Jessica Lea Fleming training with Tanja Dixon-Warren and Margo Kane.