7 Days In Ontario Theatre

With the Good Friday holiday last week, we're actually catching up on fourteen days...

From The Wire

• Always nice to hear that support for the local arts was a highlight of an all-candidates debate, like this one in Cambridge - but it's particularly worth paying attention to what each of the party's candidates had to say and where they stood: "all politics is local" was Tip O'Neill, right?
• In Trent Hills, Campbellford’s old town hall is being converted into a cultural centre

Highlights From The Bulletin Board

• Tomorrow, April 30, in London, Horizon Solutions is running a scenic art and painting workshop in collaboration with Rosco Canada and The Grand Theatre
• Tomorrow is also the deadline for the Canada Council’s Walter Carsen Prize for Excellence in the Performing Arts
• Canadian Stage’s Festival of Ideas and Creation in Toronto kicks off with its first Artist Intensive on May 3; this artist- and industry-only series is led by acclaimed artists and features an in-depth and exploratory look at various facets of the creative process - with different programs over the next two and half weeks
• Shakespeare And Company from Lenox, Massachusetts is holding a weekend Shakespeare Intensive in Toronto on text and voice from March 6 to March 8
• Off The Wall, Stratford Artists Alliance is running a six-week intensive “An Introduction to Theatre Production Arts” from July 18 to August 26: learn all the skills required to create a stage set, mentored by seasoned professional artists from the Stratford Shakespeare Festival

Check out all the latest postings of workshops, classified ads, recognition opportunities and more from Theatre Ontario’s Bulletin Board

Assembled  by Brandon Moore, Communications Coordinator

Summer Course Profile: Curtain’s Up: Musical Theatre, with David Warrack

How has musical theatre evolved as an art form, and what does that mean for the performer?  Come explore musical theatre in “Curtain’s Up” with David Warrack at the 2011 Theatre Ontario Summer Theatre Intensive.

This course will examine the astonishing development of the Musical as an art form, using musical examples from over a century of Broadway and beyond.  The sessions will be participatory, and feature opportunities to sing material from the various eras, tracing the growth from Operetta to the multi-faceted scores of the 21st Century. With each day concentrating on a specific stylistic period.  Various composers will be highlighted, and participants will not only perform music from Broadway and beyond, but consider the different vocal approaches required to sell such a huge variety of musical material.

This course is directed at performers, writers, composers, directors, musical directors and producers who wish to expand their understanding where the musical has been, where it currently stands, and where it is going.  The intention would be that this level of discourse and participation would assist in the ongoing development of skills at the highest level which could then be taken back into the rehearsal hall and the theatre.

David Warrack has been musical director for over 250 productions on stage, radio, and television including Shenandoah on Broadway, Closer Than Ever (Dora Mavor Moore Award), the cross-Canada tour of Jacques Brel, Unforgettable: The Story of Nat King Cole in Vancouver and nine Christmas Pantomimes produced by Ross Petty at Toronto’s elegant Elgin Theatre. He was Musical Director/Arranger for a tribute to Oscar Hammerstein II at the Hummingbird Centre with the Mendelssohn Singers and from 2006 to 2009 he was the MD for the brand new Showcase Festival on Vancouver Island. More recently he MD’d Brubeck’s Oratorio Light In The Wilderness, performed by the celebrated Elora Festival Singers.  He toured and recorded with Maureen Forrester for the last fifteen years of her storied career.

The Theatre Ontario Summer Theatre Intensive runs from August 7 to 13 at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo.  Read about all of our Summer Courses on the Theatre Ontario website.

Honouring Excellence in Secondary School Drama Students

Do you know an outstanding student who has made a commitment to the drama/theatre community in his or her school?  Teachers and schools can honour those students with Theatre Ontario’s Certificate of Excellence – and with commencement season approaching, now is the time to recognize them.

Read more about the Certificates of Excellence on the Theatre Ontario website

ONstage Openings for the week of April 26

In South Central Ontario
Apr. 28, Tuesdays With Morrie at Stage West Theatre (Mississauga)

In Southwestern Ontario
Apr. 27, The Hobbit at The Grand Theatre (London) in previews
Apr. 28, The Diary Of Anne Frank at Galt Little Theatre (Cambridge)
Apr. 29, Hay Fever at Elora Community Theatre (Fergus)
Apr. 29, The Foursome at Theatre Sarnia
Apr. 29, Queen Millie Of Galt at Ingersoll Theatre of Performing Arts

In Toronto
Apr. 26, The Backspace Project from Humber Theatre And Chameleon Co-Op
Apr. 27, Forests at Tarragon Theatre
Apr. 28, Guys And Dolls at Scarborough Music Theatre
Apr. 29, Urinetown: The Musical at Etobicoke Musical Productions
Apr. 29, The Long Weekend at Bloor West Village Players
Apr. 30, Double Bill: (re)birth: e.e. cummings in song / Window On Toronto at Soulpepper Theatre in previews

In Eastern Ontario
Apr. 29, Together Again at Lennox Community Theatre (Selby)
Apr. 29, Halfway To Heaven at Mississippi Mudds of Carleton Place
Apr. 29, Barefoot In The Park at Dundas County Players Theatre (Winchester)

In Northeastern Ontario
Apr. 29, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at Sudbury Theatre Centre with a preview on Apr. 28

For all the theatre currently playing across Ontario, and information for theatres on how to add/update your listing, visit the ONstage show listings on the Theatre Ontario website.

Summer Course Profile: Now What Do I Do?: Introduction To Directing, with Brenda Bazinet

So you want to direct a play but wonder if you have what it takes?  Explore directing with Brenda Bazinet at the 2011 Theatre Ontario Summer Theatre Intensive.

This course will cover all the basics, from selecting a suitable play, through the audition process, blocking, pacing, interpretation, handling pressures, time-management as the big night approaches - right up to opening night.  It will be a script based course, covering a range of genres and highlighting the different approaches required for each. A course to help the new director understand his/her responsibilities and techniques as well as the optimum methodology to achieve one’s own artistic vision through the creative skills of other people.

Brenda Bazinet, an actor, director and acting instructor, is delighted to be returning to Theatre Ontario's Summer Intensive, where in 2009 she taught Chekhov Scene Study.  Selected directing credits include:  Splendor in the Grass, Unity 1918, Problem Child, Featuring Loretta, Adult Entertainment, Of the Fields Lately, Love List, Blown Sideways Through Life and The Sea.  A Gemini Award-winning actor, she has appeared in over one hundred television and film productions.  A four-time Dora Award-nominee, she has played leading roles on stages in Toronto and across Canada.  As an instructor, she has taught for colleges and universities, theatre schools and independent training programs.  Most recently Ms. Bazinet was an acting instructor for the Citadel/Banff Professional Theatre Academy and assistant director to Bob Baker for the Citadel's production of Little Women (the musical).

The Theatre Ontario Summer Theatre Intensive runs from August 7 to 13 at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo.  Read about all of our Summer Courses on the Theatre Ontario website.

Space Still Available In Getting Started On April 27

There is still space available in our April 27 "Getting Started" workshop at Theatre Ontario.

Getting Started sessions are for actors beginning their professional careers. In this two-hour workshop, Tim Chapman, Professional Theatre Coordinator answers the most frequently asked questions about the business of acting.  Find out about:

• The realities of showbiz
• Pictures and resumes
• Equity and ACTRA
• Agents and casting directors
• Auditioning do's and don'ts
• Maintaining and improving your acting skills

For more information or to register, please visit Getting Started on the Theatre Ontario website.

Our Strategic Plan

By John Goddard, Executive Director

Theatre Ontario is in the midst of a very comprehensive Strategic Plan which we intend will inform our activity for the next three years, as well as beyond.

The plan has been very comprehensive. We have spoken with our funders, our founders, our former leaders.

And most of all we have spoken with our members and constituents. In March we undertook a survey which garnered over 500 responses! I want to thank all of you who participated. The overall sense of this survey was positive and supportive. And, of course, very informative.

We have also engaged our current and former Board Directors in a separate survey, and our staff and board have participated in an intensive SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis.  And finally, we have a sub-committee of the Board working on this project very intensely over the past two and a half months.

We aren’t finished yet – but we are getting there. It is anticipated that we will be able to present the membership at our May 21 Annual General Meeting with the results of our work.

All of which has been a very interesting process. Theatre Ontario will be 40 years young next September (which is just one of the reasons we undertook the planning) and we’ve come a long way.

Announcing Our Festival Adjudicator's Workshop

Theatre Ontario is pleased to announce our Adjudicator’s Workshop for the 2011 Theatre Ontario Festival.  Adjudicator Jane Carnwath will lead a workshop on “Directing: Working With Actors” on Thursday, May 19 at 2pm at The Curtain Club in Richmond Hill.

Jane’s workshop will cover:

• How to convey your vision, how to listen to theirs
• How to determine what each actor needs from you to achieve his/her potential in the role
• What to do when the moment isn't working
• What’s he really asking? – decoding actor anxiety, etc.
• Dealing with resistance, actors who’d rather talk than do, other interpersonal challenges

The workshop is free for Festival attendees.

For more information about Theatre Ontario Festival 2011, visit the Festival website.

ONstage Openings for the week of April 18

In Northeastern Ontario
Apr. 20, Inside Out at Sault Theatre Workshop

In Southwestern Ontario
Apr. 23, The Grapes Of Wrath at Stratford Shakespeare Festival in previews

In Toronto
Apr. 19, Forests at Tarragon Theatre in previews
Apr. 21, The cosmonaut's last message to the woman he once loved in the former Soviet Union at Canadian Stage

In Eastern Ontario
Apr. 19, Deliver Us from Evil at Ottawa Little Theatre

For all the theatre currently playing across Ontario, and information for theatres on how to add/update your listing, visit the ONstage show listings on the Theatre Ontario website.

7 Days In Ontario Theatre

Conversations

• Franchising McTheatre: Working from an argument about how the fast food industry has altered consumer behaviour (applied to religion), the blogger applies the same argument to how theatres adapt and whether that alters the art form itself?  Fast food theatre is a fascinating idea.  “Theatre is a demanding and serious art.  When it is delivered as easy and amusing, it is another kind of art altogether.”
• Playwright Gwydion Suilebhan questions the anti-specialist notion inherent in replacing the titles of playwrights, directors, actors, designers, managers, producers with “theatre makers.”  (Emphasis mine...and, well, his)

From The Wire

• The Cayle Chernin Memorial Online Auction began on April 12; the auction is raising funds for a memorial fund that will award an annual cash prize to an emerging female artist in the performing arts, alternating yearly between theatre and film/digital media performers
• Full line-up for the Canadian Stage 2011 Festival of Ideas And Creation has been announced

What’s New On The Bulletin Board

• Today is deadline day for the SummerWorks Leadership Intensive Program and Business For The Arts Awards
• Jumblies Theatre is holding a Music Creation and Community Arts workshop on April 16
• Artists Health Centre Foundation has an Alexander Technique workshop on April 18 and an Enhancing Quality Of Performance (vocal master class) on April 28
• Playwrights Guild of Canada holds their Getting Down To Business workshop on June 3

Check out all the latest postings of workshops, classified ads, recognition opportunities and more from Theatre Ontario’s Bulletin Board


Remember, if you can’t always follow us on our blog, we also have a monthly enewsletter with all of our news, discussions, and more.  The April issue is now available in the archives.

Assembled  by Brandon Moore, Communications Coordinator

Summer Course Profile: When I Am On Stage…Who Am I?, with Terry Tweed

How do I become someone else on stage?  That’s the question that is the focus of this acting course at the 2011 Theatre Ontario Summer Theatre Intensive.

Lead by Terry Tweed, the course is designed for the actor who has been on stage and said lines and moved without bumping into the furniture; now they want to take the next step and learn how to become the character, to inhabit a new persona.

Participants will learn how to create a character (different from themselves) by exploring the capability of their two basic instruments—their body and their voice.

The course will be enriched with three different Stratford actors, who will come to class for an hour each to share with the class their own techniques.

Our instructor is Terry Tweed, who has been working in Canada as an actor, director and teacher for over thirty years.  Terry has been involved in teaching voice, acting, and directing in both English and French at the University of Windsor, University of Toronto (Erindale), Humber College and Sheridan College.  She has also worked with community theatres as a play polisher, and has given workshops in directing, audition techniques, and approaches to Shakespeare.  She is currently appearing in Forests at the Tarragon Theatre from April 19 to May 29.

The Theatre Ontario Summer Theatre Intensive runs from August 7 to 13 at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo.  Read about all of our Summer Courses on the Theatre Ontario website.

Congratulations to Spring 2011 PTTP Recipients

Theatre Ontario is pleased to announce the latest recipients of training grants through Theatre Ontario’s Professional Theatre Training Program (PTTP).  From 28 applications, $36,500 was awarded in total to the following recipients:

• Wesley Connor to train in choreography and movement coaching with Valerie Moore at The Shaw Festival
• Nicholas Di Gaetano to train in design/new creation with Peter Balkwill at the Old Trout Puppet Theatre in Calgary, Alberta
• Beau Dixon to train in directing with Robert Winslow  at 4th Line Theatre in Millbrook
• Patricia Fell to train in mask design and construction with Thanos Vovolis at the National Theatre of Greece
• Kristina McNamee to train in producing with Philip Riccio at The Company Theatre in Toronto
• Nicole Myers to train in stage management with Arwen MacDonell at Soulpepper Theatre
• Emily Niedoba to train in producing with Sherrie Johnson at Sherrie Johnson Productions in Toronto
• Dave Sansom  to train in production management with Alistair Hepburn at Canadian Stage’s Dream in High Park
• Birgit Schreyer Duarte to train in directing with Josette Bushell-Mingo at Nightwood Theatre
• Tanisha Taitt to train in lighting design with Kimberly Purtell
• Mumbi Tindyebwa Otu to train in directing with Ross Manson at Volcano Theatre
• Sigrid Velis to train in arts administration with Marilo Nunez at Alameda Theatre in Toronto

The next application deadline for this program is October 3, 2011.

Read more about the Professional Theatre Training Program on the Theatre Ontario website.

This program is funded by the Ontario Arts Council, an agency of the Government of Ontario.

Inviting Applications for the 2012 Neil Munro Intern Directors Project at the Shaw Festival

Theatre Ontario now invites applications for the 2012 Neil Munro Intern Directors Project at the Shaw Festival.

Each year, the Shaw Festival hires two Intern Directors for a period of about six months.  They look for promising professional directors near the beginning of their careers.  Applicants should have a fair bit of professional experience, but probably not in a company as large as the Shaw Festival.  The contracts run approximately from mid-March to September, depending on the production schedule for the particular season.

The application deadline is June 30, 2011 at 5pm.

Read more about the Neil Munro Intern Directors Project at the Shaw Festival on the Theatre Ontario website.

ONstage Openings for the week of April 11

In Eastern Ontario
Apr. 12, True West at King's Town Players (Kingston)
Apr. 13, Good Bones at Theatre Kingston
Apr.16, Once On This Island Jr. at Ourtown Theatre (Gananoque)

In South Central Ontario
Apr. 13, Art Of Murder at Markham Little Theatre
Apr. 15, The Miracle Worker at Theatre Burlington

In Southwestern Ontario
Apr. 13, My Fair Lady at Shaw Festival (Niagara-on-the-Lake) in previews
Apr. 14, The Lark at Lost And Found Theatre (Kitchener)
Apr. 16, Camelot at Stratford Shakespeare Festival in previews

In Toronto
Apr. 12, Hated Nightfall at George Brown Theatre School
Apr. 13, The Skin Of Our Teeth at George Brown Theatre School
Apr. 14, The Situationists at Buddies in Bad Times with a preview on Apr. 13
Apr. 15, Guinea Pigging at Alumnae Theatre Company
Apr. 16, The cosmonaut's last message to the woman he once loved in the former Soviet Union at Canadian Stage in previews

In Central Ontario
Apr. 14, Grease at Wasaga Community Theatre (Wasaga Beach)

For all the theatre currently playing across Ontario, and information for theatres on how to add/update your listing, visit the ONstage show listings on the Theatre Ontario website.

7 Days In Ontario Theatre

Conversations

• "Ask not what your audiences can do for you, ask what you can do for your audiences. And your artists." – David J. Loehr on 2AM Theatre addresses the inverted thinking of whether or not the Millennials will “be there for us”

What’s New On The Bulletin Board

• The deadline for the Dora Ancillary Awards has been extended to April 12
• Deadline for the Summerworks Leadership Intensive Program is April 15
• The Artists Health Centre in Toronto is having an Alexander Technique workshop on April 18
• Horizon Solutions is holding a workshop in London at The Grand Theatre in collaboration with Rosco Canada on painting techniques and products on April 30
• Shakespeare and Company from Lenox, Massachusetts is coming to Toronto with a weekend Shakespeare intensive on text and voice on May 6 to May 8

Check out all the latest postings of workshops, classified ads, recognition opportunities and more from Theatre Ontario’s Bulletin Board

Assembled  by Brandon Moore, Communications Coordinator

Festival 2011 Brings Together Four Outstanding Productions From Across Ontario

Theatre Ontario is thrilled to announce the full line-up of plays for the 2011 Theatre Ontario Festival, our celebration of Ontario’s community theatres, running May 18 to 22 in Richmond Hill.  The week will feature two Canadian plays—one a classic from the 1970s; the other a recent smash, plus a rollicking musical comedy, and one of the classics of American theatre.

Announcing Our 2011 Summer Courses

Theatre Ontario is pleased to announce our 2011 courses for our Summer Theatre Intensive, being held August 7 to 13 in Waterloo.

Our “workshops for people who love theatre” will feature the following week-long courses:

• “When I Am On Stage...Who Am I?”, with Terry Tweed
• “Now What Do I Do?”, with Brenda Bazinet
• “Curtain's Up”, with David Warrack
• “Shakespeare Conservatory”, with Andrew Tidmarsh
• “Directors Symposium”, with Dean Gabourie, Eda Holmes, Christopher Newton, Yvette Nolan, and Richard Rose

We’re also offering a one-day course “Marketing On A Shoestring” on Wednesday, August 10th, with Cheryl Ewing.

For over thirty years, our successful workshops have earned praise from drama teachers, theatre schools, community theatre and professional theatre people, agents and actors getting started in the business.  Read more about our Summer Courses on the Theatre Ontario website.

ONstage Openings for the week of April 4

In Central Ontario
Apr. 7, Macbeth at Owen Sound Little Theatre
Apr. 7, The Drowsy Chaperone at South Simcoe Theatre (Cookstown)
Apr. 8, Nunsense at Victorian Operetta Society (Cobourg)

In Eastern Ontario
Apr. 5, Lauchie, Liza And Rory at National Arts Centre, English Theatre (Ottawa)

In Northeastern Ontario
Apr. 8, Nana's Naughty Knickers at Theatre Cambrian (Sudbury)

In Northwestern Ontario
Apr. 7, Old Love at Magnus Theatre (Thunder Bay)

In South Central Ontario
Apr. 7, Shady Business at Peel Panto Players (Brampton)

In Southwestern Ontario
Apr. 5, The Odyssey - High School Project at The Grand Theatre (London)
Apr. 7, Candida at Shaw Festival (Niagara-on-the-Lake) in previews
Apr. 8, Bedtime Stories at Theatre Woodstock
Apr. 9, Peg And The Yeti at Carousel Players (St. Catharines)

In Toronto
Apr. 4, i think i can at Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People
Apr. 4, Our Class from Studio 180 Theatre in association with Canadian Stage
Apr. 7, The Last 15 Seconds at Theatre Passe Muraille with a preview on Apr. 6
Apr. 7, Swimming For Shore at Humber Theatre
Apr. 7, Our Town at Soulpepper Theatre
Apr. 7, Having Hope At Home at Amicus Productions
Apr. 10, As You Puppet at Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People

For all the theatre currently playing across Ontario, and information for theatres on how to add/update your listing, visit the ONstage show listings on the Theatre Ontario website.

7 Days In Ontario Theatre

Conversations

• Canada goes to the polls on May 2 and the arts platforms of the various political parties will be of interest to Ontario’s theatre community; we will connect you with information resources as they become available

From The Wire

• If you haven’t had a chance to visit it yet, check out www.talkbackr.com – an online audience feedback tool

Migrations

• Rebecca Campbell is the new General Manager of the St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival in Prescott
• Richard Poore is the new Director of Performing Arts for the Town of Petrolia

What’s New On The Bulletin Board

• Artists’ Health Centre is running a workshop on “Your Health In Your Hands: Managing Stress as Self-Shiatsu, with Leisa Bellmore” on April 4

Check out all the latest postings of workshops, classified ads, recognition opportunities and more from Theatre Ontario’s Bulletin Board

Assembled  by Brandon Moore, Communications Coordinator