Tuesday 31 January 2012

Book Your Tickets for Theatre Ontario Festival 2012

Theatre Ontario is pleased to announce that tickets for the 2012 Festival in Sault Ste. Marie are now on sale.  Tickets can be ordered from the Theatre SMC website, your online Festival destination.  Festival 2012 runs from May 16 to May 20.

We’re pleased to announce that Jack Wetherall will be our Honourary Chair for Festival 2012.  Jack has been a theatre artist for over forty years, beginning with performances in Sault Theatre Workshop’s The Boyfriend and Look Homeward Angel.  After graduating from York University’s Glendon College he went directly to the Stratford Shakespeare Festival.  His career has spanned Broadway, television, the Metropolitan Opera, and dozens of regional theatres across North America.  He has also taught acting and directing for many years at NYU, Princeton, Williamstown, UCLA, Chicago’s Center Theatre and his own studio in New York City.  He presently teaches at the Stella Adler Acting Conservatory, and divides his time between New York and Sault Ste. Marie.  “I believe community is the source from which all theatre springs,” said Jack.  “How wonderful to be part of an event that celebrates community theatre and for me to reconnect with the rogues and rascals that set me on this journey I am still on.”

We’re also pleased to have Tianna Nori as our Event Emcee.  Tianna is a graduate of St. Mary’s College where she was an active member of Theatre SMC. She is currently pursuing a budding career in Toronto, hosting the TV series Last Bride Standing, and a recent starring role in the film Clean Break.  For more information on Tianna Nori, you can visit her website www.tiannanori.com.  Tianna will be a visible and vocal presence throughout the Festival.  "I am really excited about the opportunity to participate in Theatre Ontario Festival 2012," said Tianna, "especially since it is taking place in the Sault this year which gives me the chance to go back home where my passion for acting was born while working with Theatre SMC and Sault Theatre Workshop."

The annual Theatre Ontario Festival is:
  • a showcase of outstanding community theatre productions chosen from regional festivals, bringing together theatre lovers from across the province
  • an educational experience featuring adjudications, workshops, networking, and play readings by Canadian writers
  • a celebration of community theatre, with awards recognizing outstanding achievements, and with lots of parties!
Visit the Theatre Ontario website for more information about the Theatre Ontario Festival

Monday 30 January 2012

ONstage Openings for the week of January 30

In South Central Ontario
Feb. 2, To Kill A Mockingbird at Oshawa Little Theatre

In Southwestern Ontario
Feb. 2, The Devil's Disciple at Owen Sound Little Theatre
Feb. 3, Picasso At The Lapin Agile at Guelph Little Theatre

In Toronto
Feb. 2, Goldilocks and the Three Bears at NAGs Players

In Eastern Ontario
Feb. 1, The Grandkid at Theatre Kingston
Feb. 2, Wait Until Dark at Belleville Theatre Guild
Feb. 3, The Music Man at Seaway Valley Theatre Company (Cornwall)

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

Browsing The Bulletin Board

Upcoming on The Bulletin Board
  • OAC Theatre Creators Reserve deadline for Port Stanley Festival Theatre (January 31)
  • Deadline to apply for Theatre Inspirato’s Playwriting Mentoring Project is January 31
  • Deadline for the Ontario Medal for Young Volunteers from the Ontario Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration is also January 31
  • Shakespeare Week course on performing Shakespeare begins Feb. 6 at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival
New on The Bulletin Board
  • PACT has unveiled their Winter professional development workshops
  • Essential Collective Theatre in Niagara is inviting new play submissions for their 2012 Wine & Readings; deadline is March 23
  • The Ontario Arts Council has announced an Aboriginal Arts Leadership award; submission deadline is April 2
  • 4th Line Theatre in Millbrook has opened their New Play Competition; deadline is April 20
Check out all the latest postings from Theatre Ontario’s Bulletin Board on our website

Thursday 26 January 2012

Thank You To Our Donors

Theatre Ontario thanks everyone who has supported us with donations as we launched our 40th Anniversary celebration.  Your contribution creates and sustains a vibrant and dynamic theatre community in our province, through Theatre Ontario.

It’s not too late to join in!  We invite you to be part of our milestone “40 for 40” celebration, where your donation will create mentorships, workshops, networks, and resources that develop our communities now and in the future.  Make your donation to Theatre Ontario today!

Tuesday 24 January 2012

Celebrating Milestones

By Anne Mooney, Community Theatre Coordinator

This is my first blog post, so a few comments and introductions are in order.  So many of you have been extremely generous in your congratulatory notes and I thank everyone for their kind words.  I hope I can live up to your good wishes.

I have had a few people send emails not realizing we had met before.  Some of you may remember me by my maiden name, Annie Reaume.

I am very excited to be the latest in a line of fine Community Theatre Coordinators.  Through my years in community theatre, I have had the privilege of meeting many vibrant and effective Coordinators.  If I started to name them all, I am sure I would forget someone, so let me only say, thank you for your inspiration and support of theatre in Ontario and I hope I can follow in your example.

With this being Theatre Ontario’s 40th anniversary year, I have been thinking a lot about 2012 and the many milestones that are being celebrated this year.

It all started when I was asked when the first WODL festival occurred.  A little quick research and a sudden epiphany and there it was.  Three of our present community theatre regions can trace their origins to the first meetings for creation of the Dominion Drama Festival, specifically the meeting of October 29, 1932 at Rideau Hall.  The Governor General at the time was the driving force for the creation of an all-Canada theatrical festival.  During those first meetings, three regions for preliminary adjudications were created the Western Ontario region, the Central Ontario region, and the Eastern Ontario region.  These three regions are the birthright of the present day Western Ontario Drama League(WODL), Eastern Ontario Drama League(EODL) and the Association of Community Theatres of Central Ontario (ACT-CO).  Happy 80th birthday.

In 1957, CODL was split into two and QUONTA was born.  QUONTA had a large celebration for their 50th anniversary in 2007, but, as someone who knows–the 55th is also a milestone year.  I look forward to celebrating with them at their festival in March in Elliot Lake.

Several communities are hosting Festivals this year in conjunction with special milestone birthdays.  Traditionally, Theatre Sarnia hosts the WODL Festival every five years on their -5 and -0 anniversaries.  This year is their 85th.  One of the driving forces behind the creation of WODL and the DDF was D. Park Jamieson of Sarnia, a prominent member of Sarnia Little Theatre.  To this day he is immortalized in WODL; the Best Production award presented yearly at the WODL Festival is the D. Park Jamieson Award.  This year’s festival is March 12th to the 17th.  WODL is my home region and I have been at many festivals there.  St. Patrick’s Day traditionally has a green theme.  I wonder what will be happening at this year’s Festival Ball on St. Patrick’s Day?

Ottawa Little Theatre is hosting the EODL festival on  April 11th to 15th.  OLT is one of our oldest continuing community theatres as this is their 100th anniversary year.  Sometimes I have difficulty remembering last week, imagine having 100 years of history to celebrate.

Our culminating community theatre festival, the aptly named Theatre Ontario Festival is being hosted by Theatre SMC in Sault Ste. Marie.  Not only is this the 40th anniversary of Theatre Ontario, but Sault Ste. Marie is celebrating their 100th anniversary as a city.  The Festival Committee is partnering with the City to be included as part of their joint anniversary celebrations.  Theatre Ontario Festival occurs in May.

As you can see, community theatre in Ontario has a lot to celebrate.  We celebrate our theatres every year at our festivals, at our opening nights, at our closing night parties.  We celebrate all the time.  But sometimes, we should take a moment to step back and celebrate our history and our place in our home communities.  Milestone years are the perfect time to remember our amazing accomplishments. 

The Festival and community theatres I have mentioned above are merely the tip of the iceberg.  As I go forward with my new position as Community Theatre Coordinator, please let me know about your milestones and I don’t mean, just those big anniversaries.  How about the small accomplishments?  It’s our first show of the season or we’re so new, we are celebrating that we got our third show off the ground!  I would love to celebrate with you and share your accomplishments throughout the province.

Isn’t Community Theatre worth celebrating!

Monday 23 January 2012

ONstage Openings for the week of January 23

In Northwestern Ontario
Jan. 27, The Syringa Tree at Magnus Theatre (Thunder Bay) with a preview on Jan. 26

In South Central Ontario
Jan. 27, Welfarewell at The Curtain Club (Richmond Hill) with a preview on Jan. 26
Jan. 27, The Laramie Project at Theatre Aurora

In Southwestern Ontario
Jan. 26, How It Works (staged reading) at Lost & Found Theatre (Kitchener)
Jan. 26, The Heiress at Galt Little Theatre (Cambridge)
Jan. 26, The Anger In Ernest and Ernestine at Kitchener-Waterloo Little Theatre

In Toronto
Jan. 26, A Brimful Of Asha at Tarragon Theatre with previews from Jan. 24

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

Browsing The Bulletin Board

Upcoming on The Bulletin Board
  • OAC Theatre Creators Reserve deadlines for Barrie’s Talk Is Free Theatre (Jan. 27) and Port Stanley Festival Theatre (Jan. 31)
  • On January 28 and 29 in Millbrook: workshops from 4th Line Theatre on Adult Improvisation (Herbie Barnes), Youth Acting (Marjie Chud) and Playwriting (Sky Gilbert)
New on The Bulletin Board
  • The Mississauga Arts Council has issues its call for the 2012 “Martys” honouring arts in Mississauga
Check out all the latest postings from Theatre Ontario’s Bulletin Board on our website

Friday 20 January 2012

Ontario Off Stage

Conversations
From The Wire
Remember, you can also receive our news every month by email.  Our archives are online and the January 2012 issue is now available.

Assembled by Brandon Moore, Communications Coordinator

Thursday 19 January 2012

Celebrating 40 Years of Professional Theatre Mentorship

As Theatre Ontario celebrates our 40th anniversary, we’re looking at the impact we’ve had on theatre in Ontario (and beyond) with a lot of pride.  The Professional Theatre Training Program was one of Theatre Ontario’s first programs.  Since 1972, we estimate over a thousand theatre professionals have benefited from mentorships funded by this program, and many have gone on to become mentors themselves.

Our archive of past recipients is not complete (particularly for the 1970s and 1980s.)  Help us fill in any gaps and share your stories and photographs for our retrospective.

The Professional Theatre Training Program (PTTP) is funded by the Ontario Arts Council, an agency of the Government of Ontario.

Wednesday 18 January 2012

Call for Applications for the Professional Theatre Training Program

Theatre Ontario is now inviting applications for the March 1, 2012 deadline for the Professional Theatre Training Program (PTTP), funded by the Ontario Arts Council, an agency of the Government of Ontario.

The PTTP offers financial support for unique and flexible training with a chosen mentor in any theatrical discipline (except performance.) One can apply for professional development in his/her own discipline, or a “change of direction" in a career. To apply, applicants must have at least two years of professional experience following their formal education.

Read all about the Professional Theatre Training Program on the Theatre Ontario website.  After reading the PTTP guidelines, applicants are encouraged to contact Tim Chapman, Professional Theatre Coordinator (tim@theatreontario.org or 416.408.4556 x.12) regarding your application.

Read also about the most recent mentorships (Fall 2011) funded by this program.

Tuesday 17 January 2012

Thank You To Our Amazing 2012 Showcase Panelists

As part of Theatre Ontario Showcase—our annual event presenting the graduating classes of conservatory theatre programs—we held professional panels on the evening of Sunday, January 15th.  This entertaining and informative evening gave the graduates a chance to talk to industry professionals about the realities of the business from a variety of perspectives.

“The Business of Casting” panel featured casting director Jason Knight (casting consultant for CBC Television), agent Celia Chassels (recently retired from Gary Goddard Agency), and Brendan Healy (Artistic Director of Buddies in Bad Times Theatre.)

The “Surviving a Career in Acting” panel featured Claire Calnan, Martin Julien, Nancy Palk, and Cara Ricketts sharing their personal experiences in the business.

Both panels were moderated by Theatre Ontario’s Professional Theatre Coordinator Tim Chapman, and held at Young People’s Theatre.

Read more about Showcase on the Theatre Ontario website

Monday 16 January 2012

ONstage Openings for the week of January 16

In Eastern Ontario
Jan. 20, Blood On The Moon at Great Canadian Theatre Company (Ottawa) with previews from Jan. 17

In South Central Ontario
Jan. 19, H.M.S. Pinafore at OnStage Uxbridge
Jan. 20, Beautiful City at Durham Shoestring Performers (Oshawa)

In Southwestern Ontario
Jan. 17, Ed's Garage at The Grand Theatre (London)
Jan. 21, Here To Hear at Carousel Players (St. Catharines) and on tour from January 24

In Toronto
Jan. 18, The Golden Dragon at Tarragon Theatre
Jan. 19, Kim's Convenience at Soulpepper Theatre
Jan. 20, Penny Plain at Factory Theatre
Jan. 20, The Trojan Women at Alumnae Theatre Company
Jan. 20, Dracula, A Love Story from Brant Theatre Workshops
Jan. 21, Cruel and Tender at Canadian Stage

In Central Ontario
Jan. 20, Here On The Flight Path at Northumberland Players (Cobourg)

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

Browsing The Bulletin Board

Upcoming on The Bulletin Board
  • This week in OAC Theatre Creator Reserve deadlines: Cahoots Theatre Company and The Shaw Festival (both today)
New on The Bulletin Board
  • Theatre Inspirato is running a Playwright Mentoring Project; the application deadline is January 31
  • Playwrights Guild of Canada has issued their 2012 awards call; post-secondary student playwriting deadline is April 29 and other awards’ deadline is June 30
Check out all the latest postings from Theatre Ontario’s Bulletin Board on our website

Thursday 12 January 2012

Save The Date for our Summer Theatre Intensive

Our 2012 Summer Theatre Intensive has been booked for August 12 to 18, back at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo.  We're looking forward to announcing another exciting line-up of courses and instructors for 2012.

The Theatre Ontario Summer Theatre Intensive brings together theatre people from all over the province for a week-long rigorous educational experience.  For over thirty years, our courses have earned praise from drama teachers, theatre schools, community and professional theatres, agents, and actors getting started in the business.

Read more about our annual Summer Theatre Intensive on the Theatre Ontario website

Wednesday 11 January 2012

Recognizing Sustained and Significant Contributions to Ontario Theatre

Theatre Ontario is now inviting nominations for the 2012 Maggie Bassett Award.  The award is presented annually by Theatre Ontario to an individual who, over a number of years, has made a sustained and significant contribution to the development of theatre in Ontario.

Past recipients of the award are Ken Watts, Elsie Thomson, Jean Roberts, Herbert Whittaker, Heather McCallum, Herman Voaden, Dennis Sweeting, Jack Medhurst, Jack Blacklock, Sandy Black, Patricia Beharriell, Wilf Pegg, Virginia Reh, Lib Spry, Wayne Fairhead, Richard Howard, Dusty Miller, Kay McKie, Beth McMaster, Sandra Tulloch, Jeff Burke, James Alexander, Ron Cameron-Lewis, Angela Rebeiro, Kim Renders, Yvette Nolan, Alex Mustakas, Don Fleckser and Diana Belshaw.

The nomination deadline is February 29, 2012.

Full award criteria, history, and nomination guidelines can be found on our website.  For more information, please contact Brandon Moore, Communications Coordinator at Theatre Ontario, at brandon@theatreontario.org or 416.408.4556 x.15.

Tuesday 10 January 2012

Don't Forget To RSVP For Showcase


It’s not too late to RSVP to attend Theatre Ontario Showcase 2012.  Our 18th annual Showcase features theatre school graduates from across Ontario, and the National Theatre School in Montreal.  Join us for two days of talent, with over 230 graduates.

We invite artistic directors, freelance directors, producers, casting directors, and agents who are signed to the EIC or members of TAMAC.


Please reserve either at info@theatreontario.org or call 416.408.4556 x.10.

Monday 9 January 2012

ONstage Openings for the week of January 9

In Central Ontario
Jan. 13, Talley’s Folly at Peterborough Theatre Guild

In Eastern Ontario
Jan. 10, Lost In Yonkers at Ottawa Little Theatre

In Toronto
Jan. 10, The Penelopiad at Nightwood Theatre / Buddies in Bad Times Theatre
Jan. 10, The Golden Dragon at Tarragon Theatre in previews
Jan. 12, Kim's Convenience at Soulpepper Theatre in previews
Jan. 12, The Affections Of May at Scarborough Theatre Guild
Jan. 13, Cabaret at Hart House Theatre

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

Browsing The Bulletin Board

Upcoming on The Bulletin Board
  • OAC Theatre Creator’s Reserve deadlines at Theatre Passe Muraille (today), the Blyth Festival (today), 4th Line Theatre (Jan. 13), Native Earth Performing Arts (Jan. 15), Cahoots Theatre Company (Jan. 16), and the Shaw Festival (Jan. 16)
  • Beginners Drama Training at Theatre Collingwood starts on January 10
Check out all the latest postings from Theatre Ontario’s Bulletin Board on our website

Friday 6 January 2012

Ontario Off Stage

Conversations
  • The annual tradition of wrapping up 2011 featured a lot of “best of the year lists” (including one from our own Tim Chapman); Howard Sherman, former Executive Director of the American Theatre Wing, compiled an extensive list that featured a nice amount of Canadian content, and the Toronto-plus lists from Kelly Nestruck, John Coulbourn, and NOW Magazine.
  • And Aislinn Rose and Michael Wheeler at Praxis Theatre went one better, producing a Top 10 Top 10 lists.
  • Speaking of Mr. Nestruck, his self-described “Twitter rant” about the singing of the national anthem before a production of American Idiot at Dancap Productions lead to a provocative column on the subject and a passionate response from Aubrey Dan.  Setting aside the predictable patriotic pissing contest, the argument I found most interesting was there was actually an artistic dissonance between singing the national anthem and the show that followed.
Migrations
Assembled by Brandon Moore, Communications Coordinator

Thursday 5 January 2012

My Favourite Shows in 2011

by Tim Chapman, Professional Theatre Coordinator

As 2012 begins, we have seen many best of the year lists for 2011.  So I thought I would look back and quickly comment on my favourite shows of the past year.  The problem with this is that I do not get out to the theatre as much as in my younger days.  I have missed a lot of shows which would probably be on my list.  In Now’s Top 10 theatre shows of 2011 (December 22 -28 issue, Toronto only), I found that I had seen just four of their top ten shows.  All right, to be honest, my first reaction was positive that I had seen four of their top ten.  Anyway, the point is that the following twelve shows come from the approximately forty shows I saw this year in Toronto and around Ontario.

Sterling Jarvis and Yanna McIntosh
in Ruined.  Photo by  Christopher Gallow.
The first superb show I saw in 2011 was Ruined by American playwright Lynn Nottage, co-produced by Obsidian Theatre and Nightwood Theatre.  Yanna McIntosh won a deserved third Dora Award for her amusing and searing portrayal of a hardened madam in a Congolese brothel during a civil war.  Obsidian’s Artistic Director Philip Akin directed a fine cast in this riveting follow-up to Nottage’s Intimate Apparel previously produced by Obsidian.



Billy Elliot The Musical was excellently produced by Mirvish Productions and the cast included our own Kate Hennig fresh from her Broadway triumph in the show.  I had never seen a musical like it.  I bumped into Kate after I had seen it.  She described it more as a “play with music than a musical.”  Maybe that was central to the show’s originality and its uncompromising look at the working class mining community where Billy came from.  Later in the spring, I saw the Canadian Opera Company’s production of Gluck’s opera Orfeo ed Euridice directed by Robert Carson.  It was such a clear, finely realized show beautifully and simply designed.

In the late spring and summer, I attended a number of shows across Ontario.  I loved four of those shows.   The first was Dance Legends at Drayton Festival Theatre conceived and directed by Drayton’s Artistic Director Alex Mustakas.  I love show dancing and the cast of fourteen dancers and two singers did not disappoint in this first-rate song and dance celebration.  The Festival Players of Prince Edward County under the artistic direction of Sarah Phillips continues to produce impressive productions.  In early July, I was down for the remount of John Gray’s musical Amelia  prior to the production going to the Great Canadian Theatre Company in Ottawa in September.  It is a three-hander musical about the iconic flyer Amelia Earhart, a companion piece to Gray’s Canadian classic, Billy Bishop Goes to War.  Sarah and the cast, including Eliza-Jane Scott in the title role, do a bang-up job delivering a smartly-staged pocket musical.  You can see it this upcoming summer at Thousand Islands Playhouse in Gananoque.

In early August, I saw the opening of 4th Line Theatre’s The Cavan Blazers.  I had never seen it before.  It was 4th Line’s inaugural production in 1992 and they have produced it another four times, most recently in 2004.  I had always wanted to see it as I knew there were characters riding real horses in the show—perfect for outdoor theatre.  It’s a monumental undertaking with a cast of nearly sixty (led by Richard Greenblatt, Edward Belanger and Artistic Director Robert Winslow) and a gripping 19th century local story.  It is the type of big show which 4th Line produces so well.


Later in the summer I caught up with the much-lauded Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at the Shaw Festival.  What a triumph!  Director Eda Holmes has mined terrific performances from the entire cast but especially Jim Mezon as Big Daddy.  It was thrilling to see this Williams classic so superbly staged.  Speaking of Jim Mezon, I recently saw his passionate portrayal of the 20th century American painter Mark Rothko in Red at Canadian Stage.  He is one of our very best actors.  I also was once again excited by director Kim Collier’s work, who previously gave us the stunning Studies in Motion in 2010.

This past fall I was invited to see Ibsen’s Ghosts at Soulpepper.  It is probably the least favourite of Ibsen’s plays with which I am acquainted.   I will never forget falling asleep in a boring Broadway production of the play starring Liv Ullman and John Neville.  Plus, it was being directed by Morris Panych which seemed an incongruous combination to me.  Wrong!  I was deeply moved and engrossed with this quietly rich, haunting production.  The nuances of the play came to life for me in the thoughtful performances of the cast led by Toronto’s first couple of the stage, Nancy Palk and Joe Ziegler.  I am eagerly looking forward to seeing Nancy and Joe in Soulpepper’s upcoming Long Day’s Journey into Night.  And if you missed them in the acclaimed 2010 production of Death of a Salesman, Soulpepper has also slotted that for 2012.

At the Tarragon in November, I caught up with d’bi.young anitafrika’s Word! Sound! Power!, the final show of her Sankofa Trilogy.  I am not sure I have ever seen a more intense, engaging performer in my life.  In Tarragon’s Extra Space, you simply cannot take your eyes off her.  We are so lucky that Toronto is her home.

At the end of November, I got to see 2 Pianos, 4 Hands again.  Mirvish Productions brought Ted Dykstra and Richard Greenblatt back for, purportedly, the last time.  What a treat!  The show was better than ever.  It evoked so many marvellous memories.  I was at the Tarragon for the show’s premiere and I was able to attend the show’s New York City opening, one of the highlights of my career in theatre.

Patricia Fagan and Oliver Dennis in
Parfumerie.  Photo: Cylla von Tiedemann
Finally in December I saw two very different, very good shows.  Soulpepper revived their Dora-winning production of Parfumerie, a 1937 Hungarian play adapted by Adam Pettle and Brenda Robins.  I missed it the first time, so I was thoroughly charmed by this delightful comedy/drama.  The deft, lively production was utter perfection, beautifully directed, designed and performed. 

The next week I was again privileged to attend one of Jumblies Theatre’s huge shows which they produce every three years.  This one was Like an Old Tale, “an East Scarborough telling of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale.”  I say huge as Jumblies mingles a few professional artists, musicians and actors with literally hundreds of Toronto community members—children, teenagers, seniors, First Nations, Tamils and many, many residents of Scarborough—to create a unique spectacle of storytelling and performing arts.  It is a multi-layered synthesis of performing techniques including acting, singing, dancing, poetry, puppetry, shadow-playing, drawing, stilt-walking, clowning, and improvisation set in a beautiful, white, vast playground, not unlike the wonderful white “gymnasium” of the seminal 1960’s Peter Brooks production of Midsummer Night’s Dream.  Absolutely unique and wondrous!  Even the intermission was fun as some of the children sold short, short stories they had written on cards for a loonie.

So it was another good year of theatre-going.  There were other good shows, but I did not like them quite as much.  Then, there were remounted shows that I had previously seen in other years such as The Time of Your Life at Soulpepper.  And there were many really good shows that I did not make it to.  But I cannot complain.  I got my money’s worth and more in 2011.

Wednesday 4 January 2012

New Professional Theatre Workshop Dates

Our popular “Taxes For Theatre Artists” professional workshop returns to help you sort your way through the 2011 tax season.  What is the difference between "employment" and "self-employment"?  What is a "reasonable expectation of profit"?  What's deductible?  This is one of our free workshops for members of Theatre Ontario, lead by chartered accounted Sam Marinucci, and it will be on March 8 at 3pm.  For more information, including how to register, please visit Taxes For Theatre Artists on the Theatre Ontario website.

We’ve also scheduled our next emerging professional workshops: sign-up now for “Getting Started For Actors” on February 1 at 2pm, or “Self-Start: The Basics Of Self-Producing” on February 15 at 2pm.

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, and maintaining and improving your acting skills.  Getting Started is a free workshop, available to members of Theatre Ontario only. For more information, including how to register, please visit Getting Started For Actors on the Theatre Ontario website.

Self-Start: If you want to do a show but have never produced professionally before, and if you want to know what questions to ask first, this session is for you!  Self-Start is a practical seminar facilitated by Tim Chapman.  This workshop is designed for individuals thinking of starting a theatre company or producing a show; and gives you the opportunity to ask questions and try out ideas, discover the questions you need to ask and answer, learn to organize your thinking and planning, work on scheduling and budget considerations, and learn about available resources and services.  It's free for Theatre Ontario members, and $30 for non-members.  For more information, including how to register, please visit Self-Start: The Basics Of Producing on the Theatre Ontario website.

Tuesday 3 January 2012

ONstage Openings for the week of January 3

In Toronto
Jan. 4, A Tiny Piece Of Land at TEATRON Toronto Jewish Theatre
Jan. 4, Next Stage Theatre Festival from the Toronto Fringe Festival

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

Browsing The Bulletin Board

Upcoming on The Bulletin Board
  • ACT II Studio is holding an Information Day on Thursday, January 5, designed to welcome those who would like to learn more about the courses and activities offered by this unique theatre school for older adults
  • Lucia Frangione’s Introduction to Playwriting course is starting up this month
  • OAC Theatre Creator’s Reserve deadlines at Young People’s Theatre (Jan. 3 - today!), The Grand Theatre (Jan. 6), Theatre Passe Muraille (Jan. 9), the Blyth Festival (Jan. 9) and 4th Line Theatre (Jan. 13)
  • Beginners Drama Training starts at Theatre Collingwood on January 10
Check out all the latest postings from Theatre Ontario’s Bulletin Board on our website