In Toronto
Jan. 1, The Amorous Adventures of Anatol at Tarragon Theatre (in previews)
Jan. 2, Next Stage Festival from the Toronto Fringe Festival
Jan. 3, This Is War at Tarragon Theatre (currently in previews)
Jan. 3, Rabbi Sam at TEATRON Toronto Jewish Theatre (with a matinee preview)
For all the theatre currently playing across Ontario, and information for theatres on how to submit your listings, visit TheatreOntario’s ONstage theatre listings on our website.
Monday, 31 December 2012
Monday, 24 December 2012
ONstage Openings for the week of December 24
In Toronto
Dec. 28, This Is War at Tarragon Theatre in previews
Dec. 28, Cinderella In Muddy York at Puppetmongers Theatre
For all the theatre currently playing across Ontario, and information for theatres on how to submit your listings, visit Theatre Ontario’s ONstage theatre listings on our website.
Dec. 28, This Is War at Tarragon Theatre in previews
Dec. 28, Cinderella In Muddy York at Puppetmongers Theatre
For all the theatre currently playing across Ontario, and information for theatres on how to submit your listings, visit Theatre Ontario’s ONstage theatre listings on our website.
Friday, 21 December 2012
Best wishes and happy holidays from my home to yours!
by Carol Beauchamp, Executive Director
It’s hard to believe that 2012 is almost over with the New Year rapidly approaching. This is a wonderful time of year filled with laughter, family, friends, and the opportunity to take in some great theatre! It is also a time for reflection, and a time for renewal and regeneration.
It has been a busy year at Theatre Ontario – we have completed the research phase of our strategic branding exercise, we have developed a number of new workshops, we have been working with the Ontario Arts Council and other Provincial Arts Service Organizations (PASOs) to deliver the message to our MPP’s on the importance of Arts funding in the province of Ontario. This is an extremely important message to carry, particularly as Liberal delegates will be choosing a new leader at the end of January, and there is the potential that we could see a provincial election as early as May, 2013. Theatre Ontario will continue working with the PASOs to deliver the message on the importance of arts funding in the province.
The arts and cultural sector is tremendously important to the creative, economic and social fabric of our amazing province. Some short and snappy facts that pulled together you can share with your local MPP (courtesy of the Ontario Arts Council):
Accessibility Standard For Customer Service – report due December 31st, 2012
The Accessibility Standard for Customer Service came into effect January 1st, 2012 and applies to all organizations (public, private and non-profit) that provide goods or services either directly to the public or to other organizations in Ontario and that have one or more employees in Ontario.
This includes consultants, manufacturers and wholesalers as well as other businesses and professional services.
The act requires that a report is filed by December 31st, 2012 for all organizations with over 20 employees. All organizations with over one employee should have a plan and their staff should be trained. If you haven’t yet put your plan in place (for organizations with under 20 employees), or submitted your report (for organizations with over 20 employees), visit the Ministry of Community & Social Services website for more details.
Not-for-Profit Corporations Act
Ontario’s Not-for-Profit Corporations Act, 2010 (ONCA) is a legal framework for not-for-profit corporations, including charitable corporations, and is targeted to come into effect July 31, 2013. It will set out how not-for-profit corporations in Ontario are created, governed and dissolved.
Existing not-for-profit corporations will have a three-year transition period once ONCA is in effect. This will allow them sufficient time to make any changes to their incorporation and other documents that are necessary to bring them into conformity with ONCA.
There is still currently some ambiguity with some of the details of the act (including the effective date), however, the changes will require a review by organizations of:
The last twelve months have been a tremendous experience for me personally. I have also had the great joy and privilege of meeting a vast array of committed, passionate and creative people who are producing wonderful theatre around the province–I consider myself extremely fortunate to have seen exciting theatre in venues as diverse as The St. Lawrence Centre of The Performing Arts, The Shaw and Stratford Festivals, a winery in Prince Edward County, a barn in Millbrook, a Church in Hillsburgh, a grand old theatre in Sarnia, and schools in Espanola and Saulte Ste Marie – and many, many terrific venues in between! The variety of plays has more than matched the variety of venues from classics to new works written and performed by Canadian artists. I never cease to be amazed by the magic that is created as I am moved to laughter or tears, inspired to create or become involved, provoked to think, consider, research and debate both controversial and motivating issues. Wow–Canadian theatre is alive and well in Ontario! Thank you to each of you who inspire and woo me with your creativity and passion.
I have been fortunate to have met many wonderful people from across the province, with highlights and memories abounding. The people of Sault Ste Marie opened their hearts and doors to us when Theatre SMC hosted Theatre Ontario Festival 2012–the city’s Mayor welcomed festival visitors at a lovely reception overlooking Lake Superior–it doesn’t get much better than that! The Ottawa Little Theatre celebrated its 100th anniversary, and our sister organization for the francophone community, Theatre Action celebrated their 40th anniversary on the same weekend.
I am very much looking forward to 2013: We will be kicking off the New Year with new workshops in January and Showcase 2013 for the graduates of Ontario’s theatre programs, held at the St. Lawrence Centre of the Performing Arts January 20th and 21st. I would be remiss if I did not say a big thank you, to you, our members. It has been a pleasure to work with and for you over the last twelve months, and I am anticipating with delight the opportunity of meeting many more of you in person in the next 12 months. Thank you for your commitment and your support. Have a wonderful and safe holiday season, and a healthy and prosperous New Year.
It’s hard to believe that 2012 is almost over with the New Year rapidly approaching. This is a wonderful time of year filled with laughter, family, friends, and the opportunity to take in some great theatre! It is also a time for reflection, and a time for renewal and regeneration.
It has been a busy year at Theatre Ontario – we have completed the research phase of our strategic branding exercise, we have developed a number of new workshops, we have been working with the Ontario Arts Council and other Provincial Arts Service Organizations (PASOs) to deliver the message to our MPP’s on the importance of Arts funding in the province of Ontario. This is an extremely important message to carry, particularly as Liberal delegates will be choosing a new leader at the end of January, and there is the potential that we could see a provincial election as early as May, 2013. Theatre Ontario will continue working with the PASOs to deliver the message on the importance of arts funding in the province.
The arts and cultural sector is tremendously important to the creative, economic and social fabric of our amazing province. Some short and snappy facts that pulled together you can share with your local MPP (courtesy of the Ontario Arts Council):
- Ontario’s cultural sector directly contributes $19.7 billion annually to Ontario’s economy, representing 4.2% of the province’s GDP
- Both Statistics Canada and the Conference Board of Canada recognize creators and creative producers as important first steps in the “creative chain”. The economic impact of the culture sector is derived through the creation, production dissemination and sale of arts and culture goods and services
- The Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ Policy Statement on Social-Economic Development states that “arts, culture and heritage improve the ability of municipal governments to influence local economic development by attracting and retaining a skilled and talented workforce.
- In a 2010 survey of 18 mid-sized Ontario cities, all of the municipalities reported using cultural and recreational amenities (i.e. operation of cultural facilities, museums and galleries) as a tool for downtown revitalization.
- 95% of Ontarians believe that arts activities help enrich the quality of our lives
- 89% of Ontarians agree that if their community lost its arts activities, people living there would lose something of value.
Accessibility Standard For Customer Service – report due December 31st, 2012
The Accessibility Standard for Customer Service came into effect January 1st, 2012 and applies to all organizations (public, private and non-profit) that provide goods or services either directly to the public or to other organizations in Ontario and that have one or more employees in Ontario.
This includes consultants, manufacturers and wholesalers as well as other businesses and professional services.
The act requires that a report is filed by December 31st, 2012 for all organizations with over 20 employees. All organizations with over one employee should have a plan and their staff should be trained. If you haven’t yet put your plan in place (for organizations with under 20 employees), or submitted your report (for organizations with over 20 employees), visit the Ministry of Community & Social Services website for more details.
Not-for-Profit Corporations Act
Ontario’s Not-for-Profit Corporations Act, 2010 (ONCA) is a legal framework for not-for-profit corporations, including charitable corporations, and is targeted to come into effect July 31, 2013. It will set out how not-for-profit corporations in Ontario are created, governed and dissolved.
Existing not-for-profit corporations will have a three-year transition period once ONCA is in effect. This will allow them sufficient time to make any changes to their incorporation and other documents that are necessary to bring them into conformity with ONCA.
There is still currently some ambiguity with some of the details of the act (including the effective date), however, the changes will require a review by organizations of:
- Letters of patent: do they reflect the corporations current and/or future activities
- Review of by-laws
- Review of Director and Officer Provisions
- Review of Member Provisions
The last twelve months have been a tremendous experience for me personally. I have also had the great joy and privilege of meeting a vast array of committed, passionate and creative people who are producing wonderful theatre around the province–I consider myself extremely fortunate to have seen exciting theatre in venues as diverse as The St. Lawrence Centre of The Performing Arts, The Shaw and Stratford Festivals, a winery in Prince Edward County, a barn in Millbrook, a Church in Hillsburgh, a grand old theatre in Sarnia, and schools in Espanola and Saulte Ste Marie – and many, many terrific venues in between! The variety of plays has more than matched the variety of venues from classics to new works written and performed by Canadian artists. I never cease to be amazed by the magic that is created as I am moved to laughter or tears, inspired to create or become involved, provoked to think, consider, research and debate both controversial and motivating issues. Wow–Canadian theatre is alive and well in Ontario! Thank you to each of you who inspire and woo me with your creativity and passion.
I have been fortunate to have met many wonderful people from across the province, with highlights and memories abounding. The people of Sault Ste Marie opened their hearts and doors to us when Theatre SMC hosted Theatre Ontario Festival 2012–the city’s Mayor welcomed festival visitors at a lovely reception overlooking Lake Superior–it doesn’t get much better than that! The Ottawa Little Theatre celebrated its 100th anniversary, and our sister organization for the francophone community, Theatre Action celebrated their 40th anniversary on the same weekend.
I am very much looking forward to 2013: We will be kicking off the New Year with new workshops in January and Showcase 2013 for the graduates of Ontario’s theatre programs, held at the St. Lawrence Centre of the Performing Arts January 20th and 21st. I would be remiss if I did not say a big thank you, to you, our members. It has been a pleasure to work with and for you over the last twelve months, and I am anticipating with delight the opportunity of meeting many more of you in person in the next 12 months. Thank you for your commitment and your support. Have a wonderful and safe holiday season, and a healthy and prosperous New Year.
Thursday, 20 December 2012
Amazing Abundance
By Brandon Moore, Communications Coordinator
This was a good year for online conversation-starters. When Ken Gass was dismissed as Artistic Director of Factory Theatre in June, a debate unfolded on Praxis Theatre provoked by “open letters” from David Ferry and Aislinn Rose; Jacob Zimmer of Small Wooden Shoe made a public application for the vacancy; and Brendan Healy of Buddies In Bad Times Theatre wrote a much-shared and moving and motivating Facebook note.
Best of all, they accomplished the most important thing in online conversations—they moved the conversations into the community: in rehearsal halls, at lunch room tables, in bars over drinks, at opening night parties. Calls to action were proposed, debated, adopted and rejected. If you had a passion for theatre and a pulse, something came of it—perhaps even just a change of belief or behaviour.
But one of my favourite calls-to-action from the past year—which could function as a “new year’s resolution” that’s as good as any—came from Travis Bedard, my favourite agitator in the 2amtheatre.com community. In a post at the end of November and an ensuing conversation on Twitter, he challenged us to end the “black magical thinking” in theatre that both frames the environment negatively in order to fit challenging circumstances, and assumes “stupidity or evil” on the part of the public, audiences, governments, funders, and—especially—other theatre-makers.
I agree with his assertion that “this is a time of amazing abundance in theatre.” As he says, that doesn’t mean easy. He uses the metaphor of “gridlock” to describe the state of our current resources. But the opportunities to overcome the gridlock are plentiful and abundant—in new leadership, new spaces, new conversations.
2012 saw a number of significant changes at the highest levels of Ontario’s professional venued theatres. There is new artistic leadership at Great Canadian Theatre Company, the National Arts Centre—English Theatre, Stratford Shakespeare Festival, Thousand Islands Playhouse, and interim leaders at Blyth Festival and Factory Theatre. There are also new general managers at many long-established Ontario theatres—Canadian Stage, the Shaw Festival, Stratford Shakespeare Festival, Tarragon Theatre, and Young People’s Theatre. New leaders step forward, new visionaries take over the positions they leave—change creates an abundance of opportunities.
TheatreBooks moved. Playwrights Canada Press moved. And we’ll be starting 2013 in our new office at 401 Richmond Street West, with our suite-mates from Playwrights Guild of Canada and the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts. Domino Theatre opened a new venue in Kingston that we’ll all get to visit at our Festival in May. Milton celebrated the opening of a new Centre for the Arts. Artscape opened the Daniels Spectrum in Toronto (previously known as the Regent Park Arts & Cultural Centre), and welcomed tenants, including Native Earth Performing Arts. The Theatre Centre “broke ground” for a new home. Next year will mark the grand opening of Drayton Entertainment’s Dunfield Theatre Cambridge. Theatre needs space to bring artists and audiences together; well-managed venues add to that abundance of opportunity.
On our community theatre stages, more groups are exploring new play development as a way to deepen their community connections, better engage their membership, and explore their creative potential as a company. The inaugural Tom Hendry Award for New Comedy from Playwrights Guild of Canada was awarded to Michael Grant for Shorthanded, which premieres at Elmira Theatre Company in February 2013; and the Outstanding Production at our 2012 Festival was The Mouse House by Robert Ainsworth, a work that was developed at Peterborough Theatre Guild.
Apocalypse watchers might point to the closures of the Vancouver Playhouse and Showboat Festival Theatre as signs of inevitable catastrophe. Indeed, these announcements were certainly among the “low points” of the past year—friends lost jobs, producing partners lost money, audiences lost theatre. But in response to the Playhouse closure, PACT—the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres—is now leading Dialogue On Theatre: “a national conversation about a vision for Canadian theatre in 2017 that the theatre community can support and work together to create.” The idea that everyone in Canadian theatre can start rowing together may provoke snark and cynicism; I remain hopeful that this Dialogue will give voices that are quieter, and often drowned out, to be heard at our major theatre institutions. That’s one of the ways we sustain abundance in a community.
But the most amazing abundance—the most important abundance—can be seen on our theatre stages. As a juror for the Dora Mavor Moore Awards during the first half of this year, I had the opportunity to see first-hand the breadth of quality at many Toronto professional theatres. In January, Toronto theatre critics were trying to remember a time when so many “four-star shows” were running at the same time. I heard similar stories at our summer theatres, our regional community theatre festivals, our fringe festivals, and from colleagues and friends across the province. When I update our ONstage listings every week, I’m struck by the breadth of shows you can see across our province—something for every taste. It’s good to hear that the quality of the theatre matches the choices available.
At Theatre Ontario, we’re looking forward to our plans for the new year. In the fall, we expanded our repertoire of workshops, and in the new year, we’ll be exploring ways to expand our workshops beyond our office in Toronto, while still making them cost-effective for our participants. On a personal note, I am looking forward to finding ways to expand our communications so that we can share more of the incredible stories of theatre in Ontario.
Thank you to our members and supporters. As the service organization for theatre artists in our province, we have accomplished an abundance of amazing things on your behalf—for forty years, you have been nurturing theatre artists at every stage of their careers and supporting and advocating for theatre across the province, through Theatre Ontario.
Let’s continue to seek out that abundance in the year ahead.
This was a good year for online conversation-starters. When Ken Gass was dismissed as Artistic Director of Factory Theatre in June, a debate unfolded on Praxis Theatre provoked by “open letters” from David Ferry and Aislinn Rose; Jacob Zimmer of Small Wooden Shoe made a public application for the vacancy; and Brendan Healy of Buddies In Bad Times Theatre wrote a much-shared and moving and motivating Facebook note.
Best of all, they accomplished the most important thing in online conversations—they moved the conversations into the community: in rehearsal halls, at lunch room tables, in bars over drinks, at opening night parties. Calls to action were proposed, debated, adopted and rejected. If you had a passion for theatre and a pulse, something came of it—perhaps even just a change of belief or behaviour.
But one of my favourite calls-to-action from the past year—which could function as a “new year’s resolution” that’s as good as any—came from Travis Bedard, my favourite agitator in the 2amtheatre.com community. In a post at the end of November and an ensuing conversation on Twitter, he challenged us to end the “black magical thinking” in theatre that both frames the environment negatively in order to fit challenging circumstances, and assumes “stupidity or evil” on the part of the public, audiences, governments, funders, and—especially—other theatre-makers.
I agree with his assertion that “this is a time of amazing abundance in theatre.” As he says, that doesn’t mean easy. He uses the metaphor of “gridlock” to describe the state of our current resources. But the opportunities to overcome the gridlock are plentiful and abundant—in new leadership, new spaces, new conversations.
2012 saw a number of significant changes at the highest levels of Ontario’s professional venued theatres. There is new artistic leadership at Great Canadian Theatre Company, the National Arts Centre—English Theatre, Stratford Shakespeare Festival, Thousand Islands Playhouse, and interim leaders at Blyth Festival and Factory Theatre. There are also new general managers at many long-established Ontario theatres—Canadian Stage, the Shaw Festival, Stratford Shakespeare Festival, Tarragon Theatre, and Young People’s Theatre. New leaders step forward, new visionaries take over the positions they leave—change creates an abundance of opportunities.
TheatreBooks moved. Playwrights Canada Press moved. And we’ll be starting 2013 in our new office at 401 Richmond Street West, with our suite-mates from Playwrights Guild of Canada and the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts. Domino Theatre opened a new venue in Kingston that we’ll all get to visit at our Festival in May. Milton celebrated the opening of a new Centre for the Arts. Artscape opened the Daniels Spectrum in Toronto (previously known as the Regent Park Arts & Cultural Centre), and welcomed tenants, including Native Earth Performing Arts. The Theatre Centre “broke ground” for a new home. Next year will mark the grand opening of Drayton Entertainment’s Dunfield Theatre Cambridge. Theatre needs space to bring artists and audiences together; well-managed venues add to that abundance of opportunity.
On our community theatre stages, more groups are exploring new play development as a way to deepen their community connections, better engage their membership, and explore their creative potential as a company. The inaugural Tom Hendry Award for New Comedy from Playwrights Guild of Canada was awarded to Michael Grant for Shorthanded, which premieres at Elmira Theatre Company in February 2013; and the Outstanding Production at our 2012 Festival was The Mouse House by Robert Ainsworth, a work that was developed at Peterborough Theatre Guild.
Apocalypse watchers might point to the closures of the Vancouver Playhouse and Showboat Festival Theatre as signs of inevitable catastrophe. Indeed, these announcements were certainly among the “low points” of the past year—friends lost jobs, producing partners lost money, audiences lost theatre. But in response to the Playhouse closure, PACT—the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres—is now leading Dialogue On Theatre: “a national conversation about a vision for Canadian theatre in 2017 that the theatre community can support and work together to create.” The idea that everyone in Canadian theatre can start rowing together may provoke snark and cynicism; I remain hopeful that this Dialogue will give voices that are quieter, and often drowned out, to be heard at our major theatre institutions. That’s one of the ways we sustain abundance in a community.
But the most amazing abundance—the most important abundance—can be seen on our theatre stages. As a juror for the Dora Mavor Moore Awards during the first half of this year, I had the opportunity to see first-hand the breadth of quality at many Toronto professional theatres. In January, Toronto theatre critics were trying to remember a time when so many “four-star shows” were running at the same time. I heard similar stories at our summer theatres, our regional community theatre festivals, our fringe festivals, and from colleagues and friends across the province. When I update our ONstage listings every week, I’m struck by the breadth of shows you can see across our province—something for every taste. It’s good to hear that the quality of the theatre matches the choices available.
At Theatre Ontario, we’re looking forward to our plans for the new year. In the fall, we expanded our repertoire of workshops, and in the new year, we’ll be exploring ways to expand our workshops beyond our office in Toronto, while still making them cost-effective for our participants. On a personal note, I am looking forward to finding ways to expand our communications so that we can share more of the incredible stories of theatre in Ontario.
Thank you to our members and supporters. As the service organization for theatre artists in our province, we have accomplished an abundance of amazing things on your behalf—for forty years, you have been nurturing theatre artists at every stage of their careers and supporting and advocating for theatre across the province, through Theatre Ontario.
Let’s continue to seek out that abundance in the year ahead.
Monday, 17 December 2012
ONstage Openings for the week of December 17
In South Central Ontario
Dec. 20, Aladdin at Zeus Entertainment (Burlington)
For all the theatre currently playing across Ontario, and information for theatres on how to submit your listings, visit Theatre Ontario’s ONstage theatre listings on our website.
Dec. 20, Aladdin at Zeus Entertainment (Burlington)
For all the theatre currently playing across Ontario, and information for theatres on how to submit your listings, visit Theatre Ontario’s ONstage theatre listings on our website.
Friday, 14 December 2012
Ontario Off Stage
Conversations
Assembled by Brandon Moore, Communications Coordinator
- News from across the border is about the approaching "fiscal cliff", which started a conversation about the fiscal cliff in the arts--but Diane Ragsdale on Jumper identifies significant cliffs that we need to worry about it the arts: the arts education cliff, the diversity cliff, the professionalism cliff, and the leadership cliff
- Robert Hedley and Harriet Power looked at the new play development models in Britain and published their observations on the Theatre Communications Group’s website—some exciting ideas and models that could inform your theatre’s play development process
- Group of Minds Arts Marketing + Technology Consultants were commissioned to study arts patrons’ mobile preferences—following up on a previous study from three years earlier that allows us to observe trends
- Matt Miwa is the new Executive Director of Prix Rideau Awards in Ottawa
Assembled by Brandon Moore, Communications Coordinator
Thursday, 13 December 2012
New Workshops for the New Year
We have both exciting new workshops and some returning favourites coming up in January and early February.
Inclusion—Professional Advice for Professional Theatre Companies, with charles c. smith: Part 1 on Tuesday, January 15, Part 2 on Tuesday, April 16 – As part of their creative process, contemporary theatres are working to gain a better sense of creative possibilities and to engage communities in all aspects of their operations. This has been both a rewarding and difficult challenge for theatre companies that are addressing such issues in the context of diversity and pluralism, particularly in terms of making connections with Aboriginal peoples, peoples of colour, persons with disabilities, and others whose mother tongue is not one of Canada's official languages and whose religious and/or spiritual beliefs fall outside of the dominant western belief systems. This two-part session will assist theatre leaders in addressing these concerns and coming to understand how to begin to move their practices so that they are open and inclusive.
Auditions—Preparation, Etiquette, Expectations, with Elley-Ray Hennessy, Andrew Lamb and Renna Reddie on Wednesday, January 16 – Join us for this Talk Back Session on: What should you expect at auditions?; What do you bring to an audition?; Good & bad audition stories; Differences between film, TV, commercials & theatre auditions; Equity versus non-equity auditions; Crashing auditions—when is it a good idea?
Grant Writing Information Session for Playwrights and Theatre Artists, with Pat Bradley, Theatre Officer of the Ontario Arts Council on Thursday, January 24 in Burlington – These sessions share information, perspective, and tips about project grants, particularly the OAC’s three professional theatre project programs—Theatre Projects, Playwright Residency, and Theatre Creators’ Reserve. (And we’re looking forward to announcing sessions in other Ontario communities in the new year!)
Getting Started for Actors, with Tim Chapman on Wednesday, January 30 – For actors beginning their professional careers, this two-hour workshop 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, and maintaining and improving your acting skills.
Self-Start: The Basics of Producing, with Tim Chapman on Wednesday, February 6 – 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 workshop is for you. This workshop 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 find out about available resources and services.
Read more about all of the training opportunities at Theatre Ontario on our website
Inclusion—Professional Advice for Professional Theatre Companies, with charles c. smith: Part 1 on Tuesday, January 15, Part 2 on Tuesday, April 16 – As part of their creative process, contemporary theatres are working to gain a better sense of creative possibilities and to engage communities in all aspects of their operations. This has been both a rewarding and difficult challenge for theatre companies that are addressing such issues in the context of diversity and pluralism, particularly in terms of making connections with Aboriginal peoples, peoples of colour, persons with disabilities, and others whose mother tongue is not one of Canada's official languages and whose religious and/or spiritual beliefs fall outside of the dominant western belief systems. This two-part session will assist theatre leaders in addressing these concerns and coming to understand how to begin to move their practices so that they are open and inclusive.
Auditions—Preparation, Etiquette, Expectations, with Elley-Ray Hennessy, Andrew Lamb and Renna Reddie on Wednesday, January 16 – Join us for this Talk Back Session on: What should you expect at auditions?; What do you bring to an audition?; Good & bad audition stories; Differences between film, TV, commercials & theatre auditions; Equity versus non-equity auditions; Crashing auditions—when is it a good idea?
Grant Writing Information Session for Playwrights and Theatre Artists, with Pat Bradley, Theatre Officer of the Ontario Arts Council on Thursday, January 24 in Burlington – These sessions share information, perspective, and tips about project grants, particularly the OAC’s three professional theatre project programs—Theatre Projects, Playwright Residency, and Theatre Creators’ Reserve. (And we’re looking forward to announcing sessions in other Ontario communities in the new year!)
Getting Started for Actors, with Tim Chapman on Wednesday, January 30 – For actors beginning their professional careers, this two-hour workshop 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, and maintaining and improving your acting skills.
Self-Start: The Basics of Producing, with Tim Chapman on Wednesday, February 6 – 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 workshop is for you. This workshop 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 find out about available resources and services.
Read more about all of the training opportunities at Theatre Ontario on our website
Wednesday, 12 December 2012
Theatre Ontario is on the Move!
We are excited to announce that we will be moving to our new office effective January 1, 2013. All mail sent after December 31st, should be addressed to:
We will be sharing our new suite with our current roommates at the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts and Playwrights Guild of Canada, and our sub-lets from the Arts Network for Children And Youth. Our telephone numbers and email addresses will remain the same.
To accommodate the holidays and the move, our offices will close at 5pm on Thursday, December 20th and we will re-open on Monday, January 7th.
Get directions to our new office
Theatre Ontario
401 Richmond Street West, Suite 350
Toronto, ON
M5V 3A8
We will be sharing our new suite with our current roommates at the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts and Playwrights Guild of Canada, and our sub-lets from the Arts Network for Children And Youth. Our telephone numbers and email addresses will remain the same.
To accommodate the holidays and the move, our offices will close at 5pm on Thursday, December 20th and we will re-open on Monday, January 7th.
Get directions to our new office
Tuesday, 11 December 2012
Browsing The Bulletin Board
Upcoming on The Bulletin Board
- The deadline to apply for Tarragon Theatre’s Spring Training Project—a free program for aspiring theatre performers between the ages of 15 and 20—is December 14
- Playwright’s Guild of Canada and Pat The Dog Playwright Development Centre are holding a one-day workshop on "Self-Producing at Festivals for Playwrights" on December 14 in Toronto
- OAC Theatre Creators’ Reserve application deadline at Tarragon Theatre is December 14
- Nomination deadline for the Gina Wilkinson Prize is December 15. The prize recognizes and assists female theatre artists who have spent several years in a theatre discipline other than directing (acting, stage management, design, theatre administration, etc.) and who are now attempting to transition into directing
- Application deadline for both Theatre InspiraTO’s 10-Minute Playwriting Contest, and their Playwrights Mentoring Project (for playwrights interested in exploring ten-minute plays) is December 17
Monday, 10 December 2012
ONstage Openings for the week of December 10
In Southwestern Ontario
Dec. 11, Ho-Ho-Holiday Music in the Old Firehall at Theatre Ancaster (Hamilton)
In Toronto
Dec. 10, Aluna Cafe: About Griselda Gambaro at Aluna Theatre
Dec. 12, The ToyBox at Theatre Passe Muraille
In Eastern Ontario
Dec. 13, The Sound Of Music at Bottle Tree Productions (Kingston)
For all the theatre currently playing across Ontario, and information for theatres on how to submit your listings, visit Theatre Ontario’s ONstage theatre listings on our website.
Dec. 11, Ho-Ho-Holiday Music in the Old Firehall at Theatre Ancaster (Hamilton)
In Toronto
Dec. 10, Aluna Cafe: About Griselda Gambaro at Aluna Theatre
Dec. 12, The ToyBox at Theatre Passe Muraille
In Eastern Ontario
Dec. 13, The Sound Of Music at Bottle Tree Productions (Kingston)
For all the theatre currently playing across Ontario, and information for theatres on how to submit your listings, visit Theatre Ontario’s ONstage theatre listings on our website.
Thursday, 6 December 2012
Across The Province in Community Theatre
The community theatre season is in full swing and there are great plays and festivals going on all over the province. You’ll find something for everyone in every region.
The Association of Community Theatres—Central Ontario (ACT-CO) has 50 plays being adjudicated between October 2012 and March 2013. While this is not the largest geographical region for community theatre in Ontario, this is the largest number of plays in a Festival. This year’s adjudicators are Chris Worsnop (Drama), Autumn Smith (Comedy), and Thom Currie (Musicals). An important component of the adjudication is the public adjudication which occurs immediately after the play is finished. This is an opportunity for the audience to get greater understanding of the performance from the adjudicator. If you would like to see one of these adjudicated productions, check out the Festival on the ACT-CO website.
The QUONTA Region is holding the Regional Festival from Tuesday, March 12 to Saturday, March 16 with a Awards Brunch on Sunday, March 17. North Bay’s Gateway Theatre Guild is hosting the event. Several workshops are also in the planning stages for Festival week.
I’d also like to update everyone on the status of ELATE – Elliot Lake Amateur Theatre Ensemble, a QUONTA member. I’m sure that none of us can forget the horrible images coming from Elliot Lake last June of the Algo Mall collapse. ELATE was performing a matinee in the mall at the time. They were able to get all of the cast, crew and audience members out of the mall safely, but all of their lighting equipment, portable stage, screen and even the ticket money from the play are lost in the rubble of the Algo Mall. Even so, the group continues to perform. They have monthly meetings and have held play readings and improv nights and are already rehearsing for their performance in QUONTA Festival 2013. In a recent conversation with Murray Finn from ELATE, he wanted to let everyone know how pleased the members of the theatre company were with the support they have received from other theatre groups and individuals who have sent their good wishes and other tangible support.
The Western Ontario Drama League (WODL) hosts their Regional Festival Monday, March 11 to Friday, March 15 with the Awards Ball on Saturday March 16. This season’s Festival is in Guelph and the festival committee chair is Dennis Johnson, my predecessor in the Community Theatre Coordinator’s job. You can find information about this festival on the WODL website. “The 2013 WODL Festival is the 80th Anniversary of the first WODL Festival in 1933. Catharine McCormick Brickenden was invited to attend the inaugural meeting of the Dominion Drama Festival (DDF) in 1932, where she met its chief organizers – Vincent Massey and Governor General Lord Bessborough. She set about organizing the first WODL Festival in 1933, held in the auditorium of the London Life Building in London Ontario. In 1934, she arranged for the use of the Grand Theatre in London for the second WODL Festival. In 1936 she directed and acted in Twenty-Five Cents, the first original play to win the WODL and DDF festivals. In her memoirs she wrote: ‘… the most gratifying triumph was that it was the first Canadian-written play in any Festival. The whole audience went wild.’” (quotation from the proposal to the WODL Board, October 28, 2012.) A new award at the Festival will be the Brickenden Award for Best Production of a Canadian Play, and is Dennis’ brainchild—well done Dennis!
As previously announced, Theatre Ontario is running another Introduction to Adjudication course at this Festival, under the instruction of Ron Cameron-Lewis.
The Domino Theatre in Kingston and the Eastern Ontario Drama League (EODL) will be hosting the Theatre Ontario Festival 2013, May 16 to 20 at the Domino Theatre. The new theatre officially opened in January 2012 and is an extremely well-designed space. Domino Theatre hosted the EODL One-Act Festival earlier this month and everyone was quite impressed with the facility and the host committee. The wonderful facilities will be a great backdrop to the Theatre Ontario Festival. The Festival Committee is meeting in the next week to finalize festival venues, etc. I can tell you that the Festival Adjudicator is John P. Kelly—John is well-known as an articulate and informative adjudicator. The Playwright-in-Person will be John Lazarus. Stay tuned for more information.
The EODL One-Act Festival was quite an eye opening event. Nine one-act plays were adjudicated in two days by Bea Quarrie. Each group was given one hour of tech time to rehearse in the space. Then they had ten minutes to set up and five minutes after their plays to strike. Inventiveness is a major part of this Festival. Plays ran the gamut from George Bernard Shaw and an adaptation of Stephen Leacock to five locally-written plays. The Best Production was Ottawa Little Theatre’s Behind the Beyond adapted from a Stephen Leacock short story. This Festival also has a People’s Choice Award which was won by Bay of Quinte Community Theatre’s one man show Burying the Hangman—written and performed by Richard Turtle. A full list of plays and winners is available on the EODL website.
Theatre in Ontario is as diverse as the regions in which it is found. Hopefully, you can feed your soul at a community theatre performance or Festival near you.
Wednesday, 5 December 2012
Join us at Theatre Ontario's Showcase 2013
Theatre Ontario is pleased to announce our 19th annual Showcase of theatre school graduates from across Ontario, and the National Theatre School in Montreal. Join us for two days of talent, with over 235 graduates.
Theatre Ontario's Showcase takes place on Sunday, January 20, starting at 10:30am, and Monday, January 21, starting at 11:00am, at the Jane Mallett Theatre in the St. Lawrence Centre, Toronto. Lobby doors open at 9:45am on Sunday, and 10:15am on Monday.
The participating schools and approximate times are:
Sunday, January 20 (10:30am to 5:30pm)
Please reserve either at info@theatreontario.org or call 416.408.4556 x.10. We encourage and appreciate RSVPs as soon as possible to help us plan our days.
Read more about Theatre Ontario's Showcase on our website
Join the conversation on Twitter at #toshowcase
Theatre Ontario's Showcase takes place on Sunday, January 20, starting at 10:30am, and Monday, January 21, starting at 11:00am, at the Jane Mallett Theatre in the St. Lawrence Centre, Toronto. Lobby doors open at 9:45am on Sunday, and 10:15am on Monday.
The participating schools and approximate times are:
Sunday, January 20 (10:30am to 5:30pm)
- 10:30 - George Brown
- 11:15 - University of Toronto - Mississauga/Sheridan
- 12:15 - York (BFA and MFA)
- 1:40 - Humber
- 2:15 - National Theatre School
- 2:55 - Ryerson
- 4:05 - University of Windsor
- 5:00 - Canadore College
- 11:00 - Centre for Indigenous Theatre
- 11:25 - St. Lawrence College
- 12:15 - Randolph Academy
- 1:45 - St. Clair College
- 2:30 - Sheridan Music Theatre
- 4:35 - New Faces (graduates from other schools)
Please reserve either at info@theatreontario.org or call 416.408.4556 x.10. We encourage and appreciate RSVPs as soon as possible to help us plan our days.
Read more about Theatre Ontario's Showcase on our website
Join the conversation on Twitter at #toshowcase
Tuesday, 4 December 2012
Browsing The Bulletin Board
The deadline to apply to the Theatre Ontario Talent Bank is December 15. Our Talent Bank is made up of professional theatre trainers and teachers who provide workshops, adjudications, and/or short-term consulting contracts for community organizations. Talent Bank applicants must be proficient practitioners in the categories to which they are applying, demonstrate ability as a teacher/trainer, and have sensitivity and familiarity with the needs of the community and educational theatre sector. Read more about Applying to Join the Theatre Ontario Talent Bank
Upcoming on The Bulletin Board
Upcoming on The Bulletin Board
- Jumblies Theatre’s Artsfare Essentials—a six-day intensive about the principles and practices of community-engaged art—begins on December 6
Monday, 3 December 2012
ONstage Openings for the week of December 3
In Eastern Ontario
Dec. 5, The Winter Wonderettes at Theatre Kingston
Dec. 8, Disney's Aladdin Jr. at Seaway Valley Theatre
Company (Cornwall)
In Northeastern Ontario
Dec. 6, Greetings! at Sault Theatre Workshop
In Southwestern Ontario
Dec. 6, Cinderella at Elgin Theatre Guild (St. Thomas)
Dec. 7, Forever Plaid: Plaid Tidings at Hammer Entertainment
(Hamilton)
Dec. 7, Midnight And Mistletoe at Goderich Little Theatre
In Toronto
Dec. 3, A Christmas Carol at Soulpepper Theatre
Dec. 6, It's A Wonderful Life at Alexander Showcase Theatre
For all the theatre currently playing across Ontario, and
information for theatres on how to submit your listings, visit TheatreOntario’s ONstage theatre listings on our website.
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