Ontario Off Stage

Behind The Scenes At Ontario’s Theatres

• Jane Marsland has prepared the Metcalf Foundation’s first Innovation Fellowship paper in the performing arts—Shared Platforms and Charitable Venture Organizations: A Powerful Possibility for a More Resilient Arts Sector.  “Three possible models for shared platforms are compared, hoping to stimulate sectoral dialogue around the idea and to galvanize the community to develop and implement models that will work for them.”

Conversations

• Social design is “the strategic implementation of social media to deepen or broaden the nature of an artistic project.”  Michael Wheeler shared these concepts last year in two Theatre Ontario workshops, and has written an excellent overview of social design on his new site.
• Diane Ragsdale writes on Jumper about our long tug-of-war between arts and commerce: “We weren’t meant to blend in…we in the arts.  We are the antidote…the resistance…the challengers of the status quo.  Though we may be in it, we are not meant to be of this market-driven world.”
• Not-for-profit status places us in a contract with the public trust, as American writer Andrew Taylor observes on the Artful Manager—is your theatre organization fulfilling its public trust?

From The Wire

• We are sad to share the news of the death of James Costley of Burlington.  Jim was one of our founding members at Theatre Ontario, and served as our first part-time Executive Director; as well as a founding member of Theatre Burlington
• There is just over a month to the deadline for the Ontario Arts Council’s Theatre Projects grant program
• The Ontario Ministry of Labour has published several new health and safety guidelines for live performance, including the revised guideline for Stage Combat/Stunts and Weaponry, plus new guidelines for Risk Assessment for Productions, Scenery, Mechanised Scenery and Automated Systems, and Temporary Performance/Event Structures
• Theatre Orangeville is selling off their old theatre seats as they prepare to install new ones

Migrations

• Marjorie Chan is the new Artistic Director of Cahoots Theatre Company

TO Toasts

• …to all of the recipients of the 2012-2013 Dora Mavor Moore Awards for Toronto professional theatre, opera, and dance, presented by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts
• …to the recipients of the 2013 Premier’s Awards for Excellence in the Arts
• …and to the recipients of the 2013 Toronto Arts Foundation Awards, including Sun Life Financial, sponsors of the Neil Munro Intern Directors Project at the Shaw Festival who received the Arts and Business Award; and Daniel Karasik, Artistic Director of Tango Productions who received the Emerging Artist Award

You can also receive news from Theatre Ontario every month by email.  Our archives are online and the June issue is now available.

Assembled by Brandon Moore, Communications Coordinator

Browsing The Bulletin Board

Experience a week away from all distractions and immerse yourself in a unique theatrical learning experience at our Summer Theatre Intensive in Waterloo on August 11 to 17.  You will learn new skills, meet passionate theatre people, enrich your theatre capacity, and flex your creative muscle!  This year’s courses include:

• Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Acting with Tom Diamond (course is full)
• Staging the Story: The Why and How of Directing with Maja Ardal (4 spaces available)
• Instant Theatre: The Art of Improvisation with Herbie Barnes (6 spaces available)
• You Got the Part! Audition and Rehearsal Techniques for the Actor with Thom Currie (5 spaces available)

The application deadline for the Neil Munro Intern Directors Project at the Shaw Festival is June 28.  Each season, the Shaw Festival hires two Intern Directors.  They look for promising professional directors at a point in their career where an extended residency with a company like the Shaw Festival will be of benefit to their professional development.  This program is sponsored by Sun Life Financial and Theatre Ontario.

Theatre Ontario is looking for a volunteer to work with our Membership Coordinator on a special project.  A passion for research and theatre would be great assets.  The time commitment is 3-6 hours per week.

Upcoming on The Bulletin Board

• Submission deadline for the Paprika Festival New Play Contest for playwrights 21 or under is July 1.
• Young Associates’ Summer 2013 Seminar Series features Excel Basics for Mac on starting July 2.
• Submission deadline for the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre’s Canadian Jewish Playwriting Competition is July 2.

Check out these items, and other postings from our members of workshops, calls for submission, and funding opportunities—on Theatre Ontario’s Bulletin Board on our website

ONstage Openings for the week of June 24

In Southwestern Ontario
Jun. 25, Enchanted April at Shaw Festival (Niagara-on-the-Lake) in previews
Jun. 26, Tuesdays With Morrie at Drayton Entertainment: Huron County Playhouse (Grand Bend)
Jun. 26, Beyond The Farm Show at Blyth Festival (world premiere)
Jun. 26, Spamalot at Drayton Entertainment: Huron County Playhouse (Grand Bend)
Jun. 27, Waiting For Godot at Stratford Festival, currently in previews

In Toronto
Jun. 26, Macbeth at Canadian Stage in previews

Big Band Legends at Drayton
Entertainment: King's Wharf Theatre

In Central Ontario
Jun. 26, The Hound Of The Baskervilles at Globus Theatre (Bobcaygeon)
Jun. 26, Big Band Legends at Drayton Entertainment: King's Wharf Theatre (Penetanguishene)

In Eastern Ontario
Jun. 29, Boeing Boeing at Thousand Islands Playhouse (Gananoque) with a preview on Jun. 28

For more information on these shows and other theatre playing across Ontario, visit Theatre Ontario’s ONstage theatre listings on our website.

Browsing The Bulletin Board

Experience a week away from all distractions and immerse yourself in a unique theatrical learning experience at Theatre Ontario's Summer Theatre Intensive on August 11 to 17 in Waterloo. You will learn new skills, meet passionate theatre people, enrich your theatre capacity, and flex your creative muscle!  This year’s courses include Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Acting with Tom Diamond; Staging the Story: The Why and How of Directing with Maja Ardal; Instant Theatre: The Art of Improvisation with Herbie Barnes; and You Got the Part! Audition and Rehearsal Techniques for the Actor with Thom Currie.

Each season, the Shaw Festival hires two Intern Directors.  They look for promising professional directors at a point in their career where an extended residency with a company like the Shaw Festival will be of benefit to their professional development.  There is now one and a half weeks left until the application deadline for the Neil Munro Intern Directors Project at the Shaw Festival.  This program is sponsored by Sun Life Financial and Theatre Ontario.

Upcoming on The Bulletin Board

• Young Associates’ Summer 2013 Seminar Series kicks off on June 25 with Excel Basics for PC; upcoming sessions will include advanced Excel, Sumac, budgeting, cashflow, data management, database management, and accounting for Board members.

New on The Bulletin Board

• Paprika Festival New Play Contest is open for submissions from playwrights 21 or under, working on writing a play, and looking to get your work produced.  Submission deadline is July 1.
• Focus UP’s Storytelling with a PUNCH!: Introduction to Stage Combat begins July 18.

Check out these items, and other postings from our members of workshops, calls for submission, and funding opportunities on Theatre Ontario’s Bulletin Board on our website

ONstage Openings for the week of June 17

In Toronto
Jun. 20, The State Of Tennessee at Minmar Gaslight Productions

In Central Ontario
Jun. 20, The Marvelous Wonderettes at Port Hope Festival Theatre

For more information on these shows and other theatre playing across Ontario, visit Theatre Ontario’s ONstage theatre listings on our website.

Browsing The Bulletin Board

Training from Theatre Ontario

Summer Theatre Intensive on August 11 to 17 in Waterloo – Experience a week away from all distractions and immerse yourself in a unique theatrical learning experience. You will learn new skills, meet passionate theatre people, enrich your theatre capacity, and flex your creative muscle!  This year’s courses include:

• Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Acting with Tom Diamond (7 spaces available)
• Staging the Story: The Why and How of Directing with Maja Ardal (8 spaces available)
• Instant Theatre: The Art of Improvisation with Herbie Barnes (9 spaces available)
• You Got the Part! Audition and Rehearsal Techniques for the Actor with Thom Currie (8 spaces available)
• Where There's a WILL, There's a WAY - A Path to Acting with Shakespeare, Text Study, and Performance with Jack Wetherall (9 spaces available)

Ontarians With Disabilities Act: Are You Meeting Accessibility Standards?, with Sarah Farrell on June 27 at 6:30pm in Toronto – Confused by the Accessibility Standards set out in the Ontarians with Disabilities Act?  Want to know what this means to your organization?  Do you need some practical tips that could help you comply with the Act and avoid costly penalties?

And join us at our next Community Theatre Discussion Forum on June 17 at 7pm at Georgetown Little Theatre.  These discussions will enable us to share and identify opportunities to partner, and provide services and support such as advocacy, training, resources, and facilitation to our member community theatres.

Opportunities

Join Theatre Ontario for a Summer Employment Experience!  Today is the application deadline for our Education Assistant position, assisting our Education Coordinator with the preparation of our annual adult summer theatre courses and to support our membership, marketing and fundraising department.  In order to apply, you must be currently enrolled in a secondary or post-secondary institution or within six months of graduation, 15 to 24 years old (up to 29 years old for persons with a disability.)  This program is funded by the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture, and Sport.

There’s just over two weeks left to the application deadline for the Neil Munro Intern Directors Project at the Shaw Festival.  Each season, the Shaw Festival hires two Intern Directors.  They look for promising professional directors at a point in their career where an extended residency with a company like the Shaw Festival will be of benefit to their professional development.  This program is sponsored by Sun Life Financial and Theatre Ontario.

Upcoming on The Bulletin Board

• Directing in the Performing Arts, a symposium and workshop devoted to the Art of the Director begins on June 15; Theatre Ontario members are eligible for the registration discount
• Your Voice And You’s workshop on Received Pronunciation Accent is available on June 15 or June 16
• Submissions deadline for the Gay Play Day for LGBTTQ playwrights is June 15
• Submissions deadline for the Muskoka One Act Play Festival is June 15

Check out these items, and other postings from our members of workshops, calls for submission, funding opportunities, and more—on Theatre Ontario’s Bulletin Board on our website

ONstage Openings for the week of June 10

In Southwestern Ontario
Jun. 12, Big Band Legends at Drayton Entertainment: Dunfield Theatre Cambridge
Jun. 12, Henry And Alice: Into The Wild at Port Stanley Festival Theatre
Jun. 13, Dear Johnny Deere at Blyth Festival, with previews from Jun. 11
Jun. 13, Waiting For Godot at Stratford Festival, in previews
Jun. 13, Faith Healer at Shaw Festival (Niagara-on-the-Lake), in previews
Jun. 14, Innocence Lost at London Community Players

In Toronto
Jun. 15, Potluck X at fu-GEN Theatre Company

In Central Ontario
Jun. 11, The 39 Steps at Orillia Opera House
Jun. 11, Blue Suede Shoes at Theatre Collingwood
Jun. 14, Looking at Blackhorse Village Players (Tottenham) with a preview on Jun. 12

For more information on these shows and other theatre playing across Ontario, visit Theatre Ontario’s ONstage theatre listings on our website.

Ontario Off Stage

Behind The Scenes At Ontario’s Theatres

• The 2013 Ontario Fringe season is now underway, with the “#FringeOutbreak” in London kicking things off.  If you’re touring the province, your next stop will be in Ottawa starting June 20, followed by Toronto on July 3 (the 25th anniversary opening includes a performance by the Polaris Prize-nominated Hooded Fang), and Hamilton finishing the province’s fringe season on July 18.  Unfortunately, Windsor is not producing in 2013; but as this post went to press, a media release arrived in my inbox suggesting that in 2014 there may be a new late-May stop in our province…

Conversations

• As part of ArtsFwd’s Business Unusual National Challenge, HowlRound proposed “Culture Coin”—a way of quantifying the sweat equity that sustains so much of our industry

Migrations

• Natasha Mytnowych is the inaugural Managing Director of Artscape Youngplace in Toronto

TO Toasts

• …to the nominees for the 2013 Premier’s Awards for Excellence in the Arts, with an extra tip-of-the-hat to Blyth Festival and the Toronto Fringe Festival
• …to the nominees for the City of St. Catharines Arts Awards, including Carousel Players (Arts in Education), past PTTP recipient Dawn Crysler (Emerging Artist), and past Board member Debra McLauchlan (Volunteer in the Arts)
• …to the 2012-2013 Dora Mavor Moore Award nominees unveiled last Monday from the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts; also honoured at the nomination press conference was Ryan Wilson of Young People’s Theatre who received the Pauline McGibbon Award for an artist with unique talent and potential for excellence, and Paul Templin of Hart House Theatre who received the Leonard McHardy and John Harvey Award for leadership in administration.  Congratulations to these well-deserved recipients.
• But of particular resonance with us at Theatre Ontario was the George Luscombe Mentorship Award which was presented to Franco Boni of Theatre Centre.  Franco was a member of our Professional Theatre Training Program jury for a decade, serving as chair in the final years.  We’ve both seen and benefited first-hand from his commitment to mentorship, and we are thrilled to see him recognized for it.

Assembled by Brandon Moore, Communications Coordinator

Browsing The Bulletin Board

Workshops from Theatre Ontario

• Proposal Writing: Creative Approaches to Creative Proposals, with Denise Bolduc, on June 10 at 2:00pm in Toronto – Change the grant-writing nightmare to a positive creative experience by learning relevant tools and valuable information to improve your chances of success in this workshop for individuals and theatre organizations applying for funding and sponsorships.
• Business Basics: An Introduction to Planning for Artists, with Diane Davy, on June 11 at 3:00pm in Toronto – Planning your work & working your plan!  Your plan is your future, and whether you are a theatre company or an individual artist-entrepreneur, you will benefit by developing a clear business plan for your organization or your career.
• Smart Marketing: Adapting to the New Reality, with Cheryl Ewing, on June 15 at 9:30am in Toronto – What do people expect from their night at the theatre?  How can you help them to meet their expectations?  How do you use your existing audience to help you find a new audience?  Our instructor will answer these questions and more.  By guiding you through a review of what you are currently doing, Cheryl will help you adapt your marketing to the new reality – a world where we are increasingly crunched for time, bombarded with messages, and feeling isolated.

Check out all of our upcoming courses and workshops, including the Ontarians with Disabilities Act, our summer courses, and more.

Upcoming on The Bulletin Board

• Deadline for emerging artists to apply to be part of the 100 at the Toronto Fringe is June 6
• Compass Points at the Magnetic North Theatre Festival in Ottawa for post-secondary students and emerging artists starts June 9
• Nightwood Theatre’s Audition Techniques Masterclass with Kelly Thornton starts June 11
• Ontario Arts Council and Toronto Arts Council will hold a grant writing workshop on June 25 for theatre artists, theatre organizations and artist collectives who are seeking information and guidance for theatre project grant applications.  Registration deadline is June 11.

New on The Bulletin Board

• Harbourfront Centre invites submissions for Hatch 2014, a performing arts residency.  Open to Toronto-area artists and companies, with particular interest for 2014 in projects that experiment with how social media can be used artistically in creation and performance; deadline is July 12
• Volcano Conservatory 2013 kicks off July 19: A series of intensives and masterclasses taught by industry leaders for actors, dancers, singers, directors, and theatre-makers; registration discount available for Theatre Ontario members
• Ottawa Little Theatre’s National One-Act Play Competition is open for submissions; the deadline is October 15

Check out these items, and other postings from our members of workshops, calls for submission, funding opportunities, and more—on Theatre Ontario’s Bulletin Board on our website

ONstage Openings for the week of June 3

In Eastern Ontario
Jun. 6, The King And I at Belleville Theatre Guild with previews from Jun. 3
Jun. 7, Like Wolves at Great Canadian Theatre Company (Ottawa) with previews from Jun. 4 – world premiere

In Southwestern Ontario
Jun. 4, The Sound Of Music at Drayton Entertainment: Huron County Playhouse (Grand Bend)
Jun. 5, Tuesdays With Morrie at Drayton Entertainment: Drayton Festival Theatre
Jun. 7, Peace In Our Time: A Comedy at Shaw Festival (Niagara-on-the-Lake) currently in previews
Jun. 8, Lady Windermere's Fan at Shaw Festival (Niagara-on-the-Lake) currently in previews
Jun. 8, Trifles at Shaw Festival (Niagara-on-the-Lake) currently in previews

In Toronto
Jun. 7, Queer Pride 2013 at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre
Jun. 7, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at Avenue Road Arts School

In Central Ontario
Jun. 4, Oliver! at Drayton Entertainment: King's Wharf Theatre (Penetanguishene)

For more information on these shows and other theatre playing across Ontario, visit Theatre Ontario’s ONstage theatre listings on our website.