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