Congratulations to the Youth Theatre Training Program Fall 2018 Grant Recipients

We are excited to announce the latest recipients of training grants through Theatre Ontario’s Youth Theatre Training Program (YTTP). We thank all those who applied to the program.

$13,100 was awarded in total among the following recipients:

• The AMY Project (Toronto) – Spring Theatre Creation Program
• The MT Space (Kitchener) – MT Space Young Company- Leaders of Today
• ON THE EDGE Fringe Festival (North Bay) – Emerging Theatre Training Project

Over $33,000 was requested during this application round. The next application deadline for this program is March 2019.

Find out more about Theatre Ontario’s Youth Theatre Training Program

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

Ontario Off Stage

by Brandon Moore, Community Theatre and Communications Manager

Conversation Starters

• The federal government is permanently lifting the cap on the Endowment Incentives component of the Canadian Cultural Investment Fund. Shelley Stevenson from the Stratford Festival wrote on the PACT blog about the multi-pronged approach to advocacy in this area.

Behind the Scenes at Ontario’s Theatres

• Gateway Theatre Guild in North Bay is supporting the development of arts in their community through a development bursary towards participation in the city’s ON THE EDGE Fringe Festival.
• The Musical Stage Company announced LAUNCH PAD, a new program that makes a strategic investment in Canadian musical theatre writers and collaborators, offering a 10-month residency for musical theatre composers, lyricists and book-writers to navigate a full developmental process.
• Theatre on the Ridge in Port Perry announced their 2019 summer season.
• Actor Douglas Rain, one of the pioneers of the Stratford Festival, died at 90.

TO Toasts

• ... to Sandra Houston, former Theatre Ontario Board Member, who was honoured with the 2018 Community Recognition Award for Performing Arts from the city of Sault Ste. Marie.
• ... to the award recipients and honourable mentions at the Eastern Ontario Drama League One-Act Play Festival. We’ll share the full list when it is available from EODL.

In Case You Missed It

• Deanna Galati reflects on our Youth Advisory Committee’s work in 2018, including Emergence 2.0.
• Congratulations to our Fall 2018 Professional Theatre Training Program grant recipients.
• ONstage Openings this week in London, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Toronto, Port Hope, Cookstown, Midland, Ottawa, Perth, Markham, Richmond Hill, Burlington and touring.
• Browsing Our Bulletin Board, including workshops and more.

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

Ontario Off Stage

by Brandon Moore, Community Theatre and Communications Manager

From Theatre Ontario

• The Board of Directors is pleased to announce that Vera Held has been appointed Interim President of the Board, Ron Dodson has been appointed Interim Vice-President of the Board, and that Farzeen Foda and Carri Johnson have been appointed to the Executive Committee of the Theatre Ontario Board.

Behind the Scenes at Ontario’s Theatres

• The MT Space in Kitchener is one of the recommender theatres for the Ontario Arts Council’s Recommender Grants for Theatre Creators program. They recently explored the development of one funded projects—Paddy Gillard-Bentley’s Accidental Fish.
• Next week marks the final Ontario Fringe Festival opening of the summer as ON THE EDGE Fringe Festival in North Bay opens on August 14.
• Kelly Nestruck reported in The Globe and Mail that “the civil suits between Soulpepper Theatre Company, Albert Schultz and four actors who alleged the former artistic director of Toronto’s largest not-for-profit theatre company was a “serial sexual predator” have been settled out of court.”

In Case You Missed It

• ONstage Openings this week in Toronto, Millbrook, Penetanguishene, Gananoque, Port Perry, Cambridge, Niagara-on-the-Lake, St. Catharines, Blyth, and Grand Bend.
• Browsing Our Bulletin Board, including free play readings, free recorded webinars, calls for submissions for playwright development, grant deadlines, and more.

Ontario Off Stage

by Brandon Moore, Community Theatre and Communications Manager

Conversation Starters

Thousand Islands Playhouse in Gananoque

• In Part 2 of the Thousand Islands Playhouse blog series “From Page to Stage: Creating the Canadian”, Rob Kempson talks about his role as a director in developing this world premiere production.
• Alicia Richardson shares the story of how she became the Playwright-in-Residence at Driftwood Theatre.

Behind the Scenes at Ontario’s Theatres

• Looking ahead to the next Ontario Fringe Festival as we move north to Fringe North, opening August 9 in Sault Ste. Marie.
• The Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled that the sections of the Income Tax Act that restricted registered charities political activities to be unconstitutional. Imagine Canada, the national umbrella for the charitable and non-profit sector, described this decision as a golden opportunity to work with the government on modernizing charity law in Canada.
• The Stratford Festival will be making an appearance on the July 31st episode of The Amazing Race Canada—featuring a “dramatic, skill-testing, on-stage challenge” for the competitors.

In Case You Missed It

• “Emerging in the Industry”—a resource for new and emerging artists from our Youth Advisory Committee.
• Applications are now open for our Professional Theatre Training Program.
• ONstage Openings this week in Port Perry, Drayton, Port Stanley, Grand Bend, Penetanguishene, Haliburton, Orillia, Wellington, Ottawa, and Gananoque.
• Browsing Our Bulletin Board, including playwright readings, grant deadlines, courses, theatre labs, and more.

Ontario Off Stage

Kim Renders
(From the Kingstonist)

by Brandon Moore, Community Theatre and Communications Manager

From Theatre Ontario

We are saddened to hear the news of the passing of Kim Renders this week. Kim was a long-time member of Theatre Ontario’s Talent Bank as an instructor of acting, directing, writing, and youth theatre. She was among the founders of Nightwood Theatre in Toronto (Artistic Director Kelly Thornton wrote an excellent tribute) and was most recently a professor in the Dan School of Drama and Music at Queen’s University in Kingston—the university remembered her significant legacy and Cris Vilela wrote a tribute for Kingstonist, including how her passing is being recognized at this week’s Storefront Fringe Festival. In 2006, we recognized her contribution to professional, community and educational theatre in our province with our Maggie Bassett Award.

Conversation Starters

• Thousand Islands Playhouse is blogging the world premiere of their production The Canadian as "From Page to Stage" - with playwright Jason Hall exploring "writing farce" in Part 1.
• Theatres working to build community can find inspiration in the Toronto Fringe Festival hosting a Canadian citizenship ceremony (as reported on Intermission.)

Behind the Scenes at Ontario’s Theatres

• Seeking to use the work of playwrights digitally? Members of the Playwrights Guild of Canada now have the tools for contracts in the digital realm, with their new Digital Recording Rights Guidelines.

Migrations

• Brendan Healy will be the new Artistic Director of Canadian Stage (PDF).

In Case You Missed It

• Stories from our Professional Theatre Training Program, featuring training projects in artistic direction, writing and producing, directing, designing for opera, and arts management.
• Welcome to Marie Beath Badian and Kat Sandler as Playwrights-in-Person at our Summer Theatre Intensive.
• ONstage Openings this week in Port Perry, St. Jacobs, St. Catharines, Port Dover, Haliburton, Gravenhurst, Barrie and Perth.
• Browsing Our Bulletin Board, including intensive courses, grant deadlines, and more.

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

Ontario Off Stage

Port Stanley Festival Theatre from Ontario Summer Theatre
Buying the Farm
Shannon McCracken, Jeff Culbert, Matthew Gorman
Photo by Phil Bell, Shutter Studios

by Brandon Moore, Community Theatre and Communications Manager

Conversation Starters

• Ontario Summer Theatre profiles featuring Port Stanley Festival Theatre (“Celebrating 40 years”), Upper Canada Playhouse in Morrisburg (“It’s a Happy 35th Anniversary”), Stone Fence Theatre in the Ottawa Valley ("I Come from the Valley! Tales and Times of Joan Finnigan") and Thousand Islands Playhouse in Gananoque (“Canada’s Dockside Theatre”).

Behind the Scenes at Ontario’s Theatres

• Next week marks a busy week of Ontario Fringe Festival openings—both the Hamilton Fringe and the Windsor-Walkerville Fringe both open on July 19, and then Kingston’s Storefront Fringe Festival opens on July 20.
• Soulpepper Theatre in Toronto announced their 18/19 season.

In Case You Missed It

• ONstage Openings this week in Thunder Bay, Port Perry, Cambridge, Grand Bend, Toronto, Port Hope, Haliburton, Ottawa, and on tour.
• Browsing Our Bulletin Board, including intensive courses, workshops, and more.

Ontario Off Stage

by Brandon Moore, Community Theatre and Communications Manager

From Theatre Ontario

• We are excited to welcome Tamara Kebuladze (Education Coordinator) and Yulimar Manzano (Stakeholder Coordinator) who joined our staff this past month, and Emily Acton who is returning for the summer (Education Assistant.)
• Our Double Your Donation campaign wraps up on June 30—support our Summer Theatre Intensive Youth Scholarship with your donation.
• Beginning today (Friday, June 30th), and continuing through to Friday, August 31st, the Theatre Ontario office will be closed at 1pm on Fridays. On Mondays to Thursdays, we will be open for our usual office hours of 9am to 5pm.

Conversation Starters

• Profiles from Ontario Summer Theatre (OST) 2018—“Highlands Highlights!" of Highlands Summer Festival season in Haliburton, Globus Theatre in Bobcaygeon “Brings You Five Fabulous Favourites”, “Don’t Take Our Word For It…” from the Orillia Opera House, and Driftwood Theatre’s “Summer Theatre All Over Ontario (under the stars, in places you love.)”

Behind the Scenes at Ontario’s Theatres

• Cahoots Theatre in Toronto announced their 18/19 season.
• Our next Ontario Fringe Festival destination is the Toronto Fringe, opening July 4.
• Ontarians for the Arts sent letters to Premier-designate Doug Ford, the new Leader of the Official Opposition Andrea Horwath, and Outgoing Leader of the Ontario Liberal Party Kathleen Wynne. “We look forward to working with the new government, and the new official opposition, while thanking the outgoing government for their support.”

TO Toasts

• ... to Sarah Conn of Ottawa, who was awarded the 2018 Pauline McGibbon Award for directing.
• ... to Bob White of the Stratford Festival who received the G.E. Lessing Award for Career Achievement from the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas.
• ... to David Fox of Toronto, who was received the Silver Ticket Award from the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA) for career excellence while nurturing the development of Canadian theatre.
• ... and to all of the recipients of the Dora Mavor Moore Awards presented by TAPA.

In Case You Missed It

• Catch up with the Theatre Ontario Annual Report for FY2017, presented at our Annual General Meeting.
• Stories from our Professional Theatre Training Program feature training in artistic producing, dramaturgy, directing and producing.
• Congratulations to our Summer Theatre Intensive Scholarship Recipients for 2018.
• ONstage Openings this week in Haliburton, Perth, Grand Bend, Blyth, and St. Catharines.
• Browsing Our Bulletin Board, including summer courses, grant deadlines, calls for nomination, and more.

Ontario Off Stage

by Brandon Moore, Community Theatre and Communications Manager

Conversation Starters

• Insights into Lorenzo Savoini’s concept for the design of Soulpepper Theatre’s upcoming production of Orlando.

Behind the Scenes at Ontario’s Theatres

The outdoor summer theatre season starts soon.
The 2017 4th Line Theatre (Millbrook) production of
The History of Drinking in Cavan
Robert Winslow, Shelley Simester and the cast
Photo by Wayne Eardley

• With the London Fringe wrapping up, your next Ontario Fringe Festival destination is the Ottawa Fringe, opening June 14.
• The outdoor summer theatre season will be starting soon—so it’s always a good idea to refresh yourself on what Health Canada recommends for extreme heat events and our provincial health and safety guidelines for Outdoor Venues.

TO Toasts

• ... to Patricia Vanstone, Artistic Director of The Foster Festival who was awarded the Established Artist Award at the St. Catharines Arts Awards.

In Case You Missed It

• Stories from our Professional Theatre Training Program, features training projects in artistic direction, directing, writing and producing, and community-engaged theatre.
• Meet the newest members of our Talent Bank of Theatre Instructors and Adjudicators. 
• ONstage Openings this week in Cambridge, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Penetanguishene, Port Stanley, Grand Bend, Orangeville, Ottawa, Kingston, Morrisburg, and Sault Ste. Marie—and with many more shows now playing in communities across Ontario.
• Browsing Our Bulletin Board, including webinars, scholarships, intensives, volunteer opportunities, workshops, community events, conferences, and more. 

Ontario Off Stage

by Brandon Moore, Community Theatre and Communications Manager

Conversation Starters

• Kevin Loring, Artistic Director of the National Arts Centre Indigenous Theatre, gave the keynote address at the Professional Association of Canadian Theatre’s 2018 conference, asking the question “Whose reality are we reflecting in our theatres? (video)”

Behind the Scenes at Ontario’s Theatres

• Season announcements for 2018/19 from Theatre Orangeville (video), Theatre Sarnia, and Nightwood Theatre in Toronto.
• Ontario's Fringe Festival season opens on May 29 with the London Fringe Festival.
• The Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts announced division expansion and additional recognition in the design awards. 
• The Toronto Theatre Critics Awards for 2018 were announced.

TO Toasts

En Lai Mah and Elizabeth Wong accepting for Jiv Parasram

• ... to Ruth Howard of Jumblies Theatre, who won the Toronto Arts Foundation Celebration of Cultural Life Award.
• ... to Jivesh Parasram, a current Professional Theatre Training Program mentor, who won the Emerging Artist Award and published his acceptance speech on his theatre's site.

In Case You Missed It

• Theatre Ontario Festival wrapped up last weekend, and you can read the highlights from the Festival adjudications, the Festival Award winners, the Michael Spence Award presentation to Sue Perkins of London (video), and stories about the four participants and their journey to Festival: Elmira Theatre Company, Toronto Irish Players, Elliot Lake Amateur Theatre Ensemble, and Ottawa Little Theatre.
• ONstage Openings this week in Richmond Hill, Port Stanley, Cambridge, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Woodstock, Guelph, Hillsburgh, Toronto, Barrie, Perth, and Gananoque.
• Browsing Our Bulletin Board, including workshops, webinars, scholarships, and more.

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

Ontario Off Stage

by Brandon Moore, Community Theatre and Communications Manager

Behind the Scenes at Ontario’s Theatres

The Veil at Toronto Irish Players

• The high-school theatre Ontario Drama Festival announced this week that they are joining forces with the National Theatre School and IATSE to secure the immediate future of the Festival, with NTS gradually taking over administration of the Festival.
• Our Trial Adjudication program makes a cameo appearance in this Toronto Community Theatre Blog review of The Veil at Toronto Irish Players.
• The Western Ontario Drama League’s Festival adjudication schedule is now available.
• The final Ontario Fringe Festival of the year opens next week on October 12: the Guelph Fringe Festival.

Migrations

• Lucy Eveleigh is the new Executive Director of the Toronto Fringe Festival.

TO Toasts

• ... to all of the nominees for the Prix Rideau Awards in Ottawa, with a special shout-out to Norah Paton from our Youth Advisory Committee who was nominated for “Outstanding New Creation.”
• ... to the shortlist for the Playwrights Guild of Canada’s Tom Hendry Awards, including Kristen Da Silva, one of our Summer Theatre Intensive 2017 Playwrights-in-Person.
• ... to the shortlist for the Governor General’s Literary Awards for English-language Drama, four of which are published by our longtime Festival partner Playwrights Canada Press.
• ... to the finalists for the Premier’s Awards for Excellence in the Arts, including d’bi young antifrika for artist, Sashoya Simpson for emerging artist, and Young People’s Theatre and The Theatre Centre for arts organization.

In Case You Missed It

• Bowl-A-Thon Final Results Are In!
• ONstage Openings this week in Toronto and Ottawa.

ONstage Openings for the week of August 14

This week’s openings on Ontario’s stages

ONstage Now Playing in Central Ontario
Disney's Beauty and the Beast at Port Hope Festival Theatre

In Southwestern Ontario

Aug. 17, Tartuffe at Stratford Festival [currently in previews]

Aug. 17, Midnight Madness at Port Stanley Festival Theatre [with previews from Aug. 16]

Aug. 17, One for the Pot at Drayton Entertainment: Huron Country Playhouse (Grand Bend) [with previews from Aug. 16]

Aug. 18, The Breathing Hole at Stratford Festival [currently in previews]

Aug. 18, The Madwoman of Chaillot at Stratford Festival [currently in previews]

Aug. 18, Ipperwash at Blyth Festival [with previews from Aug. 16]

Aug. 19, The Komagata Maru Incident at Stratford Festival

In Toronto

Aug. 17, The Secret Chord: a Leonard Cohen Experience at Soulpepper Theatre

Aug. 18, A Midsummer Night's Dream at Shakespeare In The Ruff [with previews from Aug. 15]

In Central Ontario

Aug. 17, Weekend Comedy at Orillia Opera House [with previews from Aug. 16]

ONstage Now Playing in Eastern Ontario
Leading Ladies at Thousand Islands Playhouse
Alison MacDonald, Andrew Kushnir
Photo by Rob Whelan

In Eastern Ontario

Aug. 18, Fort Hemlock at Smiths Falls Community Theatre

Aug. 19, I'll Be Back Before Midnight at Classic Theatre Festival (Perth) [with a preview on Aug. 18]

In Northeastern Ontario

Aug. 15, ON THE EDGE Fringe Festival (North Bay)

ICYMI: Check out last week’s openings

For all the theatre playing across Ontario, visit Theatre Ontario’s ONstage theatre listings on our website

Ontario Off Stage

by Brandon Moore, Community Theatre and Communications Manager

Conversation Starters

• Haritha Popuri shares on SpiderWebShow about Sudbury Theatre Centre’s experience with relaxed performances.

Behind the Scenes at Ontario’s Theatres

Lunenberg at The Foster Festival

• The next Ontario Fringe Festival opening is the ON THE EDGE Fringe Festival in North Bay on August 15.
• Emily Oriold—the Executive Director of The Foster Festival and a past grant recipient from our Professional Theatre Training Program—was profiled in her hometown Listowel Banner, and celebrating the community secondary school roots that lead to professional stages.

In Case You Missed It

• Browsing Our Bulletin Board featuring opportunities across the province including grant writing recorded webinar, youth training, and enhanced audience engagement initiatives.
• ONstage Openings this week in Drayton, St. Jacobs, Kitchener, Blyth, Grand Bend, Port Hope, Bobcaygeon, Millbrook, Penetanguishene, and Gananoque.

Ontario Off Stage

by Brandon Moore, Community Theatre and Communications Manager

Conversation Starters

• Owais Lightwala of Why Not Theatre in Toronto shared in Intermission what they learned from their “Pay What You Can Afford” pricing experiment for Prince Hamlet.
• Ruth Zamoyta shared some of the conversation from an APASO (Association of a Performing Arts Service Organizations) panel on “Arts Service Organizations and Arts Journalists: Working Together” to "fill the void" in arts journalism.

Behind the Scenes at Ontario’s Theatres

Driftwood Theatre's production of Othello
Christopher Darroch, Jordin Hall
Photo by Dahlia Katz

• CTV News Northern Ontario looked at the theatre community in Sudbury, where both the professional Sudbury Theatre Centre and the community Theatre Cambrian are facing serious financial challenges (and includes an interview with recent Professional Theatre Training Program recipient Alessandro Costantini, Artistic Director of Yes Theatre.)
• How is the rainy summer affecting some of our outdoor theatres? Karen Fricker checked in with Driftwood Theatre, Canadian Stage, and Shakespeare in the Ruff. 
• Sad to share the news of the passing of Chris O’Brien of Timmins – an institution in Northeastern Ontario community theatre.
• The Shaw Festival announced that they would recognize one of their former Artistic Directors with the Christopher Newton Interns Program.
• The final two openings of Ontario’s Fringe Festival summer is coming up this week with the openings of the On the Edge Fringe in North Bay (August 8) and the Fringe North International Fringe Festival in Sault Ste. Marie (August 10.)

In Case You Missed It

• Stories from the Professional Theatre Training Program in video and lighting design, sound design, digital communications and archival processes, production management, and directing.
• Browsing Our Bulletin Board featuring opportunities across the province including classical directing workshop, adult education, and emerging creators unit. 
• ONstage Openings this week in St. Catharines, Fergus, Newmarket, Toronto, Haliburton, Peterborough, Bobcaygeon, and Morrisburg.

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

Ontario Off Stage

The Berlin Blues at Ontario Summer Theatre's Blyth Festival
James Dallas Smith, Catherine Fitch,
Nicole Joy-Fraser, Tony Munch
Photo by Terry Manzo

by Brandon Moore, Community Theatre and Communications Manager

Conversation Starters

• From the Ontario Summer Theatre blog: “The Blyth Festival—Canada’s Beacon of New Canadian Plays.”
• “As online content becomes the dominant cultural force, popular players have the ability to drive an audience to the next wave of live performance.” Michael Wheeler reflects on new performance models on SpiderWebShow.

Behind the Scenes at Ontario’s Theatres

• Two Ontario Fringe Festivals open next week on July 20: the Hamilton Fringe Festival and the Windsor-Walkerville Fringe.
• ArtsBuild Ontario’s “Making Spaces for Art” series profiled Carousel Players in St. Catharines.
• The Toronto Star featured two of our Toronto Fringe-going and Fringe-making members, Joan Jamieson and Shelley M. Hobbs. Shelley is also going to be joining us at our Summer Theatre Intensive in Stratford.
• SpiderWebShow is launching foldA – Festival of Live Digital Art – in June 2018. Perhaps fittingly no landing page of the announcement—just a series of linked tweets.
• Meet the new Artist Producers in Training at Generator in Toronto.
• Learn more about Brendan Healy’s plans as Artistic Director for Performing Arts in the City of Brampton in this interview on CBC Metro Morning.
• Artscape Launchpad has extended their survey of community needs for their new Toronto space to July 21.

Migrations

• Ali Joy Richardson is the new Artistic Producer of Paprika Festival.

In Case You Missed It

• Congratulations to Cathy Huang, recipient of our Summer Theatre Intensive Youth Scholarship.
• ONstage Openings this week in Bobcaygeon, Cobourg, Peterborough, Ottawa, Thunder Bay, Drayton, St. Catharines, Toronto, and on tour.

Ontario Off Stage

401 Richmond

by Brandon Moore, Community Theatre and Communications Manager

From Theatre Ontario

• This petition is an example of the public groundswell of support for our plight at 401 Richmond. We are grateful to the people who took the initiative to start it... and if you haven't yet, we welcome your signature in support! 

Conversation Starters

• From the Ontario Summer Theatre blog: Upper Canada Playhouse—pretty much as far east in Ontario as you can get…BUT it’s worth it!
• Artscape is developing Artscape Daniels Launchpad, a one-stop art and design entrepreneurship hub. Before it opens, they’re surveying artists and designers for feedback. 

Behind the Scenes at Ontario’s Theatres

• Next up on the Ontario Fringe Festival circuit: the Toronto Fringe opens July 5. 
• Two recent 17/18 season announcements from Buddies in Bad Times Theatre and Theatre Passe Muraille in Toronto.

Migrations

• Kat Horzempa is the new General Manager of Cahoots Theatre.
• Brendan Healy is the new Artistic Director for the City of Brampton.
• Ashlie Corcoran is leaving as Artistic Director of Thousand Islands Playhouse in Gananoque.

TO Toasts

• ... to Jane Marsland, winner of the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts’ Silver Ticket Award. Jane is a past winner of our Sandra Tulloch Award for Innovation in the Arts.
• ... to Philip Akin, recipient of the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Direction in the General Theatre Division, for the production of “Master Harold”…and the Boys. (Full list of Dora winners from Intermission Magazine.) Philip will be our advanced directing course instructor at this year’s Summer Theatre Intensive. 

In Case You Missed It

• Stories from the Professional Theatre Training Program, featuring training in artistic direction, digital communications and archival processes, and directing.
• ONstage Openings this week in Stratford, Grand Bend, Blyth, Toronto, Bobcaygeon, Haliburton, Tweed, and Perth.
• And the week before featured openings in Niagara-on-the-Lake, St. Catharines, Toronto, Penetanguishene, and Perth.

Theatre Ontario begins our Summer schedule today, with the office open from 9am and closing at 1pm on Fridays.

Ontario Off Stage

by Brandon Moore, Community Theatre and Communications Manager

From Theatre Ontario

• Our Double Your Donation Matching Campaign kicks off today!
• The latest on the situation at 401 Richmond for us, and many of our fellow arts organizations: “Time running out for deal to save 401 Richmond” from the Toronto Star.

Conversation Starters

• Franco Boni talks about the role of theatre in a community in this Ontario Presents video, highlighting their work at the Theatre Centre.
• Cathy Taylor, Executive Director of the Ontario Nonprofit Network writes about the importance of workplace legislation in the not-for-profit sector.

Behind the Scenes at Ontario’s Theatres

• Next week marks the next Ontario Fringe Festival opening: the Storefront Fringe Festival in Kingston opens June 23.

Migrations

• Kevin Loring has been named as the first Artistic Director of Indigenous Theatre at the National Arts Centre.
• Jessica Carmichael is leaving as Artistic Director of Carousel Players.
• Melissa Kempf is leaving as Theatre Manager of Port Stanley Festival Theatre to join the staff of the River Run Centre in Guelph.
• Kelly Straughan is leaving as Executive Director of the Toronto Fringe, to become Executive Director of Workman Arts.

TO Toasts

• ... to the recipients of the Hamilton Arts Awards: Claire Calnan (Executive Director of the Hamilton Fringe) who won the Arts Innovation Award, Anna Chatteron who won the Theatre Award (with Rex Emerson Jackson selected as Emerging Artist.)

In Case You Missed It

• The Importance of Supporting Youth—Youth Advisory Committee member Julia Vodarek Hunter profiles The AMY Project (Artists Mentoring Youth).
• Browsing Our Bulletin Board featuring opportunities across the province including Ontario workshops on grant writing and voice-over, our Summer Theatre Intensive and a youth scholarship, and grant deadlines.
• ONstage Openings this week in Stratford, Port Dover, Drayton, Toronto, Gravenhurst, Smiths Falls, Cornwall, Gananoque, and Sault Ste. Marie.

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

Ontario Off Stage

Gravenhurst Opera House Costume Designer
Chris Cristobal preparing costumes for Swing!
Photo by Bryan White

by Brandon Moore, Community Theatre and Communications Manager

Conversation Starters

• From the Ontario Summer Theatre blog: Gravenhurst Opera House—A Tradition worth Coming Back For
• Marlene Smith was interviewed by R.H. Thomson on “becoming a theatre producer” for Theatre Museum Canada. Marlene is a Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts’ Silver Ticket recipient and served as a Professional Theatre Training Program mentor for one of our former Executive Directors, Jane Gardner.

Behind the Scenes at Ontario’s Theatres

• The next opening in the Ontario Fringe Festival season is the Ottawa Fringe Festival, opening June 8.
• The Government of Ontario is providing $20 million to help fund the Stratford Festival’s re-development of the Tom Patterson Theatre. 
• Nightwood Theatre and Soulpepper Theatre announced their 2017/18 seasons.
• Heidi Stock, one of our Theatre Ontario members, is participating in a giveaway draw of her book Mentor Me: Instruction and Advice for Aspiring Writers.

TO Toasts

• ... to all of the nominees for the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA) Dora Mavor Moore Awards, including long-time Theatre Ontario Board member Elley-Ray and Summer Theatre Intensive instructor Philip Akin.
• ... to Marjorie Chan, Artistic Director of Cahoots Theatre Projects, who received TAPA’s George Luscombe Mentorship Award. Marjorie has mentored several Theatre Ontario Professional Theatre Training Program grant applicants, including Kevin Matthew Wong, Stephanie Jung and Jasmine Chen. Her acceptance speech was published on the Cahoots Inside blog.
• ... to Mitchell Marcus, Artistic and Managing Director of The Musical Stage Company, who received TAPA’s Leonard McHardy and John Harvey Award for Arts Administrators.
• ... and to Joanna Yu, set and costume designer, who received the Pauline McGibbon Award from the province of Ontario. 

In Case You Missed It

• Stories from the Professional Theatre Training Program, featuring training in artistic producing and curation, directing, production management, and lighting design. 
• Change, Growth, and Looking Forward with Anticipation and Optimism at our Annual General Meeting.
• Browsing Our Bulletin Board featuring opportunities across the province including workshops (Intimacy for the Stage and Voice Over), our Summer Theatre Intensive, youth training, and more.
• ONstage Openings this week in Belleville, Ottawa, Richmond Hill, Stratford, Simcoe, St. Jacobs, Toronto, Cookstown, Owen Sound, and Tottenham.

Ontario Off Stage

by Brandon Moore, Community Theatre and Communications Manager

Conversation Starters

• Playwrights Guild of Canada is hosting their “Aspire Together: Through Voice, Place and Play” from June 1 to 4 to Hamilton. Theatre Ontario is excited to be partnering with PGC on a panel “Growing Together through Community Theatre” moderated by our Rachel Kennedy, featuring panelists Norm Foster, Dennis Johnson, and Rhiannon Collett.
• From the Ontario Summer Theatre Blog—check out “the Orillia Opera House Summer Theatre experience”and “Discovering Humour with Heart in the Heart of Niagara at the Foster Festival."
• Jamie Robinson writes in Intermission about diversity and appropriation in theatre.
• In anticipation of The Musical Stage Company’s 2nd Annual Tony Viewing Party, and the multiple nominations for Come from Away, they explore some history of Canadian musicals on Broadway stages.

Behind the Scenes at Ontario’s Theatres

• Ontario’s Fringe Theatre season kicks off on Tuesday, with the London Fringe Theatre Festival.

Migrations

• Kate Hennig is the new Associate Artistic Director of the Shaw Festival.

TO Toasts

• ... to the Toronto Arts Foundation award recipients: Jacoba Knaapen, Executive Director of the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts, who received the Margo Bindhardt and Rita Davies Award for Cultural Leadership; and the AMY Project, who received the Arts for Youth Award.
• ... to the recipients of the Toronto Theatre Critics Awards for 2017.

In Case You Missed It

• Theatre Ontario Festival is a symposium for passionate, dedicated community theatre practitioners—catch up on all the educational highlights from this year’s Festival in Ottawa.
• Browsing Our Bulletin Board featuring opportunities across the province including a workshop on staging intimacy, our Summer Theatre Intensive, and workshops on scene study, musical theatre for youth, and using data to find venue renter audiences.
• ONstage Openings this week in Cobourg, Gananoque, Port Stanley, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Port Dover, Tillsonburg, Woodstock, Guelph, Hamilton, Hillsburgh, and Toronto.

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

Ontario Off Stage

by Brandon Moore, Community Theatre and Communications Manager

Conversation Starters

• “Being an understudy is hard, because you have to fall in love with the work, but it's not quite yours.” Carly Street shares the perspective of the understudy in Intermission, from her recent experience being part of Old Times on Broadway.

Behind the Scenes at Ontario’s Theatres

• Both Great Canadian Theatre Company in Ottawa and The Grand Theatre in London announced their 2017/18 seasons.
• The links between community theatre and professional theatre: playwright Michael Healey returned to Brockville and the Brockville Theatre Guild for a workshop with the company of his play The Drawer Boy.

  

  ONstage in Eastern Ontario
  The Drawer Boy at Brockville Theatre Guild

• The newest stop for Ontario Fringe Theatre enthusiasts is the Fringe North International Theatre Festival in Sault Ste. Marie, opening August 10, 2017.
• The Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts Stats Report Phase 4 (for 2014/15 and 2015/16) is now available online. Four million tickets were sold for theatre, dance, and opera, reflecting an increase in audience attendance of 5%.
• A group of former Ottawa Citizen arts writers have launched a new Ottawa arts blog: artsfile.

In Case You Missed It

• Stories from the Professional Theatre Training Program, featuring training in digital media creation and directing, production management, lighting design, and artistic direction.
• Browsing our Bulletin Board featuring opportunities across the province including upcoming grant deadlines, voice-over workshop, stage management weekend intensive, tech training, directing at community theatre, awards, fringe deadlines, emerging artistic leader opportunities, scene-study for adults and more.
• The 2016 Youth Advisory Committee profiles Youth Theatre Festivals: this week exploring the Juventis Festival in Kingston.
• ONstage Openings this week in Oakville, Toronto, Brockville, Ottawa, and Sudbury.

I will be on the road next week at the Western Ontario Drama League Festival in Guelph and the QUONTA Festival in Timmins.  This column will return on March 24.

Browsing Our Bulletin Board

Coming Up from Theatre Ontario

• Seeking financial support for programs that deliver accessible training to young people (age 14 to 21), led by professional theatre artists? Apply for our Youth Theatre Training Program grants. The application deadline is March 15.
• Want to know the secrets to a successful voice acting career? Join us at our Voice Over workshop with Elley-Ray on March 18 in Toronto.
• Answers to your FAQs about the business of acting: Join us at our Launching Your Career workshop with Rachel Kennedy and guest TBA on March 20 in Toronto.
• Learn a deeper understanding of the art of stage management and their role as a creative participant in the world of theatre. Join us at our Places Please! Stage Management and the Creative Process from Pre-Production to End of Run weekend intensive with Maria Popoff on March 25 and 26 in Kingston.
• Want to improve your tech skills? Camp Tech offers beginner-friendly, hands-on workshops for adults like you who want to learn to use the latest applications and platforms. Taught by leading professionals, upcoming beginner-level workshops at Camp Tech include – Photoshop for Beginners (Mar 9 and May 18); Intro to Podcasting (Mar 26); Intro to Google Analytics (Mar 28 and May 23); HTML and CSS for Beginners (Apr 2); Social Media Basics (Apr 27); Wordpress for Beginners (May 7); Adobe Illustrator for Beginners (May 30); and Intro to Search Engine Marketing with Google AdWords (May 30). Learn more about Theatre Ontario member discounts at CampTech.

Check out all of our upcoming Career Stream and Creator Stream workshops.

Upcoming on The Bulletin Board

• Deadline to apply to direct at Theatre Aurora community theatre is today.
• Deadline for nominations for the Ottawa Arts Council awards, including the Young Artist Award, is March 10.
• Deadline for applications to the Theatre Kingston Storefront Fringe Festival is March 13.

  

  Theatre Kingston's Storefront Fringe Festival
  application deadline is March 13

• Deadline for applications for York Region Arts Council’s Artrepreneur program is March 13.
• Deadline for applications for the Hamilton Fringe Festival ALERT: Arts Education Initiative for emerging artistic leaders is March 15.

New on The Bulletin Board

• Shaw Festival is launching “Scene Study Sundays”, new workshop-style classes for adults. The sessions are on the last Sunday of the month, with the first session on April 30.

Check out these items, and other postings from our members.

• Grants
• Calls for Submission and Nominations
• Volunteer and Non-Paying Positions
• Community Events and Conferences
• Workshops at Ontario Theatres and Other Arts Service Organizations
• Adult Continuing Education Programs
• Youth Training Programs

Theatre Ontario individual members can also access Auditions, Job Postings and Discount Ticket Offers on our Theatre Ontario Individual Member Resources on our website