Congratulations to the Youth Theatre Training Program Spring 2017 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.

$22,050 was awarded in total among the following recipients:

• CultureLink (GTA) – Newcomer Youth Summer Theatre
• MT Space (Kitchener-Waterloo) – MT Space Young Company: Stories to Build a Home
• The Musical Stage Company (Toronto) – One Song Glory
• Odyssey Theatre (Ottawa) – Youth Apprenticeship Program
• Shadowland Theatre (Toronto / Norfolk County) – NORfolktales
• Superior Theatre Festival (Thunder Bay) – Changing Narratives—Superior Theatre Festival’s Youth Initiatives
• Theatre 3x60 (Durham Region) – 3x60 Youth Theatre Collective

Over $55,000 was requested during this application round. The next application deadline for this program is October 16, 2017.

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.

ONstage Openings for the week of May 8

ONstage Now Playing in Southwestern Ontario
Staff Room at Elmira Theatre Company
Andy Wasylycia, Dale Langdon, Melissa Roe, Jessica Strauss

This week’s openings on Ontario’s stages

In Southwestern Ontario

May 8, Timon of Athens at Stratford Festival [in previews]

May 12, Fun Home at Calithumpian Theatre Company (London) [with a preview on May 11]

May 12, The Savannah Sipping Society at Aylmer Community Theatre [with a preview on May 11]

May 12, Twelfth Night at London Community Players [with a preview on May 11]

May 12, Oliver! at Theatre Sarnia

May 13, Twelfth Night at Stratford Festival [in previews]

May 14, Dancing at Lughnasa at Shaw Festival (Niagara-on-the-Lake) [in previews]

In Toronto

May 11, for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf at Soulpepper Theatre

May 13, Onegin at The Musical Stage Company [in previews]

In Eastern Ontario

May 12, Almost, Maine at Seaway Valley Theatre Company (Cornwall)

ONstage Now Playing in Central Ontario
Death by Design at Huronia Players (Midland)

In Northeastern Ontario

May 10, Becky Shaw at Gateway Theatre Guild (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

In Memoriam

We lost two members of our Theatre Ontario family this past week.

Helen Zdriluk – a former Board member and pioneering advocate in educational theatre with the Council for Ontario Drama and Dance Educators and the Sears Ontario Drama Festival.

Jon Kaplan – a long-time supporter and a member of our Maggie Bassett Award jury. Jon was recognized in numerous tributes from colleagues and the Toronto theatre community:

• Susan G. Cole in NOW Magazine
• Glenn Sumi in NOW Magazine
• Playwright Michael Healey interviewed by Matt Galloway on CBC Toronto’s Metro Morning
• Lynn Slotkin on The Slotkin Letter
• Kate Robertson at NOW also compiled many of the community tributes.

Conversation Starters

• ICYMI: Donna-Michelle St. Bernard – our playwriting instructor at our Summer Theatre Intensive and last year’s “Playwright-in-Person” at Festival in North Bay – was the keynote speaker at Post-Marginal, and the video of her speech is now available.

Behind the Scenes at Ontario’s Theatres

Matt Pilipiak as Simon/e in Carousel Player's production
Boys, Girls, and Other Mythological Creatures
Photo by Lauren Garbutt

• Carousel Players has been facing cancellations of their production Boys, Girls, and Other Mythological Creatures at Niagara Catholic District School Board elementary schools, as Artistic Director Jessica Carmichael shared in an open letter.
• J. Kelly Nestruck of the Globe and Mail reported on the story, reaching out to several people within NCDSB without response.
• Playwrights Guild of Canada has opened a new book store: The Canadian Play Outlet, in the suite we share at 401 Richmond. Come visit the Canadian Play Outlet, and you can get promotional prices on three of our publications: The Agent’s Book, Ontario Playwrights: Eight Short Plays, and Grassroots: Original Plays from Ontario Community Theatres.

TO Toasts

• ... to the finalists for the Toronto Arts Foundation Signature Awards—including The AMY Project (finalist for the Arts for Youth Award), Jacoba Knaapen of the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts, Sandra Laronde of Red Sky Performance, and Mark Hammond of the Sony Centre (finalists for the Margo Bindhardt and Rita Davies Award for creative cultural leadership.)

In Case You Missed It

• Rachel Kennedy invites you to make plans to PLAY this summer with Ontario Summer Theatre.
• Browsing Our Bulletin Board featuring opportunities across the province including grant writing info session, launching your career workshop, voice over workshop, Festival, Summer Theatre Intensive, and more.
• ONstage Openings this week in St. Jacobs, Goderich, Waterloo, Fergus, Toronto, Midland, Beaverton, Ottawa, previews in Stratford and Niagara-on-the-Lake.

Honouring Student Excellence in Theatre

Do you know an outstanding student who has made a commitment to the drama/theatre community in his or her school?

Teachers and schools can honour those students with Theatre Ontario’s Certificate of Excellence—and with commencement season approaching, now is a terrific time for recognition!

Theatre Ontario’s Certificates of Excellence are awarded to an individual who has shown diligence, excellence of participation, and/or outstanding commitment. The person receiving the certificate may have worked as a performer, technician, organizer of the drama club, or may simply have been of great support and encouragement to others, during or after school hours.

Learn more about the Certificates of Excellence on the Theatre Ontario website

Browsing Our Bulletin Board

Coming Up from Theatre Ontario

• Preparing an OAC application? Get the inside scoop at our Grant Writing Information Session pre-recorded webinar with Pat Bradley available on May 9.
• Theatre Ontario Festival 2017 opens on May 17 in Ottawa—featuring performances, adjudications, playwright readings, workshops, and celebrations of community theatre.
• Answers to your FAQ’s about the business of acting at our Launching Your Career workshop with Rachel Kennedy and guest Karen Knox on May 24 in Toronto. 
• Want to know the secrets to a successful voice acting career? Join us at our Voice Over workshop with Elley-Ray on May 27 in Toronto.

  

  Voice Over workshop with Elley-Ray

• Summer Theatre Intensive 2017 – Bigger and Better Than Ever – in partnership with Off the Wall Stratford Artists Alliance features week-long courses starting August 6 and August 13 for performers, directors, and playwrights. Register by June 23.
• Learn how Google Analytics can help grow your business. Camp Tech’s most popular workshops Intermediate Google Analytics (May 23) and Intro to Google Analytics (Jun 14) can tell you how your audience is finding you, which content is getting viewed most often and help you configure simple goals for your website. Other upcoming workshops at Camp Tech are: Facebook Ads: Getting the Most Bang for Your Buck (May 4); Wordpress for Beginners (May 7); Social Media Advanced (May 16); and Social Media Basics (Jun 6). Learn more about Theatre Ontario member discounts at CampTech through our partnership with the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts.

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

Upcoming on The Bulletin Board

• Deadline for applications for Generator’s Artist Producer Training (APT) Program is May 4.
• Odyssey Theatre presents Art Fusion, a Sri Lankan dance and mask theatre workshop on May 6 in Ottawa.
• Deadline for applications for Ontario Arts Council Indigenous Artists in Schools grants is May 10.
• Canadian Stage invites applications for Territorial Tales, a creative launching pad for young storytellers ages 14-21 in Toronto. The application deadline is May 12.

New on The Bulletin Board

• Playwrights Guild of Canada’s annual conference Aspire Together: Through Voice, Place and Play will be on June 1 to 3, in Brantford and Hamilton.

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