Podcasts about dora award

In a giant endless airport where souls await their final departure, Iris has been granted the rare opportunity to return to earth and live another life. Before she can return, she must choose which life she would like to live next. Live each night, audience members will determine Iris's journey by selecting 8 acts of 20 to be performed in the order they are selected-- meaning every night is a completely unique performance!*2025 Adams Prize Winner* From the Dora Award nominated duo that brought you "Killing Time: A Game Show Musical" comes a new, genre-bending musical.

Episode Notes S6E14 - Join us as we chat with the legendary Julian Richings. He'll be in the house telling tales from Supernatural to Doom Patrol and beyond. Julian Richings (born 30 August 1956) is a British-Canadian character actor, having appeared in over 225 films and television series. He is best known for his appearances in a variety of horror films, including Cube, Wrong Turn, The Witch, Beau is Afraid, Ejecta, and Anything for Jackson, as well as for portraying Death in the dark fantasy series Supernatural. After touring the United States with a British stage production, Richings moved to Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1984. Within five years, he had become a regular on the second season of the War of the Worlds TV series. In the 1996 film Hard Core Logo, he played the bitter, aging, punk rock legend Bucky Haight. He appeared at the opening of the 1997 film Cube.In 1999, he appeared in the science fiction film Thrill Seekers. In 2000, he appeared as Bellanger in The Claim, and earned a Genie Award nomination for best supporting actor. He was a member of the repertory cast of the A&E TV original series A Nero Wolfe Mystery (2001–02). NEWS FLASH: HELPFUL LINKS: VETERANS: https://www.va.gov/.../mental-health/suicide-prevention/ ADDICTION: https://lp.recoverycentersofamerica.com/.../continuum-of.../ Due you know someone that has lost their lives due to addiction? Or even someone that has made a full recovery? Reach out to Johnny Whitaker so they can help to celebrate the lives lost/ lives recovered at overdoseawareness0831@gmail.com Follow our guest https://www.instagram.com/julian_richings/?hl=en https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Richings https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0724995/mediaindex/ Toking with the Dead: https://www.stilltoking.com/ ————————————— Follow Still Toking With and their friends! https://smartpa.ge/5zv1 ————————————— Produced by Leo Pond and The Dorkening Podcast Network MORE ABOUT THE GUEST: Richings performed in heavy makeup as cannibal-killer Three Finger in Wrong Turn (2003), and was a series regulars as the nearly-blind security guard Otto in Stephen King's 2004 miniseries Kingdom Hospital. Dramatic roles include stagehand Mr. Turnbull in the 2004 film Being Julia. He appeared as Orr, a cruel loan shark in the 2004 Canadian film The Last Casino. In 2006, he appeared in a brief speaking role as the Mutant Theatre Organiser in X-Men: The Last Stand, and played a vampire killer alongside in the direct-to-DVD horror film The Last Sect. In 2007, Richings played a driver in the film Shoot 'Em Up, a dissipated and aging punk rocker in The Third Eye, transvestite psychologist Dr. Heker in The Tracey Fragments, and a number of small roles in other films, including Skinwalkers and Saw IV. He appeared in the 2008 film The Timekeeper. That year, Richings was nominated for another Dora Award for his performance in The Palace of the End. Richings made an appearance in the 2010 fantasy film adaption Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lighting Thief as Charon, the ferryman of Hades.[10] That year, he began a recurring villain role on the horror comedy series Todd and the Book of Pure Evil.[6] From 2010 to 2015, he portrayed Death in the hit dark fantasy series Supernatural. He was also Death in the short film Dave v. Death (2011). See less Find out more at https://still-toking-with.pinecast.co Send us your feedback online: https://pinecast.com/feedback/still-toking-with/087d722b-1cc8-4ca6-8b3c-2f9e2e2bed00

Award-winning author, tri-athlete, dancer, and Dora Award-nominated performer Vivian Chong invites audiences into her dating, romance, and self-discovery world in her new solo performance, Blind Dates. “Raising Awareness Piece by Piece” – is the slogan for Aenigma Puzzles Co. We learn all about these newly launched accessible puzzles. And, Lindsey Mazza changed her whole life when she leaned into her disability identity and power. We find out how she did it. #Podcast #AccessibleMedia #KellyCo #accessibility #disabilty #blindFind Kelly & Company on YouTube! About AMI AMI is a not-for-profit media company that entertains, informs and empowers Canadians who are blind or partially sighted. Operating three broadcast services, AMI-tv and AMI-audio in English and AMI-télé in French, AMI's vision is to establish and support a voice for Canadians with disabilities, representing their interests, concerns and values through inclusion, representation, accessible media, reflection, representation and portrayal. Find more great AMI Original Content on AMI+ Learn more at AMI.ca Connect with Accessible Media Inc. online: - X /Twitter @AccessibleMedia - Instagram @AccessibleMediaInc / @AMI-audio - Facebook at @AccessibleMediaInc - TikTok @AccessibleMediaInc - Email feedback@ami.ca

Episode Summary: Shawn Byfield, an accomplished Canadian performer, choreographer, MC, and author. With an extensive career spanning film, television, and live performances, Shawn shares his personal journey, starting from a hyperactive child to becoming a seasoned dance professional. He recounts how his passion for dance ignited after watching the legendary Gregory Hines perform tap dance on television, leading him to pursue a diverse range of dance styles and eventually transition into the professional dance world. Shawn discusses the importance of creating your own opportunities, emphasizing how dancers should take initiative instead of waiting for their big break. He also dives into the lessons he's learned from his experiences in the competitive dance world and how it shaped his artistic growth.  In addition, Shawn shares insights from his latest project, You Came to Slay, a workbook designed to help dancers boost their confidence through thought-provoking questions. The episode highlights the significance of embracing feedback, overcoming imposter syndrome, and setting big, meaningful goals to achieve success in the dance industry. Show Notes: (00:00) - Introduction to Shawn Byfield, performer, choreographer, MC, and author (03:00) - Early dance journey, inspired by Gregory Hines and discovering tap (10:00) - Competitive dance, growing through competitions and learning (12:30) - Going professional, deciding to pursue dance full-time (17:30) - Performing highlights, roles in Hairspray and Pixels (25:00) - Choreography career, winning a Dora Award for I Think I Can (30:00) - Becoming an MC, transitioning to MCing and energizing audiences (35:00) - You Came to Slay, a workbook to boost dancer confidence (42:00) - How to handle and grow from feedback (47:00) - Advice for multifaceted dancers, exploring different dance paths (52:00) - Overcoming imposter syndrome, staying true to passions (57:00) - The power of setting big career goals (01:02:00) - Final thoughts, building a sustainable and successful dance career Biography: Shawn Byfield, Canada's Favourite Emcee, Entertainment Coach, and Distinguished Award Recipient, and performer has left an indelible mark on the Canadian entertainment industry. As an acclaimed performer, Shawn's credits include memorable appearances in films like "COBU 3D" (2012), "Turn The Beat Around," "HAIRSPRAY," and "Blues Brothers 2000," showcasing his captivating on-screen presence. He has also graced the stage in productions such as "Taal," "Bojangles," "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen," "The Music Man," and "The Ladies Man," further solidifying his status as a versatile entertainer. Shawn's talents extend beyond the screen and stage, as he has lent his charisma to TV commercials for brands like Dentyne, Best Buy, The Bay, Got Milk, Rogers Video, McDonald's, Molson Canadian, and Joe Fresh, becoming a sought-after talent in the advertising world. Shawn has been featured in esteemed publications such as the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, National Post, Now Magazine, Eye Weekly, Toronto Sun, and Canadian Living Magazine, offering valuable insights into the entertainment industry. In addition to his media presence, Shawn's engaging personality and wealth of knowledge have made him a frequent guest on popular television networks, including SLICE Network, Much Music, CBC's The National, Rogers TV, and Breakfast Television. His accomplishments include prestigious awards such as: Canada's DORA AWARD for Choreography (Canada's version of a Tony Award) and nominations for the GEMINI AWARDS and BLACK CANADIANS AWARDS. These accolades reflect his exceptional talent and industry recognition. Furthermore, Shawn Byfield is the author of the transformative NEW playbook, 'You Came To Slay!' This empowering guide goes beyond dance steps, offering a mental pass to unlock a dancer's true potential.  Connect on Social Media: https://www.instagram.com/shawnbyfield https://www.facebook.com/ShawnByfield

Maev Beaty, the Dora winning Canadian actor, is taking the lead role in the Canadian Stage production of the hit Broadway one person show ‘My Name is Lucy Barton'. The play is based on Elizabeth Strout's bestselling Booker nominated novel of the same name. Maev joins Tom in the studio to talk about why she wanted to take on this 90 minute solo performance. The challenges of that as an actor. And why this play was having so much relevance for her right now in her private life.

In Alyssa Martin's new full-length creation Big Time Miss a group of funny people are forced to dissolve their clownish selves in favour of their lush emotional interiors, as they navigate the turbulence of their real lives. A multi-Dora Award winner, Alyysa is best known for her tongue-in-cheek approach to dance making. She creates stage works that demand that you not look away, despite feeling unsure of what it is you are looking at. She and her ensemble approach all that they do with high-energy mischief and deep consideration for the audiences who come to play. We sat down with Alyssa to discuss the inspirations behind Big Time Miss, history of Rock Bottom Movement and intersections of memory. -The 10th anniversary season of Fall for Dance North festival runs September 26th to October 6th 2024, with both free and ticketed in-person events presented in multiple venues through downtown Toronto. Big Time Miss by Alyssa Martin is performed by Rock Bottom Movement is performed from October 2nd to 5th at the Betty Oliphant Theatre.Visit ffdnorth.com for more info and to purchase tickets.-This episode of Mambo was produced and designed by Amber Downie-Back, with help from Milana Glumicic. Mambo's original theme music and soundscape was created by Johnny Spence. Additional music from Big Time Miss played in this episode was composed by Semiah and Jacob Vanderham.  

We explore the remarkable journey of Evan Alexander Smith, whose path from Ontario to Broadway—and beyond—has been marked by diverse experiences and significant milestones. Evan's passion for theatre ignited in his early years, catalyzed by a transformative production of "Oliver" and a pivotal audition opportunity presented by a friend for an arts high school. Evan reflects on his tenure with Disney Cruise Line, where he not only honed his craft but also experienced a "showmance" that blossomed into marriage, ultimately guiding him to the vibrant theatre scene of New York City. He discusses his role as an audition reader and how this experience helped him demystify the audition process, thereby alleviating his fears and enhancing his performance skills. Having shared the stage with luminaries such as Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff, and Lindsay Mendez in the production of "Merrily We Roll Along," Evan emphasizes the centrality of storytelling in his approach to acting. He delves into his current portrayal of George McFly in "Back to the Future: The Musical," a role he approaches with a blend of humor and depth, focusing on George's distinct mannerisms and psychological complexity. Evan concludes with practical advice for aspiring performers: prioritize authenticity and self-belief over concerns about others' perceptions. His insights offer valuable guidance for those navigating the competitive landscape of the performing arts. Evan Alexander Smith is an actor, singer, and voiceover artist hailing from Toronto. A Dora Award nominee and Gemini Award winner, he starred in the original Canadian production of “The Toxic Avenger” musical and spent two seasons at Canada's prestigious Shaw Festival in productions of “Ragtime”, “His Girl Friday”, “Guys & Dolls”, and “Lady Windermere's Fan”. His National Tour credits include “Dirty Dancing” and “The Play That Goes Wrong”. His Broadway credits include “Amazing Grace” the recent revival of “Merrily We Roll Along" and now, “Back to the Future: The Musical” where he is currently starring as George McFly.  Connect with Evan: Website: www.evanalexandersmith.com Instagram: @iamevansmith Connect with The Theatre Podcast: Support the podcast on Patreon: Patreon.com/TheTheatrePodcast YouTube: YouTube.com/TheTheatrePodcast Threads, Twitter & Instagram: @theatre_podcast TikTok: @thetheatrepodcast Facebook.com/OfficialTheatrePodcast TheTheatrePodcast.com My personal Instagram: @alanseales Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Raven Dauda is a Dora-Award-winning actor and writer. She's bringing her show, Addicted, to the Neptune Theatre stage starting Tuesday evening. She plays many characters, and takes the audience through her semi-autobiographical journey to sobriety.

Have you ever thought of pursuing a different career or craft? Do you want to try something new; but you're worried that you might lose everything you've already worked hard for? Just take a step and start pursuing it. In this week's episode, Actor/Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying), Bruce Dow reminds us that nobody likes change. Anybody who can't sit still, and want to do something different is free to pursue it. Slow down, take the pressure off and rest.  Don't be afraid to start all over again. In this episode: We are not unsafe if someone has a belief that is different from my own. The challenges that Bruce experienced during the pandemic led him to pursue psychotherapy. As artists, we are more than what we do; we have to live in the reality of life. The impact of allowing ourselves to rest and unplug from the world to our mental health. SHARE THIS EPISODE >> www.thisischelseajohnson.com/242-2 A little about Bruce: 4 x Dora Award nominee / 2 x winner, Bruce (B) Dow is best known for their five featured roles on Broadway; 12 seasons in leading roles at the Stratford Festival; and for lending their voice to popular animated series like Total Drama Island and Thomas & Friends. During the pandemic, Bruce went back to university to obtain a master's degree in intercultural psychotherapy and multi-faith psychospiritual care. Now a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) in clinical practice, Bruce is passionate about using their research to help artists better engage with their lives and careers. Follow Bruce! Instagram: @dowbruce Twitter: @DowBruce Website: brucedow.com

One might call Gordon Greenberg the driving force behind this sucker (pun intended). He sits down with Andrew for what very well might be the final episode of the podcastula for awhile (what is a podcastula, anyway?). Sharing some of his own reasons for even wanted to create Dracula, A Comedy of Terrors in the first place, this episode is one that you won't soon forget. Gordon is the Co-Author & Director of the production. Additional resume stuffs include: Picasso starring Antonio Banderas (directing and co-writing with Stephen Schwartz and Caridad Svich for Trafalgar Entertainment); “Most Talkative” (co-creator, NBC/Universal TV, Andy Cohen,Blumhouse); Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Geffen Playhouse, L.A. Drama Critics Circle Award, Best Revival); Crime and Punishment, A Comedy (directed and cowritten with Steve Rosen, The Old Globe); Guys and Dolls starring Rebel Wilson (Savoy Theatre London, six Olivier Award noms); Barnum (Menier Chocolate Factory,London); Piaf/Dietrich (Mirvish Toronto, Dora Award, Best Production); Holiday Inn (director/co-writer, Broadway, PBS “Great Performances”); Working (Drama Desk Award); Jacques Brel… (Zipper Theatre, Drama Desk, Drama League, Outer Critics noms); Ebenezer Scrooge's BIG San Diego Christmas Show (The Old Globe); The Secret of My Success (Universal Stage Productions,TUTS, Paramount); new works at Ars Nova, Williamstown, Huntington, Paper Mill, Signature, Goodspeed, Chicago Shakes, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Asolo, NY Stage and Film. Education: Stanford, NYU Film, Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Finding Your Bliss, Life Coach and Bliss Expert Judy Librach is joined by award-winning musical theatre star Barbara Barsky, one of the most outstanding musical theatre talents in this country. She

Kenton Blythe is a Canadian actor, singer, musician and writer based in Toronto, ON.  Kenton is most recognizable for his appearance with his wife Lise Cormier on season 2 of Canada's Got Talent. Together they performed a song Kenton wrote about the Permian Period. ​ Kenton's professional stage career began after graduating from Randolph College for the Performing Arts, when he joined the international revival tour of Evil Dead: The Musical, produced by Starvox Entertainment & Jeffrey Latimier Entertainment. This critically acclaimed revival featured members of the original cast.  Following the tour he became a company member of The Shaw Festival, performing in the musical Cabaret, and the play Juno and the Payock.  He is currently developing a musical for the 2023 Toronto Fringe Festival called Curious K Explores the Paleozoic.  The musical features material he and his wife performed on Canada's Got Talent.  Lise Cormier is a Toronto-based Jewish and Acadian bilingual actor, voice actor, singer, dancer, and creator who hails from Halifax, where she performed with RAZZMATAZZ FOR KIDS, at Neptune Theatre, as well as in multiple movies of the week.      She is a two time Dora Award nominee for her performances in TALE OF A T-SHIRT with Fixt Point, as well as in ZINSPIRÉS 3D with Théâtre français de Toronto.  She  performed in the Dora-nominated THE BARBER OF SEVILLE at Soulpepper, in the award-winning CBC radio drama BACKBENCHER, in Netflix's THE UMBRELLA  ACADEMY, and on Season 2 of Canada's Got Talent as KENTON AND LISE. CURIOUS K EXPLORES THE PALEOZOIC - When these best friends' very friendship is on the rocks, a class trip to the museum finds Emma and Olivia in a hidden room with a ... robot that sings songs about the Paleozoic Era – the very topic of their homework! But can they work together to finish their assignment and get back to their class – in time? https://www.kentonblythe.com/curious-k  

Described by the Toronto Star as “one of Toronto's most exciting playwrights,” Michael Ross Albert is a Dora Award-nominated writer and indie theatre producer whose work has been staged across Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. His plays have been produced in professional theatres, international festivals, black boxes, basements, bars, Zoom meetings, conference rooms, and tents in both small towns and big cities. He has an MFA in Playwriting from the Actors Studio Drama School and has taught new play development at the University of Waterloo. www.michaelrossalbert.com Twitter: @michaelralbert Instagram: @michaelralbert Support Stageworthy Donate: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

This week on Finding Your Bliss, Life Coach and Bliss Expert Judy Librach is joined by Chris Thornborrow, an award-winning composer for film, theatre, and the concert stage. His work has been described as

This week we are joined by the multitalented tap dancer, choreographer, instructor Lisa LaTouche. We're in full discussion the day after receiving a Dora Award for the Legacy Tap Dance Concert presented by Dance Immersion and Canadian Stage. We talk about diversity, focusing on being in relationship and the balance of being a mother and a working artist. Connect with Lisa here: https://www.lisalatouche.com/ Join our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/travisknights Subscribe to the Tap Love Tour Podcast on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/the-tap-love-tour Subscribe to the Tap Love Tour Youtube Channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsSfLevc4PJTChTNkmf5GVw?view_as=subscriber

I had a teacher - he said that we all are percussionists because our biggest instrument - and the most important - the heart, is always beating  - Misset Parata In this episode, we chat with Misset Parata, an Actor and Percussionist, born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela where she was immersed into Afro- Venezuelan dance and Music Traditions. She is also one of the protagonists of Cacao | A Venezuelan Lament, a new live performance work having its opening at the Rutas Festival. Cacao | A Venezuelan Lament is a new live performance works about belonging, land and the preservation of traditions. Drawing on twelve years of community-based fieldwork, this polylingual and multidisciplinary dance and theatre production offers timely insight into the complex lived realities of Venezuela's cacao farmers. Creator, Director and Choreographer Victoria Mata roots her vocabulary and aesthetics in the tensions between remembering and forgetting, and in a dynamic dialogue between Afro-Venezuelan genres and contemporary expressions of dance and music. Our co-host of this episode is a Venezuelan-born, Dora Award-winning performer, writer, facilitator and the very first guest we had in the podcast, Augusto Bitter.  For more information about the RUTAS FESTIVAL. All Radio Aluna Theatre episodes are in Spanglish, English, or Spanish. New episodes are released on Wednesdays. Follow and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, and wherever else you get your podcasts. Radio Aluna Teatro is produced by Aluna Theatre with support from the Toronto Arts Council, The Ontario Arts Council,  the Canada Council for the Arts, the Department of Canadian Heritage, and TD Bank.   Aluna Theatre is Beatriz Pizano & Trevor Schwellnus; Radio Aluna Theatre is produced by Monica Garrido and Lucia Linares. For more about Aluna Theatre, visit us at alunatheatre.ca, follow @alunatheatre on twitter or instagram, or ‘like' us on facebook. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sabes, tengo un maestro, que dice que todos somos percusionistas porque nuestro instrumento más grande y el más importante, es el corazón, y este siempre está latiendo, siempre está haciendo un sonido, desde que naciste  - Misset Parata En este episodio, conversamos con Misset Parata, una actriz y percusionista, nacida y criada en Caracas, Venezuela, donde se sumergió en la danza y las tradiciones musicales Afro-Venezolanas. Misset es una de las protagonistas de Cacao | Un Lamento Venezolano, una producción multidisciplinaria que tendrá su estreno en el Festival Rutas. Cacao | A Venezuelan Lament es una nueva obra que habla de pertenecer, de la tierra, y la preservación de las tradiciones. Basado en el trabajo de 12 años en el área comunitaria, esta producción polilingüe y multidisciplinaria de danza y teatro, ofrece una perspectiva dentro de las complejas realidades de campesinos de Cacao en Venezuela. La creadora, directora y coreógrafa Victoria Mata, radica su vocabulario y estética en la tensión que causa el recordar y el olvidar; en un diálogo dinámico entre géneros Afro-Venezolanos y expresiones contemporáneas de danza y música. Our co-host of this episode is a Venezuelan-born, Dora Award-winning performer, writer, facilitator and the very first guest we had in the podcast, Augusto Bitter.  Nuestro coanfitrión de este episodio es un actor, escritor, facilitador, ganador del premio Dora, nacido en Venezuela y el primer invitado que tuvimos en el podcast, Augusto Bitter. Para más información sobre el Festival RUTAS. Todos los episodios de Radio Aluna Teatro son en Inglés, Español y Spanglish. Nuevos episodios de Radio Aluna Teatro cada Miércoles. Síguenos y suscríbete a este podcast en iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, y donde sea que escuches tus podcasts. Radio Aluna Teatro es una producción de Aluna Theatre con el apoyo de  Toronto Arts Council, Ontario Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts, Department of Canadian Heritage, y TD Bank.   Aluna Theatre es Beatriz Pizano & Trevor Schwellnus. Radio Aluna Theatre es producido por Lucía Linares y Mónica Garrido. Para más información sobre Aluna Theatre, visita nuestra página alunatheatre.ca, síguenos en twitter @alunatheatre o en instagram, o haz click en “me gusta” en facebook.

This week on Finding Your Bliss, Life Coach and Bliss Expert Judy Librach is joined by the brilliantly talented Britta Johnson! Heralded by the Toronto Star as

This week on Finding Your Bliss, Life Coach and Bliss Expert Judy Librach is joined by acclaimed and award-winning author, Kathy Kacer. It all began when Kathy's elementary school teacher said, "Why don't you write that story down?" Forty years and thirty books later, that's exactly what Kathy is still trying to do - write the story. Her many books focus on the Second World War and the Holocaust, and include The Secret of Gabi

Natércia Napoleão is a multifaceted Brazilian theatre artist and community advocate. Over the past eighteen years, she has had a wide influence within the Albertan theatre community, with experience in site-specific theatre, dance theatre, multimedia performance, television, musicals, and a wide range of classical and contemporary theatre. Performance highlights include the acclaimed Fado: The Saddest Music in the World (JAYMAC Outstanding Production Award) at the Firehall Arts Centre in Vancouver. Recent directing credits include Hummm (Climate Change Theatre Action/ New Harlem Productions); Orange Skies (Tarragon Theatre's Young Playwright's Unit); and the multidisciplinary theatre piece, Threshold (The Lobbyists collective/2021 Chinook Series). Natércia is an associate producer with Dora Award nominated manidoons collective having recently supported the sold-out production of esteemed playwright Yolanda Bonnell's White Girls in Moccasins, in co-production with Buddies in Bad Times Theatre. Natércia is currently developing her first full-length play, Michener Park, alongside renowned Chilean author, playwright and activist, Carmen Aguirre. As a community advocate, Natércia spearheads and contributes to grassroots initiatives regularly. She is a strategic planner working with institutions and companies exploring equitable practices, such as Musical Stage Co. and Outside the March. Natércia is the incoming CAEA representative for the Alberta North/N.W.T region. Intstagram: @natercia_napoleao Support Stageworthy Tip Jar: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Do you want to explore the creative process behind musicals? Or are you an enthusiast and scared of trying it out yourself? Learning is within your reach! You are invited to attend the Theatre Making Movement to explore how movement can become a powerful storytelling tool. You'll have the opportunity to expand your creativity and professional development. In this week-long symposium, you will get to work, collaborate, and learn from leading choreographers and composers from around the world! The journey that the creative team behind the Theatre Making Movement encountered and overcame. The importance for creators to write what's in their heart instead of lowering their ceiling of imagination and creativity. Exploring the importance of movement as a language of humanity and how that needs to be incorporated in creating musicals at conception. A little about the Theatre Making Movement: Theatre Making Movement is the brainchild of Director and Dora Award winning Choreographer Stephanie Graham (Fun Home, Grey Gardens, Wild Party- The Musical Stage Company) and performer, writer, and filmmaker Sarah O'Brecht (Charlottetown Festival, Neptune Theatre, Stage West Calgary). The idea was born when the two were discussing the creation of new Canadian musicals over a lunch break while working at the Globe Theatre in Regina, Saskatchewan. They observed that Canadian musicals are not being developed with dance as a part of the conversation. Canada has some of the best choreographers, movement practitioners, and dancers in the industry, yet most of our new musicals do not use this aspect as a storytelling device. Spaces are limited, so early registration is recommended. The Conversations and Watch Me Work are presented virtually and are free of charge. The Classes are $22 and in held in person at Metro Movement, 833 Broadview Ave, Toronto, ON. To register visit: www.theatremakingmovement.com Follow the Theatre Making Movement!

Maev Beaty and Debashis Sinha joined Stageworthy host, Phil Rickaby to talk about Necessary Angel's upcoming audio production of Roland Schimmelpfennig's play The Great Fire. Maev Beaty is a critically-acclaimed actor, writer and voice-over artist. She has originated roles in 23 Canadian premieres (Hannah Bunny, Kate Hennig's The Last Wife, Michael Healey's Proud and The Front Page, Judith Thompson's Palace of the End, Sharon Pollock's Angel's Trumpet); co-writing and starring in award-winning theatre (Secret Life of a Mother, Montparnasse, Dance of the Red Skirts); performing in ensembles of epic theatre endeavours (Sheep No Wool/Outside the March/Convergence's Passion Play, Nightwood's Penelopiad, Volcano's Another Africa, TheatreFront'sThe Mill); and interpreting lead classic roles across the country and over five seasons at the Stratford Festival (The Front Page, King Lear, She Stoops to Conquer, School for Scandal). She is a Toronto Theatre Critics' Award winner, three-time Dora Award winner and twelve-time Dora nominee in both performance and writing, referred to as “the excellent Maev Beaty” by the New York Times. Her film debut (Mouthpiece) was a Special Presentations Opening Film at 2019 TIFF. maevbeaty.com Instagram: @maevbeaty Twitter: @maevbeaty Debashis Sinha's creative output spans a broad range of genres and media, from solo audiovisual performance projects on the concert stage to the interior spaces between two headphones. Driven by a deep commitment to the primacy of sound, Sinha has developed his creative voice by weaving together his own experience as a 2nd generation south Asian Canadian, his training with master drummers from various world music traditions, a love of electronic and electroacoustic music and technology, and a desire to transcend the traditional expectations of how these streams might intersect and interact. debsinha.com Twitter: @sinhadeb Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/debsinha Necessary Angel Theatre Company is one of English Canada's most vital original creation and touring organizations. The company has a history of innovation and risk taking and engages theatre artists from a variety of disciplines in the creation of new work. An influential and original presence on the national and international theatre scene for over 40 years, the company has produced more than 60 productions, including 30 world premieres and 11 North American premieres. Work created by Necessary Angel has been nominated for and has won Governor General's Awards for Drama, Chalmers Awards for Outstanding New Play, and numerous Dora Mavor Moore Awards. www.necessaryangel.com Twitter: @necessaryangel The Great Fire: https://www.necessaryangel.com/the-great-fire

Welcome to the final episode of Season 4 of Tits and Teeth Podcast! Can you believe it?! To close out the season we are bringing you one guest and one guest only, the sensational actor and activist, Vanessa Sears. Vanessa Sears is a Dora Award winning actor with the voice of an angel and a stunningly contagious laugh. She is one of Canada's most accomplished performers who's potential knows no bounds. Some of her theatre credits include; Caroline or Change (Musical Stage Co.) Mary Poppins (Young People's Theatre) Grand Hotel (Shaw Festival) Little Shop of Horrors and Billy Elliott (Stratford Festival) and Kinky Boots (Mirvish Productions). She can be seen on screen in Sex/Life (Netflix) Tallboyz (CBC) and Y:The Last Man (FX). Vanessa is also a board member of the Canadian Green Alliance and a woman who will always fight for what's right and inspire others to change. In this episode we chat about advocacy in the arts, bringing our values with us to the theatre and Vanessas hopes for the future of the industry. She is a bright light and you don't want to miss this one!Thank you to all of our listeners who have continued to support us through 4 great seasons of Tits and Teeth. You continue to inspire us to strive for more and bring you top quality content. Remember to keep those tits up and those teeth out and we will see you soon for season 5 you bloody legends. 

One word to describe this episode? Sunshine! Why? Because today on the pod we are joined by Jacqueline Burtney from Jackson Ben Designs as the feature of our ‘Whatcha Doin?!' segment, as well as the joyous Shawn Byfield.Shawn Byfield is a respected leader in the entertainment industry. As a highly sought after dance coach and adjudicator across the country, Shawn's mission is to inspire greatness in others, create authentic performers, and make learning fun! He's a Dora Award winner, Gemini Award nominee, and Certified Trainer & Public Speaker who loves life.Each week, our ‘Whatcha Doin?!' Segment highlights artist run small businesses. This week we are all about Jacqueline Burtney and her web design company, Jackson Ben Designs. Jacqueline is sensational performer and a sensational entrepreneur! Do you want a sleek website that screams YOU but is also wildly functional? Of course you do, so you're welcome. Here's Jacqueline BurtneySo come hang with us, and get your weekly fix of musical theatre banter with Jen and Ky!

Andre is a Toronto-based Actor, Director, Producer and Writer.  He has spent most of his career working in the Theatre across the country. This is his 7th season at Stratford where he is playing Bottom in A Midsummer's Night Dream, opening the new Tom Patterson Theatre Parking Lot under a tent. He also played the title character in the 2018 Stratford hit Coriolanus directed by the World Renowned Robert Lepage, and was in the top 10 shows of 2018 in the Washington Post and The Globe & Mail and more.  In addition, he spent four seasons at The Shaw Festival where he played Tom in The Glass Menagerie and received a My Entertainment World Best Actor Award for his work in An Octoroon and a Dora Award & Toronto Theatre Critics Award for Best Actor for his work in Master Harold and the Boys.  He has also worked at Soulpepper Theatre where he toured with Kim's Convenience across the country, and also played Othello at The St. Louis Black Rep, and many other companies across the country. He is a Resident Artist with The Actors Repertory Company (ARC). Online: Check out his new web series on YouTube called Private Idiots. Instagram: @dre373 Twitter: @andresills373 Private Idiots Instagram: @privateidiotsseries Twitter: @Privateidiots Support Stageworthy by contributing to their Tip Jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Welcome to 'On the Path' w/ Cheryl Nembhard!A podcast filled to the brim w/ encouragement, inspiration, interviews + life lessons to ignite you in your faith, push you in your purpose and challenge you to be exactly who you are called to be...a World Changer!This week, It's all about remembering and celebrating Mothers & I'm so excited to have my very special guest with me to do just that! For our Mother's Day episode, I'm speaking with Certified Platinum Recording Artist & Juno, Gemini and Dora award winner Jully Black!!••We're talking about:• The incredible life + impact of her late Mother Agatha and her heroic journey with cancer• The lessons and legacy left from her Mother & how Jully lives daily to honour her memory• The evolution of @missjullyblack and where she is now on her journey•One of her private rock bottom moments & the lessons she learned from it• Her encouraging word to single mothers everywhere **Jully even serenades us with a beautiful song !**PLEASE LIKE, REVIEW & SUBSCRIBE! : -)

This week, Shohana sits down with Canadian Comedy award-winning writer and performer Jan Caruana, to discuss singing in your sleep, audition angels, and writing happy comedy about sad things. Follow Finders Grievers on Instagram & Twitter @findersgrievers and write to us at findersgrievers@gmail.com About Jan Caruana: Jan's career has been interesting and varied. She is a multiple Canadian Comedy Award winner and has performed across North America in a variety of comedy shows. A mainstay of many Toronto stages, Jan co-wrote and performed in the Second City Toronto's critically and audience acclaimed revues The Meme-ing of Life and We Can Be Heroes (named one of NOW Magazines Top Ten Shows of that year). Jan was a member of the cast of “One Night Only”, a fully improvised two-act musical and was part of the Off- Broadway workshop production in 2018. She was also the winner of a Dora Award as part of the ensemble for “The Wonder Pageant”. She has appeared in films and television shows including Baroness Von Sketch (where she is also a writer), Pretty Hard Cases, Odd Squad, Mean Girls and Kim's Convenience. Jan is a Canadian Screen Award nominated writer for her work on City TV’s Sunnyside and the YTV youth sketch show That's So Weird, creating some of the series most memorable and colourful characters. She is also very proud to have written for the Nickelodeon shows Make it Pop and The Other Kingdom,  the international sensation The Next Step. Jan is a writer and panelist for CBC’s Because News with Gavin Crawford and you can follow her adventures in the kitchen on Instagram @twolittlesandwiches. Brought to you By: The Sonar Network

Internationally renowned theater choreographer and director, SERGIO TRUJILLO is the first ever Latinx recipient of the Tony Award for Best Choreography. He was honored with the Tony in 2019 for AIN’T TOO PROUD: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE TEMPTATIONS. Additionally, he won the 2015 Olivier Award for Best Theatre Choreographer for MEMPHIS. Sergio was previously nominated for several awards including a Tony Award for ON YOUR FEET!, Drama Desk Awards for HANDS ON A HARDBODY, LEAP OF FAITH, MEMPHIS, and JERSEY BOYS, a Lucille Lortel Award for SAVED, and received an Ovation Award for EMPIRE. He made his Broadway debut in 1999, dancing in JEROME ROBBINS’ BROADWAY. As a dancer, he has performed on Broadway in GUYS AND DOLLS, VICTOR/VICTORIA, KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN, and FOSSE. Sergio made his choreographic debut in 2005 with Broadway’s ALL SHOOK UP. His success expanded from there with JERSEY BOYS — which continues to grow in popularity worldwide. In 2011, four of his productions ran simultaneously on Broadway: NEXT TO NORMAL (2010 Pulitzer Prize), THE ADDAMS FAMILY, MEMPHIS (Olivier Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, NAACP Award, Drama Desk Award nomination, Astaire Award nomination), and JERSEY BOYS (Greenroom Award, Olivier Award nomination, Drama Desk Award nomination, Dora Award nomination, Outer Critics Circle Award nomination). Adding to his list of Broadway choreography credits are SUMMER: THE DONNA SUMMER MUSICAL (Chita Rivera Award, NAACP Award nomination), A BRONX TALE (Chita Rivera Award nomination), and GUYS AND DOLLS (Astaire Award nomination). Recent directing credits include Cirque Du Soleil’s PARAMOUR currently playing in Germany, ARRABAL for American Repertory Theater (Elliot Norton Award for best direction), the North American tour of FLASH DANCE THE MUSICAL, and the Broadway concert of GLORIA ESTEFAN & MIAMI SOUND MACHINE. Sergio is bringing a number of Latinx musicals aimed at bringing forth the stories of the Hispanic Culture in America. Some of his favorite future productions include: WAITING FOR SNOW IN HAVANA based on the book of the same title by Carlos Eire, LIVES IN LIMBO based on the book by Roberto Gonzales, REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES based on the play by Josefina Lopez, and CASA DE LAS FLORES inspired the Netflix Series by Manolo Caro. He has introduced audiences to his choreography in many noteworthy Off-Broadway shows including INVISIBLE THREAD for Second Stage, ROMEO & JULIET for The Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park, A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN and KISMET for New York City Center Encores!, THE GREAT AMERICAN TRAILER PARK for Dodger Stages, and BARE: A POP OPERA for the American Theatre for Actors. Sergio works and resides in New York City. He is proud to be the first choreographer ever invited to serve as a voting member of the American Theatre Wing’s Advisory Committee for the Tony Awards, is an avid supporter of and serves on the advisory boards of R.Evolution Latina and New York Theatre Barn, and is an active member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society. Sergio is Colombian born, and was raised in Toronto. He studied science at the University of Toronto, and later pursued further education by attending chiropractic school. Recently he was distinguished as one of the Top 100 Colombians in the world by President Juan Manuel Santos and was voted as one of the top 50 Creative Colombian Artists in the world by Forbes Magazine. Since 1990, he has been in a loving and inspiring relationship with actor Jack Noseworthy. They married in 2011 and were ecstatic to welcome their baby boy, Lucas Alejandro Truworthy, in March 2018. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This weeks Ranch Spotlight shines on....Graham Scott Fleming!!!Tune in everyday this week around 11:50am to hear his brand new single “Déjà Vu”!Graham joins Jackie on air this Thursday during the 11am hour to chat all about his career!"Graham Scott Fleming is a singer/songwriter from Elmvale, Ontario with a voice that is unlikely to be forgotten. After winning first place in a competition called North of Nashville star in 2011, Graham's career as an independent artist was launched. From there he hit the ground running and didn't look back. He began writing his own original music which eventually led him to open for acts like Derrick Ruttan, High Valley, and Jason Blaine. He has also had the opportunity to collaborate and co-write with such names as Jason McCoy, Jane Bach, Phil Barton, JT harding and many others.Graham released his first EP ‘Young Wild & Free' in 2016, at a time which could easily be described as a slightly ‘chaotic' period in Graham's life! Not only was Graham writing original music and planning an EP release, he was starring as Charlie Price in Mirvish's production of Kinky Boots. Kinky Boots was a smash hit in Toronto running for 2+ years, and was extended three times due to the success of the show. Graham was nominated for a Dora Award for Best Male Actor in a musical for his memorable performance. After Kinky Boots closed in Toronto, Graham made a big move to NYC where he made his Broadway debut in Miss Saigon. Between NYC and Ontario, Graham also starred in such shows as the Canadian Premier of Ghost: The Musical, the World premier of Jukebox Hero, and the World Premier of My Very Own British Invasion plus snagged a supporting lead role in a Hallmark movie called Love You Like Christmas, where he wrote original music for the film score. Needless to say, Graham has had a pretty incredible run in many sectors of the music industry, which he is forever grateful for. Missing his small-town roots and the music he grew up listening to, Graham is emerging himself back into the country music scene with a 2021 release of his new single ‘Déjå Vu.' More details on the full EP, produced by the boys of The Agenda, will be released in the near future, but for now Graham is gearing up for an exciting new single release for the first time in four years. Influenced by duo Dan & Shay, these tunes are sure to have you belting out loud and catching all the feels.It's been a long and difficult year for many due to the pandemic, and Graham is hopeful that things will start to look up in 2021. One thing is for sure - music will always be there to provide that much needed positivity and light, and Graham hopes sharing his stories through music will do just that. Be sure to check out his new single ‘Déjå Vu' on all streaming platforms - out everywhere!! Don't forget to follow along the journey on Instagram @grahamsfleming!"

“I’m an ancient recipe that has lost its origin.”   Welcome to the Studio Series: experiments in audio storytelling from some of the most exciting theatre artists from our TransAmerican community in Canada. First you’ll hear a work in process, then a short talk by the artist on their creative process. This presentation is also available in Spanish.    Sharing a meal is an intimate and immediate gesture of love. Reina is a performance ritual that strives to create this same atmosphere. It invokes and celebrates personal femininity and Indigeneity through a collection of memories, stories, recipes, and physical scores in conversation with live afro-venezuelan percussion and vocals by musician Y Josephine. And arepas.   Augusto Bitter is a Dora Award-winning performer, writer, facilitator, and artistic producer based in Toronto. He is a Resident Artist at Aluna Theatre and has been in-residence at Canadian Stage, Theatre Passe Muraille, and hub14. He has trained with Teatro delle Radici (Switzerland), Manifesto Poetico (Paris), Canada's National Voice Intensive, Aluna Theatre's Interpretation Lab, and the University of Toronto. Augusto is also a youth educator with Soulpepper and Story Planet. He is developing a new piece—Reina—with musician Y Josephine, and his short film cannibal will be a part of Toronto Queer Film Festival 2021. www.augustobitter.com   Y Josephine is a Venezuelan-Canadian, and a citizen of the world, whose contagious passion for percussion has propelled her to travel far and wide sharing her epic fusion sounds of the South. Driven by the potent, soothing, and vibrant music she’s helped to create, she is one of the founders of Baobá, a trio formed by Toronto’s top female percussionists taking traditional beats to the next level. Empowered by the natural musicality that flows from South American bodies, that trio-and-sometimes-quartet, featuring fellow Jamphitheatre-er Anita Graciano alongside Mari Palhares and Carla Dias, represents an ideal balance of voice, melody, and instrumentation bringing new life to, and transcending, Venezuelan, Colombian, and Brazilian traditions. She also is part of the Amao Kuda Et les Bois crue, described by Now Magazine as a "tantalizing afro soul combo of folk, roots, desert blues and African continental music". Y is working with Victoria Mata on Cacao: A Venezuelan Lament and with Augusto Bitter on Reina (both dance-theatre hybrids).    Reina’s development has been supported by Cristina Castrillo and Bruna Gusberti at Teatro delle Radici, Claren Grosz, b current performing arts, Canadian Stage, and Aluna Theatre.    This recording was produced by Aluna Theatre at our studio in Toronto.   Written, performed, and directed by Augusto Bitter Music written and performed by Y Josephine  Sound Engineer, Steph Raposo  Editing and sound design by Miquelon Rodriguez, assisted by Lucia Linares  Head of Production, Monica Garrido  Script co-ordination, Camila Diaz-Varela    All Radio Aluna Theatre episodes are in Spanglish, English, or Spanish. New episodes of Radio Aluna Theatre are released on Wednesdays. Follow and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Google Play, and wherever else you get your podcasts. Radio Aluna Teatro is produced by Aluna Theatre with support from the Toronto Arts Council, The Ontario Arts Council, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Department of Canadian Heritage, the Metcalf Foundation, and TD Bank.   Aluna Theatre is Beatriz Pizano & Trevor Schwellnus, with Sue Balint. For more about Aluna Theatre, visit us at alunatheatre.ca, follow @alunatheatre on twitter or instagram, or ‘like’ us on facebook.  

Nashville’s Music Row is as complicated as the myths that surround it. And there are plenty, from an adulterous French fur trader to an adventurous antebellum widow, from the early Quonset hut recordings to record labels in glass high-rise towers and from “Your Cheatin’ Heart” to “Strawberry Wine.” Untangle the legendary history with never-before-seen photos of Willie Nelson, Patsy Cline, Kris Kristofferson and Shel Silverstein and interviews with multi-platinum songwriters and star performers. Authors Brian Allison, Elizabeth Elkins and Vanessa Olivarez dig into the dreamers and the doers, the architects and the madmen, the ghosts and the hit-makers that made these avenues and alleys world-famous. Elizabeth Elkins is a professional songwriter and writer. A military brat, she holds degrees from the University of Georgia and Emory University. She has written for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Creative Loafing, Art & Antiques and many others. She is president of Historic Nashville Inc. and the author of the upcoming Your Cheatin’ Heart: Timothy Demonbreun and the Politics of Love and Power in Nascent Nashville (Vanderbilt University Press).Vanessa Olivarez is a professional songwriter and vocalist. A Texas native, she was a Top 12 finalist on the second season of American Idol and received a Dora Award nomination for her work in the Toronto, Canada production of Hairspray.Together, Elkins and Olivarez are Granville Automatic, an alt-country band that has been featured in the New York Times, USA Today and the Bitter Southerner. Their songs have been used in numerous television programs and films, and they have written songs recorded by more than seventy-five other artists, including Billy Currington, Wanda Jackson and Sugarland. They were the songwriters in residence at the Seaside Institute’s Escape to Create program (Florida), where they wrote a Civil War concept album, An Army without Music. Their 2018 album Radio Hymns focuses on the lost history of Nashville, and the 2020 follow-up, Tiny Televisions, was inspired by Music Row stories in this book. You may have seen their videos on CMT. The pair live in Nashville, Tennessee, and regularly tour across the United States.While not a musician himself, Brian Allison was born and raised on stories of country music. His father, Joe, was a producer, songwriter, radio personality and pioneer, and without his stories, this book would not have been possible. A professional historian, museum consultant and writer, Brian is the author of two other books for The History Press, Murder & Mayhem in Nashville and Notorious Nashville. He lives in Nashville.

A swanky restaurant invites a naive food reviewer to taste a truly rare dish. A humorous horror by Dora Award winner Kat Sandler.

Mumbi is an acclaimed theatre creator and director raised in Kenya and Victoria, BC and based in Toronto. She recently won a Dora Award for her Outstanding Direction of The Brothers Size, which also won for Outstanding Production. Mumbi is the Artistic Director of Obsidian Theatre. She is the Founder/Artistic Director of the experimental theatre company IFT (It’s A Freedom Thing Theatre) Theatre and also recently directed the critically acclaimed plays: Trout Stanley (Factory Theatre), Here are the Fragments (The Theatre Centre/The ECT Collective), Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Soulpepper) and Oraltorio: A Theatrical Mixtape (Obsidian/Soulpepper). Mumbi is also the recipient of a Toronto Theatre Critics Award, an Artistic Director’s Award (Soulpepper), a Pauline McGibbon Award , a Mallory Gilbert Protege Award, a Harold Award, and has been twice nominated for the John Hirsch Directing Award. She is a graduate of Soulpepper Academy, York University and University of Toronto as well as Obsidian Theatre’s Mentor/Apprenticeship Program. Twitter: @mumbitindyebwa Support Stageworthy: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

This week, we are SO excited to welcome Vanessa Sears to our virtual studio! You may know her as Nicola in the Canadian premiere of Kinky Boots, being practically perfect as Mary Poppins, and most recently in her Dora Award winning role in Caroline, Or Change. Vanessa deep dives into her favourite collaborations, most memorable performances, and how she's staying busy with both activism and arts during the pandemic. Her energy is infectious, listen now! . . . "No Song Left to Save Me" - Steven Page and the cast of Here's What It Takes - q on CBC (Youtube)   "Your Love Keeps Lifting Me Higher" - Porchside Songs - Vanessa Sears & Beau Dixon - Here and Now Toronto with Gill Deacon (CBC Radio)   "History of Wrong Guys" - Kinky Boots (Original Broadway Cast Recording)   "King of the Lost Boys" (From the Apple TV+ Original Series "Little Voice")    All music tracks used for educational and entertainment purposes only.  

In this episode, Les chats with Teiya Kasahara & Asitha Tennekoon, co-founders of Amplified Opera. Teiya 笠原貞野 (they/them) is a queer, gender non-binary, multi-disciplinary performer/creator, and first-generation Nikkei-Canadian settler of Japanese and German roots. Teiya comes from a background of over a decade of singing both traditional and contemporary operatic roles across North America and Europe. VO audiences last saw them as the Queen of the Night in our 2013 BC First Nations inspired production of The Magic Flute. Sri Lankan tenor Asitha Tennekoon was winner of the 2016/17 Dora Award for Best Male Performance in Opera for his depiction of Paul in Tapestry Opera's Rocking Horse Winner and was last seen at Vancouver Opera in The Overcoat as The Manager. Asitha is also the creator of the blog Wandelprobe, in which he provides a platform for meaningful discourse on the state of opera.Check out our special features for the episode, including Teiya & Asitha's Spotify playlists, Les's Pick of the Week and more at www.vancouveropera.ca/offstage!Support the show (http://tickets.vancouveropera.ca/dev/contribute.aspx)

In tonight's interview, Samantha Belding talks with Tony-Award Winning Broadway Producer Randy Adams. Randy is a founding partner of Junkyard Dog Productions (JYD), a theatrical producing company dedicated to the development and production of new musical theatre. JYD is currently represented on Broadway with Come From Away which is the winner of the Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Helen Hayes and Dora Award for Best Musical of 2017. The National Tour of Memphis (by Joe DiPietro and David Bryan) completed a successful multi-year run following an almost three year run on Broadway. Memphis is the winner of the Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best Musical of 2010. First Date premiered at Seattle's 5th Avenue /ACT Theatre prior to its Broadway run at the Longacre Theatre. Since its inception in 2006, JYD has also produced Make Me A Song, The Music of William Finn off-Broadway at New World Stages (Drama Desk nom., Outer Critics Circle nom.) and in London and Vanities, A New Musical at Second Stage Theatre. Prior to creating JYD, Randy was the Managing Director at TheatreWorks in Palo Alto from 1984 to 2006. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Chris Tolley is a writer, director and producer, and the Co-Artistic Director of Expect Theatre. After graduating from York University he teamed up with Laura Mullin, and together they have created award-winning multi-disciplinary productions that have toured across Canada and the US.Chris’ work has been nominated for five Dora Awards in the General Theatre category, and has been shortlisted twice for the Toronto Arts Foundation Awards. In 2006 both Chis and Laura won Harbourfront Centre’s inaugural FreshGround commissioning award.His most notable works include Romeo/Juliet REMIXED (Toronto and Philadelphia), STATIC (World Stage Festival) and AWAKE (Next Stage Festival). Other work with Mullin include the CBC Radio drama, The Tunnel Runners, and the short film, AWAKE.He sits on the Board of the Playwrights Guild of Canada and serves as the Contracts Chair. He is also on a number of other theatre boards.Outside of theatre, Chris is also very active in national politics. In 2015, Chris ran in the federal election as the Green Party’s candidate in Toronto-Danforth, advocating for the cultural issues he is passionate about. His campaign resulted in the best showing for the Green Party in the GTA and surrounding area, and was recognized as one of the strongest campaigns run nationally.Twitter: @christolleyLaura Mullin is a playwright, director and producer, and the Co-Artistic Director of Expect Theatre and The Spark Collective. She graduated from York University with a bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre before forming Expect and Spark with Chris Tolley. She has created and produced several highly acclaimed productions with Tolley that have toured nationally and internationally.Selected writing and directing credits: Romeo/Juliet Remixed (5 Dora award nominations, winner of Outstanding Choreography), EXPECT/ Spark; Tunnel Runners, CBC Radio; STATIC, Harbourfront Centre’s World Stage Festival; AWAKE, Next Stage Festival; AWAKE The Short Film; Rapid Eye Movement & To The Kid That I was, Nuit Blanche; One Sleepless Night, International Festival of Authors; Allowance (in development); Burusera, Watermark Theatre (national 21 city tour & to be published in the Playwright’s Guild Short Play Anthology); History of Visual Sources (short story).Awards & Commissions: Toronto Arts Foundation Award (short listed 2009 & 2013); Harbourfront Centre’s inaugural Fresh Ground Commissioning Award; Dora Award nomination for Outstanding Production for Romeo / Juliet Remixed (General Theatre category), Ontario Arts Council’s Creator’s Reserve from Nightwood Theatre (2013) and Crow’s Theatre (2015) for Allowance, Watermark Theatre Commission of Burusera for Canada 300’s national tour (2015).Twitter: @expectlauraPlayMEExpect Theatre has created an exciting new initiative that celebrates the best of Canadian Indie Theatre on a national and international scale. The project helps raise the profile of Canadian playwrights by highlighting new works through a series of podcasts, making it accessible to audiences worldwide.PlayME is transforming the way we experience Canadian theatre, by taking a bold and innovative approach to disseminating plays. The podcast features distinguished actors, and focuses on current and relevant scripts geared to the growing “on-demand” audience.Expect’s Artistic Directors, Laura Mullin and Chris Tolley are spearheading this project, in partnership with organizations such as The Toronto Fringe Festival and the Playwrights Guild of Canada.http://www.playmepodcast.com/ https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcasts/arts-culture/playme/ http://expect.org/ Twitter: @expecttheatre

Our Breaking Distance Team has a really candid and sincere conversation with global musician and humanitarian Paul Beaubrun about Haitian culture and life growing up in Haiti, his newest album "Rasanbleman - Red Moon", creative energy, music and activism. We even discuss human trafficking and sexual violence throughout the world and, particularly, in Haiti. Paul blesses our team with a musical performance and showcase that took our breath away! You will not want to miss this very special episode!    More About "Rasanbleman": Album link - https://ropeadope.lnk.to/Rasanbleman     Video links https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GXuLFVPkNv8 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=an7Xc8BK2kE  More About Paul: https://www.paulbeaubrun.com/  A scion of Haitian musical royalty, Paul has spent his life living to the beat. Son of the Grammy nominated band Boukman Eksperyans, his earliest memories are of rhythm and sound.  Moving to New York as a youth he was inspired by his heritage to begin crafting a sound all his own. Constantly aware of his roots, the struggle of an immigrant and the drive of New York life, Paul began to create a path where music, activism and history meet.  A unique and transfixing sound he calls 'Roots/Blues', Paul weaves his impeccable guitar skills, rich, vocals, musical ingenuity and cultural history together; all while performing a smooth melange of both English, French and Creole (the native tongue of his Haitian roots). Paul has played alongside some of the world's best artists including Ms. Lauryn Hill, Maxwell, Arcade Fire, Jackson Browne and Bob Weir.  Worldwide performances include venues such as The Beacon Theater and Radio City Music Hall in NYC, Massey Hall in Toronto, The Ryman Theatre in Nashville, The House of Blues in Chicago, The Montreal Jazz Festival, Festival Internationale Nuits d'Afrique in Montreal, Le Trianon in Paris, The Paleo Festival in Switzerland, No Siesta Fiesta in Norway.  These continued accomplishments make him one of the few artists coming out of Haiti to garner worldwide success. Paul has joined forces with Artists for Peace and Justice, and become an integral part of their organization.   He is currently working in collaboration with Jackson Browne, and several other artists including Jon Russell (the Head and the Heart), Jonathan Wilson, Habib Koite, Jenny Lewis and Raul Rodriguez on an upcoming album for APJ.  He also continues to be an active member and perform at their many events in the USA and Canada.  This allows Paul to do what he loves; play music while also furthering awareness of Haitian art, culture and promoting the incredible talent of Haiti's youth. Paul’s album titled 'Vilnerab', released in 2015, soared directly to #1 on itunes in the World Music category, receiving rave reviews. In 2016, he was nominated for a Dora Award by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts for ‘Outstanding Sound Design/Composition’ in the production of Espwa/Espoir.   In May of 2018 on Ropeadope Records, Paul released an english/creole album, ‘Ayibobo’ , continuing his evolution of sound into Rock/Roots/Blues music. On April 17th, 2020, Paul released his third album entitled ‘Rasanbleman’.  Recorded live at the Cine Institute in Haiti, this album offers listeners a chance to enjoy the raw and emotive energy of uncut and raw power that Paul brings to his sounds.  

On Wednesday April 22nd Jen and Ky were thrilled to host a Q and A live on YouTube with two of our industries elites, Amy Wight and Stephanie Graham. We had a blast and answered your live questions about injury, choreography, and auditioning for both film/tv and musical theatre. We wanted to make sure this valuable content got to you so we needed to put it in PODCAST VERSION! Amy Wright is the Casting Director, Choreographer and a Producer of the television series The Next Step, watched around the world. Most recently Amy has choreographed dancers for Private Eyes (Global), Anne With An E (Netflix and CBC) Killjoys (Crave) American Gods (Amazon Prime) and Dare Me (NBC/USA pilot).Stephanie Graham is one of our countries most sought after Directors and Choreographers. Stephanie won the 2015 Dora Award for Outstanding Choreography for her work on The Wild Party (Musical Stage Co.) She is also a twice nominated Merritt Award choreographer for Cinderella and The Addams Family (Neptune Theatre) Other Director credits for Steph include; Chicago, Beauty and the Beast, Mamma Mia (Globe Theatre) Anne of Green Gables (Thousand Islands Playhouse) and The Last Five Years (YRG Productions) Come hang with us, grab a drink, and let’s all get through this together

I have another dancer for you. I'm so inspired talking to all these dancers. They understand my love of JLo and Janet. They get it they understand me See you guys I was meant to be a dancer Anyways, if you are a dancer, musician, or actor, welcome. And in case you missed last week's episode, where I introduced the sing dance act, thrive progress pathway coaching program. I help musicians, actors and dancers who are driven to succeed, but struggle to get ahead. I help them cultivate authentic connections with audiences and industry gatekeepers, so that they can build a thriving career in the arts without feeling overwhelmed or doubting themselves. If you want to stop letting fear and a lack of knowledge holds you back, I can empower you with confidence and profile building strategies to propel you to the next level. So if that kind of sounded like you, why don't you apply for a free coaching session with me, dianefoy.com/booking, we'll figure out where you want to go and see if we're a match for me to help you get there. That could be for anyone around the world because the sessions are just on zoom online. So I hope you guys take advantage of that. If you go to the thing and you don't see a free appointment, just wait a few days and a few more will pop up, hopefully. So today's guest is Dora award winner, four time nominee Anissa Tejpar is a graduate of Canada's National Ballet School, and is co-artistic director of hit and run dance productions. We had a fabulous conversation about the upcoming Encore! dance hall of fame event by dance collection dance, where she's producing the performances, the Canadian dance hall of fame and it'll be held in Toronto. Anisa is very passionate about dance so I'm sure you'll be inspired, hearing her talk about her career and the amazing experiences that she's had, including dancing works by Christopher House and Guillaume Côté, working in film and television and producing events for the Rolling Stones, Mac cosmetics, Casa Loma and the Toronto International Film Festival. She's a current board member for Canada's National Ballet School.Links & Transcript visit http://singdanceactthrive.com/042 

I am elated to bring this episode of Cue To Cue with Founder/ Artistic and Managing Director of The Musical Stage Company, Mitchell Marcus! Mitchell has become an influencer in the Toronto MusicTheatre scene and has been quite successful in a medium where many theatre companies don’t make it past their first season and I have been dying to have a conversation to hear his thoughts on creativity, entrepreneurship and the place of musical theatre in today's ever-shifting arts landscape. WISDOM: When I asked Mitchell what advice he would give someone who is thinking of starting a theatre company he said, “don’t”, with a laugh and continued to say, if you feel you must go through with it then find the Gap. How are you going to differentiate yourself from every theatre company out there? Do you need to do a show or become a theatre company because that is a totally different undertaking. In this Episode: What is missing from the Canadian musical theatre scene How to embrace the art of fundraising and get people to support your idea What he believes holds artists back from creating and how you can overcome it How to discern the right path for yourself A Little about Mitchell: Mitchell is the founder and Artistic & Managing Director of The Musical Stage Company – Canada’s leading and largest not-for-profit musical theatre company. Over fourteen years, The Musical Stage Company (previously Acting Up Stage Company) productions have been recognized with 61 Dora Award nominations, 11 Dora Awards and 12 Toronto Theatre Critics’ Awards and programming partnerships have been built with Mirvish, Canadian Stage, AGO, TIFF, Massey Hall, Obsidian Theatre Company, and the Regent Park School of Music amongst others.  Outside of The Musical Stage Company, Mitchell was the Associate Producer for the inaugural six years of Luminato, producing over 100 productions for one-million attendees annually. Mitchell has twice been the Creative Producer for the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize as well as the producer of the Dora Awards. He organized four years of It’s Always Something, working with a team that raised over $500,000 annually for Gilda’s Club Greater Toronto. Mitchell is active on committees that serve the arts community. He is an advisor to the Metcalf Foundation for its Creative Strategies Incubator program, a member of Sheridan College’s Performing Arts Committee, a member of the Dora Eligibility Committee, and a member of the Advisory Committee of the Canadian Musical Theatre Writers Collective. Mitchell has held positions in the arts management departments at University of Toronto and Ryerson University. He is the recipient of a Harold Award and the 2017 The Leonard McHardy and John Harvey Award for Outstanding Leadership in Administration.

A graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada, Natasha Greenblatt is an actor, director and writer.Natasha has played Anne Frank in The Diary of Anne Frank (Segal Centre, Theatre Aquarius), Brigid in A Boy Called Newfoundland (Theatre Smash), and Roberta in The Railway Children (Mirvish/Marquis). She was nominated for a Dora Award for her portrayal of Bastian in The Neverending Story (Roseneath Theatre) and won a Dora Award for Get Yourself Home Skyler James (Roseneath Theatre), a solo show that toured high schools in the Greater Toronto Area. Natasha had a recurring role on the Canadian television show Bomb Girls. Most recently, Natasha was part of the 2014-2015 National Arts Centre’s English Theatre Ensemble, where she played Alice, in Alice Through the Looking Glass and Cecily in The Importance of Being Earnest.As a director, Natasha facilitated and directed This Is Your Script, a collective creation for Paprika Festival for youth between the ages of 17 and 21. She directed Cowboy Mouth, by Sam Shepard and Patti Smith, as part of The Playwright Project in May 2013. She was the assistant director for Micheline Chevrier on the Montreal debut production of the Governor General Award winning play, If We Were Birds and for Sarah Stanley on the debut of Beatrice and Virgil at the Factory Theatre. In 2014, Natasha directed The Secret Garden of Lido Pimienta, a theatrical concert commissioned by SummerWorks.Natasha has been part of Nightwood Theatre’s Write From the Hip program for Emerging Playwrights and Theatre Passe Muraille’s Upstarts Unit for Emerging Theatre Creators. She performed her solo show, We Lived in a Palace at the 2008 SummerWorks Festival. She produced her first full-length play, The Peace Maker, directed by Jennifer Brewin, as part of the 2013 Next Stage Festival.Twitter: @natashasama Instagram: natashagreengraceThe ElectionDuring the 2015 Federal Election, a group of theatre artists and makers volunteered for local campaigns. They knocked on doors, phoned voters, and tried to make sense of national stories on a local level while documenting their experience. These personal accounts provided fodder for the new Canadian play The Election, by Natasha Greenblatt and Yolanda Bonnell, in collaboration with the company.In 2019 The Election sparks urgent dialogue just as Canadians take another swing at the ballot box. Exploring the realities of Indigenous, Settler and Newcomer experience with the political process, this play asks: Do we have a voice and does that voice count?Following the wildly successful run of The Public Servant, Common Boots Theatre delivers a provocative and hilarious investigation of how Canadians engage in democracy.The team of six actors (Augusto Bitter, Rachel Cairns, Joelle Peters, Anand Rajaram, Rose Stella, and Courtenay Stevens) take on over 35 characters. Woven throughout the chaos of the federal election are the personal stories of people struggling to make a difference within their own communities and families.www.commonbootstheatre.ca Tickets: https://www.passemuraille.ca/tickets/

Episode Notes Jennifer Walls Jennifer is a performer producer, and voice-over actor. As a musical theatre performer she has played leading roles in a wide variety of musicals including RENT, Beauty And The Beast, The Wizard of Oz and number of Canadian premiers as well as the Dora Award nominated original musical review Off-Broadway, On Stage. She was also a finalist in the CBC hit show How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?As a voice actor she has voiced recurring characters on a number of animated series’ including PBS’ Peg+ Cat and Amazon’s Creative Galaxy and is currently the voice of Family Jr.Jennifer is also the director of Hart House Theatre’s production of The Rocky Horror Show.www.jenniferwalls.com Twitter: @jeni_walls Instagram: jeniwallstoChris Tsujiuchi Chris is a graduate of Sheridan College's Musical Theatre Performance program. Performance credits include Fulgens and Lucres (PLS), Recurring John, Paradises Lost (SummerWorks Festival), and Audrey II in Little Shop of Horrors (Lower Ossington Theatre and T3 productions). Musical Direction credits include A Misfortune (Next Stage Festival), HAIR (FirstAct Productions), One Song Glory '10 '11 & '12 (ActingUp Stage), A Joyful Noise (co-composer/lyricist, Smile Theatre), Mickey & Judy (Toronto Fringe), and bare: the Canadian Premiere (WatersEdge Productions). Chris has also worked as an accompanist and teacher at Sheridan College, Randolph Academy and George Brown College. He has toured extensively with the Nathaniel Dett Chorale as a singer and with Sharron Matthews as an accompanist/arranger (Sharron's Big Broadway Show, Jesus Thinks I'm Funny, GOLD, Full Dark). He can also be seen in his biannual "Chris-terical" series of cabarets at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre.www.christsujiuchi.com Twitter: @ChrisTsujiuchiwww.harthouse.ca Twitter: @HHTheatre Instagram: hhtheatre Tickets: https://tickets.harthouse.ca/

Jeff Michalski is an actor, director, improvisor, teacher, mentor and so much more. He worked in comedy clubs across the country with the Original Comedy Ranger and was a member of the Groundling in Los Angeles before settling with the Chicago Second City in 1980. During his years with the Second City, Jeff studied with Paul Sills and his historic Story Theatre. While traveling the country with Second City’s National Touring Company he continued training with Second City founder Paul Sills, and artistic directors Del Close, Fred Kaz and Bernie Sahlins. In 1984 Michalski and his wife, Jane Morris, founded theSecond City ETC. His directorial debut , “Cows on Ice” made the ETC an instant hit and was followed by the even larger success of “Mirrors at the Border”. His achievements brought him to the Second City Toronto where he was nominated for a Dora Award for his direction of “Who’s Tory Now?” Michalski continued as director and Artistic Director of the ETC until 1988 when his success in Chicago led him to be chosen as director of the premiere production of the Second City in Santa Monica, also a critical success. While still in Chicago with the ETC, Michalski also helped found the Second City Training Center, a comprehensive training program from which the next generation of Second City players are chosen. He also founded the Second City Training Program in Santa Monica. Mr. Michalski and Ms. Morris founded the Upfront Comedy Showcase in 1990, and The Comedy Underground in Santa Monica in 1998. He is currently teaching people from all walks of life to improvise at the fanaticSalon in Culver City. As a producer, director and performer, he has worked with Dan Castellaneta, Chris Farley, Amy Sedaris, Mike Meyer, Steven Colbert, Ryan Stiles, and many more. Jeff can be seen in the upcoming film The Laundromat with Meryl Streep.

Welcome to Episode 23 – CanadaHub at Ed Fringe I’m back! After jetting around Ireland and Germany for a week, I’m back in the saddle for the home stretch of the Fringe! Today’s episode is my chat with Michael Rubenfeld – the initiator and Executive Artistic Producer behind CanadaHub at Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Michael Rubenfeld is a performance maker, cultural producer, playwright and actor originally from Winnipeg and now residing in Toronto and Poland. He is a Dora Award-nominated performer and playwright and has worked on stages across the country and in parts of the United States and Europe.  In 2017, in partnership with the Canada Council for the Arts, Michael initiated a new venue called CanadaHub, at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, bringing 6 projects from across Canada and presenting there for the month of August. The work won numerous awards and is presented in association with Summerhall, CanadaHub is produced by Selfconscious Productions in partnership with the Canada Council for the Arts and in association with the High Commission of Canada in the United Kingdom and the Government of Canada. We had a sit down in his office and had a wide ranging chat about theatre, CanadaHub and the differences between Canadian Theatre and European theatre! Have a listen!

World Stage Design 2021 - Official Site April Viczko is a set, costume, lighting and projection designer. Recent selected credits include: costumes for Butcher at Alberta Theatre Projects, In the Heat of the Night at Vertigo Theatre, set and costumes for As You Like It at Citadel Theatre, set design for Home at The Belfry and lighting design for Victor and Victoria’s Terrifying Tale of Terrible Things for Kill Your Television. April has also worked for companies such as Tarragon, Factory Theatre, Workshop West and Windrow Performance. She was nominated for a Dora Award for Outstanding Costume Design for the critically acclaimed Last Days of Judas Iscariot produced by Birdland Theatre. April is an Associate Professor in the School of Creative and Performing Arts - Drama at the University of Calgary. She teaches courses in all areas of theatre design and scenography. April holds an MFA Theatre Design from the University of Alberta. In 2012, she was honoured with a Distinguished Researcher Award from the Faculty of Arts. She is President of the Board of Directors for the Associated Designers of Canada (ADC). ADC is a national, professional non-profit arts service organization dedicated to promoting, pursuing and protecting the interests of set, costume, lighting, projection and sound designers working within the performing arts in Canada. In 2006, she shared the Siminovitch Protege Prize. In 2000 she recieved a Tyrone Guthrie Award at the Stratford Festival of Canada where she spent four seasons as an assistant designer. She was also Associate Designer on two productions at the Canadian Opera Company, Rodelinda and Macbeth. April apprenticed in Rome, Italy with Scenotecnica Piu’, a company known for its fine craftmanship and majestic scenography.

Welcome to Episode 7 – “The Edinburgh Expert” This week I sit down with one of the busiest men in Toronto – Derrick Chua! During one of the hottest weeks this summer, we chilled on a patio and I picked his brain about producing a show at the biggest Fringe Festival in the world. Derrick Chua is an entertainment lawyer, award-winning theatre producer and a co-founder of Studio 180 in Toronto. He is also the past-President of the Toronto Fringe Festival, and sits on the boards of The AFC, Theatre Museum Canada, fu-Gen Asian Canadian Theatre Company and Groundling Theatre. He is the recipient of a Dora Award, a Harold Award, a NOW Magazine Award as Toronto’s Best Indie Producer, and a Canadian Actors’ Equity Association Honorary Membership for Outstanding Contribution to the Performing Arts. We had a very enlightening conversation about what to expect at the festival, how to market your show and what to pack for Edinburgh! Have a listen! This podcast is licensed under an Attribution – NonCommercial – NoDerivatives 4.0 International Creative Commons License. Royalty Free Music from Bensound

Judith is a playwright, director, actor and professor of theatre at the University of Guelph, and the Artistic Director of RARE Theatre Company. She is the author of 15 published plays, many of which are performed all over the world. They include The Crackwalker, Lion in the Streets, Perfect Pie, and Palace of the End. Her play Who Killed Snow White will premiere at the 4th Line Theatre in August, 2018. She has directed and co-created four plays with artists with exceptionalities including Body and Soul, Sick, RARE, and Borne Most recently, she wrote the play Wildfire specifically for 7 performers with Down syndrome, all of whom had appeared in Rare. She wrote two feature films, Perfect Pie and Lost and Delirious, several TV movies and many radio plays. She has twice won the Governor General's award for playwriting, as well as the Toronto Arts Award, a Dora Award, the Susan Smith Blackburn Award, and the Amnesty International Award for Freedom of Expression. She is honoured to have the privilege of collaborating with performers with exceptionalities.Welcome to my Underworld In Soulpepper’s fifth partnership with RARE Theatre Company, Canadian theatre pioneer and two-time Governor General award-winner Judith Thompson directs and dramaturges the World Premiere of Welcome to my Underworld, taking the Tank House theatre stage by storm from May 9th to May 25th, 2019 with a preview performance at 8pm on May 8th.In Soulpepper’s fifth partnership with RARE Theatre Company, Canadian theatre pioneer and two-time Governor General award-winner Judith Thompson directs and dramaturges the World Premiere of Welcome to my Underworld, taking the Tank House theatre stage by storm from May 9th to May 25th, 2019 with a preview performance at 8pm on May 8th.Welcome to my Underworld is a beautiful odyssey that erupts with heightened, illusory and playful language, as it follows Willow, a 10-year-old girl, as she gracefully weaves from one unique story to the next in search of her truest self.Nine blazing hot works written and performed by new Canadian dramatists have been woven into one spectacular play. Each playwright brings their own gate-crashing ideas and compelling characters who have never been seen on our stages until now.“What I love about RARE is that our plays cut through the artifice of so much common theatre, they aren’t ripped from the headlines but they do hold a mirror up to our society” says RARE Theatre’s Executive Director, Nick Hutcheson.Join the riveting performers Bilal Baig, Nikoletta Erdelyi, Radha S. Menon, Grace Thompson, Maddie Bautista, Samson Brown and Carolyn Hetherington as they dive fearlessly into their particular Underworld. What each piece has is the joyous discovery of a unique self, whether it be gender fluid, queer, proudly disabled and Roma, non-human, wounded, or an elder; in the face of social oppression they are unafraid to roar: This is Me. I am Here. Deal with It.Accompanying director Judith Thompson on this journey is Irish and Anishinaabe from Nipissing First Nation composer, Olivia Shortt, award-winning choreographer, Monica Dotter, and set designer, Brett Haynes. RARE Theatre is thrilled to welcome emerging lighting designer, Sharmylae Taffe-Fletcher to the RARE family.“I am beyond honoured to be collaborating with these nine superb emerging playwrights; as a playwright myself I was lucky enough to ride on the crest of the wave of Canadian nationalism in the early eighties, and to see that work valued not only in Canada but all over the world. Now it is my privilege to present to you the theatrical voices of Canada now; voices that will change the way we see this country and ourselves.” says RARE Theatre’s Artistic Director, Judith Thompson.With humour, honesty, rich writing and dynamic performances by an all-star cast of emerging and seasoned Canadian artists, Welcome to my Underworld is a theatrical experience that will thrill and entertain.RARE Theatre Company and Soulpepper Theatre Company presentWelcome to my Underworld Written by Bilal Baig, Maddie Bautista, Samson Brown, Simone Dalton, Nikoletta Erdelyi, Carolyn Hetherington, Ellen Ringler, Radha S. Menon and Grace ThompsonDramaturged and Directed by Judith Thompson May 8 – 25, 2019 Starring Bilal Baig, Maddie Bautista, Samson Brown, Nikoletta Erdelyi, Carolyn Hetherington, Radha S. Menon and Grace ThompsonChoreography by Monica DottorMusic by Olivia ShorttSet Design by Brett HaynesLighting Design by Sharmylae Taffe-FletcherStage Management by Jenna Borsato Tankhouse Theatre, Young Centre for the Performing Arts 50 Tank House Lane, Toronto, ON M5A 3C4www.raretheatre.org Twitter: @rare_theatre Instagram: raretheatre

Welcome back to a brand new season of Tits and Teeth, and who better to kick things off than award-winning choreographer, Marc Kimelman!Ky took a trip to visit Jen in her new hometown of New York, New York and interviewed some of our amazing friends killing it in the big apple. We met up with Marc in midtown Manhattan for some Bailey's and coffee and chatted about where he finds inspirations for his choreography, what he does to be a well rounded human, and his goals are for the future.Marc has amazing credits to his name, and is always working to create new ones. Marc’s Broadway credits to date are: A Bronx Tale (Assoc. Choreographer) , and Jesus Christ Superstar (Asst. Choreographer). Other theatre choreography credits include: Man of La Mancha (Stratford Shakespeare Festival) Saturday Night Fever (National Tour) Freaky Friday (workshop) We Will Rock You (1st National Tour) and Once on this Island (Acting Up Stage) where his work won him the Dora Award for 'Outstanding Choreography'.We are so jazzed to be back! Come hang with us, grab a drink (if you’re not driving) and get your weekly fix of musical theatre banter, with beverages.

Richard Clarkin and Arturo Pérez Torres and Face2Face host David Peck talk about their film The Drawer Boy, love, loyalty and friendship, memory and identity, and collaborative, collective creation. Trailer Synopsis It’s 1972 in rural Ontario. Angus and Morgan have been living alone on their farm since a World War II injury left Angus with no short-term memory. Miles, a young actor from Toronto, shows up to stay with the two farmers in order to gather stories and make up a play about farming. Through his exploration of the farmers’ past, Angus’ memory is unlocked, and secrets are exposed.Based on a play by Michael Healey, The Drawer Boy, his first full-length play, premiered in Toronto in 1999 and won the Dora for best new play, a Chalmers Canadian Playwriting Award, and the Governor General’s Literary Award. It has been one of the most produced plays across North America and has been translated into German, French, Japanese and Hindi. Some of his other plays include Courageous, Proud, and Rune Arlidge. Biographies: Arturo Pérez Torres has directed five feature documentary films and has received 15 awards from national and international major festivals. His films have screened at the MoMA in New York City and on the National Geographic Channel, CBC and the Sundance Channel. He is a Guggenheim and Chalmers fellow. The Drawer Boy is Arturo’s first narrative film. Richard Clarkin is the winner of the Canadian Screen Aard for Best Supporting Actor for The Drawer Boy. In addition to his work on television and in film, Richard Clarkin, a graduate of The National Theatre School, has appeared on stage as Biff with Judd Hirsch in Death Of A Salesman at the Royal Alex in Toronto, and starred as Scar in The Lion King at The Princess of Wales Theatre. He also appeared in Merchant of Venice at the Stratford Festival, The Faraway Nearby, Salt-Water Moon and New World at the Tarragon, Ring Round the Moon and Twelfth Night at the Soulpepper Theatre, and many, many more. He was nominated for a Dora Award for his work in Uncle Vanyaat the Guardian Springs. He is pictured above at the 2019 Canadian Screen Awards. Image Copyright: Arturo Pérez Torres. Used with permission. Music and Image Copyright: David Peck and Face2Face. Used with permission.For more information about David Peck’s podcasting, writing and public speaking please visit his site here. With thanks to Josh Snethlage and Mixed Media Sound. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

EN: In this episode, Monica and Camila sit down with the Artistic Director of Aluna Theatre Beatriz Pizano. We talked about power, being a woman in the arts, immigration, war, magic realism, menopause, amongst many other things.  Beatriz also wrote Madre, the next play we’ll be presenting as part of Radio Aluna Theatre. Grab a snack and dive in with us!This episode (and all Merendiando episodes) are in Spanglish. The Radio Aluna Theatre plays are available in English and Spanish versions. New episodes of Radio Aluna Theatre are released every Saturday. Subscribe to this show wherever you get your podcasts. ESP: En este episodio, Mónica y Camila se sentaron a platicar con la Directora Artística de Aluna Teatro, Beatriz Pizano. Hablamos de las dinámicas de poder, ser una mujer en el mundo de las artes, inmigración, guerra, realismo mágico, menopausia, entre otras cosas. Beatriz también escribió Madre, la próxima obra que escucharan como parte de Radio Aluna Teatro. Agarre un snack y comencemos! Este episodio (Y todo los episodios de Merendiando) son en Spanglish. Las obras de Radio Aluna Teatro están disponibles en Inglés y en Español. Cada Sábado tendremos nuevos episodios de Radio Aluna Teatro. Suscribase para escuchar este show en cualquier plataforma donde escuche sus podcasts.   Show Notes / Bibliografía:  Blood Wedding, a 2015 production in which Beatriz won a Dora Award for her performance Aluna Theatre’s first production, For Sale  Simon Fraser University  The Solitudes | Las Soledades, upcoming production from Aluna Theatre concept of magic realism  Stone totem poles in St. Agustine, Colombia  RUTAS festival  Lineas Divisoras, recent Aluna production Micheline Calvert, actor Zarrin Darnell-Martin, actor Michelle Polak, actor and collaborator Trevor Schwellnus, Artistic Producer of Aluna Theatre and scenographer  Peace Brigades International Street Legal, Canadian TV Show from 1995 Suzanna Fournier, local theatre artist Santee Smith, choreographer and Artistic Director of Kaha:wi Dance Theatre     EN Credits: Radio Aluna Teatro is produced by Aluna Theatre with support from the Metcalf Foundation, The Laidlaw Foundation, The City of Toronto, The Canada Council for the Arts, The Ontario Arts Council, and the Toronto Arts Council. Aluna Theatre is Beatriz Pizano & Trevor Schwellnus, with Sue Balint & Gia Nahmens; Radio Aluna Theatre is produced by Camila Diaz-Varela and Monica Garrido. Intro music by Simian Samba. Closing song by Brandon Valdivia. For more about Aluna Theatre, visit us at alunatheatre.ca, follow @alunatheatre on twitter orinstagram, or ‘like’ us on facebook. Follow and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Google Play, and wherever else you get your podcasts.   ESP Creditos: Aluna Teatro es Beatriz Pizano & Trevor Schwellnus, con Sue Balint & Gia Nahmens; Radio Aluna Teatro es producido por Camila Díaz-Varela and Monica Garrido. Música de introducción por Simian Samba. Música de cierre por Brandon Valdivia. Radio Aluna Teatro es producido por Aluna Theatre con el apoyo de Metcalf Foundation, The Laidlaw Foundation, The City of Toronto, The Canada Council for the Arts, The Ontario Arts Council, y the Toronto Arts Council.Para más información sobre Aluna Teatro, visitanos en alunatheatre.ca, siguenos @alunatheatre en twitter o instagram, o danos un ‘like’ en facebook. Siguenos y suscribete a este podcast en iTunes, Google Play, y donde sea que escuche tus podcasts.  

Leroy Street Theatre will be kicking off the 2019 winter theatre season with a new production of Gruesome Playground Injuries by Pulitzer Prize finalist, Rajiv Joseph. This highly acclaimed, time-jumping modern masterpiece is a rough-edged and heart-wrenching play from one the most exciting contemporary voices in American theatre. Staged by core members of The Assembly Theatre’s resident company, this new production of the timely and tender dark comedy is sure to be one of the most exciting events in the indie theatre scene this winter.Gruesome Playground Injuries follows Kayleen and Doug over three decades, from their first meeting in a school nurse’s office into an adulthood filled with scars, heartbreaks, and other wounds that never quite heal. The characters share a unique bond of friendship, viscera, blood, scar tissue, and unspoken love. Their often tenuous connection grows stronger through a lifetime of injuries, as they discover the only thing that can really heal them is each other.The new production will be directed and designed by Leroy Street Theatre’s resident designer, Chris Bretecher(The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?; set design The Parkdale Place Trilogy by George F Walker) and will feature Alice Lundy (MARRY ME MARRY ME MARRY ME, House + Body) and Anurag Choudhury (Becoming Banksy, Redwood Theatre). It will feature lighting design by the production’s stage manager, Chin Palipane(Confessions of a Readheaded Coffee Shop Girl, Edinburgh Fringe), sound design by local musician Will Jarvis(Kill the Poor by George F Walker), and costumes by Dora Award-winning designer Lindsay Dagger Junkin (Tough Jews, Spadina Avenue Gang; Jerusalem, Outside the March). Special makeup effects will be designed by Rhonda Causton (founder, “Reel Twisted FX”).Leroy Street is the resident company at The Assembly Theatre. Its first production of 2019 will be staged with the support of LOFT Community Services. Through this community partnership, The Assembly Theatre will host introductory theatre workshops for LOFT Community members, and a gallery space to display members’ visual art.With a cast and creative team of some of the most daring, up-and-coming indie theatre artists in town, Leroy Street Theatre’s new production of Rajiv Joseph’s “modern masterpiece,” is certain to be an unforgettable addition to this winter’s theatre season.GRUESOME PLAYGROUND INJURIESBy Rajiv Joseph Directed by Chris BretecherTHE ASSEMBLY THEATRE- 1479 Queen St. WJanuary 18 - February 09, Tuesday-Saturday 8pmTickets available at www.leroystreettheatre.comTwitter: @LeroyStTheatre Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leroysttheatre

Straight off the heels of Dr. Silver: A Celebration Of Life, Britta Johnson is sitting joining the conversation on Cue To Cue and is opening up about the wonderful whirlwind the last few years has been for her.   Britta candidly gives us a look into her creative spirit. She opens up she about her creative process, developing confidence in herself as a writer and how we need to “dare to be dreadful” as artists. How much to do I love that!   Are you willing for yourself to fall on your face? Are you willing to go through the process? To get in there and get dirty and at the end of it it is still not what you want? This is the life of an artist.          In this episode:   we discuss the the development of her newest Musical Dr. Silver What the biggest lesson she is learning as a composer and artist in this current moment the value of collaboration and how Britta is discovering how to be able to collaborate with herself and validate her own ideas How being The Musical Stage Company’s inaugural crescendo artist has pushed her to grow and the process of producing 3 new works in 3 years. How neither of us has seen star wars.   A little about Britta: Britta Johnson is a writer, composer, and lyricist. Her writing credits include:  Life After (Canadian Stage/Musical Stage/Yonge Street Theatricals; Dora Award Best New Musical, Best Musical Production). With her sister Anika Johnson: Dr. Silver: A Celebration of Life (Outside the March/Musical Stage Company), Brantwood (Theatre Sheridan; Dora Award for Audience Choice), Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang (YPT; Dora Nominee Best new musical), Trap Door (Theatre Sheridan, book by Morris Panych). With Sara Farb: Kelly V.Kelly (Theatre Sheridan CMTP), Reframed (Acting Up Stage Company/AGO; Dora nominee Best New Musical). With Katherine Cullen: Stupidhead! (Theatre Passe Muraille; Dora Nominee Best New Play). She will make her American debut in the new year when Life After is staged at the Old Globe in San Diego. She is the inaugural Crescendo Artist with the Musical Stage Company, which includes a commitment to produce 3 of her shows in 3 years.   Follow Britta! Instagram: @brittamcjohnson Get Your Tickets for Life After at the Old Globe  Buy Tickets!    Follow Cue To Cue:  F: @thisischelseajohnson I:@thisichelseajohnson T: @thisischelseaj w: www.thisischelseajohnson.com  

Lisa Horner is truly everything and a bag of peanuts. Jen and Ky had not had the pleasure of meeting Lisa before this interview, and when she left, both said…'wow, she’s the shit!’ Lisa’s drink of choice was a classic Canadian Cesar. She chatted with Jen and Ky about a little production she’s a part of, called ‘Come From Away’, the importance of talking openly about our mental health, and her cabaret! Lisa’s cabaret, ‘One Night with Lisa Horner,’ is playing December 2nd at Eden United Church in Mississauga, to raise money in order to start ‘The Allan and Susan Horner Mississauga Community Arts Fund,’ in honour of her parents.Lisa has had a sensational career. She is a two time Dora Award winner with many credits to her name. Just a couple of her credits include: Kinky Boots, Wizard of Oz (Mirvish Productions) Wonderful Town, Gypsy (Shaw Festival) and Grey Gardens (Acting Up Stage Company)Come hang with us, grab a drink (if you’re not driving), and get your weekly dose of musical theatre banter with beverages.

Jennifer Walls is a performer producer, and voice-over actor. As a musical theatre performer she has played leading roles in a wide variety of musicals including RENT, Beauty And The Beast, The Wizard of Oz and number of Canadian premiers as well as the Dora Award nominated original musical review Off-Broadway, On Stage. She was also a finalist in the CBC hit show How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?As a voice actor she has voiced recurring characters on a number of animated series' including PBS' Peg+ Cat and Amazon's Creative Galaxy and I am currently the voice of Family Jr.Jennifer is also the director of Hart House Theatre’s production of Heathers: The Musical.www.jenniferwalls.com Twitter: @jeni_walls Instagram: jeniwallstowww.harthouse.ca Twitter: @HHTheatre Instagram: hhtheatre Tickets: https://tickets.harthouse.ca/

It’s a #SummerStock Opera Special! Fawnda takes Colleen Feehan and Laura Raboud to see the Dora Award-winning burlesque spectacle of Canadian Opera Company’s Orphée+ at the Banff Centre, and we talk with mezzo-soprano Anna Gomá about her eponymous role in Carmen as Mercury Opera preps for its upcoming show in the Badlands Amphitheatre. On the way, we found a hidden road trip […]

It's a #SummerStock Opera Special! Fawnda takes Colleen Feehan and Laura Raboud to see the Dora Award-winning burlesque spectacle of Canadian Opera Company's Orphée+ at the Banff Centre, and we talk with mezzo-soprano Anna Gomá about her eponymous role in Carmen as Mercury Opera preps for its upcoming show in the Badlands Amphitheatre. On the way, we found a hidden road trip gem at the tasting room of Grey Owl Meadery. Visit them off HWY 22 near Alder Flats for a taste of mead made from all-Albertan honey. Delish! https://idontgetityeg.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/IDGI-S4-E32-final.mp3 Become a Patron!★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Since moving to Toronto in the fall of 2014, Sri Lankan tenor Asitha Tennekoon has firmly established himself as a versatile singer, performing in a wide range of repertoire. He won the Dora Award for Best Male Performance as Paul in Tapestry Opera’s Rocking Horse Winner and earned glowing reviews as Gernando in Haydn’s L’Isola disabitata with Voicebox: Opera in Concert.Asitha recently starred in Edith Smyth’s The Boatswain’s Mate with Opera 5, and in 2018 debuts as Polidoro in Scarlatti’s Erminia with Opera Lafayette in Washington and New York.Asitha shared the stage with soprano Erin Wall in Songmasters Recital Series and has appeared as a soloist with Toronto Bach Festival, Theatre of Early Music, Ottawa Bach Choir and Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra.Twitter: @asithatennekoon Instagram: asithatennekoonStageworthy:https://www.stageworthypodcast.com Twitter @stageworthyPod Facebook: http://facebook.com/stageworthyPod

Chris Tolley is a writer, director and producer, and the Co-Artistic Director of Expect Theatre. After graduating from York University he teamed up with Laura Mullin, and together they have created award-winning multi-disciplinary productions that have toured across Canada and the US.Chris’ work has been nominated for five Dora Awards in the General Theatre category, and has been shortlisted twice for the Toronto Arts Foundation Awards. In 2006 both Chis and Laura won Harbourfront Centre’s inaugural FreshGround commissioning award.His most notable works include Romeo/Juliet REMIXED (Toronto and Philadelphia), STATIC (World Stage Festival) and AWAKE (Next Stage Festival). Other work with Mullin include the CBC Radio drama, The Tunnel Runners, and the short film, AWAKE.Most recently, Chris and Laura launched PlayME, a national digital theatre dedicated to producing Canada’s most innovative theatre works distributed globally via podcasts.He sits on the Board of the Playwrights Guild of Canada and serves as the Contracts Chair. He is also on a number of other theatre boards.Outside of theatre, Chris is also very active in national politics. In 2015, Chris ran in the federal election as the Green Party’s candidate in Toronto-Danforth, advocating for the cultural issues he is passionate about. His campaign resulted in the best showing for the Green Party in the GTA and surrounding area, and was recognized as one of the strongest campaigns run nationally.Twitter: @christolleyLaura Mullin is a playwright, director and producer, and the Co-Artistic Director of Expect Theatre and The Spark Collective. She graduated from York University with a bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre before forming Expect and Spark with Chris Tolley. She has created and produced several highly acclaimed productions with Tolley that have toured nationally and internationally.Selected writing and directing credits: Romeo/Juliet Remixed (5 Dora award nominations, winner of Outstanding Choreography), EXPECT/ Spark; Tunnel Runners, CBC Radio; STATIC, Harbourfront Centre’s World Stage Festival; AWAKE, Next Stage Festival; AWAKE The Short Film; Rapid Eye Movement & To The Kid That I was, Nuit Blanche; One Sleepless Night, International Festival of Authors; Allowance (in development); Burusera, Watermark Theatre (national 21 city tour & to be published in the Playwright’s Guild Short Play Anthology); History of Visual Sources (short story).Awards & Commissions: Toronto Arts Foundation Award (short listed 2009 & 2013); Harbourfront Centre’s inaugural Fresh Ground Commissioning Award; Dora Award nomination for Outstanding Production for Romeo / Juliet Remixed (General Theatre category), Ontario Arts Council’s Creator’s Reserve from Nightwood Theatre (2013) and Crow’s Theatre (2015) for Allowance, Watermark Theatre Commission of Burusera for Canada 300’s national tour (2015).Twitter: @expectlauraPlayMEExpect Theatre has created an exciting new initiative that celebrates the best of Canadian Indie Theatre on a national and international scale. The project helps raise the profile of Canadian playwrights by highlighting new works through a series of podcasts, making it accessible to audiences worldwide.PlayME is transforming the way we experience Canadian theatre, by taking a bold and innovative approach to disseminating plays. The podcast features distinguished actors, and focuses on current and relevant scripts geared to the growing “on-demand” audience.Expect’s Artistic Directors, Laura Mullin and Chris Tolley are spearheading this project, in partnership with organizations such as The Toronto Fringe Festival and the Playwrights Guild of Canada.http://www.playmepodcast.com/http://expect.org/ Twitter: @expecttheatreStageworthy:http://www.stageworthypodcast.com Twitter @stageworthyPod Facebook: http://facebook.com/stageworthyPod

My guests today are two award winning Toronto Theatre veterans, Sue Miner and Mark Brownell. They are the co-founders of the Pea Green Theatre Group, which they established in 1988. Their goal was to bring a wide variety of stories and characters to appreciative audiences across Canada. Since their inception, they have received 15 Dora Award nominations, which is an award presented annually by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts that honors theatre, dance, and opera productions in Toronto. Today we’re going to talk to Sue and Mark about where they got their start, how they met, the Theatre scene and business in Toronto and Canada, and their most recent production Clique Claque, which premiered at the 2017 Next Stage Theatre festival. Previous episodes can be found on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play Music, or else at our website, thisismytoronto.com. Thanks for listening!!

Serge Bennathan founded the Vancouver based company Les Productions Figlio in 2006 after spending 16 years as the artistic director of Toronto’s Dancemakers. This 12-time Dora Award nominee (two-time winner) [ … ]

Listen in as Paul talks about the complexities of war, how the world is “not settling down” and about his encounter with absolutes.Film SynopsisTrailer here.IMDB here. Paul Gross (Passchendaele) directs and co-stars in this taut war drama about Canadian troops in Afghanistan weathering Taliban attacks while struggling to complete construction on a crucial highway link.Writer-director-star Paul Gross’ new film portrays the heroic duties undertaken by Canadian armed forces in Afghanistan with the same gut-wrenching immediacy that Gross brought to the blood-soaked Belgian battlefields of World War I in his epic Passchendaele. Hyena Road is a masterful examination of modern warfare that drops viewers straight into the belly of the beast.Depicting an embattled Canadian- American initiative to increase safe transport across Afghanistan, Hyena Road is a group portrait of men and women at work in a dangerous and often confounding conflict zone.We meet a sniper (Rossif Sutherland who becomes precariously implicated in the life of one of his targets — as well as the life of an alluring colleague (Christine Horne). There’s an intelligence officer whose customary world-weary wisecracks — “Even the dirt is hostile” — veil a fundamental belief in the ethics of war.And the film introduces us to a legendary former mujahid known as The Ghost (Neamat Arghandabi) who, for mysterious reasons, is lured back into the battle zone to assist the Canadian forces.All these characters’ trajectories collide in ways that illustrate the triumphs and frustrations that occur amid the moral uncertainty of war. Alternating between relatively tranquil scenes of life at the base and adrenalized sequences that thrust us into the heat of battle, Gross orchestrates a cinematic symphony of soldiering: the highs and lows, the brotherhood and barbarity.Hyena Road does what great war movies can do: it carefully examines the plight of a few so as to speak to the experience of many.BiographyPaul Gross is internationally known for his role as Constable Benton Fraser on themultiaward-winning drama series “Due South.” He was honoured with two GeminiAwards for Best Actor, and one Gemini Award for his writing on the series.  Gross also received two Gemini Awards for best performance by an actor in the critically acclaimed series “Slings & Arrows”. In 2000, Gross wrote, directed and starred in the feature film Men with Brooms, which was the highest-grossing English-language Canadian film of the previous 20 years.  He also starred in, co-wrote and produced the miniseries “H2O” as well as its sequel “The Trojan Horse”.In 2008 Gross released his feature film Passchendaele, a movie based on the famous First World War battle heroically fought by 50,000 Canadians in the bloodied fields of Ypres, Belgium. Passchendaele, which Gross wrote, directed and starred in, was the highest grossing Canadian film of 2008 with the box office reaching over $4.5 million, and won five Genie Awards, including Best Picture. He starred in the ABC series Eastwick based on the movie The Witches of Eastwick, opposite Rebecca Romijn, Jamie Ray Newman and Lindsay Price and the movie Gunless and also Executive Produced the series Cra$h & Burn and The Yard. Gross earned a degree in drama at the University of Alberta, and went on to perform extensively in Canadian regional theatres in addition to forging a writing career. His first play, The Deer and the Antelope Play, performed in Edmonton, won the Clifford E. Lee National Playwriting Award and the Alberta Cultural Playwriting Award (1982).His numerous acting credits also include starring roles in the television movies “Murder Most Likely”, “Getting Married in Buffalo Jump,” and “Buried on Sunday” and the miniseries “Prairie Giant: The Tommy Douglas Story” and “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,” Armistead Maupin’s “Tales of the City,” and “Chasing Rainbows.” Gross also performed in the feature films Barney’s Version, Wilby Wonderful, Aspen Extreme, Cold Comfort, Paint Cans, Whale Music and Married To It.On stage, Gross performed the title role in the Stratford Festival’s 2000 production of Hamlet to record-setting audiences. He received a 1985 Dora Award nomination for his performance as Romeo in Romeo and Juliet and a Dora Award for Best Performance for his role in the critically acclaimed North American premiere of Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Toward the Somme (1988) which played at Toronto’s CanStage. In the Fall of 2011 he appeared in Noel Coward’s Private Lives opposite Kim Cattrall (Sex and the City) on Broadway and at the Royal Alex in Toronto and in 2012 he starred in John Guare’s Are You There, McPhee? at the McCarter Theatre at Princeton. Gross has received the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award and the Pierre BurtonAward. He was recently appointed to the Order of Canada and also received the Earle Grey Award, a Lifetime Achievement Award, from the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

As part of the Equity Foundation’s In Conversation series, performers are given the opportunity to attend an intimate question and answer session with leading performers, producers, directors, writers and other members of the industry Mitchell Butel Mitchell is a triple Helpmann Award winning actor and singer. His theatre credits include The Government Inspector, Angels in America, Strange Interlude, Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, The Laramie Project, A View from the Bridge, Dead Heart (Belvoir), Romeo and Juliet, The Grenade, Summer Rain, The Republic of Myopia, Harbour, Tartuffe, Mourning Becomes Electra, The Café Latte Kid, Summer of the Aliens, Six Degrees of Separation (STC), Tomfoolery, Urinetown, Piaf (MTC), Boeing-Boeing (Dainty), Stones in his Pockets, The Venetian Twins (QTC), Emerald City (Griffin), Laugher on the 23rd Floor (Ensemble), Meow Meow’s Little Match Girl, Woyzeck (Malthouse), Othello (Bell) and Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love (STCSA). Music theatre credits include South Pacific, Orpheus in the Underworld, The Mikado (Opera Australia), Assassins (Silo) Avenue Q (AAP), The Producers, Sugar, Little Me, Hair (Production Company), Grease, Little Shop of Horrors (DAE), Man of La Mancha and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (GFO) opposite Geoffrey Rush. Film/TV credits include Holding the Man, Hiding, The Broken Shore, Mr & Mrs Murder, Bordertown, Wildside, Grass Roots, Rake, The Bank, Two Hands, Dark City and AFI-nominated performances in Strange Fits of Passion and Gettin’ Square. Mitchell has appeared in three solo cabaret shows, Excellent Adventure, Now for the Weather and Killing Time (which is available on iTunes and just completed a sellout season at the Hayes Theatre). Mitchell received Helpmann Awards for The Venetian Twins, Avenue Q and The Mikado and Green Room Awards for Piaf and Hair. Proud member of Actors Equity since 1988 and a member of the National Performers Committee since 2007. He is also a Board member of Belvoir St Theatre. Tony Sheldon Tony Sheldon made his Broadway debut starring in PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT at the Palace Theater. He played the role of Bernadette for more than 1750 performances in Australia, New Zealand, London, Toronto and New York, winning the Theatre World Award for Outstanding Broadway Debut as well as nominations for the TONY Award, the Drama Desk Award, the Drama League Award and the Outer Critics Circle Award as Best Actor in a Musical. He was honored with his own caricature at Sardi’s restaurant in Times Square. For his performance in PRISCILLA he won the Toronto Theatre Critics Award and the DORA Award as Best Actor in a Musical in Toronto. In Australia he won the Sydney Critics Award, the Green Room Award, the Glugs Award and the Aussietheatre.com Award for Best Actor in a Musical as well as the MO Award as Musical Theatre Performer of the Year. He was also nominated for the Australian Dance Award and the Helpmann Award. In London he was nominated for the Olivier Award and the What’s On Stage Award for Best Actor in a Musical. Since his arrival in the USA, Tony has appeared as Horace Vandergelder in HELLO, DOLLY! at the historic Goodspeed Opera House, King Pellinore in CAMELOT for Theatre Under The Stars in Houston and in the films CARRY ME HOME with Cuba Gooding, Jr. and BUTTERFLIES OF BILL BAKER with Will Chase. He was featured on the tv series JOAN & MELISSA: JOAN KNOWS BEST and performed on THE VIEW, ROSIE! and THE NBC TODAY SHOW. In Australia, Tony won the 2005 Helpmann Award, the Sydney Critics Award, the Mo Award and the Glugs Award for his performance as Roger de Bris in THE PRODUCERS. He was also nominated for a Helpmann and a Green Room Award for his work in THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK in 2003. Tony played the lead role of Lawrence Jameson in the Australian premiere of DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS, to rave reviews. Media Super is the principal sponsor of the Equity Foundation.

Shawn Byfield is the co-creator and choreographer for the Dora Award-winning musical, "I Think I Can". ; He is trained various dance forms including in tap, jazz, ballet, hip hop, modern, African, swing, ballroom, partnering and B Boy.

To mark the second anniversary of the NAC's Celebrity Speakers series, here is an encore presentation of the inaugural edition with very special guest, Paul Gross and host, Laurie Brown. Known foremost as an actor, Canadian Paul Gross is also a writer, producer and director. His portrayal of Constable Benton Fraser on Due South, a drama series he co-wrote and executive produced, won international acclaim. His directorial debut, Men with Brooms, broke Canadian box office records. Paul was the recipient of a Golden Nymph Award for Best Lead Actor at the Monte Carlo Television Festival for his role in H2O, a Whizbang mini-series that he also co-wrote and executive produced. For his portrayal of Geoffrey Tenant in the critically acclaimed series Slings & Arrows, Paul recently picked up his fourth Gemini Award. He portrayed Romeo and garnered a Dora Award, and a career highlight was playing Hamlet to record-breaking audiences at the Stratford Festival in 2000. Paul served as Playwright-in-residence at Stratford and the National Arts Centre and has won numerous playwriting and screenwriting awards. Currently Paul Gross is producing the sequel to H2O, Trojan Horse which he also co-wrote and will star in. He is also preparing to direct Passchendaele, a feature film script which he penned to pay tribute to the sacrifice made by Canadian Soldiers in the World War I

Known foremost as an actor, Canadian Paul Gross is also a writer, producer and director. His portrayal of Constable Benton Fraser on Due South, a drama series he co-wrote and executive produced, won international acclaim. His directorial debut, Men with Brooms, broke Canadian box office records. Paul was the recipient of a Golden Nymph Award for Best Lead Actor at the Monte Carlo Television Festival for his role in H2O, a Whizbang mini-series that he also co-wrote and executive produced. For his portrayal of Geoffrey Tenant in the critically acclaimed series Slings & Arrows, Paul recently picked up his fourth Gemini Award. He portrayed Romeo and garnered a Dora Award, and a career highlight was playing Hamlet to record-breaking audiences at the Stratford Festival in 2000. Paul served as Playwright-in-residence at Stratford and the National Arts Centre and has won numerous playwriting and screenwriting awards. Currently Paul Gross is producing the sequel to H2O, Trojan Horse which he also co-wrote and will star in. He is also preparing to direct Passchendaele, a feature film script which he penned to pay tribute to the sacrifice made by Canadian Soldiers in the World War I