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Crystal's interest in technical theatre and management began in her home province of New Brunswick where she worked as a Theatre Production mentor at the University of New Brunswick. She's since trained in the Opera Management Program at the Banff Centre for the Arts and is a graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada. Previously, Crystal has worked at the National Arts Centre on the management team, and began her independent career as a freelance Production Manager in Toronto where she received a Harold Award for her contributions to the community. Crystal is also the co-founder of What by When (WxW), a production firm advocating for culturally/environmentally sustainable and standardized Production Management and Technical Direction practices within the industry. Crystal has continued her involvement in production advocacy through her membership in the collective, Means of Production, and through her national board seat on the Canadian Institute of Theatre Technology. She now works full time with Why Not Theatre as their Production & Technical Manager. Instagram: @crystallee.__ Support Stageworthy Patreon: patreon.com/stageworthypod Tip Jar: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy
“I am the son of two tribes. I am the daughter of one birth. I am the spirit of many nations. I am a child of mother earth.” B’atz’ Recinos was born and raised on Turtle Island with mixed Maya roots from Iximulew (Guatemala). A creator, performer, advocate, and Harold Award recipient for the performing arts of Tkaronto. Their commitment to equitable and diverse practices within the arts has led them to speak at YouthREX and several other panels and publish articles with NOW, Intermission Magazine, and contribute to The Director’s Lab book published by Playwright Canada Press. A trained facilitator, B’atz’ has delivered various workshops on diversity, inclusion, art and self-care with youth, artists, and communities across Ontario. Their extensive experience in the performing arts led them to found Creative Mafia. Instagram: @chwenkan Support Stageworthy: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy Send us your feedback online: https://pinecast.com/feedback/stageworthy/49a99839-c022-409f-864e-c55471aff065
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
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.
Michael Spence is Associate Artistic Director of Theatre Gargantua and an award-winning, long-standing member of Theatre Gargantua’s creative team. He has been involved in all of TG’s productions, appearing in all major Cycles and writing or designing for many of the company’s noted works. His script for The Exit Room was nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play, and he won the award twice for Outstanding Set Designs. He has received a total of ten Dora nominations for his work with the company, winning four.Michael is a recipient of a Harold Award, a distinguished honour for members of the Toronto independent theatre community. He is also an accomplished musician and singer-songwriter. He directed the first SideStream Cycle, Shrapnel, which represented his directorial debut with the company.The Wager Inspired by true events, The Wager is award-winning Theatre Gargantua’s bold and irreverent investigation into the strange things that people believe. Climate change deniers, anti-vaxxers, creationists, in-your-face-fact-defying-politicians, and yes, flat-earthers; beliefs held by a surprising number of intelligent humans, beliefs that not only defy logic, but could be threatening our existence on the planet. Now more than ever, the stakes could not be higher.theatregargantua.ca Twitter: @TGargantua Instagram: TheatreGargantua Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheatreGargantua Tickets: https://theatregargantua.ca/the-wager/
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
Sue Edworthy has worked in theatre, dance and opera organizations in and around Toronto such as Luminato, Opera Atelier, and Theatre Passe Muraille. She is a 2010 Harold Award recipient and recipient of the CharPR Prize for best publicity 2012 and 2013, and the 2015 recipient of the Leonard McHardy and John Harvey Award for Arts Leadership.Sue also runs Sue Edworthy Arts Planning, a freelance marketing/PR, producing and strategic planning company for the Toronto independent arts community.www.sueedworthy.ca@sueedworthy
This year Jacquie P. Thomas celebrates her 25th Season as the Artistic Director of Theatre Gargantua, which she founded in 1992. In addition to her role as founder and Artistic Director, Jacquie has served Gargantua as an actor, director, producer, composer, choreographer, dramaturge and writer, earning 10 Dora Mavor Moore Award nominations for her artistic contributions to the company. Her most recent directorial projects include the upcoming November 2017 presentation of Reflector as well as Avaricious, The Sacrifice Zone and Imprints, among others. Other selected credits include the Ossetynski Actors Lab in Los Angeles, Roy Hart Theatre in France, The National Theatre of Greece and the Gardzienice Theatre Association of Poland.Under her leadership, Theatre Gargantua has earned over 30 Dora nominations and awards for categories including Outstanding New Play, Direction, Sound Design, Set Design and Lighting Design. She has also directed and led an 11-city tour of Phantom Limb across the UK, a headlining tour of Raging Dreams: into the Visceral to the Portland Oregon Performance Festival, and the transfer of e-Dentity to the Royal Alexandra Theatre as part of the Mirvish Theatre subscription season.Jacquie was awarded a Harold Award for contributions to Toronto’s independent theatre community, and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2013 for contributions to Canadian culture and community.http://theatregargantua.ca/ Twitter: @TGargantua Instagram: TheatreGargantua Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheatreGargantuaStageworthy:http://www.stageworthypodcast.com Twitter @stageworthyPod Facebook: http://facebook.com/stageworthyPod