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April 2015
Theatre Ontario Presents...
In This Issue
Staff Changes
Summer Theatre Intensive
Michael Spence Award
Festival
Annual General Meeting
PTTP Project Profiles
PASO Pre-Budget Submission
Upcoming Workshops and Webinars
PACTCON 2015
Social Enterprise Survey
Ontario Off Stage
Catch up with News on Our Blog
ONstage
Auditions
Training
The Bulletin Board
How You Can Get Involved in Theatre Ontario
Quick Links
Join Our Mailing List
Welcome Rebecca Ballarin as Interim Program Coordinator

Rebecca Ballarin We are pleased to welcome Rebecca Ballarin as Interim Program Coordinator through to the end of August 2015.  Rebecca is a soon-to-be graduate of the University of Toronto where she is currently completing a drama specialist with the Centre for Drama, Theatre, and Performance Studies. She has worked at Theatre Ontario in the past as the Education Assistant, and served one term on the Youth Advisory Committee.  Find out more about Rebecca


Mohsin BhujwallaWe also welcome Mohsin Bhujwalla, who is joining us for one year as our new Fundraising Coordinator.  Having worked at Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir, LGBT Youth Line, and Environmental Defence Canada, Mohsin is excited to come back home to the performing arts community. Fun fact: Mohsin is Arabic for charitable. Coincidence? We think not!

Join Us at Our Summer Theatre Intensive

Summer Theatre Intensive Theatre Ontario is offering five exciting courses at this year's Summer Theatre Intensive, running August 9 to 15 in Waterloo at Wilfrid Laurier University.  Experience a week away from all distractions and immerse yourself in a unique theatrical learning experience. You will learn new skills, meet passionate theatre people, enrich your theatre capacity, and flex your creative muscle!

This year we are offering:

For Performers
  • Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Acting...and Then Some!, with Tom Diamond
  • Physical Theatre and Text, with Jim Warren
For Directors
  • Directions on Directing: From Page to Stage, with Andrew Lamb
  • Advanced Directing: Uncovering Hidden Treasures Within the Play, with Virginia Reh
For Playwrights
  • There's No Such Thing as Writer's Block, with Maja Ardal
Join us at Theatre Ontario's Summer Theatre Intensive
John Storey to Receive Michael Spence Award for Contribution to Community Theatre                               

John Storey Theatre Ontario is thrilled to announce that the 2015 Michael Spence Award for Contribution to Community Theatre will be presented to John Storey of Markham.

The award honours individuals for sustained contribution to community theatre, generosity of spirit, involvement, and commitment to community theatre that is legendary within his/her region, helping community theatre flourish.

John will receive his award on May 17 at the Theatre Ontario Festival Awards Brunch in Oshawa.

Welcoming Our First Two Productions to Theatre Ontario Festival in Oshawa

Festival 2015 is taking shape as two of our four productions have been chosen from regional festivals.

We also welcome Norm Foster as our Festival Honourary Chair, and we invite you to check out some of the fun things to do in Oshawa while you're attending Festival.  Festival opens May 13.


Theatre Ontario Festival 2015
Notice of Annual General Meeting - With New Procedures

Theatre Ontario invites all members to join us at our Annual General Meeting on May 16 at 1:30pm at the Quality Hotel and Conference Centre, 1011 Bloor Street East, Oshawa.

 

With the approval of our new By-Law at last year's Annual Meeting, there are several procedural changes this year, including:

  • A membership must be paid one month prior to the Annual Meeting in order to be an eligible voter;
  • Organizations and families need to designate representatives in writing;
  • Proxyholders no longer need to be members of Theatre Ontario.

We also invite nominations for our 2015-2016 Board of Directors.

 

Find out more about our Theatre Ontario Annual General Meeting

Profiling PTTP Projects

PTTP Project with Julia Hune-Brown
Eight individuals were chosen as recipients of our Professional Theatre Training Program grants during our Fall 2014 application round.

This month we check in with three of the projects: Sarah Kitz (training in directing with Amiel Gladstone), Julia Hune-Brown (training in artistic directing with Ruth Howard at Jumblies Theatre [pictured]), and Mariel Marshall (training in directing with Ross Manson).

Pre-Budget Submission from Ontario's Arts Service Organizations 

Theatre Ontario is a member of PASO - the Coalition of Provincial Arts Service Organizations.  PASO has made a pre-budget submission for 2015 to the Ontario Ministry of Finance.
PASO

Upcoming Training from Theatre Ontario

RECORDED WEBINAR: Launching Your Career, with Erin Keating and guest actor Daniel Roberts - Answers to your FAQs about the business of acting - Join us April 15 at 2pm

 

WORKSHOP: Grant Writing Information Session in Sudbury, with Pat Bradley - Looking for tips and must-dos for preparing an application to the Ontario Arts Council - Join us April 21 at 5pm (free)

 

RECORDED WEBINAR: Unleashing Your Inner Entrepreneur, with Erin Keating and guest producer Scott Dermody - Thinking of producing a show or starting a theatre company? - Join us April 29 at 2pm

 

RECORDED WEBINAR: Grant Writing Information Session, with Pat Bradley - Looking for tips and must-dos for preparing an application to the Ontario Arts Council - Join us May 4 at 6pm (free)

 

Register for Theatre Ontario's Courses and Workshops  

PACTCON 2015 - Outside Looking In

Registrations are now open for PACTCON 2015, the annual conference from the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres, running May 20 to 23 in Toronto.  PACTCON 2015 "breaks with tradition and actively encourages participation from the entire professional theatre community" and discount rates are available for Theatre Ontario members.

 

Find out more about PACTCON 2015 - Outside Looking In

Social Enterprise Survey for Ontario

The Canadian Community Economic Development Network (CCEDNet), Simon Fraser University, and Mount Royal University invite non-profit theatres to participate in the 2015 Social Enterprise Survey for Ontario.

This initiative builds on the results of the previous 2012 survey. Although non-profit theatres would not necessarily see themselves as social enterprises, a large percentage of them earn revenue while providing a cultural service to the community. This makes them social enterprises and important contributors within Canada's social economy.

Ontario Off Stage

In "Ontario Off Stage" on our blog, we curate theatre conversations and news from around the province and beyond.  Highlights from last month include:

From March 27
  • Lies we tell about audience engagement
  • Gender parity and its impact on your theatre being the hub in your community
  • A major increase in arts funding in Hamilton
  • A new Executive Director for ArtsBuild Ontario
From March 20
  • How theatres are handling harassment
  • Theatres are trying to become "parent-friendly" for audiences, but what about for their artists?
  • "Why I always want the playwright in the room" - beyond the first production
  • Has crowdfunding become so co-opted that it has reached its tipping point?
From March 13
  • In defense of clowning
  • Exploring the responsibilities of playwrights and the performance of characters with disabilities
  • Provoking a powerful audience response and "storming the court"
  • How to manage audition anxiety
  • In praise of bias in arts criticism
From March 6
  • Equity in Theatre's initiatives for International Women's Day on March 8
  • Joseph Recinos - a past Professional Theatre Training Program grant recipient - wondered where are the minority voices in theatre?
  • Remembering Terry Judd
  • The Gina Wilkinson Prize and the Western Ontario Drama League Pre-Festival Awards

Read past issues of "Ontario Off Stage" on the Theatre Ontario Blog 

Catch up with News on Our Blog

The Theatre Ontario Blog is our home for news, announcements, analysis, and opinion curated and written by Theatre Ontario.

You can sign up to receive blog posts via your favourite RSS reader, or follow by email, at www.theatreontario.blogspot.com
Missed an issue of Theatre Ontario Presents... ?  Catch up in our archives.

 

Brandon MooreQuestions?  Please contact
Brandon Moore
Communications Coordinator, Theatre Ontario
416.408.4556 x.13





We acknowledge the support of the Ontario Arts Council (OAC), an agency of the Government of Ontario, which last year funded 1,681 individual artists and 1,125 organizations in 216 communities across Ontario for a total of $52.8 million.

Ontario Arts Council  

Toronto Arts Council    Ontario Trillium Foundation