Theatre Ontario Presents...
May 2017
In This Issue...
Festival  |  Annual General Meeting  |  Remembering Richard Howard  |  Congratulations Ron Cameron-Lewis  |  Professional Theatre Training Program Spring 2017 Recipients  |  Summer Theatre Intensive  |  Upcoming Workshops  |  Ontario Summer Theatre  |  Certificates of Excellence  |  Remembering Richard Howard, Jon Kaplan, and Helen Zdriluk  |  Conversation Starters
Festival
Festival 2017 Comes to Ottawa
With our final two Festival entries chosen from regional festivals, Theatre Ontario Festival 2017 will take the stage in Ottawa, opening May 17.

Festival is hosted by Ottawa Little Theatre, in partnership with Theatre Ontario and the Eastern Ontario Drama League.

The F estival features performances of outstanding productions from festivals across the province, adjudications by Annette G. Procunier, play readings by Erin Shields, an improv workshop with Laura Hall, parties and awards -  all celebrating community theatre in our province.

Community theatre festivals in Canada go back to 1933 and the first Dominion Drama Festival, held at Ottawa Little Theatre. We are excited to return to Ottawa!

Festival 2017 Northumberland Players
Festival 2017 Toronto Irish Players
Join Us at our Annual General Meeting
Our Theatre Ontario Annual General Meeting will be held during Festival in Ottawa on Saturday, May 20 at 11:30am (immediately following that day's adjudication) at the Ottawa Little Theatre.

Information regarding matters before the Annual General Meeting will be emailed to members by May 10, as per Theatre Ontario by-laws, and will be available on our website.

Congratulations to Ron Cameron-Lewis
Ron Cameron-Lewis has been chosen by the American Association of Community Theatre (AACT) to be recognized as an AACT Fellow for his outstanding contribution to community theatre.

He is only the second Canadian to receive this honour. Learn more about AACT Fellows
Grants
Congratulations to the Professional Theatre Training Program Spring 2017 Grant Recipients

Congratulations to the latest recipients of training grants through our Professional Theatre Training Program (PTTP). We thank all those who applied to the program.

$41,794 was awarded in total among twelve recipients.

Learn more about Theatre Ontario's Professional Theatre Training Program Spring Grants

Stories from the Professional Theatre Training Program
Our Professional Theatre Training Program (PTTP) offers financial support for unique and flexible training with a chosen mentor in any theatrical discipline (except performance.)

PTTP Erin Gerofsky
PTTP Erin Gerofsky
Ontario Arts Council
PTTP and YTTP are funded by the Ontario Arts Council, an agency of the Government of Ontario.
Training
Getting Jazzed about Our Summer Theatre Intensive
Rachel Kennedy is “getting jazzed" about this year’s Summer Theatre Intensive and our partnership with Off the Wall Stratford Artists Alliance.


Summer Theatre Intensive
Launching Your Career
Voice-Over Workshop, with Elley-Ray
Career Stream Workshops
The Career Stream of workshops is for those who want to learn and harness the basic tools and resources needed to thrive in the profession.

Answers to your FAQs about the business of acting, with Rachel Kennedy and guest Karen Knox
May 24 at 3pm in Toronto

Learn the secrets of a successful voice acting career, with Elley-Ray
May 27 at 11am in Toronto

Creator Stream Workshops
The Creator Stream of workshops is for anyone looking to produce their own work or start their own theatre company.

Preparing an Ontario Arts Council application? Get the inside scoop with Pat Bradley, Theatre Officer
May 9 via pre-recorded webinar

Learn the techniques and the language to stage human sexuality in a way that is professional, dynamic and focused on storytelling , with Tonia Sina
June 11 at 2pm in Toronto

Camp Tech
Learn how Google Analytics can help grow your business. Camp Tech’s most popular workshops Intro to Google Analytics (Jun 14) and Intermediate Google Analytics (May 23) can tell you how your audience is finding you, which content is getting viewed most often and help you configure simple goals for your website.

Other upcoming workshops at Camp Tech are: Social Media Basics (Jun 6); Wordpress for Beginners (May 7); and Social Media Advanced (May 16).

In partnership with the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts, Theatre Ontario members can receive a 25% discount on workshops led by highly skilled Camp Tech instructors.
Ontario Summer Theatre

Making Plans to PLAY this Summer with Ontario Summer Theatre

Is the spring sunshine rousing your excitement for travel plans this summer? Add to that, the new initiatives from Ontario Summer Theatre aimed at getting the word out about each company’s summer seasons and you’ll be ready to tell spring to pack its bags and hit the road. OST is ready for summer!

Ontario Summer Theatre
Certificates of Excellence
Honouring Student Excellence in Theatre
Do you know an outstanding student who has made a commitment to the drama/theatre community in his or her school? Teachers and schools can honour those students with Theatre Ontario’s Certificate of Excellence—and with commencement season approaching, now is a terrific time for recognition!

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

In Memoriam
In the end of April, we lost three members of our Theatre Ontario family.
Richard Howard
Richard Howard
Remembering Richard Howard
Richard Howard was a long-time member of our Talent Bank as an adjudicator and instructor of acting and directing.

He also supported our Festival and Summer Theatre Intensive for many years by sponsoring "The Richard Howard Award", which gave a scholarship for a summer course to one of the Festival directors.

He was honoured with our Maggie Bassett Award for his contribution to theatre in Ontario, and by our Community Theatre Committee with a special Michael Spence Award for his innovative and professional contribution to community theatre in Ontario.
Remembering Jon Kaplan
Jon Kaplan was beloved in the Toronto theatre community for his many years as Senior Theatre Writer at NOW Magazine.

At Theatre Ontario, Jon served as a member of the jury for our Maggie Bassett Award - helping us recognize and honour outstanding contributions to theatre in Ontario.
Jon Kaplan
Jon Kaplan
Photo by Dahlia Katz / Intermission Magazine
Helen Zdriluk
Helen Zdriluk
Remembering Helen Zdriluk
Helen Zdriluk served on our Board of Directors from 1998 to 2004, as a "pioneering" representative from the Educational Theatre sector from Burlington.

She was a huge champion of the Council of Ontario Drama and Dance Educators (CODE) and the Sears Ontario Drama Festival.
Conversation Starters
From Our Blog
Our most popular posts last month included:
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Ontario Off Stage
In our "Ontario Off Stage" column, we curate conversations and news. Recent highlights:

From April 28
  • New occupational health and safety guidelines in performance for Electrical and Elevating Work Platforms
  • Catch up on this issue
From April 21
  • Defending Canadian and "ethnic" plays - and why Northern Ontario stories are important
  • Think about the arts as being "hospitable" rather than "accessible"
  • Restoration theatre and "millennial culture" in The Millennial Malcontent by Erin Shields (Festival 2017 Playwright-in-Person)
  • Catch up on this issue
From April 7
  • Intimacy for the Stage featured on the Stageworthy podcast
  • Unsung understudies from The Musical Stage Company
  • Catch up on this issue
Popular Resources
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For More Information
Theatre Ontario | 416.408.4556 x.13 | news@theatreontario.org | theatreontario.org
We gratefully acknowledge the support of our funders.
Ontario Arts Council
Toronto Arts Council
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