Stage Door News
Stage Door News
TORONTO, ON (Monday, Jan. 23, 2012) - Theatre 20, Toronto’s artist-‐led musical theatre company, today announced its inaugural season of production at a press conference and exclusive ticketed cocktail affair, “A Taste of 20: Sample the Season”. The event launches a season which includes two workshops, two full productions, and a series of other events.
Speeches by Artistic Director and Founding Artist Adam Brazier, Theatre 20 Board Chair David Morris, Michael Rubinoff (Associate Dean Performing Arts, Sheridan College), Raindogs creator Andrew MacBean and Founding Artist Colm Wilkinson (Director of Theatre 20’s first production) underlined Theatre 20’s mandate to present story-driven musicals by developing new Canadian works and by re‐imagining existing repertoire, nurturing the talent of writers and composers and fostering the development of young artists through mentorship and education programs. Preview performances at the event featured Theatre 20 Founding Artists and Emerging Artist Ensemble with guest artists including Jeff Madden, Tim Howar and Donnie Macphee.
First on the season roster is the Toronto premiere of Bloodless: The Trial of Burke and Hare, by Winnipeg playwright Joseph Aragon. Theatre 20 Founding Artist and internationally renowned performer Colm Wilkinson makes his directorial debut with this delighQully dark true story of the 1829 West Port murders in Edinburgh.
A wickedly entertaining musical spectacle and award-winning fringe festival hit, the show recounts the historical case of two 19th century Irish serial killers who go into business selling corpses to medical anatomy schools. Reminiscent of Sweeney Todd, this raucous, eerie tale of deceit, murder and mayhem is told in memorable song, macabre humour, and compelling lyrics. Canadian playwright Joseph Aragon is considered a composer with uncommon talent, and this morbidly entertaining show has been lauded as a "tour de force: smart, dark and daring" (Winnipeg Free Press).
Theatre 20 will workshop the show in April‐May and the full production will run at the Panasonic Theatre from Oct. 16 through Nov. 11, 2012.
Next, Theatre 20 partners with Sheridan College’s Canadian Music Theatre Project on the workshop of Raindogs by Canadian Andrew MacBean. This musical, based on Lanford Wilson’s Balm in Gilead, features original music by MacBean, Paul Chant and Boko Suzuki, lyrics by MacBean and book by MacBean, Rose Martula and Wilson himself. The show, which was the last project Wilson worked on before his death in March 2011, centres on a young prostitute who meets a somewhat inept drug dealer. Like Balm in Gilead, Raindogs is a moving and gritty look at the junkies, pushers, prostitutes and other freaks that inhabit an upper West Side greasy spoon.
Raindogs was first workshopped as a full-length musical as part of the MAD Fringe Festival at Trafalgar Studios, London, England. It went on to have its first U.S. workshop at Sag Harbour, NY’s Bay Street Theatre in October 2010.
The workshop will take place during the late spring at Sheridan in conjunction with a comprehensive mentorship program between Theatre 20 Founding Artists and the Sheridan Musical Theatre Performance Program students. Public performances of the workshop will take place in both Oakville and Toronto. The full production of Raindogs will follow in Theatre 20’s 2013-2014 season.
The season wraps up with Company at Harbourfront Centre’s Enwave Theatre considered by many the show that inaugurated the era of the modern musical. Theatre 20 Artistic Director Adam Brazier re‐imagines this beloved show from the international musical theatre canon with Gary Griffin as Creative Consultant. Company, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by George Furth, centres on Robert, a single man unable to commit to a steady relationship, the married couples who are his best friends, and his three on-‐again off-‐again girlfriends. Set in early 1970s, upper middle class Manhattan and told through a series of vignettes in no particular chronological order, each character and scene is linked by the celebration of Bobby’s 35th birthday. It has been 25 years since a professional production of Company has been seen in Toronto.
An honest, witty, sophisticated look at relationships, Company is as contemporary and relevant as ever (seen with the recent hit revivals on Broadway and the West End as well as its transfer to movie theatres). It features a brilliant energetic score containing many of Sondheim’s best-‐known songs (including "Another Hundred People," "The Ladies Who Lunch" and "Being Alive").
Other events being held in Theatre 20’s 2012-2013 season include a cabaret of new work by Theatre 20’s Composium members, a sequel to 2011’s popular concert Driven to Score: Celebrating Canadian Musical Composers, and other events to be announced.
For more information on the season, visit www.theatre20.com.
ABOUT SHERIDAN COLLEGE
Long recognized for excellence in music theatre performance, Sheridan College serves over 17,000 full-‐time students at campuses in the Greater Toronto Area, including Brampton, Mississauga and Oakville. Sheridan offers an innovative learning environment celebrated for academic excellence, applied research and creativity. The Canadian Music Theatre Project is Canada’s first incubator for the development of new musical theatre works by Canadian and international composers, lyricists and book-‐writers. theatre.sheridancollege.ca
THEATRE 20 BACKGROUNDER
Theatre 20 is an artist‐led, story-driven company with a focus on developing and presenting original Canadian musicals as well as re‐imagining existing repertoire from both the national and international canons. It is a not-for-profit, registered charitable organization that has been formed not only to create musical works for the stage but also to play an active and positive role within the community. It aims to nurture the talent of writers and composers and foster the development of young artists through mentorship and education programs.
With a mandate rooted in the development, education and celebration of musical theatre, it creates work for and shines a light on the incredibly talented musical theatre artists of this country: performers, composers, directors, choreographers, musical directors and designers. Theatre 20’s management team is made up of Artistic Director Adam Brazier, Artistic Producer Tamara Bernier Evans, General Manager Rosie Shaw and Associate Producer & Director of Outreach Michael Rubinstein. Founding artists include Evan Buliung, Brent Carver, Dan Chameroy, Juan Chioran, Ma-Anne Dionisio, Susan Gilmour, Trish Lindström, David Keeley, Nora McLellan, Louise Pitre, Eliza-Jane Scott, Carly Street, Steven Sutcliffe and Colm Wilkinson.
The founding artists of Theatre 20 have been at work for over two years – the first meeting together was held in 2009. In 2010, the company’s focus was on continuing to develop the collective artistic vision and creative perspective, as well as bringing together an incredible Board of Directors and a solid network of supporters and advisors. In 2011, Theatre 20 marked its official company launch and focused on a year of introductions and interaction with the community, continuing to build education and outreach programs, as well as fundraising. The intimate and entertaining 2011 Theatre 20 Concert Series, held at the Panasonic Theatre, featured three critically-‐acclaimed evenings of performance designed to showcase each pillar of the company’s mandate.
Also in 2011, Theatre 20 launched its COMPOSIUM and EMERGING ARTIST ENSEMBLE programs. More information and lists of each group’s members can be found on Theatre20.com under “Who is Theatre 20?”.
The THEATRE 20 COMPOSIUM is a group of 12 musical theatre composers, lyricists and librettists who, through this Theatre 20 initiative, receive constant attention to their current work, whether by dramaturges, music directors, peer composers and by Theatre 20's Founding Artists. The Composium program offers these talented creators a sounding board as well as an opportunity to collaborate in a safe and nurturing environment. The ultimate goal for each member's work is to reach full production, if not within a Theatre 20 season, then with another company.
Theatre 20’s EMERGING ARTIST ENSEMBLE is a group of 12 emerging musical theatre performers who are assigned a Theatre 20 Founding Artist Mentor to work with for one season. They also meet as a group, with a Musical Director from the Composium, to learn new music, to provide voices for our Composium members and enable them to hear their works in progress, and to perform original songs for Theatre 20 events.
For more information about Theatre 20, or to inquire about development, education, sponsorship and/or volunteer opportunities, visit www.theatre20.com.
2012-01-23
Toronto: Theatre 20 announces its inaugural season featuring two new Canadian musicals and “Company”