Stage Door News
Stage Door News
TPM is thrilled with the 2011/2012 seasons and couldn’t be prouder of the artists that call our theatre home. This was TPM’s first split season, and both audiences and critics alike deemed it a huge success!
The Fall/Winter Season began with an alternative theatre hit The Tale of a Town—Queen West, of which Robert Crew from the Toronto Star said, “It’s impossible not to admire the energy and the spirit that permeate the show — led by its creator and star, Lisa Marie DiLiberto.” The next production was a new play by another one of TPM’s emerging artists, Erin Fleck. Her play- Those Who Can’t Do… -is nominated for a Dora Award in the Outstanding New Play category and can be seen in this month’s UNO Fest in Victoria. Closing out the Fall/Winter season for TPM was a sold-out presentation, in association with Acting Up Stage Company, of Atomic Vaudeville’s celebrated Ride The Cyclone. This production picked up two Toronto Theatre Critics’ Awards for Best New Musical and Best Director of a Musical and a Dora Award nomination for Outstanding Touring Production.
The Winter/Spring Season was set to begin with Dancing With Rage, a one-woman show by the incomparable Mary Walsh. Unfortunately, Walsh developed a severe case of pneumonia and was unable to perform, resulting in a $60,000 loss for TPM. In an effort to keep the building alive with art during the loss of the show, TPM mounted a series of fundraisers under the umbrella Dancing Without Mary. The series featured a reading of a TPM classic Maggie and Pierre, the headline-grabbing Proud, a musical exploration of the Beach Boys at The Songbook Series and a favourite from PuppetMongers, The Brick Bros. Circus.
The conclusion of the Winter/Spring Season was the emotionally charged production of Pamela Mala Sinha’s first play Crash. This production was a hit with audiences and critics alike with a near sold out run and rave reviews. Crash was honoured with six nominations at today’s Dora Award nominations ceremony: Outstanding Production, Outstanding New Play (Pamela Mala Sinha), Outstanding Direction of a Play (Alan Dilworth), Outstanding Performance of a Female in a Principal Role (Pamela Mala Sinha), Outstanding Lighting Design (Kimberly Purtell), and Outstanding Sound Design (Debashis Sinha).
It is especially exciting to see two young female writers have their first produced plays nominated for a Dora for Outstanding New Play. Artistic Director, Andy McKim couldn’t be happier with the seasons. “This marks my fifth anniversary in the job at Passe Muraille and I am so proud of what our company has accomplished in the last five years. Our theatre has distinguished itself by working collaboratively with our community while producing the work of marginal and emerging voices. Today’s nominations verify that this work is valued by our community and that the Passe Muraille values that have distinguished this company from its beginning in 1968 are still strong.”
Photo: Pamela Mala Sinha in poster for Crash.
2012-06-06
Toronto: Theatre Passe Muraille celebrates a successful fall/winter season