Stage Door News
Stage Door News
OTTAWA June 4, 2016 – Closing out its final performance, the 17th GCTC/CCLA Lawyer Play The Mouse That Roared (adapted by Christopher Sergel, from the book by Leonard Wibberley) has raised an unprecedented $127,000 to benefit the Great Canadian Theatre Company and Westboro-based charity partner, Salus. Under the leadership of director Geoff McBride, combining extraordinarily high ticket sales with a record-breaking sponsorship campaign, this year’s Lawyer Play revenue goal eclipsed previous ones by a sizeable margin. The annual fundraiser has raised over $1.2 million for GCTC and a variety of local charities since its inception in 2000.
With help from a cast of 26 pulling triple-duty as actors, ticket-sellers, and lawyers, attendance was at an all-time high for the fundraiser. High profile members of the legal community played featured roles in the production, including Janice Payne, Peter Doody, and Dan Hohnstein. The cameo appearances by local celebrities included City Coucillor Jeff Leiper, Regional Senior Justice Hugh Fraser, senior partner at Augustine Bater Binks, Mary Jane Binks, CBC Ottawa’s David Gerow, provincial MPP The Hon. Yasir Naqvi and CBC Ottawa’s Laurence Wall. With the combined efforts of the lawyers, cameo appearances and GCTC, attendance was a staggering 94% across the four performances.
Co-chair of the Lawyer Play Committee Tara Berish was thrilled with the reception of the fundraiser this year. “The Lawyer Play Committee is delighted by the warm response we received to this year’s show, and the great success of our fundraising efforts. This collaborative production has been building quite the name for itself in the community over the years, and this year’s particularly strong attendance was really something to celebrate!”
The Lawyer Play could not be accomplished without the great example of dedication set by the lawyers involved. "The sheer number of volunteer hours that drive this effort is astounding,” says GCTC Artistic Director Eric Coates. “Each one of these lawyers gives well over one hundred hours of weekend and evening time to help GCTC and our charity partner each year. Their dedication is both inspiring and humbling." The generosity of Gold Sponsor Nelligan O’Brien Payne LLP and other dedicated sponsors also helps to make the production and gala nights achieve an unmatched level of professionalism.
Hot on the heels of the success of The Mouse That Roared, programming is already well underway for next year’s fundraiser which is scheduled to take place from May 24 to 27, 2017.
About GCTC
GCTC celebrates its 42st season in 2016–17. Its mission is to foster, produce and promote excellent theatre that provokes examination of Canadian life and our place in the world. GCTC is committed to the production of new Canadian work and artist development. We continue to commission and workshop new plays by emerging and established playwrights. We mentor emerging companies and artists through residencies and in-kind support.
About CCLA
As a not-for-profit association, the CCLA is Ottawa and Eastern Ontario’s leading association for the professional legal community and the second largest law association in the Province. Their mission is to promote justice and advance the interests of their members. To achieve this objective, among other things, they provide quality, affordable continuing professional development programs, guidance and leadership in the challenges facing the profession, and access to quality legal research and library services.
Photo: Amanda Montague-Reinholdt and Dan Hohnstein. ©2016 Andrew Alexander.
2016-06-04
Ottawa: GCTC and CCLA break new record for the Annual Lawyer Play Fundraiser