Stage Door News
Stage Door News
The Musical Stage Company, in partnership with Yonge Street Theatricals, announces LAUNCH PAD - an innovative new program that makes a strategic investment in leading Canadian musical theatre writers and collaborators.
Each year for the next two years, LAUNCH PAD will offer a 10-month residency in which musical theatre composers, lyricists and bookwriters navigate a full developmental process, shepherding 30-minute musicals from conception to production with guidance from skilled creative teams and internationally renowned mentors. Recognizing the uniquely collaborative nature of creating new musicals and that the vital skills required to succeed through the process can only be honed through real-time practice, the first two years of LAUNCH PAD will give 6 teams of artists the opportunity to build these tools and showcase their completed work.
The Musical Stage Company Artistic Director, Mitchell Marcus says: “With new Canadian musicals currently gaining global recognition, there is a timely opportunity for Canadian musical theatre on an international scale. We recognize, however, that there is a unique skill set that musical theatre writers require to succeed, which can only be developed through the practice of bringing a new musical to life from start to finish. With so few production opportunities for new musicals, most Canadian musical theatre writers, directors and musical directors do not get the chance to demonstrate and hone this full scope of skills. Launch Pad intends to change that, building a strong army of ‘musical theatre making artists’ to create work for our stage and stages around the world in the years to come.”
Today The Musical Stage Company and Yonge Street Theatricals announced the inaugural cohort of composers, lyricists, bookwriters, directors and musical directors who will participate in the first year. They include: Colleen Dauncey (composer), Tracey Flye (director), Steven Gallagher (bookwriter), Nick Green (bookwriter), Wayne Gwillim (musical director), Shelley Hansen (musical director), Ann Hodges (director), Anika Johnson (composer/lyricist), Barbara Johnston (composer/lyricist), Anton Lipovetsky (composer/lyricist), Jessica Moss (bookwriter), Akiva Romer-Segal (lyricist), Adam Sakiyama (musical director), and Lezlie Wade (director). New York-based Music Supervisor Lynne Shankel and veteran dramaturge/director Robert McQueen join Launch Pad as Program Directors.
The first LAUNCH PAD cohort of composers, lyricists and bookwriters will work in teams to create original one-act musicals based on breaking news stories selected by staff at The Globe and Mail. The triptych of one-act musicals will debut in August 2019 on the 17th floor of The Globe and Mail Centre set against a stunning downtown Toronto backdrop in a public presentation produced in association with The Globe and Mail. In the 10 months leading up to the production, participants will navigate all of the complex milestones of a full musical developmental process, including multiple workshops and a rehearsal process, incorporating over 20 artist-collaborators including directors, musical directors, arrangers, copyists, actors, and musicians. As part of the program, internationally recognized producers and presenters will be invited to attend the final production followed by feedback and networking sessions with participating artists. The final pieces will be recorded and disseminated globally via podcast.
Ticket information for the August 2019 production as well as the cohort of artists for the 2019-20 LAUNCH PAD will be announced in 2019.
LAUNCH PAD is a new collaboration between The Musical Stage Company and commercial producers Yonge Street Theatricals (Come From Away, Life After).
For The Musical Stage Company, this strategic initiative is enabled through a 2-year commitment from a group of private and public champions led by BMO Financial Group and with critical support from Leading Lights: William J.S. Boyle C.M.; Di Bartolomeo, Di Lorenzo-Graham Foundation; and Lucy White.
For The Musical Stage Company, LAUNCH PAD is the newest addition to its robust portfolio of programs and initiatives designed to make Canadian artists leaders in musical theatre. Since the company’s expansion and rebranding 18 months ago, The Musical Stage Company has increased its annual investment in writers by 290% and inaugurated The Aubrey & Marla Dan Fund for New Musicals to commission new work, The Crescendo Series to provide a multi-year residency for a composer with a commitment to produce their work, and continued its NoteWorthy program to provide foundational skills to artists interested in writing musicals.
Notable milestones include Britta Johnson’s LIFE AFTER, the first musical in The Crescendo Series, being recognized with 6 Dora Mavor Moore Awards in 2018 including Outstanding Musical Production and Best New Musical. LIFE AFTER is slated for production in Spring 2019 at San Diego’s The Old Globe Theatre – a Tony Award-winning institution that has sent 23 musicals to Broadway. As well, The Musical Stage Company recently closed the twice-extended world premiere musical DR. SILVER: A CELEBRATION OF LIFE by Anika Johnson & Britta Johnson in co-production with Outside The March.
2018-11-10
Toronto: The Musical Stage Company and Yonge Street Theatricals announce the LAUNCH PAD program